Friday, July 27, 2012

Where Is Our Summer Going?

It's only June 27th, the Olympics have just begun, we have weeks of scorching heat to go, but I feel like summer, as I know it, is over as I've been easing back into work for a few weeks now. Nevertheless, our laundry room has looked like this every day...swim suits drip-drying...

Anna Claire has green hair. You really can't tell from this picture because it's a little over~exposed, but trust me ~ it's very green...and it's not from chlorine. Did you know it's the copper in the algicide that does it?

Swim lessons continue; just one class left...Anna Claire and Mallory are doing great, but Anna Claire still has a hard time putting her head all the way under. She's only done it once.
Here's Mallory; I think she'll be swimming in a couple more weeks.


 And here's Anna Claire; she'll learn to swim on her own schedule.




Here's how I'm dealing with the stress of getting back to work. I baked the peanut~cola cake from the July issue of Southern Living. So. Good. That missing piece was my lunch yesterday, and while I'm being honest, I also had a slice for breakfast this morning. Shhh.
Mallory wanted me to take a picture of Fluttershy; I take almost as many pictures of toys as I take of the girls' themselves. What's so cute about this, though, isn't the pony; it's Mallory in the background "reading" the Martha Stewart Cookbook. She carries it all over the house with her.
And this is Anna Claire's summer reading...
She writes the words, draws a few pictures, then asks me to read her story...like those are real words and I should know what they say. After asking a few very carefully worded questions, I can usually conjure up a little story close enough to what she imagined.

Perhaps we have a future chef and a future author in the family?

Monday, July 23, 2012

Four~Year~Old Well~Check

Mallory and Anna Claire making their "silly faces" for the camera:



Thursday was Anna Claire and Mallory's well~check, and I'm pleased to say they checked out fine!Here are their stats:
Anna Claire:
height ~ 40 1/2 inches
weight ~ 36 1/2 lbs
50th %ile
vision and hearing normal

Mallory:
height ~ 40 3/4 inches
weight ~ 39 lbs
75th %ile for both
vision and hearing normal

The shots were horrible; they both screamed at the top of their lungs and cried huge heart breaking tears...nothing a happy meal couldn't fix, though.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Just Keep Swimming...

Anna Claire and Mallory started swim lessons yesterday. Here they are waiting for their class to get started.

There are only two other little girls in their class, and all four of them were so chatty {maybe a little nervous excitement??} hardly letting the teacher, Ms. Nicole, get a word in edgewise.

Both Anna Claire and Mallory did great; though, I would say Anna Claire was a little more cautious when it came to trusting Ms. Nicole to help her float on her back.


Sadly, class yesterday was cancelled because we had a huge thunderstorm. I was totally caught off guard what with class being held at the indoor pool, but I guess it does make sense. If there is thunder, then the pool has to be closed for thirty minutes; the girls' class is only thirty minutes long and the storm probably lasted more than an hour...so, no class}. Anna Claire and Mallory were heartbroken, so we went to McDonald's for shakes and ice cream!

Hopefully, the afternoon thunderstorms will stay away today!

Monday, July 16, 2012

Where Did Last Week Go?

Last week I had to work in Columbia for three days and it's almost like the week didn't even happen! As a result, I don't have many pictures from last week, but here they are in no particular order:

I managed to get another outfit completed for Anna Claire and Mallory.
 Mallory is such a hard worker. She was determined to help Walter rake the back yard and it was hot!
Anna Claire and Mallory are jumping off the side of the pool again. Every summer it takes them weeks to build up their nerve. Swim lessons start this afternoon!!
 Slippin' and slidin' at Grandmom's last weekend...
This is what I had to drive into and through everyday on my way back from Columbia last week {not a fun way to end already exhausting days and drives}.
This week we have swim lessons and the girls' fiour~year~old well check {including shots!}. Anna Claire and Mallory are very excited about swim classes. The shots...not so much. Wish us luck!

Monday, July 9, 2012

Bowen's Island

Friday night most of the Watson clan headed over to Bowen's Island for dinner. I hadn't eaten there in ages...even having burned to the ground, I'd say it hasn't changed much in the last twenty years or so...still scrumptious!

The girls loved looking out over the intercoastal searching for dolphins.

Not a bad family photo.

The weather wasn't too hot and the wait wasn't too long, but the girls were out way past their bed time which is pretty unusual for us. You've gotta break the rules every once in a while, though. It was definitely worth it.
Granny and Papa.
The family...too busy eating shrimp and oysters to look at the camera.



Thursday, July 5, 2012

Brave!

Today the girls and I saw Brave and I am so glad we did. It was a great mother~daughter{s} movie and definitely not your typical Disney princess movie {but I don't want to give too much away}.

Anna Claire and Mallory have been watching movie clips on You Tube for days trying to decide if they were too afraid of "the bear" to see the movie on the big screen. I read up on the plot of the movie and pretty much told them "the bear" wasn't really mean and scary{don't want to give away too many movie secrets}. They decided they wanted to go and loved every second if it ~ which was a good thing because I hadn't read about the other bear!

Happy Fourth of July...Even Though It's the 5th

Yesterday we spent the whole day in the pool celebrating the fourth of July by grillin' and chillin' with family. I didn't get many pictures at all, but had to share two quick ones.

Anna Claire made a new best friend in Hunter and talked his ear off. He kindly obliged her by listening to all her stories of princesses and lovies. So sweet!
This summer both Anna Claire and Mallory can bounce around the pool without their floaties! Mostly they're on their tip~toes, and I prefer them to be wearing a flotation device at all times {!!!}, but it is nice to know they can stand up now.
We sure hope you had a wonderful holiday, too!

Monday, July 2, 2012

Keeping Cool

Lunch by the pool...

Popsicles to make you drool...
It was so hot this weekend {still is} that if we weren't inside playing we were either in the pool or eating popsicles on the back porch.

My new favorite popsicle recipe:

8 oz fresh pineapple
1/2 c pineapple juice
1/4 c milk
1/4 c Coco Lopez
1/2 c coconut flakes

Blend until smooth then freeze in popsicle molds.

Tastes just like a pina colada {minus the rum}. Yum!