Cooking

Aunt N got Little Miss A a fun cupcake set a while back and we used Spring Break as a time to "break" it out!  A absolutely loved it!  She could do the whole thing on her own.

YUM!

Chen Chen

Little Miss A's class pet Chen Chen the monkey got to spend the weekend with us. With trips all around town, I had to keep checking to make sure that we hadn't lost the beloved class monkey!

Little Miss A was so excited to FINALLY have Chen Chen come home with her and kept trying to come up with new places to take him. CUTE! :)

Little Miss A's New Smile

After looking like Nanny McPhee ALL day yesterday, Little Miss A's gums finally let go of tooth number 4...exactly one week after tooth number 3 fell out! Much like last week, Little Miss A wanted it come out "by itself!" As we were enjoying some ice cream, it fell out and like last time she just calmly announced the arrival. "Look at this..."

She looks so different without those top two baby teeth...sounds different too! :)

Another One Bites the Dust

Little Miss A's super wiggly front tooth, finally decided to make it's debut on New Year's day. She was dead set against having it pulled. She announced (very calmly, I might add) that she moved her tooth with her tongue and it just fell in her hand "without even bleeding" which was her big deal with having it pulled in the first place. Her right front was actually wiggly before the left, but the left fell out first. You can tell that her right front won't be far behind. :)

Cheer Performance

Little Miss A had her cheer performance finale at the Austin Toros game.

Little Miss A looked so grown up! It was so surreal to see her out there on the court! We all had so much fun that I think we are going to need to go back again for another game soon. :)

Glamour Party

Little Miss A went to her sweet friend Ks birthday party this weekend...a glamour party. The girls walked in and immediately jumped into gorgeous gowns and glass slippers, then hit the nail salon. With polish still wet, they hopped into the stylist chair for a princess do with a touch of make up too! Afterward it was back to the princess room for the royal ball. :) Little Miss A had SOOOOOOOO much fun!

Walking Pneumonia! :(

My Little Miss A has walking pneumonia!!!!!! This was so upsetting to me...I thought it was just a cough...poor baby. Staying home with breathing treatments, Nebulizer and sick Daddy for a few days this week. I don't think we've EVER been this sick over at the Caswell house. :(

Official Riders!!!

A friend of mine was insisting that I try out their family "green machine" to help A & D drop the training wheels on their big boy/big girl bikes. We picked it up on Sunday around 4:30, ran some errands and were back home close to 6:30. Not exaggerating, they played on the "green machine" collectively for maybe 30 minutes and both decided to grab their big bikes and hit the pavement without a hitch. Off they went like they've been doing this for years! These videos were taken a little after 7:00!

We are so excited to hit the road as a family!!! We'll be practicing every day until they feel confident enough to handle the hills in the neighborhood. So glad we live at the end of cul-de-sac so we can practice after school as often as we want! :)

Cheer

Little Miss A's cheer class is going to present their holiday showcase at one of the Austin Toros games. (I will sadly admit that I had look them up online. Who knew that Austin had a minor league basketball team?) With their classes shaping their routine, so they'll be ready, parents were invited to attend the class to check it out. Unfortunately, I had a mandatory faculty meeting at the same time and had to miss. Thankfully, I was able to snap a few pics before I headed back to campus. They were only stretching, but we'll have Little Miss A perform her cheer at home for us this weekend. Hopefully I can post a video later.

She sure loves her cheer class. Coach Kim is amazing!!! She was telling me after class how impressed she is with her "cheerability" Little Miss A's confidence is definitely improving...she's not looking around the room at all the other girls before following Coach Kim's directions/lead. YEA!!!

Can't Stop the Chop

Though we are FSU alumni, this post actually has nothing to do with college football!!! Our Little Miss A wanted to get a haircut. She was drawing all sorts of pictures this morning showing what she wanted it to look like, how it would be styled, etc. It was short!!! When we asked her to show us with her fingers on her hair how short she wanted it, she pointed to her chin! Talked a little bit down from that style, she came home with this...

then immediately wanted it in a pony. (Thankfully it still fits.)

She's already planning her style for church tomorrow morning. She wants it just like Mommy's! This is going to be fun! I don't know who is more excited about that...her or me! :)

Running Champ

Holy crow, we have a runner in the family!!!! Aunt K, you would be proud. One of our gym coaches caught me in the hallway after school gloating about Little Miss A's performance in PE this afternoon, urging me to ask her how she did in gym class today. When I asked her, she said "Mom, I was the fastest and got ALL the scores!!!!" Through a serious line of questioning to interpret this news, I found out that they had a bunch of races in gym class today and Little Miss A came in first for almost all of them. Did I mention she was in a dress? Granted she still had on sneakers, but still this is co-ed PE!

GO LITTLE MISS A!!!! :)

Mr. D's class goes to gym tomorrow for the same exercises, so we'll see how he does. The pressure is on, but he's already betting on a good performance after Little Miss A's experience today. He's counting on the fact that he'll "beat his friends for sure!"

I am SOOOOOO glad they are in different special area class blocks!

What Does Freedom Mean?

As we were wrapping up the evening getting ready for bed tonight, Little Miss A informed me that "That's not Freedom! My teacher said freedom is getting to make your own choices, and I definitely didn't choose bedtime!" Happy freedom week Little Miss A, but it's still bedtime! :)

A New Kind of Bike Ride

Tio Luiz stopped by for an afternoon at the house to hang/play/rough house with the Caswell twins which they of course LOVE!!!! :) He rode his motorcycle to the house...SOOOOO COOL!!! As he left, he gave each of them a quick ride down our street. The grins were priceless!!!

The Spirit Stick

Little Miss A absolutely LOVES her cheer class! Coach Kim is awesome!!!!

Today was a super special day for Miss A...she came home with the SPIRIT STICK!!!!! Every week coach Kim selects a cheerleader that shows the most effort during class. This week, that was our sweet Little Miss A. She was absolutely BEAMING with delight when Mr. D and I picked her up from class. :)

Our Little Cheer Girl

For the past year, Little Miss A has been asking to take cheer. This summer we signed her up with Coach Kim, a former varsity UT cheerleader, here in the neighborhood. Today was her first class. She LOVED it!!!! As soon as we got home, she started showing me the cheers they did...I was really surprised she remembered them so well. (Not to mention fantastic form and total confidence.) Then she began showing us her cartwheels, round offs and even walking on her hands!?!? Where in the world did all that come from? Surely this wasn't all from this ONE class!?!? Did my little girl have all these secret talents hidden that were suddenly revealed with the help of Coach Kim? Maybe she's been secretly practicing in her room when she plays. Although she'll occupy herself up there for hours on end, cleanup always looks like barbie explosion, not a tumbling arena. Who knows, but we are definitely seeing a new side of our sweet little girl.

Bat Fest

All summer Little Miss A has been asking for a toe ring. She and I got one together at the Austin annual Bat Fest. :) We made an afternoon of the event and browsed and ate, enjoyed live music and people watched. What a fun end of summer treat. (Although truth be told, we both love our toe rings so much I wish we would have begun the summer with them so we could have enjoyed them longer. Little Miss A has to wear sneakers everyday to school, so the toe ring may not last long for her.)

Bye Bye Baby

Well, Little Miss A's baby tooth #2 is officially gone. My sweet baby girl is becoming more and more grown up by the second. The dentist informed me when we went in for exams this week that her top two teeth are loose as well. *GASP!* My first thought was "Please hold on to those babies until we've had our school pictures in a month or so." The dentist said she would most likely still have them by then, but that they will probably be missing by Christmas. My darling daughter already has a mounting Christmas list in her desk drawer, I think she may be asking for her "2 front teeth" in addition to what she already has on her list! YIKES!!!

Tooth Fairy Treasures

Little Miss A awoke to a pillow covered with fairy dust and a $5 bill inside her tooth fairy pillow pocket. Needless-to-say, she was ecstatic and immediately began to ponder how to spend it. That's my girl. :) Holy crow, when I was growing up it was a quarter. Apparently, that's the 30 year inflation rate! WOW:)

Tooth Fairy Time!!!

While bouncing today, Little Miss A's most wobbly tooth got INCREDIBLY loose!! At lunch I noticed it flopping around, which I have to admit, kind of freaked me out. She could push it ALL the way forward, but couldn't push it back in the least.

This is the last picture (just before Daddy provided a little tooth pulling assistance tonight) of my baby girl with ALL of her baby teeth. (Does she look a little frightened, or is it just me?)

Two tugs and voila!!! A total transformation! She looks so much older to me, I can't even stand it. Even as I type this I am tearing up, my baby is growing up WAY too stinkin' fast!!!!!! :(

Little Miss A was so excited to break out her tooth fairy pillow!!!! Yes, the one that traveled with us on vacation just in case. :)

We can't wait to see what the tooth fairy brings her!! :)

Hair Do by Drew

Little Miss A was more than happy to have her bun shish-kabobbed by Mr. D.