Time in a bottle....

I don't have any... if you know of a resource, let me know.
Sarah is sitting with her friends "The Wonder Pets" and Sophie is sitting contently in her pack and play. Since it's anyone's guess how long she'll (Sophie) will sit there quietly I decided to just try to update the readers. :)
Let's see...
The last couple of weeks have been crazy with me deep in the trenches of planning our curriculum and schedule for homeschool, which is due to start September 1 for us. Oh my! I've always been a bit of a office supply, catalog junkie. I'll curl up with a good catalog even if I have no desire what-so-ever to purchase from them. For example...I poured over LL Bean's new snow gear. For those that don't know where we live...we have snow once every 5 years or so. And when we do, the state closes down...it's not like we need snow gear. For those that know where we live...yeah, I know...weird. I digress....
We do finally have everything we need to begin our Kindergarten year...minus some decorating touches. A cousin was able to score us a cool "real" school desk that has already began many a fights. Sarah is so excited about her desk. We're continuing on with Phonics Pathways...Sarah is a great little reader. And we are adding Rod and Staff to that. By Christmas Sarah should be able to read our Bible story from her little readers. Also finishing Horizons K math. She's a real wiz at math so far. Thank goodness. I have to say, math was one of my favorite subjects and it pretty much "just clicked" with me....but I don't know how well I explain it yet. :) Hopefully we'll just click along.
We've got lots of read-alouds planned. From Richard Scarry's "Please and Thank You" to "The Secret Garden". Two of our absolute favorites this summer were "My Father's Dragon" (the series) and "Cricket in Times Square". I've even enjoyed reading...maybe there is hope for me yet!!!
Sophie is doing all sorts of new things. Avoiding trips to the ER is my favorite. The girl has no fear. The only thing she hasn't managed to climb yet is the entertainment center. Although I'm not so sure she hasn't been devising a plan for that.
She loves the Little People toys, the magna-doodle (mostly sticking that cool stick in the cooler hole), anything in a zip-lock bag. She literally lights up if you hand her a bag full of anything. Balls, balls, balls. She likes them small, but the globe seems to be her favorite...though I suspect only because it's the only one her majesty hasn't been able to get a hold of.
She's trying to jump. Which really is the cutest thing. All the umph! and none of the height.
She LOVES her shoes! The girl is all about her shoes. They must be on. Period. If she finds yours, she'll insist you put yours on too. She'll stop dead in her tracks for shoes.
She's 15 months old today. And *gasp* still loving her "baba" (bottle). What can I say? She does eat food, but without any back teeth I can't blame her for thinking it's not really worth the effort. She has her 15 month appointment tomorrow. *sigh* We both need Valium. We took Sarah for her dentist appointment a couple of weeks ago and her and Sophie BOTH screamed through the whole thing. I felt like I was going down a slide of razor blades into a pool of alcohol. Sophie cries at slightest inkling that someone with ANY sort of medical background is going to come remotely close to her. Including the vet. Sarah was the same way...but sheesh!!
But good heavens the girl is full of cute!!!!! (though she's whining right now, so I'm having to dig deep for this thought...) She doesn't waste a smile, but when you get one it's the best! She loves to snuggle. Loves to hold your hand. And just loves to be where you are. It's hard to believe it was only 6 months ago last week that we met and fell in love.

Sarah starts ballet at Ballet Magnificat in 2 weeks. Admittedly, her mom's dream, not hers. But she is more than a little star struck by Kathy Thibedeaux...I think she's going to love it there.
Our kindergarten co-op will start sometime in September. She's looking forward to meeting her new friends. Which was a pretty funny moment the other night. I realized in something she said that she thinks her friends will always be the one's mom goes out and gets for her. Which I guess is true enough now. She's had a new "class" of friends every year...rarely did the same friends show up in consecutive years...and if they did they were attached to mommy's friends. O.K. so it is true right now. Do me a favor, let's continue letting her think this for, oh let's say, 15 more years???? heehee
She is still a good bit jealous of Sophie. Never in a million years did I think the stacking doughnuts would be such an item of contention! But as Sophie is gaining some independence I've seen some improvement...so if we can just get Sophie to graduate early and go off to college, Sarah will be fine. heehee And Sophie is getting big and coordinated enough to tackle big sister with a fair amount of success. I warned Sarah...Sophie is no delicate flower...she's built for taking care of herself! :)

So we are having fun most of the time. A bit stir-crazy. Ready for the school routine (I think). But sooooo thankful for what He has done. And learning to be thankful for refining fires....
And here are some more pics:

Here is Sarah running her first 1-mile fun run. 12:37 was her time!


Ahhhhh the innocence!!


Need to get Sophie busy for a few minutes? Just say "let's go brush our teeth"...she's all about good oral hygiene!!


This was taken our our 6-months home homestudy day. Thank you Sophie, for a smile!! I was afraid China wouldn't think you were happy.


"The Day I Reached THE SUMMIT" by Sophie. This is as high as you can go in the living room...and she got there. Quietly...without any hint of her goal. Suddenly I heard a strange noise and peeked in on her. No shame. Just pride. *sigh*