Author: pazmeyer

brownies: friendship

Tonight was Gwyneth’s first official meeting as a Brownie. The troop has grown by one and is up to 13, but has become easier. It’s hard to believe that we started with kindergartners and now have these sweet little second graders. 
We are giving the girls leadership roles and want them to run the meetings and pick out activities….with a bit of guidance still from Amy and me. 

Here’s to another fun year with these little ladies!

so tired

Today was pajamas and teddy bear day at school. The kindergartners through 2nd graders got to wear pj’s…Annabelle just missed the cut off and was a bit envious. They could also bring stuffed animals so Gwyneth brought “Banana”.

 PJ day is great and even better when we go to the library afterwards. Gwyneth thought it was hilarious she was allowed to just walk around in her pajamas. She had art class after our library trip and this girl was tired. It was a busy day and she was pretty worn out. Good thing she was already in her pj’s…

She was pretty excited to find this at the library. (I think Annabelle has this book at home, but I didn’t want to steal her thunder)

 Caught the tail end of swim practice. They were playing a game of chase and Annabelle was it. She couldn’t have been happier.

 And they are off…

 B had a late night so the girls and I grabbed a quick dinner at Larkburger. We can’t live on cupcakes alone…and that’s about all that I make these days. (Look how tired poor little Gwyneth is…so, so tired. Poor girl).

 Homework time. 

Busted adding on her fingers. As soon as she finished up this page of homework she asked f she could go to bed. We never have to fight this one at bedtime.

Annabelle developed a new challenge for us. On our weekly trip to the library she gets to pick out a book for me and I have to read it. Granted she makes her selection based purely on the picture on the front cover, but she found an interesting book this week. Her selection is about a narrator who wants to read and write, but has to work as a chef’s assistance in a kitchen. Hmmm….  I am up for the challenge.

carnival

It’s Friday. Woo hoo!! Gwyneth came home and got right to work on her spelling. What? On a Friday? I’ll take it!

The girls’ school had their fall carnival tonight. They were so, so excited. It was really  nice to see old friends and meet new friends. They are very happy with their new school and that makes my heart happy.

Gwyneth opted for the butterfly tattoo over the hair dye. Wise, wise choice.

Annabelle went all in with pink hair. 
Annabelle and her buds
Holy rainbow hair, ladies!
Cadence, Karsen’s older sister, was such a good sport in the pie throwing contest.
They got her good!
A carnival is not a carnival without a mermaid…

The next day B catered Kate’s grandparents’ anniversary party so I took all the girls to the park and then to Whimsy to paint.

After a busy morning we had a very quiet evening hanging at home watching the Bronco game. Annabelle showed off her new gymnastics moves…

The girls put on a half time show with a routine they choreographed and some rockin’ costumes…

B made margaritas and homemade hummus. It was fabulous. 
Look how sweet these are can be: 
We grabbed lunch Sunday at Bad Daddy Burgers
And then saw the movie Shaun the Sheep. I think the girls liked it. I napped and it was lovely. 

After five washes, Annabelle’s hair is still pink! Not really her hair so much as her scalp. Now it just looks like she has a major head wound. Yikes!

new brownie troop

Annabelle hasn’t had the best luck with girl scouts troops. The last two troops dissolved, so when her friend’s mom contacted me about starting a new troop for the girls I couldn’t say no. I would like her to have a positive experience with Girl Scouts and I’m happy to be a co-leader for her. 
We kicked off the new year with a pool party at our pool. The girls had pizza and swam and the moms talked about expectations for the year. I feel really good about this new troop and I’m looking forward to a year of fun with these little ladies. 
Morgan, Karsen, and Annabelle: such a sweet group of friends. 
They are all so different, but mesh so well together. 
My fabulous little Brownie.
The whole crew

swim team and library wednesdays

Anyone else hooked on Descendants? My children are and it’s all they want to watch. I’ve never actually watched, but I’ve heard it over and over in the car. Annabelle has now focused her attention on the book: 

Annabelle was invited to join the Junior Swim Team at school. She will be learning proper strokes and…well, I don’t exactly know because I don’t know much at all about swimming. She loves to be in the water, so this is a dream come true for her.

Gwyneth and I spent Annabelle’s swim lesson at the library. She’s not really much a reader, but has been asking to go more often so who am I to say no? I love going to the library so I’m always happy to take her, especially if it finally gets her excited about reading. (I didn’t enjoy reading until college so she won’t get pressure from me)

I enjoy the one on one time with my girls. It doesn’t happen often, but its very special when it does. They are different without their sibling there to antagonize them. I hear more about their day, more about their friends, what’s bugging them, what they are excited about, what they want, what they need. They talk, talk, talk. When it’s just the two of us, they talk and talk without any prompting and I mostly just get to listen to what’s new with them. And there is no bickering and that is happiness. 

Gwyneth has swim lessons during her PE class on Wednesday and this picture shows the havoc it causes on her braids. That is some wild and wacky hair and I love it.

We arrived at Annabelle’s swim lesson to find her….well, we found her legs!

This girl is just happy. She is working on mastering the breast stroke (and her handstands). She’s strong and excited to learn.

Annabelle swims for two hours on Wednesdays. She has swimming during P.E. class and again after school. I thought it would be too much. I thought she would be worn out and wouldn’t be focused on homework. She is determined to prove me wrong. Homework is intense at their new school. Each night we spend several hours on math, reading, spelling, and usually a special project. They are learning Spanish AND Mandarin. They are working to become better readers and writers and they are doing it in three different languages!

Add dance and Girl Scouts and I don’t know how they do it. They are full of energy. I worry about over-scheduling them, but they are always asking me to sign up for more, more, more. Gwyneth wants to take art classes, Annabelle wants to swim MORE and add an extra day of lessons. More playdates, more fun, more classes. I don’t know where they find this energy, but I am in awe of them. (I have put my foot down to the third day of swim lessons each week – mostly because I just can’t handle any more. I’m sure Annabelle would have no problem at all. )

brownies: bridging ceremony

Gwyneth’s troop has transitioned from Daisies to Brownies. She was so excited for the bridging ceremony. All the girls and the families met at our house for the ceremony and some treats afterwards. I’m looking forward to another fun year with his group. It’s a lot of work, but as long as Gwyneth still likes it I’m glad to be her troop leader. 

Our little make-shift bridge. We were not sure if the weather would cooperate with us so we moved the ceremony inside and  came up with this silly little bridge. It turned out better than I had hoped and the girls enjoyed taking their turn walking over it.

Our little Gwynny – Brownie extraordinaire. 
We’ve grown by 1 this year. We’re up to 13 girls. It’s a great group!
Gotta love these wild and crazy ladies!

one direction

We spent Saturday evening with the Conleys. Annabelle and Bella went off to play with make-up (oye!) and Gwyneth and Brayden played around outside. Such cute little friends. Gwyneth still loves when she gets to see him.

 I stayed up far too late, because well….that’s what I do. Annabelle and were up at 3:30 a.m. and off to airport for a ridiculously early flight to Chicago.

 We were in Chicago for less than 24 hours which is absolutely insane. Annabelle was excited to have the day to play with Lily.

 That evening we joined Becky, her friend, Madison, her friend, and Yaya for the One Direction concert at Solider Field. Annabelle was really excited for the concert, but I don’t think there was anything that could prepare her for the madness that is One Direction.

This little cutie was so excited.

 We had great seats in the club level section which meant more parents with younger kids and shorter bathroom lines. I can’t complain about that.

I’m not a fan of their music, but I’m so glad I had this experience with Annabelle. It was so loud! So many girls screaming and crying. She was a little shocked by it all, but she drank it all in quite happily. She sang along to the songs that she knew and picked out her favorite of the boys (Harry, I believe that’s the one…I think she likes him because Madison does).

 Less than 24 hours later we were at the airport heading home. She proudly wore her t-shirt on the plane and got lots of love from the flight attendants and our fellow passengers.

I had asked Gwyneth to join us too and she said “No way. I don’t want to see those stupid boys”. I asked if she wanted a souvenir from our trip. She said “No thanks. I don’t want anything from those stupid boys. Don’t bring me anything with their stupid faces on it”. Yeah, I guess we can safely say that Annabelle is the only One Direction fan in the house.

st louis

We went for a super quick trip to St. Louis. In August. August, friends. The love for my family can never be doubted. We flew in Saturday morning. Flew home Sunday afternoon. Total stay about 30 hours and worth every minute. Even if it was August in St. Louis.
First stop: lunch at Rigazzi’s. St. Louis style pizza and fishbowls. Life is good, good, good.
The oldest cousins, Madison and Annabelle. Madison showed Annabelle pictures of her boyfriend on her phone and Annabelle thinks she is just the coolest.
Annabelle and Auntie Becky
So much love for Auntie Becky and Lily
Obligatory silly face
We spent the rest of the afternoon playing games. I was undefeated at Guess Who so they decided to play with out me. Sore losers!
We spent our evening at the Cardinals Game. We got to enjoy a suite with lots of food, drinks, and the dessert cart. It’s certainly not a bad way to watch a baseball game. And oh yeah, air conditioning. I’m so much more agreeable and pleasant to be around with air conditioning.
The legendary dessert cart. It’s pretty fantastic.
The girls have been very patient and have always wanted a Fred Bird from the Build a Bear at Busch Stadium.  They were so thankful and so very happy!
Gwyneth named hers Freddy and Annabelle named hers Ferris Bueller. Fab names.
Becky’s family left earlier the next day but we had time to grab a quick lunch with them.
Packing up and heading out:
Strawberry Margaritas…a little throw back to our Mexico trip.
After lunch we took a brewery tour. In all the years I lived in St. Louis I had never been so this was a fun, first for me. 
 
Fast trip, but as always lots of fun!

first day of school: 2nd and 3rd grade

The big day has finally arrived. The first day of 2nd and 3rd grade. New school, new clothes, new backpacks, new opportunities. The girls were nervous and excited and ready to roll!
Our 3rd grader:
Our 2nd grader: 
Annabelle has two friends in her class. She was so excited to see them. The class sizes at their new school are so small. The max is 15 in each class. One of the many things that I really liked about their new school. 
It was a very quiet day at my house. I got caught up on work. It was so quiet. I missed these little ladies. We’ll find our routine, but I was so eager to pick them up after school. 
We celebrated the girls’ first day of school with Dairy Queen, which is dangerously close to their new school. The girls both had a great day. Made new friends. Like their new teachers. They are going to do great!