Video Update

We decided to head out bike riding this morning before the storms came. So, after a quick breakfast, we went out to the parking lot behind our neighborhood town center so Nina would have some open room to practice in. Here is a little video of the bike rider this morning.

Started off With Three Wheels...

...then went to four, just to get to two! That's actually a line from a kids' song I've heard, but I'm borrowing it today as it fits this post. Nina learned to ride her bike without training wheels yesterday. It was awesome. We really didn't think we'd be going down that road any time soon, but yesterday she asked us if she could try it, so we decided to let her give it a shot. I honestly thought the learning session would go about five minutes then be done. However, with Mark running alongside the bike, she got tons of confidence, learned balance, and was riding up and down our street with no training wheels.

After being out there riding for awhile, we had her take a break for about an hour (it's quite a workout for the parent too), then I took the next shift of running alongside the bike. By that time, she was riding along while chatting, humming, and asking to ride around the loop where all the big kids were playing, all the time asking, "Where are the boys?"...GREAT... Mark and I can guarantee that the first crash is going to come from being distracted by the boys while riding and not paying attention to where she's going.

I did take video of it, but my video made me a little dizzy when watching it. Today is supposed to rain all day, but I'm sure we'll be out a lot more tomorrow riding bikes. I'll try to remember to take a better video then.

Note: If you're wondering if anyone is giving that poor little Lyla any attention at all (after all, the past few posts have been about Nina), rest assured, she's still here. If there was any interest in photos or videos of a toddler pulling everything out of the garage only to not play with it and leave it on the driveway, yard, or sidewalk, we'd have plenty footage of Lyla!

Flying a Kite

Yesterday afternoon was great weather to fly a kite. This was Nina's first time flying a kite, and she really enjoyed it. Mark taught her how to maneuver it around, and after that, she was doing it on her own.

She was having a great time and a lot of success flying the kite down the sidewalk by our house, but then one big gust came along and blew the kite into a tree. We were able to get it down after cutting the string, and next time we'll take her to a more open area as to not worry about that, but even with trees and houses to factor in, she really did well.

Crazy Kids

Maybe it was the sugar high from the icing we let them put on on chocolate chip cookie bars, or maybe it was the Party Favorites music that was on, but Nina and Lyla were in a pretty crazy mood tonight. They were having fun dancing, being silly, and running to the couch to crash into Mark. After a few nice, warm days, I think we're all feeling a bit nutty that it actually snowed again today!

This Made My Day

Every so often your kid does something that really makes you happy. Yesterday was one of those days. After Lyla laid down for a nap, Nina wanted to work on making her a birthday card. This is what she wanted me to help her spell, "Dear Lyla, I love you because you are so silly and you are a good sissy. Happy Veggie Birthday. Love, Nina" (Lyla loved Veggie Tales.) After making the card, she asked if I would take her to the store so she could buy something for Lyla for her birthday. Lyla has a stuffed Bob (the tomato), and Nina wanted to get her the stuffed Larry (the cucumber), so I took her to the store, and she used just shy of four weeks' allowance to buy her sister a birthday present. The reason it made my day was because Nina was so happy doing it. She got to experience what all of us feel when we buy/make/do something for someone that we know they're really going to love - even if it means sacrificing something in order to do it. It was neat to see her so excited to spend her money on something for Lyla, and she's doing a good job so far at keeping the present a surprise.

Ahh...Warmth

I know it's only the middle of February, but today made it feel like spring was on it's way (even though I know it's not). It was sunny and relatively warm, so after Nina got home from preschool, we were outside to play. Nina wanted to work on roller skating first, and Lyla did some exploring with her umbrella, then it was riding scooters and bikes until it was time to come in for dinner. I love afternoons like this and can't wait for the warm weather to come back!

A Special Date

Today was a special day for Nina. She got to go on a date with Uncle Bo. She was so excited all day and was ready to head out right away as soon as Bo came to pick her up. They had a great date afternoon at Fairfax Corner's Color Me Mine and Ben & Jerry's. Bo said she asked lots of questions including, "Do you have any wild animals living at your house?" Since she doesn't know much about guys in their 20's, I thought that was a funny question to ask. Anyway, she came home and told us that she had a really great time. What a nice uncle!

In Honor of Valentine's Day...

On Tuesday night, I started feeling really bad and ended up being the sickest I've been in a long time from then until now. I'm still not completely better, but at least I'm out of bed and moving around. Since we basically quaranteened me to the bedroom, I had a lot of time to lay there and think (you can only read and watch TV so much), and I got to thinking that Valentine's Day was right around the corner. I certainly think it's nice to have a designated day on the calendar to specifically celebrate the sweetie in your life, but I think everyone would pass up the Valentine rituals and celebrations just to have the people they love show they care more than one day a year. This week I got to see love in action, and to me that's really what showing love to a person is all about. So, in honor of Valentine's Day, here's how love looked to me this week...

Mark taking on full responsibility of the house, the kids, grocery shopping, cooking, and cleaning so I could try to get rest and get better.

My mom, after a full day at work, making us a big pot of delicious homemade soup, and driving it over the same night so I'd have something to eat.

Getting cards from Grandma and Grandpa.

A call from my brother to say he's coming over tomorrow to take Nina out for some fun time.

A call from my sister to say that a special package is on the way for the girls.

Getting picture texts from Mark at the bowling alley of Nina and Lyla having a great time out with dad at the bowling alley on Friday evening.

Air hugs and air kisses from across the room from the girls because they couldn't come close to give me a hug and a kiss.

After four straight days of "doing hair" Mark getting good at pony tails!

Super Bowl

We had a few friends over for Super Bowl, so we went with a fun cake for dessert. Mark turned a little Cake Boss on me and actually cut out the shape of the football, the helmets, and he even decorated the Packers helmet. Who knew he had it in him? Nina and Lyla got nice and comfortable hanging out between our friends Mary and Simon.

Little Bible Teacher

Lyla asked Nina to read her the Bible story of Jonah, so I got the camera to see if I could record how this came out. Here is Nina "reading" the story to Lyla. Except for the fact that Jonah wasn't in the big fish for 10 days, it was a pretty accurate rendition.

Dad's Night

Last night was the much anticipated Dad's Night at Nina's preschool. After dinner out at Bertucci's, they went to her school. Mark got a tour of the classroom by Nina, they got to hammer geo boards together, they got their height measured in Dinos (the class symbol), the Dad's got to see a song performance, and they got special letters from their child. They both had a great time, and after getting canceled last week, it was worth the wait this week!

Lyla Loves...

...to play Handy Manny. She carries her tool box around the house with a pencil behind her ear and asks for things to fix....to wear her hair in pony tails now that it's long enough.
...to be a part of anything Nina is doing.

It's hard to believe our little girl will be three in a little over a month!

Backyard Friends

This morning there were tons of squeals and screams. The birds found the bird house today. We put the house out Sunday afternoon, but we hadn't seen any birds visiting it. This morning, there were over 15 birds there at one point. The brave ones (not deterred by the very colorful and very unnatural paint color of the bird house) went inside to eat, while the others waited underneath and picked all the seeds that fell on the snow. Nina and Lyla sat at the window and watched for a long time. They were so excited that the birds located the house and came to get food this morning. Keeping the birds company, is Snowflake the Snowman (named by Nina) who is currently standing next to the tree. After the "warm" weather supposedly arriving tomorrow, we're not sure how much longer he'll be out there.

Super Bowl and Sex Trafficking

If you can't imagine how they're related, read this article. You might remember a post I did about this time last year related to spikes in sex trafficking in South Africa as the World Cup approached. While it's depressing to think that these well loved sporting events carry a dark side to them, the sad part for me is that the traffickers are just moving with the supply and demand concept. I hope that many girls can be rescued from pimps and traffickers on account of awareness brought by articles like this, but until the demand is addressed, the traffickers will keep going after an endless "supply" of young girls to meet the demand set by the men right here in our own country.

At a recent workshop on trafficking that I attended, Brad Myles, director of the Polaris Project, addressed this exact issue. Here in the United States, law enforcement can go after traffickers and pimps all day long, and girls can hopefully get rescued when law enforcement is alerted, but until the issue of the "john" and the demand for the supply is addressed, the cycle just keeps going round and round. It's sad to think that we're our own problem with this issue.