Solid Gold Dancers? Dance Party USA? Madonna, is that you???

I bet my sister had no idea that the Wii would be this much fun for our entire family...and I mean entire...

Each person that comes to our house and plays gets a character on the Wii game. This has been fun it itself. However, when Caitlin got Dance Party from Grandma and Grandpa Bishop for her birthday, we started a whole new disco party in basement, baby!

Note the 2 slackers in the bottom of the picture (Macy and Grandma Phyllis)...join in "Who Let the Dogs Out!" ladies!!! Who can resist?

Macy doesn't like to hold the remote, and her dances are off and on. However, Caitlin has learned to tell Macy after each dance that she won, and Macy screams with delight and hugs her sister like she just won a gold medal. Caitlin is pretty competitive, and works really hard to get her gold crown in dancing! Look out, So You Think You Can Dance! We're comin'!

"I tourn tree in Febooary!"

We celebrated Caitlin and Macy's 7th and 3rd birthdays together with family before senior night of Jon's basketball team. We were blessed to have Grandma Phyllis, Grandma Dawn, Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Don here to celebrate with us.

Caitlin got pop-its, clothes, DS and wii games, and books. Macy got shoes (which she's posing for the camera below...and yes, I am worried about her poses), strawberry shortcake dolls, polly pockets, clothes, books, barbies, and A NEW BLUE GUY! Great Aunt Sheila and Ole Uncle Mark sent some gifts and among them were these things called, Ugly Guys, which Macy immediately renamed Blue Guy, in memory of her old Blue Guy which was "put in the tash by mom cuz I put it in da tolet...after I peed in dere." We were so thankful to have another Blue Guy!

Macy got to choose the cake - purple (of course) Dora (double of course), since she only got to have a family party and not a friend party. Caitlin was fine with that.

Macy is quite the little 3 year old who still throws tantrums, will fold her arms and tell you she's mad at you if she doesn't get her way, hates being sent to her room (but is working on her "mad faces" so she doesn't get sent to her room as much), and mentions daily that "Dad - you my best fend." She often comments that nobody else can be Dad's best friend, Cakelin (Caitlin) has to be mom's best friend because Dad is already taken. Macy is a pistol, who will dance entire basketball games (especially high school ones where the band is always playing). People often dote on her and talk about how cute she is, and then when they talk to her, and tell her that, she then pulls out the, "I'm not cute! I'm Macy!" in her angriest tone. I then tell them that I doubt if they want to take her home anymore! As her parents, we wouldn't change that little stinker for one second! Her vibrant personalities, too-old for her age poses, snotty looks, statements and sneers are nothing compared to her love for her sister, her funny voices and laughs, and her complete satisfaction for being the baby of the family. She is a loving wonderful little 3 year old who brings us many joys, laughs, and definitely exercise! We love her more than she will ever know!

Seven Years Old...and sadly counting

Caitlin turned 7 this year and as I watched her with her friends posing for pictures and sharing squeals of excitement over girly gifts, I found myself sad and scared of all this happening too fast.

I am so proud of the little girl she is...so sweet with her sister and including her in almost everything she does. She loves school and talks about it a lot, but I sense some of her classmates "rubbing" off on her over the weekends when she hopes for a holiday on Monday. She can't wait for swimming and has mentioned her excitement for swimming lessons! She wants to get into karate terribly and loves to read. I have seen so much growth in her reading this year, and we are working on math (help!). Her teacher describes her as such a pleaser and says all the teachers want 20 of her in their room. Mrs. Plessl says she's where she's supposed to be in all subjects and about the middle of the class. Jon thinks I was upset by that, probably remembering our graduate school years together where I strived for A's on everything, but I was actually quite pleased. I so don't want her to try to be perfect on everything - that's so hard on a kid. She certainly is perfect in our eyes. She's very well behaved, with the exception of rambunctiousness and rough - housing...I don't know where my kids get that, but they can jump off the back of the couch and fly off the beds to the hall with the best of 'em. She's a happy kid who is very sensitive, especially with her dad. She backs mom no matter what - Jon will try to poke fun at me and get Caitlin to join in and it's so cute how Caitlin refuses. I use that as much as I can to win "discussions."

For her birthday, we invited all the girls in her class to a movie, Gnomeo and Juliet. They had a great time! We had them arrive 30 minutes before the movie, opened presents at the speed of sound and downed fruit punch and birthday cupcakes. To top it off, popcorn, pop and candy came with the package and all 10 girls were full of sugar!!! They did amazingly well (which was much to our surprise since they had screaming contests in the party room before the movie - Jon had to drop the hammer on that one)!

Snowman 2!

We had another big snowfall a couple weeks ago, and I finally got the pictures up! Jon got home late the night before from his basketball game, but woke up to take Caitlin sledding like he had promised. They went for about an hour and came back wet and spent, but joined Macy in some snowman building (since sledding is not her thing since I forced her to go down and she ended the sled route with 95% of her body covered in snow)...

She loves playing in it, so she joined in making snow angels and snowmen.

Of course, dad had to make the biggest balls for the snowman...hee hee hee...

Macy peacefully making her angel imprint...

Caitlin is ever the outdoors lover...no matter what the temperature - hot or cold - this kid wants to stay outside as long as possible. Somewhere this year we lost her snowpants, but she just loads up on the sweats and treks on. She gets red-cheeked and wet and stays out until we make her go in...

Before the final snowman was complete, dad plopped Macy on top and I took a picture of the laborers. They worked hard and we waved to that snowman each day on our way home from school. This week, in the middle of February, our snowman melted. The girls weren't a bit upset, because this meant we could go outside more (and without coats)!!! Today the temperature reached 72 degrees...c'mon Spring! I know you're tryin' to get here and we can't wait to see ya!

Basketball Season 2010-2011

No, not Jon's basketball season...Caitlin's. This year, Caitlin decided to play basketball. As I signed her up, I made a snap decision to coach and added the "if needed" phrase beside my X. Of course, I was needed. Not too many people volunteer to coach beginning basketball for 1st/2nd graders.
My first practice saw many balls flying over the 7 foot backboard and numerous travels and double dribbles. They gave me rules for my team like no guarding in the backcourt and no free throws. Refereees often stop the game to help explain rules to the kids, but the kids just want to shoot the ball - FROM ANYWHERE. They're pretty sure it's goin' in, too, EVERY TIME.

I've got 7 kids on my team. Well, 7 1/2 because I have a 2nd grader who is the equivalent of Shaquille O'Neal - on a 2nd grade scale. He dominates the inside. He provides excellent help defense and can shoot from the perimeter with great form. I really got lucky because I also have an excellent point guard...bless her heart, this excellent point guard is not my daughter.

Caitlin can line up on the out of bounds play like no other. She can yell "match up!" with the best of 'em and will be the first to volunteer to come out while subs come in. She continuously tells me she likes it, but really loves cheering for her team on the sideline. I honestly don't know if she likes that better than playing, I'm afraid to ask.

She tries very hard when she's out there, and one game she made 2/3 baskets. Not a bad percentage. It's very confusing to me how she can dominate the soccer field, but on the basketball court, she often has no idea where the ball is. When she shoots, one of her legs flies up behind her in a typical cheerleader way. She likes to high-five her teammates and pick out which shorts she'll wear. She is very good and getting up and down the court and is rarely winded. She isn't very aggressive, but has fun while she's out there and that's all we ever ask: try hard and have fun.

...and we'll keep on doing it as long as she's still having fun.

Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa Bishop

Since it was the year to have Christmas in Iowa, we celebrated it with the Bishops this past weekend. There was no way we could fit it in before then, since the Bishops spent A LOT of time in the hospital this year. Jon's dad had pneumonia, blood clots, and had to be admitted into the ICU. Before that, Jon's grandpa had a stroke and was in the Wichita hospital for quite awhile, as well. Jon got to go up and see him one day, and the girls and I went up one weekend and then we met Jon's parents and grandparents at one of his games one weekend and got to see them, there, as well. But, they had lots of presents for the girls, so they came down for a weekend of basketball (Caitlin's game), basketball (Jon's game) and Christmas!

The girls got pillow pets (which Caitlin has been asking for for 3 years), DS games for Caitlin, dress up clothes, crown and play earrings for Macy, a movie, a Thomas the Train for Macy's wooden train set, puzzles, coloring sets, and books. They were thrilled and it was exciting for them to get to open presents again - they couldn't believe it. Soon they're going to think they get presents monthly as their birthdays are next month...

Snow Days

January finally brought winter (and snow) to the state of Kansas. So much snow that they called 3 snow days in a row. One week after we'd gotten back from Christmas break. Man, I love the public school system some days (like snow days)...

I did feel for my comrades in Iowa. They don't have snow days at too many school districts there anymore, probably because they know how to drive in the stuff. On our way up to the gym, the girls and I, in my Nissan Altima (hardly a snow-friendly vehicle), waited behind a police car at a t-intersection. He tried to turn right, he skidded left. He backed up and tried again and skidded sideways. I backed up to give him more room. He got a "running start" and tried to go right through the stop sign...but he couldn't get through the snow. He waved me past him. I thought to myself and spoke out loud, "How does he think I'm going to be able to get through when he can't?" Caitlin and Macy voiced their concern in the backseats, too. Well, I tried anyway and used my skills that Mr. Heiberger taught me in my sophomore year of driver's ed class...and I made it through the stop sign on the first try! I high fived Caitlin in the back seat and we basked in our glory of our abilities to get onto the main road. That cop must have seen my front license plate that said IOWA state Cyclones, and knew I could drive in this crap.

Jon got to use his snow blower (only one on the block, baby!) and I took the kids sledding. Macy hated sledding, who was forced to go down and in doing so, was completely covered from head to toe in snow. Caitlin, however, is like a mailman and doesn't let any kind of weather stop her. She was out with dad letting the snow blow right in her face. She sledded on the football hill and our front yard. We couldn't find her snow pants, so she sported 2 pairs of sweats instead. Rarely did she ask to come in. She even asked to stay outside in the backyard when everyone else was heading in.

So, needless to say, we haven't taken our lights down, but on our block, it doesn't really matter what you do...happy Winter (and here's to 2 more snow days on the horizon - we hope)!