Sisters

I know I've said (for almost 3 yrs now) how I LOVE having two girls.  While my days of dressing them alike are practically over, they are the best of friends and definitely keep each other entertained.  (Right now as I write this they have set up some sort of Pet Store/Humane Society with all of the stuff animals in our living room.  I keep hearing monkey calls and kitty meows.)  I barely have to break out my referee whistle which is so nice!  Individually, they have me earning my keep but that's another story!   

Polly Pockets EVERYDAY

A blast from the past

And a video montage of the SISTERS in action!  I needed a tissue for this one!  :) 

On a side note, the girls had docter appt & dentist appt this week and got clean bill of health on all counts.  Hailey (at 5yrs and 5 months weighs 39 pounds and is 3 ft 8 inches and Kai (at 2yrs and 10 months weighs 31 pounds and is 3 ft 1 inch.  (Hailey weighed 30 pounds around Kai's age and was the same height)  

Tidbits and Photos

Kai's recent tidbits...

When Hailey was getting upset and worked up about something Kai told me, "Hailey needs to do this" (as she was taking deep breaths) :)

Hailey asked us who was shooting off the fireworks on the 4th of July and Kailee told her it was God. 

Kai loves to put barrettes/clippies in my hair and then will say, "now you look like a girl!"  Thanks!

I do most of my shopping here online (the PX is limited and most things on the Economy are too expensive with the high Euro exchange rate, not to mention peace at my computer vs trying to drag two little ones out) so the girls are acustom to Daddy bringing home lots of packages.  We were playing in a dr waiting room one day and Kailee told me that she "wanted to get one of these toys in the mail"

Hailey's tidbits....
We have recently gotten a fish tank (more about that in a future post!) and it is all Leevi's and the girls' project.  The water needed to be changed but it was getting pretty late to take on such a task so when Hailey asked me if they could change the water I told her to ask Daddy and her response was, "Dad's in charge of the fish...but you're in charge of bedtime"  Smart girl! :) 

Hailey has recently reverted to getting upset before bedtime and wanting me to snuggle her until she falls asleep (it probably has a lot to do with me being so lax on their bed-time this summer...boo mom, although Hailey has always been the "needy" one as opposed to Kailee...playing, sleeping, being scared...that could be a whole other post but it would definitely peg one child as much "easier" than the other :)  )  So I'm staying firm and not caving even with as crazy as some of our nights get and I've been telling Hailey that I need some alone time and her reply once was, "Sometimes Daddy watches us when you go to the commissary and that gives you alone time."  Quite true....sad that we start to cherish those moments to grocery shop in peace!

The other thing I've been a "bad" mom about this summer is letting Hailey have an occasional soda (Fanta or Sprite) We are big water pushers here!  Hailey told me one time that when she drinks her orange drink "steam come out of her nose"

We always pass many vineyards on our excursions around Germany.  One day I was explaining to Hailey about how they used to stomp on grapes with their feet to make wine and she thought it was the most disgusting thing in the world and vowed to never drink wine!  :) 

Speaking of wine....these aren't grapes though,  They are the cherries in our backyard!  They have all practically fallen from the tree now (what a mess...and it brought flies and bees!!!) but for awhile the girls were making cherry juice  and somehow they convince me to let them rub a cherry on me....it really did look like blood!

Ipod....getting ready for a road trip

We stopped to see a chainsaw carving contest...pretty amazing

Dress up!

Leevi's parents celebrated their 29th anniversary here!

We haven't had a chance to do much swimming here because it's been too chilly!

It doesn't stay warm enough for consecutive days to warm the water!

Bedtime stories with Grandma

Buffalo Park

Grandpa and Grandma

Hailey was grumpy because she wanted to take a picture by herself and Kai was grumpy because Hailey hurt her feelings! 

Can you feel the love?

A little bribery!

Triberg Wasserfall

Hailey, Piper, Kailee, Farrah

Kailee's Summer Pedicure

Kai decided she needed a nap one day and brought me a blanket and asked me to rock her

Princess Hailey battling left handed with her wrong hand on top but hitting quite efficiently



Hailey Girl

 

I've had this post about Hailey started for awhile now but have just been lazy.  Leevi is traveling again so I envisioned all of this free time in the evenings after the girls go down but we've been busy with friends and I've been really slack with the girls bedtime this summer.  The sun doesn't set here in the summers until almost 10 so bedtime really sneaks up on us!

Hailey girl is super excited about starting kindergarten this Fall.  We are very curious to find out the classroom assignments...numbers are dropping rapidly with the scheduled closure of this post so as of now there will be two kindergartens but I'll be really surprised if it stays that way.  We are hoping there will be just enough kids for two SMALL kindergartens and not one BIG one but that would mean she and her buddies might be split up.  The school year starts on the 29th of August but the kindergartners start a week late after Labor Day and that "free" week for teachers is spent doing home visits to the Kindergartners' families (I'm impressed!!!)  We have already gotten her school supplies (I'm not sure who was more excited!)  :) 

We had a lot of fun watching the Women's World Cup together and I think since we met many of the players she was even more intrigued.  (On a side note, Kai's favorite "player" is Coach Pia...most likely because she was very easy to recognize.  Hailey's favorite is Hope Solo and Tobin Heath...she liked Tobin's picture)   Come Finals, Leevi was traveling so I let the girls stay up to watch the game with me (almost 9pm kick off here) and Hailey kept saying over and over how nervous she was!   So cute.  She made it until almost the end of the game and I carried her up to bed before the start of the overtime.  She woke up only to mumble, "is it over?" Thankfully she didn't ask who won because I'm sure I would have said "the US".  I still can't believe they lost and I was really surprised at how sad I felt.  Great for Japan (Ya-pan according to the German announcers) and their country but WOW, how did we blow it??!!!   My favorite tidbit from Hailey during the tournament was when our defender got red carded in the game against Brazil and had to be sent off the field and into the locker room.  I explained to Hailey what happened and why she had to leave the game and a few minutes later she asked me how long the girl had to stay in the "lock up" room!  :) 

Her latest rite of passage in girlhood has been learning how to braid!!!!!!!!!  She got a Barbie head for her birthday and has mastered the braid on that...of course she had now moved on to Barbies, My Little Ponies, and ME! 

She is still more stubborn opinionated than ever about her clothing!  I supposed I could care less during the summer but we'll see how many battles I pick once school starts.  At least she has drastically curbed my clothes shopping for the girls!  :)

With her best bud, Talia

Journal writing/drawing

They don't leave Daddy's side when he returns from his business trips

Exercise

I always felt guilty from the age the girls could crawl about having to force them to sit in a stroller while I exercised or walked Leila.  I know I've said it in the past but my most favorite part about our new house/neighborhood is ability to ride/walk safely to just about anywhere we typically go on a daily basis...school, commissary, library, bank, soccer practice, dance class.  The PX is a bit far for Kai on her scooter but it's more about me having the patience to wait on her!  We are still working on being faster with her balance bike although again it's more me taking the time with her vs knowing she'll be faster on her scooter.  Hailey is great on her bike and can go pretty far distances (in those cases, Kai will ride with me on my bike) 

These last two pictures are from an indoor play place called MegaPlay...we went on a raining chilly day...all of these play places have bikes and trikes and all sorts of ride on things. I looked into buying one of these taxi-type trikes and they are over $300...nevermind! :)

 

A video clip of the girls riding out front...pay attention to the last scooter race where Kai beats Hailey (she had a head start) and Hailey says, "I'm gonna get my bike so I can keep up with you!"  :)  Kai's a beast!   

Weinheim and Ladenberg

All of these recent posts are out of order and I'm still trying to play catch up. The day after Grandma and Grandpa arrived we headed out on our first adventure. One of my favorite quick afternoon trips to take visitors to is a small castle close by and then to the cute little town of Ladenberg.

Exploring Burg Windeck overlooking Weinheim

Sittin on the potty!

Love the ruins!

Off to Ladenberg

Love the cobblestone streets

 

We had ice cream and espresso at a cute cafe until the rain chased us away!

Kai Kai My

I'm trying to catch up on blog posts before we go back to the States and then I get really behind!  I haven't done a recent post about the girls individually so here are some updates about Kai.  I am loving her as a two year old!  As we creep closer and closer to THREE she is becoming more and more strong-willed...testing limits, protesting bedtime, getting picky about clothes (ughhh....I've definitely given up the fight with both girls in that department.  It's not worth the stress I cause myself!  At least they both still like dresses!)   Kai says that she's TWO turning FIVE (like Hailey).  She still cracks all of us up with her accent (all O sounds are more like AW drawn out, so "top" sounds like "tawp") and according to Kailee "big girls don't wear underwear".  :)  She is quite the liar story-teller when it comes to confessing to something she did wrong.  Her alibi gets very detailed about a mouse being the culprit.  Two of my favorite phrases that she gets twisted up are "one quick" for "real quick" and "inever" for "forever" which sounds like "ineber". 

I remember THREE being difficult with Hailey so we are savoring these last two months with our adorable TWO year old before her tantrums aren't so cute anymore because she'll know better!  ;)  

Singing the song from Sleeping Beauty...sorry it's so dark!

I LOVE this "scooter leg"

The girls take lots of sink baths when they come in from outback...usually it's just their hands and feet though!

Her recent FAVORITE dress up outfit (two skirts and of course the Pinkalicious crown)

Playing Handy Manny...she LOVES to tinker!

Accessory Queen!