Soccer!

First soccer practice! She was the youngest, the only girl, the only one with no experience, and the only one who didn't know anybody. She was sad that it was indoors when she thought it would be outdoors. There were tears and even a bloody nose, but she didn't quit and she ran her butt off. My parents used to tell me that they didn't care if I was the best at something, they just wanted me to try my hardest. I don't think I ever believed them until now...I have never been so proud in my life.

 



Great job, Red!!!

Kindergarten!

Delilah was so excited to start school again. She was a little disappointed to learn that Mrs. King from Pre-K wouldn't be her teacher again, but other than that she was ready to go. Here we are on our now-annual night-before-school family prayer visit. Noelle randomly chose to wear the EXACT same dress that Delilah wore to prayer night the year before. So sweet.

I love that Delilah wanted to wear the wedding dress from Uncle Bryan's wedding.

And here are pics from the first day of school. All four of us walked together, and it was so cute to see Delilah running into friends from last year. :)

Do I even need to say how much I love this photo?

Saying goodbye to sister

We know you will have such an incredible year, Delilah. We love you!!

Summer Catch Up

And, finally, we end summer with all those pics and memories that didn't end up in a post of their own.



First, my Aunt Diane came to visit from Guatemala. Auntie Dee is a force of nature that deserves not only a whole post, but a whole blog dedicated to her. I am closer to her than any non-immediate family member and I adore her with my whole heart.  She lived in NYC for over 20 (30?) years, and I lived with her in SoHo my first year in NYC in my twenties. She is wild and crazy and lives life on her own terms. I was THRILLED that my girls got the chance to meet her. They loved her, too. The next several pics are ones that she took while we played at a park. I am broken-hearted that I didn't realize until it was too late that she wasn't in any of the pics.

 

 

And here are some shots from throughout the months:



Always headed to a playground with a sandbox

Delilah teaching Noelle how to play Candyland

Making cookies with friends Lyla and Keira

In her new Ariel nightgown from cousin Lauren. An instant favorite.

Learning to ride a tricycle! Delilah took this pic. :)

I just love this photo of them.

Summertime!



 Since Coney Island is the girls' favorite place in the whole world, we surprised them with a trip there one day. Didn't tell them where we were going, just got on the subway and headed out. Delilah's shriek upon seeing the boardwalk must have been heard for miles! The day looks gloomy in the pics, but it really wasn't. Warm and sunny and perfect. The girls loved sitting on the sand and having the waves knock them over. They LOVE the beach.

 

Nap on Dad!

 And some more general merriment!

They loved to play winter dress-up when it was 95 degrees outside

They made their own tea party while I was in the shower. :)

Delilah took this pic and I included it because this has been one of Noelle's favorite toys all summer

 The weekend before school started, we had one last picnic in Central Park with our good friends, the Blinds. Their daughter, Alexa, is about 8 months older than Noelle and everyone always thinks they are sisters.

 

Au revoir, Summer! You were so good to us this year!!!!!!!!!!!!!



School for Noelle

It was time. Noelle has been ready, and I was finally ready. There is a pre-school/daycare just around the corner from us that I had heard wonderful things about, so I checked it out and it seemed like the perfect fit. Noelle can go 2 days a week, and I can have some time to do....everything. The first day there were no tears at all because she was just so excited. The second day there were a few tears, but I remembered something my friend did when her daughter got sad and it worked like a charm. I drew a heart on Noelle's hand, then a heart on my hand and told her that whenever we missed each other, we could look at our hearts. Her teacher said she just kept looking at it all day, smiling, and holding it to her cheek.
Since then, we draw a heart every school day, but there has been no more sadness and no more tears. She LOVES school. She is sometimes sad on the days that she doesn't have school. Her main teacher is Miss Paula, and Noelle adores her. One of the other teachers is Mr. Bart and Noelle says he is her boyfriend. :)  I love that she is getting to do so many craft projects and sing songs and make new friends because, to be honest, I have not been the most crafty mom lately. We definitely always include art in our days, but it is usually not very involved. I am a better mom now because there is a little balance to my week and I have some time to concentrate and get my studies done.
Here's the conversation from the night before school started:
Delilah: You get to go to school tomorrow, Noelle!
Noelle: Yay! Will I get stickers?
Delilah: Probably. I'm not sure. But one thing I'm sure of is that you will make a lot of new friends.

 How's that for sisterly encouragement? :)

Here is the little bug on her first day.

So happy for you, Noelle...and there are few things better than getting to see your sweet, smiling face when I pick you up at the end of the day!!!!!

Texas: Austin and Dallas

The second half of our Texas tour took us to Austin and Dallas. There are two non-family families that I make sure to include on all Texas trips when possible: The Bighams and The Duewalls. Austin brought us to the first of those families and we had such a wonderful time. The Bighams just finished building their new house and I was so excited to see it. It's beautiful and perfect and I loved getting to hang out with them there. The 4 girls picked up right where they left off, just like they always do. And for me, hanging out with Laura is like being home...love you, sweetheart. We were in the pool a ton (of course) and we also went to a bouncy house b/c I was a little water-logged at this point of our vacation.

Noelle also got her first pigtails at Laura's house

We all scream for ice cream!

After our glorious days in Austin, we headed to Dallas to stay with the Ernzens. The girls had been so excited all week to see Lauren and Taylor and they were not disappointed. Again, a ton of time in the pool and we also went to an awesome science museum where the girls could play with a ton of stuff. This part of the trip was the biggest break for me because Taylor and Lauren just took my girls upstairs and played with them for hours at a time. Loved getting to hang out with Ted and Kim...and we even got to have an adult night going to the Astros/Rangers baseball game. 'Stros lost but I had a blast anyway. :)

 

And the day before we headed back to NY, we hung out with the Duewalls. I was so excited to meet baby Cole who was born a few months ago. Noelle LOVED him. It was also our first time to see Runyon since moving away. Delilah was excited to see her, but not sad, which was perfect. I got a little sad. And I don't know if Runyon remembered us, but she did just sort of lay on me all day, so I'm thinking she was feeling connected in some way. We spent the day in, yep, the pool. It was over too fast, but so glad we got to spend that time together. We love the Duewalls!!!

Bye for now, Texas. We love you!