Girl Weekend: Day 1

At 6:00 this morning, Savannah & I dropped Rod & Will off at the airport.
The boys flew to Arizona for a business meeting & a visit with the Hinze family.

Meanwhile, the girls were left behind to have a fantastically wonderful Girl Weekend!

Our mission is to have as much fun as possible, specifically focusing on activities that are difficult to do with a 15-month-old brother in tow!

The day started out with arts & crafts (Savannah's very favorite thing to do).
She chose a set of 6 ceramic ponies & a new set of acrylic paints. She carefully completed each one:

After pony painting, Savannah took a long bath. We then made a handful of beaded bracelets. Here she is, showing off the 2 special name bracelets she made for her school teachers:

While Savannah was at school, I had a relaxing time getting my hair done. In the late afternoon, Savannah napped while I took the quiet opportunity to organize closets (seriously, one of my VERY favorite things to do). My house is so clean at this moment...it just thrills me to pieces.

When Savannah woke up from her nap, we grabbed dinner at Subway (her pick) & headed out to the Dallas Children's Theatre for a musical production of "Good Night Moon." The show was adorable, and I just savored the time to hold Savannah on my lap & to treasure my sweet little girl.

Savannah, diving into her Roast Beef sandwich:

Posing outside of the theatre:

We're sleeping together in my bed tonight & looking forward to more girl fun tomorrow. What a great day!

A Very Happy Valentine's Day (But No Pictures to Prove It...)

We had a very sweet Valentine's Day.

We have been SO lucky with Savannah's preschool this year. She attends in the afternoon, from 12:30 - 3:30. The timing works out perfectly because we have our fun & happy morning together, and then she is thrilled to be off to class. While she's out, Will takes a nap & I get some alone time. For whatever reason, most other parents prefer to send their children to school in the morning. So, Savannah has 2 fabulous teachers for a class of just 8 children. The kids are so sweet & we have had a really fun time being part of that group.

So, on Valentine's Day, all of the parents came to class & joined the children for a celebration. We passed out Valentines (Savannah chose princess bags & filled them with Rolos), decorated heart-shaped cupcakes, read stories, made Valentine boxes, and just had a wonderful time.

That evening, Rod & I left the kids with a sitter & escaped to Eatzi's, our favorite take-out spot. We grabbed a delicious dinner and took it to a quiet, hidden, beautiful spot in old Highland Park. The 2 of us sat in the trees, under the stars, and enjoyed the quiet of a perfect evening. It really was just peaceful & exactly what I had in mind.

Rod even remembered the red roses & chocolate--I'm so blessed to have him as my Valentine!

Ballet Pictures

Savannah has been taking ballet classes for the last 8 months.

The studio conducts the class in a private room, with a VERY strict "no parent viewing" rule.

Recently, however, we had one special day when we were invited to watch our little dancers perform.

Savannah did a great job!

Family Night on the Katy Trail

Monday night was BEAUTIFUL in Dallas.
We took advantage of the good weather by loading up our bikes & heading down to the Katy Trail.
We enjoyed some good exercise on the trail & a fun break at the park.

Field Trip to PetSmart

My kids (especially Will) are SO into animals these days.
A couple of evenings ago, I decided to take them on a "field trip" to PetSmart. It was a HUGE hit!

I explained 2 ground rules:

1. We are LOOKING at pets, not TAKING HOME pets
2. We DO NOT get out of the grocery cart.

Rule #2 was key to the trip's success. The kids stayed completely contained & we all just had the best time checking out the animals. I think they would have been content to stay all day long!

Fish

Kitties

Birds

Rodents

What more could you want out of life?!

The Training Has Begun...

Savannah had her first official tennis lesson this week.

Although Rod frequently takes her out to the courts to hit (and she loves it), we thought Savannah would enjoy having regular tennis lessons (with 2 of her girlfriends) from a non-parent coach.

Coach Sean did a great job (my favorite part was watching Savannah run laps around the court for warm up) and Savannah is eager to go again next week!

I'll have to improve on my picture taking next time...

Savannah, amidst the tennis ball chaos:


Will, helping Coach Sean with the clean up:

Dental Success!

Today, Savannah took her first trip to the Dentist!

I have to admit, I was a bit nervous going into it. Savannah clung tightly to me as we walked through the exam room, and she initially wanted nothing to do with the hygienist.

That all quickly changed, however, as the talented staff completely won Savannah over.

First, the hygienist asked Savannah about her favorite Disney Princess. As soon as she replied, Savannah was handed her very own purple Belle toothbrush. Then, the hygienist whipped out the cleaning tools. She let Savannah play with "Mr. Tickle" (the water squirting tool) and "Mr. Thirsty" (the sucking tool). Savannah was given her choice of about 10 different kinds of toothpaste (she chose bubblegum), and she sat so still & happy for her entire cleaning.

By the time we were ready for x-rays, Savannah was in her own little happy dental land. Seriously, she loved loved loved it.

We left with a big bag of dental goodies & a very clean bill of dental health.

Good work, Savannah. We're so proud of you for being such a big kid!!!

Sucking on "Mr. Thirsty":

Sitting Tall for X-Rays:

Opening wide for the dentist:

Showing off one of her prizes: