Do you ever have one of those moments? You look at your child and suddenly they are not the same person they were yesterday. They not only look different, but they sound a bit older, carry themselves more assuredly. My two year old has done that to me several times as of late, but Seleia has really overwhelmed me lately. How is my baby a young woman already? With her 10th birthday fast approaching, the ear piercing rite-of-passage on the horizon, and plans for no less than a roller skating party, I find myself sitting back and taking it all in. She just got here, and she could be halfway to having a family of her own! I don't want to take a single second for granted. For the next 18 days, I still have a 9 year old. Oh, how I love her.

Their First Games

Friday night was a very big night. Seleia and Elora had their very first basketball games.  Said Seleia, "I want to keep playing basketball forever!!". Even Elora made a basket! More than one parents commented, "Wow, that kid can dribble!" which is something she practices every day and was excited to see pay off. (I bought the girls their own basketballs a couple of weeks ago.  Elora has slept with hers more than once.) Seleia was a very enthusiastic, vocal player ("I'm OPEN!")who gave the game her all. (And as I've admitted before, the iphone ain't that great with action shots.  Next week I'll try to remember to take an actual camera!) I. AM. SO. PROUD.  Elora took a basketball to the nose, and as this game was all 7 year old girls, the ref took a time out and gave her a hug...love it...but she got right back in there and played hard. Seleia made a few baskets and had a few close ones but never quit beaming. They're already counting down the days till next Friday's game. Truthfully, so am I!

Snowmen and Snowballs and Sledding, Oh My!

What a day! The snow fell steadily throughout the night, so before I went to bed  I pulled the blinds up in the girls' room so they could see a winter wonderland first thing in the morning. Their excitement upon waking was out of control. A blanket of white, as far as the eye could see! They got right to their schoolwork so they could go play outside, but I had to take pity and let them have an hour long "recess" mid-morning. They were in heaven!! They built snowmen (we were out of carrots, so they got celery noses!), sledding hills, made angles and, as always, snacked on snow. Dashiell kept sneaking his mitten off so that he could gobble up some handfuls, too. After some more schoolwork and a nice warm lunch, back out they went! The neighbor kids had a snow day from school, so some friends joined them out front as they built a few more snowmen and another sledding run. Finally, frozen and soaked from head to toe (but beaming from ear to ear!) they headed back in to "bundle up on the inside" with popcorn and hot chocolate. In the world of kid-dom it simply does not get much better than this!

Basketball Season!

This past Friday was the last basketball practice before the games begin later this week. Joel had to miss it so I, of course, compensated by taking about 752 pictures. My phone doesn't take the best action shots, and these kids were moving, but you get the general idea. (And Dashiell, when not entertained by watching his sissies, rather enjoyed chewing on his mini basketball and making Amarra fetch it. She got quite a workout herself.) They ran lines, practiced defense, dribbled with their right and their left, worked on rebounding, did layups...you name it! Coach Frank (yes, the tall guy in the blue) was a red shirt for the Olympic team and knows his stuff, but Basketball itself is his secondary emphasis. First?  Character. He talks about commitment, life skills, attitude, hard work, sportsmanship, respect and reaching your goals even more than about shooting and passing. Out of the couple of hundred kids in this league he seems to know them all by name (he even said Seleia correctly) and genuinely care about each individual. He wants them to succeed. Seleia and Elora are in the youngest age group, 7-9, and so most of the kids are just learning the sport. It is so fun to watch these kids discover what they can do! And if you've ever been to a children's sports game, then you know there's an element of just plain entertainment in there as well.
Oh, and Seleia? That girl can shoot. This is going to be fun.

The Little Actresses

A new quarter of acting classes started up this week, and this time Amarra, finally six years old, was old enough to join in. She was so excited...asking, "How many days till my acting class?" every day for about 10 days leading up to her first day. She will be performing with Elora in Cinderella's Mice, a fairy tale from the mouse perspective. I am extremely impressed with Amarra for taking this class, as she can at times be paralyzingly shy (UNlike her big sisters). She wouldn't quite say lines onstage without help during auditions, so she is thrilled that her part will be small. But the real story here is that she auditioned. She got onstage and said lines.I am so incredibly proud of her. I actually tried a bit to talk her out of taking the class because I've had so much fun with her during the girl's classes, but to no avail.  Now it's just the boy and me. But he's pretty fun, too, so I suppose I'll get by.)
Seleia, running around in the bright orange shirt up there, will be performing in The Creature in the Classroom, a play based on and primarily written in poetry. The lines she has brought home already are hilarious. I love watching her laugh every time she reads them.
Performances are March 9th, people! Mark your calendars!

DNA Demystified

Did you know that strawberries have DNA? But, as the girls learned today, every living thing has DNA. They took the DNA from strawberries, mixed it with salt water and alcohol and watched the DNA strands attach themselves to bubbles in a test tube. Next? Why they mixed their own saliva, of course. These teeny tiny bubbles in a test tube had even teeny tinier little white strands attached to them, and DNA is so amazing and compact that what looked lite millimeters of the stuff would have stretched to over 6 feet in length is laid out straight! Seleia loved doing the chemistry of it all, mixing everything in a tube and volunteering to mix up even more at the front of the class. Elora just plain loved looking at the DNA strands appear in the tube! These OMSI labs have been such a great experience and the girls get so excited for them each week. Hooray for science!