Sisters

In our house you will find many pairs of toys. They don't always look identical, but they are basically the same. Frequently Danyka has the pink version (her favorite color) and Whit's is blue (her favorite color). I thought it was pretty cute this last week when Whitney concluded that she wanted her hair to look just like her sister's. Danyka had hers cut short on Sunday. I knew that Whit's needed a trim as well but I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted done. Although, like the toys, they aren't identical...they are basically the same.

I love these little girls and it's a blessing to watch them grow up together. I see many years of laughter and silliness in our future.

Thanks to DeAnna who took this darling picture along with many others. You've got to love the fancy holiday dresses...and of course they must have a bow to match.

Where has the time gone?

I can't believe it's already the middle of February. I remember telling people in December that we should try to get together in January when things slowed down. Hmmm....that hasn't happened yet. Fortunately I think we've all enjoyed being busy. Every now and then we need a break, but overall life has been really good.

The girls are doing great and continue to enjoy spending most of their time together. Danyka is now enrolled for Kindergarten at the public school down the street. What a crazy thought! We won't find out what track she will be on until the end of May or early June. We also signed Whitney up for Preschool next year. Both Danyka and Whitney are still enjoying their dance classes. They will participate in their first recital in July. We're looking forward to it.

Scott and I have been keeping busy with lots of extracurricular activities. We still attend a couples Bible study on Tuesday nights and have been blessed with great friendships and fellowship. Just over a month ago, we committed to helping out with the college group. It is a great group of students. We meet on Thursday nights and often find ourselves spontaneously getting together with students at other times during the week.

I am also kept busy with my Heart 2 Heart commitments and my gym membership. My favorite class at the gym is Zumba. It's especially fun when friends are there to laugh with.

Unfortunately I haven't been great about getting the camera out lately. I have snapped a few random shots and then I took quite a few pictures on Valentine's Day. Scott and I had a blast taking the girls to see High School Musical on Ice. The best part was the girls' reactions. "Wow!" "Awesome!"

January and February have been fun and busy. No longer will I tell people, "Let's get together next month when things slow down." I don't see things slowing down for a while. Now when we want to hang out, we just have to find a date and mark it on the calendar.

It's the Most Wonderful and Craziest Time of the Year...

Merry Christmas friends and family!

I can hardly believe that Christmas is only 6 days away. This has definitely been our busiest holiday season since kids. My classic comment over the past two months is that it looks like someone threw up on our calendar. It seems like every little square has been filled in. Despite being somewhat overbooked, we have enjoyed a number of memory making events.

For Thanksgiving, we visited the Burrill side of the family in San Jose. We even snapped a bunch of family photos, which I will say went much more smoothly than I had anticipated. The cousins had fun playing together and the weather was beautiful. Of course we ate more than our fair share of food, but who didn't?

Normally I wouldn't post picture of the girls' artwork, but the turkeys were sentimental. After Thanksgiving we put out our Christmas decorations, which logically meant putting the Thanksgiving ones away. I know I'm a horrible mother, but I told the girls we had to get rid of the turkeys and that we could make new ones next year. Danyka was devastated. I think she's mostly over it now, but I informed Scott that we were not going to create Future Pack Rats of America. Yes, I am a bit of a minimalist.

Last week had a fabulous time visiting my parents in Colorado. Since we are staying home for Christmas this year, we decided to visit in mid December and help my dad celebrate his 60th birthday. Since our birthdays are only three days apart, we got to celebrate mine as well. It was great spending time with the family.

While we were in Colorado Whitney had her ears pierced. She cried briefly, but she's been excited to show off her ears ever since. We let her pick out her earrings and we were quite happy with her choice. You never know what is brewing in a 2 1/2 year old's mind.

For Granddad's birthday we visited the North Pole amusement park in Colorado springs. Danyka and Whitney loved wearing Grandma's scarves. We had to wear lots of layers because it was VERY cold.

Whitney loved visiting Santa and even asked if he could join us on the rides. She would have sat with him all day long. Danyka thought she wanted to see Santa but she was overcome with fear when given the opportunity to sit with him. As you can see, there is no picture of Dany and Santa.

Most of the rides were geared toward small children but Granddad was glad he had the opportunity to sit with Whitney on the carousel and Danyka on the old fashioned cars. We all had a great day.

On Sunday, the day before we left, a storm hit. By the time we went outside to play, there was plenty of fresh snow and it was a whopping -8 degrees outside. As you can imagine, we didn't last very long. I'm glad there was a little snow because both girls stood in awe of the crystalized snowflakes that fell from the sky.

As soon as we arrived back home, life's reality set in once again. The next morning Scott and I joined Whitney for her last Mommy and Me dance class. She is such a ham. Although she won't be 3 until March, she will start in the 3 year old class come January. She is little miss independent and she is ready to move on without mommy.

The following night we packed up the family and headed to the church for Danyka's preschool Christmas performance. It was precious. This year she stood on risers and was particularly careful not to fall. Our favorite part was when Whitney yelled hi to her sister who then responded by saying, "Hi Whitney, I'm on the stage." So cute!

Last night Danyka had her final dance class for the fall session. She is learning a lot and it is a joy to watch her doing something she loves. She did not participate in the fall recital but we are hoping both she and Whitney will in the spring. I have to admit that I like watching the tap more than the ballet. It's so amusing.

Although this blog has been long, it is only a glimpse of what has taken place over the past few weeks. We are looking forward to a less busy calendar next month but we are anxiously awaiting Christmas morning. The girls are so excited and that makes the holidays so much fun. Danyka is really beginning to understand the true meaning of Christmas. It is so tender to see Jesus from a Child's perspective.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I'm sure I won't get around to blogging again for a while.

PURE Entertainment!

As stated in earlier blogs, our house seems to be all things princess. When my mom came to visit several months ago, she was fully entertained by the girls dancing to the music from one of the Barbie movies. The funniest part is how particular they are about their dance moves and who gets to sing what. I have to admit that you don't get the full effect from this video, but we still think it's pretty cute.

I also thought since I hadn't posted in a while that I would include some pictures from Halloween. They seem to suit this post just fine because the girls wore the same costumes for Halloween as they did in this video. Our evening was a blast. We spent about 30 minutes at our church Harvest festival, ate a quick meal at On the Border and then we went trick-or-treating in our court. Whitney kept saying, "Look at all my trick or treats." So cute!

Biker Babes

Over the weekend Scott and I purchased bicycles for the girls. We had thought about getting them for Christmas, but we decided it would be more fun to get them now while they could enjoy riding in the nice fall weather rather than rain.

Today was a perfect day to play outside. We promised the girls they could ride their bikes after lunch and then again after dinner. The first time we walked (ran) around our court with them while they rode. Whitney was a speed demon; Danyka was slow and cautious. Both of them were frequently reminded to pay attention to where they were going. We ran over a few of our neighbors' lawns and even fell on at least two of them. Hopefully they won't mind. The girls had a blast and Scott and I were all smiles. We are loving this stage of life.

After dinner we traveled to a local elementary school where the girls enjoyed free reign of an entire parking lot. Danyka's confidence began building and she pedaled herself all over the place. Whitney seemed a little tired. She often demanded help starting her bike. Fortunately, even after she took a spill to the asphalt, she still wanted to ride. We're wondering how sore their little legs will be tomorrow.

After our lessons today, I informed Scott that he will be teaching them to drive. Bike riding makes me anxious enough.

We had a fabulous weekend and according to the forecast, we should have great weather this week. If you are trying to find us, just search the great outdoors. We will be busy practicing.

Best Friends Forever

I think every parent hopes their children will be close. Scott and I have been truly blessed to have two little girls that call each other "Best Friend". Like all siblings, they have their moments, but most of the time they are inseperable.

(Proud to wear their baby rings)

Beyond the enjoyment of playing together, you can tell that they have a deep concern for the needs of the other. If one of them is hurt, the other will try to comfort them and make sure an adult is present. If Scott and I don't hear a comment, it will be repeated by sister until it has surely been made known.

Recently they have been so sweet about sharing their food. Whitney often shares her potty rewards (two candy corns) with Danyka and Danyka usually saves something from her school lunch for Whit. The best part is that these actions are not prompted by anyone.

Our hope is that they will stay Best Friends Forever. Scott and I are so proud of them and anxious to see what God has for them in the future.

Mommy Fix It!

(The Culprit)

This morning Danyka was using scissors to cut some shapes out for her homework. I was busy finishing last minute details for the craft show. Whitney was coloring.

When Danyka was done with the scissors I told Whitney she could use them. She's used them quite a few times so I wasn't particularly worried. I continued to work and I heard the oh so common words, "uh oh".

I turned around and saw Whitney holding Dora's head that she had just cut out of her flannel pj's. It was funny and frustrating at the same time. There was about a quarter sized hole where Dora's head had previously been.

Fortunately, Mommy came to the rescue. I stitched Dora's head back on and there is no longer a hole. I have to admit I was proud of my workmanship, although it's very obvious where the hole was.

Needless to say, we had a discussion about only cutting paper in the future. This just felt like such a classic mom story. I'm sure all of you moms out there can relate.