Classy music

Today we played music. I used a stick to move it "back and forth" on a violin. It was fun. Belle also played the drums and the trombone. But it was the recorders we liked because they make a lot of noise.

We had a lot of fun at Summer Fun Day today at the Clay Center. We visited for a little while after Mommy was fnished working. We watched her paint some faces of other kids before she painted mine. I said, "You're doing a good job, Mommy." She made me look like a cat.

Later, we jumped in the balls in the Kids Museum and then went outside to plant a tree. We have to take care of it. Water it. And then we take it back in a little while and plant it in the new city park. We're going to take good care of the plants.

Summer cuts & FestivALL

We are having a fun-filled summer. Mommy is trying to keep us busy with activities (so we have some structure to our days, she says.) So I'm taking swimming lessons and reading class. Lilly is too young for both. Next month, though, Mommy said we'll both attend VBS.

After swimming on Thursday, Mommy took us to get summer haircuts. Everyone says I look so much older with my hair cut. I like it because it doesn't take as long to dry. Lilly's never takes long to dry!

This is one of the most fun weeks in Charleston -- when we have FestivALL. We've attended a lot of fun things. Last night, we went to a movie (Sound of Music.) We got to bark and yell at the movie and sing along with them . It was fun until Lilly chewed on her glow stick and got yellow all over her. She was glowing! I told her on the way to Live on the Levee that she can never, ever do that again because she would vomit. And maybe she'd vomit on the street and then other peole would see it and vomit. She said, yeah.

Today we went to Mommy's work for the Street Fair. It's a lot of fun. We played in the sand and the water fountain. Got balloons and tattoos. We had birthday cake because the newseum, I mean the Library, had a birthday. It's 100. But we eventually had to leave because Mommy said we were too cranky. She tried to get us to take a nap, but we didn't go to sleep. Then we played in our swimming pool for a little bit... until I dumped the water out and Mommy made us come back inside.

I told her I can't wait to see what we do tomorrow.

First Catch

We went fishing this weekend and caught our first fish! It was a lot of fun. We had to drive to the cabin Friday night to sleep so we could get up early Saturday. Then we had to drive far, far away to the pond to fish. We rode in Grandpa and Grandma's car and sang, "Country Roads" a lot on the way.

When we arrived at the Derby, there were lots of kids catching fish. Some of them left with the fish in a bag as we came into the fish hatchery. Belle said she wanted to bring one home with her too. But Mommy said no we had to put them back. But we didn't have to put any back becuase we didn't catch any at first. Belle didn't like waiting for the fish to get on her line. I didn't like fishing very well so I just played with Grandpa's tools. Then Mommy, Grandma and me walked to the car to get our chairs. When we were gone Belle caught her first fish, but it didn't stay on her line. She was upset that she couldn't keep it.

After we got something to drink and eat, we tried again. This time, Mommy said we'd try the catch and keep pond. We went to the pond, with lots of people. We put this orange stuff on our hook and caught a fish within the first two minutes of having our line in the water. Mine was bigger than Belle's. Mommy said my fish was almost as big as me! I didn't like it when Belle caught hers. It was red (with blood on it. Mommy said I was traumatized for life! But I took my rod and fished with Grandpa anyway. I caught a fish next and it was real heavy. It was too hard for me to reel in so Grandpa had to help me.

After we got our fish, we had to take them to a table to be fileted. Whatever that means. Belle kept asking them what they were doing. She wanted to take our fish home. She didn't know that Daddy and Grandpa were going to eat him!

Later that night, Daddy found a turtle along the road and brought it to the cabin for us. We played with him and then brought him home to be our pet! We haven't named him yet. Do you have any suggestions?

Swim lessons

Belle had her first swimming lessons today. Typical Belle, she thinks she's a big girl now and just wanted to jump right into the deep end. I had to tell her to stop and wait for her instructor, Sarah. Then she kept asking me if she could just get in while she was helping the other student. She did very well with her kicking and blowing bubbles. She didn't like floating on her back too well. The photos aren't the best quality because they were taken with my iPhone.

Photo gallery of Belle's birthday

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=934747007/a=34153457_34153457/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Happy 4th Birthday Belle!

Belle celebrated her 4th birthday with her friends from Growing Place and other playmates. They had a wonderful time exploring all the exhibits at the Clay Center, but the highlight was the science demo. Belle was happy to have such a good time with her friends.

Growth in a year

I've been too busy to post much to the girls blog lately. I hope to do better when work slows down a bit. So today's post is just a little sampling of Belle's artwork from the school year, an early school picture and some facts about her that were gathered in September and May.

All About Me!

My name is: Belle

I am 3 years old (both months)

My hair is brown. (both months)

My eyes are blue (both months)

I am 41 inches tall (Sept.) and 43 1/2 inches tall (May)

My favorite food is Lucky Charms (Sept.) and peas (May)

My favorite color is blue (both months). Which is funny because she's been telling us green lately because that's Lilly's favorite color and she has to compete with her sister.

When I grow up I want to color (Sept.) and play (May).

Happy Mother's Day

We were very excited to give Mommy her presents today. We wanted to give them yesterday when Lilly came home from the hospital. Mommy took her to the ER at 4:30 a.m. becuase she had a bad fever. She threw up in Mommy's hands, again, at the ER. After lots of painful tests (like the RSV nose swap), they still can't tell us what's wrong with "My Lil." She had lots of band-aids on her when she got home. Snoopy ones.

I was nervous about it so Daddy helped me on Mommy's card. I spelled Mommy on the envelope. I told Mommy when she got home that there are three M's in her name! So we each got Mommy a card and a little statue of two girls (Willow Tree). Daddy got her new hot iron for her hair! It's very hot. We can't touch it. We also made her these nice presents at school. It was a nice day -- except I didn't get any presents!

Little Picasso(es)

Some of their recent artwork sent home from school today. So cute...

Chocolate Lovers

We had an event-ful weekend in Morgantown.

First, we went to a party for Aunt Sara. There was music and food and dancing and LOTS of people. Everyone was there to help Aunt Sara because her head hurt.

It was a good time. We had fun eating popcorn and chips and dancing onstage with our cousin Kadence.

On Saturday, we went downtown and walked to a lot of stores to get chocolate!! First we had wonderful chocolate cake at Aunt Barbara's store. We went to the library where they had fried wontons fiilled with Nutella. Lilly took a bite of one and decided she didn't like it. She tried to put it back, but Aunt Sara wouldn't let her!

We also bought two books at the Library for just two dimes. Aunt Sara let us give the coins to the lady at the counter. It was a busy day walking around, with lots of good chocolate treats. Daddy said we had too mcuh chocolate because we were all jacked up on sugar. he,he

As a special bonus, we celebrated Grandpa Bott's birthday with cake, cake, cake on Saturday. He was surprised that we had a cake for him. It sure was hard keeping that a secret from him. I was tempted to tell him too many times.

Hungry Caterpillar

Belle made this in class today. She's very proud of it so we thought we'd share it. She explained the green on the bottom is the grass that he's walking across. They also read The Hungry Caterpillar in class today. She explained that he had a bellyache because he ate too much!

Happy Easter!

Belle made these in class. Thought we'd share and tell everyone Happy Easter!

Happy Birthday to Mommy!

Mommy's birthday is tomorrow. But we celebrated early tonight with cake, cake, cake!! It was soooo good that I just had to eat it with my hands. Belle tried to get Mommy to give her a second piece, but she said no! So Belle tried to take Mommy's piece!

Mommy says she's older tomorrow. Belle says she turns 24! Mommy said that sounds good to her! We asked her what kind of party she was going to have. Belle told her we wanted her to have a My Little Pony party, but she says big girls have big girls parties. Whatever that means!

Rough & Rowdy at Ritter

It was sunny out today. So Daddy and Mommy took us to the park. It was a looong way away. So long that I feel asleep in the car. Belle didn't like the long car ride and kept asking where in the world is the park. Daddy said she's just like Mommy -- she can't sit still for more than 5 minutes. I liked looking out my window, though.

Once we got to Ritter Park there were a lot of families there! I guess we weren't the only ones who wanted to get out on this beach day. Belle and I kept telling Mommy we wanted to go to the beach. Belle said it's a nice sunny beach day. We sort of went to the beach. We got to dig in the sand at the park. Belle told Daddy we needed to get beach pants though for that.

We also kicked a big beach ball around. That was fun. But with the sand and the ball we sure were missing the beach. We decided not to feed the ducks and instead played in the grass and a little on the playground. Belle wouldn't stop climbing and the doctor told her she couldn't climb so we had to just play in the grass.

After our play time, Daddy took us to his favorite Huntington spot -- Frosttop. It has a big cup of coffee spinning on top of it. We got to drink soda. It was yummy. So were the fries. Belle liked her hamburger better. All in all it was a fun day. I think they were trying to make us tired so we'd sleep past 6 a.m. Mommy says this should be fun week with something about the time jumping forward -- whatever that means.

we like to move it

We are quite fond of the Madagascar movies. We like to shake our booties like our friends Alex the Lion, Gloria the Hippo, Melvin the Giraffe and Marty the Zebra.

Poppa and new roomies

It's been a busy week. We spent five days in Morgantown visiting with family. Aunt Salah (read Sara) had a really bad headache so we had to go visit her in the hospital. But we also got to visit with other family -- like cousins Jenny and MoMo; Aunts Barb and Janie; G. Grandpa Bott, Mamaw, Grandpa and Grandma. We even went to Aunt DeeDee's house for a couple hours on two days. It was fun. She had a whole bunch of people and Little pet Shop toys to play with. We also made a craft -- a snowman.

Then we also met some new relatives, like Uncle Bill and cousin Lydia, who visited with Aunt Doris from Ohio. It was a busy week.

So we're happy to be home and trying to get back to our schedule. We were excited to return to school on Tuesday. But we're having trouble getting to sleep at night. So Mommy isn't getting much rest either. But because we slept in a bed together at Grandpa and Grandma's house, Mommy and Daddy moved Lilly into my room. So now we're sharing a room. It just means we have more trouble going to bed at night! Crazy Mommy and Daddy. What were they thinking?

We're still praying for God to heal Aunt Sara and hope you are too!

No Bones About It

Today, I visited Dr. Legg. He's a bone doctor. I told him that I jumped off a bridge and fell down and broke my arm! Mommy frowned and told him it was a bridge on the playground set at Coonskin.

He took my bandage off and I thought I was going to have my arm free again. Boy was I wrong. Now I'm in a hard bandage -- all the way past my elbow. I chose green for the color. I did have a hard time deciding though. I told Mommy, I think I'll change my mind and get blue. I think I'll change my mind and get yellow. Maybe I'll have blue and green. Mommy told me I had to pick only one and stick with it. I told her I'd stick with green.

So now my arm is a green mummy arm! he,he

Dr. Legg gave me lots of bad news. He told me no gymnastics, no running, no climbing. In fact, he told Mommy my feet have to stay on the ground! Can you believe that? And, I have to wear this thing for 4 weeks! Mommy says that's a really long time. Then he'll look at my arm and see how it's healing. I'll have to have another picture taken of it. Then I have to wear another cast for 4 more weeks! Geesh. Mommy said maybe next time I can choose blue, though.

All, I know is it's going to be a long spring!

Freaky Friday, Freaky February

So I'm really going off on my ranting now... February is ABSOLUTELY the worst month in our lives. The girls always seem to have accidents, illnesses, and there is usually other drama during this month.

Don't believe me?

Last February, we discovered Lilly's heart murmur; Belle broke her right wrist and they had colds.

in Feburary 2007, Lilly was highly sick (with another virus) when she was supposed to go for her well-baby visit and I'm pretty sure that's when Belle had to have her second round of testing for her kidney reflux.

This February: pink eye, stys, colds and now a broken arm! Yes, that's right. A broken arm.

Belle fell from a "bridge" on the playground set at Coonskin yesterday. We took her to Urgent Care last night to have her checked out. She told us her should hurt. So the doctor checked her shoulder. It was fine. We went home, agreeing X-rays were NOT necessary.

She slept fitfully (we gave her Motrin last night). Belle woke at 6 a.m. this morning, coming to me crying about her arm. This is a girl who loves to sleep in in the morning (like her Mommy) and despite what some belive is not prone to drama when it comes to her injuries.

She continued to not put weight on that arm and so Mommy instincts kicked in. I decided we would return to the MedExpress this morning to have an X-ray and make sure she was okay. She complained more of her wrist hurting this morning.

After two hours and four X-rays, the doc comes to me (same one from last night) and says "You have one tough kid there. You're never going to believe it when you see this X-ray."

She had broken both of the bones in her left forearm. They aren't hairline fractures. They are breaks! She has a temporary cast until the swelling goes down. She'll get a full cast when we see the orthopedic doctor (probably on Monday).

If you pray... say some for good health for our family!!

Prediculous!

"That's prediculous!"

Yes that word came out of my nearly 4-year-old daughter's mouth! Of course, she meant ridiculous, which comes out of Mommy's mouth quite a bit. It's pretty darn close.

This she says to me today as we're driving by the Clay Center (museum -- or place where the dinosaurs are, as she lovingly refers to it) and asks if we can go there today. When I explain we can't because she has school and I have to work. She then asks why I have to work. I say to earn money. She asks, "For our car?"

"Yes that, and our house, our clothes, our food..." and then we have her response: "That's prediculous!" Future socialist on our hands? Daddy fears not I'm sure!

What is ridiculous is the amount of "small things" that we've had in our lives lately. The girls both caught the respiratory illness going around, then gave it me, then they contracted pink eye. Or at least Belle did. Hers cleared up quite quickly with drops (that we had to pay $60 for).

Lilly, however, is suffering from what we believe is chalazin (sp?) -- stys on the inside of the eyelid. We visit the eye doc tomorrow. I fear a surgery is in her future, like the one Belle had two years ago.

Course, the school is concerned that she has what appears to be a black eye and tells the sitter today to mention it to her Mommy. So don't be surprised when my next post is written after CPS comes calling!

The girls have certainly been a handful, but they've also been quite a treat! Very amusing.

Belle says to her Aunt Sara on Saturday (during our Motown visit), "Sara, you're not being sensible." Where she learns this stuff, I have no idea.

Ooh yeah, and the other "small thing" to hit the family this week: Belle had her first major dental visit. Unfortunately she's inherited the bad English teeth (from the Botts) as well. She had her first filling today. Daddy says she did very well. She was such a big girl. No crying. They did give her laughing gas for the procedure, which she thought was very cool. And she was apparently an amusing stoned 3-and-1/2-year-old. She held a ball and said she just loved it while gazing at it lovingly. She then walked into the waiting room and announced to the other patients that she was a big girl!

Quite a week in the lives of the Becker Sisters -- and it's only Tuesday!

Snow Day

It's snowing outside. We didn't have school today. But Mommy and Daddy went to work, so we went to Kyle's house. I was upset that Mommy wouldn't stay home and play with us! She told me if I was a good girl at Kyle's today, we'd go outside and play in the snow.

When we came home, Kaitlyn had made a big snowman in her front yard. I told Mommy I wanted to make one too. So we put on our snow gear and went outside. But we couldn't make snowballs because there was a sheet of ice on top of the snow! We tried to make a little snowman, but it just feel apart. So we just threw snowballs at each other. It was fun!