Sophia's Music Program

Sophia goes to Kindergarten at a little school called SW Montessori. It is basically a one room school for three to five year olds with a kindergarten program. It was a last minute decision to send her to this school, rather then the public school we had signed her up for. We decided that we wanted a smaller, more nurturing environment for Sophia for this year. Also, Sophia is a young five year old with an August birthday, so we were unsure if putting her into a public school kindergarten was the right thing at that time.

We were lucky that the director of the school (who is also the lead teacher) allowed Sophia into the program. The Kindergarten program is usually reserved for kids who have been with the school for three years. But, Lisa had unexpected opening, and after meeting Sophia and seeing that she could read and write and was a good listener, she agreed to accept us. It has been such a blessing. Sophia has absolutely thrived at this school. The montessori materials are wonderful. The families at the school are wonderful. I am just amazed at how much Sophia is learning. The teachers have recommended that she move to First Grade. We still do not know exactly what that school will be, but we are excited for her. And, next year, Juliet will get to go to SW Montessori as preschooler!

Today was the music program at SW montessori. Sophia has been talking about it all week. She made a pig hat at school for the program. She got to chose which animal she wanted, and that is what she chose. They have been practicing so hard. Sophia was almost bursting with excitement. The program was so, so, darling. Sophia was very confident and very sweet. Later, in the afternoon, the school rented a room at a community center. We went ice skating, and had hot chocolate and treats. Sophia said that the day was as wonderful as she had imaged!

These are the four and five year olds in the school.

Sophia getting ready to perform.

Juliet and Adam in the audience.

Sophia singing a song.

Proud Mommy.

Sophia showing us where she will be standing once the show started.

Dance class

The two little tushies on the right are Juliet and Sophia.

These are just a few cute pictures of Juliet in her dance outfit and the girls at dance class. The teacher is really nice, but firm. All of the kids have fun, but must follow her directions. Sophia and Juliet are good little listeners. They are both really graceful, too.

The Little Gym

Juliet and I do a mommy and me gymnatics class every tuesday after we drop Sophia off at Kindergarten. First we go to Caribou and sit and drink hot chocolate and a skim latte. Then, we head off for some gymnastics. Juliet likes the class and has become more comfortable doing things on her own in the gym. She likes to be first and to be the teacher's helper. Today was the last day of class, and she got her medal. I used to do these classes with Sophia when she was a toddler, so I often think of her while Juliet and I are in class together.

Random Pictures for a Random Day

These are pictures from Adam's iPhone from the last few months:

Juliet fell asleep in the car today on the way to her first "drop off" birthday party. She did great!

Last weekend we went to the Como conservatory. It is a great place to go in the winter in an attempt to pretend that winter is not really happening.

Look at those big blue eyes!



Sophia has really blue eyes, too. She told me last night, "my friends say they look like turquoise." I am just impressed she has friends who know the color turquoise.

Cute, as always.

Auntie Chris. This is the newest member of the Heffelbower clan: Whitney Ann Finneman. She loved to suck on my shirt. She was born at the end of the November.

Yes, it is cold here. Really, really cold. And, we don't mess around. Notice Sophia's snow pants, thick winter coat, hat and gloves. Notice my fake-fur lined boots, down coat, big gloves, and warm hat. This picture was taken after the mega-snow storm a few weeks ago.

The problem with being the blogger and the photographer in the family, is that there are few pictures taken of me. That's okay, except I do not want the girls to look back at the blog and wonder where I was! So, these are few pictures of me and the girls.

Today was a hectic day. First, we all have bad colds. That means that Juliet was up about five times last night, requesting her infamous "mamadaddy" until we come. She ultimately ended up in bed with us at about five in the morning, and fell asleep for another couple of hours. But, the minute she was in the car, she fell asleep.

Second, the girls had dance class this morning. We are not a very scheduled family, and do not sign the kids up for much. But, Sophia has been begging me to do a dance class, and this class she and Juliet could do together. It is at a Minneapolis community center. The class is so cute and they are learning some real ballet moves. Juliet came out of class once to tell me, "Mommy! I just whistled," and then promptly ran back to class.

Third, Sophia's friend Rory invited both Sophia and Juliet to her birthday party at a suburban community center. This is the first time that Juliet has been to a "drop off" birthday party. She did great, mostly because big sister Sophia was there. It was a big day! We are planning a much more relaxed "family day" tomorrow.

Pinkalicious

At bedtime, we always read bedtime stories. One of the favorite stories is a book called "Pinkalicious." In that book, a little girl loves pink so much, and she eats so many pink cupcakes, she turns pink. Sophia and Juliet know the story almost by heart. Thus, I often pause at places in the book and one of them provides the next word in the story.

In the story, after the little girl turned pink, her mother took her straight to the doctor. The doctor looked at the girl and said, "You have a very rare and acute case of ......" At this point, I paused in book, expecting Juliet to fill-in the correct word, which is "pinkatitis." Instead, she says, "diarrhea." So the line went, "You have a very rare and acute case of....diarrhea." I could not stop laughing. Sophia then chimes in and says, "Just call me 'stinkerella.'" In the book, the correct line is "Just call me pinkerella." I was laughing so hard that I was crying and the girls actually became a little concerned.

Christmas In Green Bay

Our little Santa Juliet. She was ho ho ho'ing the entire week before we left for Green Bay.



Always silly Sophia.




The sisters at church.

In their Christmas jammies on Christmas morning, waiting to open presents.

Playing with their new pillow pets in their new ballet outfits.

Grandma playing with the girls and their new American Girl Dolls from Grandma and Grandpa.

Opening the American Girls Dolls. Juliet has Elizabeth and Sophia has Felicity.

Breakfast with Grandpa. They let Adam and me sleep in.

Grandpa the wild horse. We haven't asked if he has needed to go to the chiropractor.

Work Holiday Party

From left to right is Adam, me, my good friend Carrie and her husband, Shari and her husband Bruce. Bruce is the head of the litigation department, and I have been working for him for 10 years.

There are so few photos of Adam and me. Here is one!

I like my job, which I is why I continue to do it. It would be very difficult for me to work if I did not like my job, because my job takes me away from the girls. I am lucky that I have a flexible part time schedule and interesting work. The work party was fun, albeit a little crazy because it was snowing pretty hard before, during, and after.

Too cute

This blog is great for remembering the cute things the girls say:

At Sophia's school, they were talking about peace. They asked all of the kids to think of a time they felt peaceful, write it down, and draw a picture. Sophia wrote "running with Juliet" and drew a picture of them running together. It made me so happy to look at it.

*************

Adam, Sophia, and Juliet were snuggled on a chair watching the Vikings game together. I sat down near them on the couch. A minute later Juliet said, "Mama, you don't have anybody." She crawled off of Adam's chair and snuggled on my lap on the couch, presumably, so that I would "have somebody."

Oh Christmas Tree

We are a little obsessed with our Christmas tree this year. We have lived in our house nine years and this is only the second time we have had a tree. When we were young and career-focused, we had no time for a tree. Then, we had little kids and became safety focused, and a tree in our little house was not in the cards. But, this year the stars aligned, and we got a tree. We decided to get the smallest tree we could find a Bachmans. This one is about 6 feet tall and totally perfect in every way. The girls had so much fun putting on the ornaments and still have fun rearranging them on the tree. We love our little tree!

Adam's Little Helper

Sophia helped Adam paint the hallway during the storm. She was a great helper. And, yes, that is princess underwear on her head. Adam improvised a "hat" to keep the paint off of her hair (she did not want to ruin one of her good hats). She looks mad in this picture because she was bugged that I had interrupted her painting.

Here is Adam looking very happy doing his painting. In reality, he was getting frustrated with the high ceiling in the stairway. It is still a work in progress.

Snowed-In

Post-storm checking out the snow piles

Cold, but having fun.

From the girls' bedroom window. It looks more impressive in real life.


Mid-storm

The airport was closed; the city buses stopped running; the snow plows couldn't operate; and the roof of the metrodome fell in! It was quite the storm! 17 inches of snow in less than 24 hours. All the neighbors helped each other out. Diane helped snow-plow out our cars. Adam helped Tom push his car out of the street and Jessie plowed the sidewalk. What a weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving!

At school, both Juliet and Sophia were asked what they were thankful for. Here is what they said:

Juliet
I am thankful for...Mama.

Sophia
I am thankful for...my family because my sister and me can jump on the bed while we're waiting for the bath!

Adam and I are thankful for two sweet little girls.

Sophia's Deep Thoughts

Sophia has a lot of deep thoughts:

The other day, I was talking to Sophia about a trip we took to Arizona when she was six months old. She asked if Juliet went on the trip, too. I said, "No, Juliet was not born yet." She replied, "She was in your tummy, right?" I said, "No. Juliet was not in my tummy." Totally perplexed, Sophia asked, "Then where WAS she?" I did not know how to answer. But, really, where WAS Juliet before she was born? I still think about it.

At school, Sophia has a geography lesson every week. She likes to talk to us about places and the earth. The other day she eagerly asked Adam and me, "Do you know who owns the earth?" We said that we didn't. She said, "No one owns the earth! Or, maybe the sky owns the earth!"

Sophia keeps us thinking!

Sophia's Kindergarten Experience

Sophia has a "drawer" at school. Everyday, she pulls out all of the things she did in school. The other day she brought this home. It is sheet of paper where she sounded out and and wrote all of our names:

Adaum

Cras

Sophia

Juliet

She did the same thing for this exercise. They were talking about "action" words in her Kindergarten class. Here is what she wrote:

I can...

1. Syam (swim)

2. run

3. red (read)

4. Dro (draw)

5. Play

She also drew a picture of herself swimming at the lake. I told Sophia that she is learning more than I did in Kindergarten. She responded, "You should have gone to Montessori."

Juliet the Artist

Juliet likes to draw. She likes to draw people and draws the cutest little faces. She will draw a face and say, "That's Mommy, or that's Daddy, or that's Sophia."

Happy Halloween!

The two little princesses in dresses made by Green Bay Grandma

Having way too much fun!

Getting candy with the neighbor kids

And they are off!



The loot.

Adam went trick or treating with the girls this year, and I stayed behind to hand out treats. The girls were so excited to get and eat candy. They started trick or treating with some of their favorite neighborhood kids (the Bitneys). Juliet's little winter boots, which she insisted on wearing, made her fall a few times. Adam asked if there was anything he could do to help her. She relied, "When I fall, just say 'whoa.'"