1) music class. our last music class of the summer fell the day before we left for our trip and the weather was perfect! Greta joined in this time.
2) new bed for E! Elizabeth and Victoria have been trading places between the crib and the pack'n'play for the past several months. Elizabeth had started protesting going to bed, saying she wanted a big girl bed. at 3 3/4, that was a very reasonable request! she would often end up climbing into bed with Nick and I and that queen size bed just doesn't seem as roomy with three-in-a-bed. we didn't actually own a toddler bed; when Greta and Cece reached that age, they just transitioned to a twin bed. so I kept my eyes peeled on Facebook marketplace for a while and scored a practically new bed including mattress. the fact that it was already assembled made it even better! she absolutely loves her big girl bed and loves to arrange her blankets and stuffies just so.
so proud! she is wearing one of Greta's old dance recital costumes
my sister crocheted this blanket for her!
she is very much into the sleep masks these days
3) second piercing for G! she has been asking for a second piercing for months and finally we decided the time was right. we just went to Claire's, as we have done for the girls' previous ear piercings, and it was fine. she definitely looks more grown up!
the babies got to ride on a few of the mall rides on the way out
4) summertime deliciousness. of course we hit up Antney's for some ice cream. Nick's garden produced a bumper crop of tomatoes and we had BLTs for dinner one night. I couldn't get over how simple yet incredibly delicious they were -- and homegrown tomatoes make all the difference!
the amaretto cherry was to die for!
Victoria came home from daycare with this adorable Dutch braid.
Cece helped me arrange these caprese salad (with tomatoes and basil from the garden) and made a little sign for Nick
5) running. I followed Another Mother Runner's 10K training plan for my race at the end of September. the written plan synced to the Training Peaks app with reminders for the workout of the day, and I had access to a private Facebook group, and live strength classes throughout the course of the program. I've been using Peloton audio workouts to structure my runs and was completely surprised to find how much I loved one workout that alternated between hip hop songs and classical music! so I had to create my own playlist, mostly of songs that I played personally in youth orchestra, or that just have a great beat and cadence.
after a very muggy run on the trail!
6) excellent update on hip dysplasia for V! Victoria sees the orthopedist just once a year at this point, and at her annual checkup, he said she is doing fantastic. her x-rays look perfect. he wants to see her back next year, and then after that he said she will probably be discharged to follow up just as needed. even with in her best-case scenario, there is a small chance she may develop early onset arthritis (often manifesting in puberty) so we will be on the lookout for any symptoms as she grows. but today, she is doing great!
big girl showing off her sticker after the appointment
hip hip hooray -- no pun intended!!
7) preparing for back to school. the last Sunday of August was the school open house and welcome mass. Greta sang with the schola and then the girls got to check out their new classrooms. this year I actually took them on individual back-to-school shopping trips for their supplies; in previous years I didn't have the bandwidth for that and just ordered everything online. shoutout to Target for having everything they needed at relatively reasonable prices!
as I draft this post in December, this photo of the schedule is coming in very handy to organize teacher gifts!
the Pentecost branding for the fire door cracks me up. Catholic humor at its finest
Greta wasted no time preparing her room for spooky season
8) bonus round.
I was driving behind this station wagon for a while assuming it was Nick's because how many other wood paneled 90s wagons can there be on the road? then I noticed the roof rack and a strange woman sitting in the passenger seat and deduced that the driver was just my husband's kindred spirit.
Cece wrote this poem of her own volition. my mini-me, indeed (although it's been decades since I've written any)
at our local library in Pennsylvania, we found this game that my childhood friend's family in Washington state invented when I was in high school! I remember them going to toy conventions when they first launched. it was so crazy to see one out in the wild 25 years later!
1) wedding! on the first weekend in June, Nick's cousin was married in an absolutely beautiful ceremony (he played the organ for the wedding, and then chauffeured some of the family to the reception in the station wagon). it's always so much fun to spend time with his family, and the reception venue was stunning -- held in the grand hall of the train station, which has since been converted into apartments and an event space.
this is a strong contender for the 2025 Christmas card the last day of school was Friday, May 30, and the very next day, we dropped off Greta and Cece with Nick's parents to drive down to Ocean City, MD, first thing Sunday morning, while Nick and I followed with the babies after Nick played for two morning masses. I've been to Ocean City once before, during the summer of 2020 when social distancing rules were still in effect -- most restaurants were open for takeout only, and those that were open for dine-in required patrons to wear masks while walking to their tables. it was fun to go back and have a more normal beach experience! many thanks to Nick's parents for generously inviting us to come along.
Easter was "late" this year, April 20, which has the added benefit of slightly warmer temperatures. it always seems incongruous to me when Easter falls at the end of March and all the pretty Easter dresses are covered up by coats and we might have to choose snow boots rather than sandals! this was the first year Elizabeth was allowed to be more involved with hands-on egg dyeing and she was so excited. I bought the "deluxe" PAAS kit with extra supplies to make glittery and foil-bedecked eggs and somehow, by the grace of God, did not end up with glitter all over the house. I don't know how this one was so blurry but you get the idea! Greta's pastel eggs Cece's jewel-toned eggs I debated once again about which Easter mass to attend. we have attended the evening vigil once before , but that involves a lot of faith and perhaps a dash of insanity to attempt solo with young kids. so we typically go Easter morning, but I asked the older girls about it and they...
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