Happy Halloween

Here's my little bumblebee and chimney sweep (Bert from Mary Poppins, in case you needed clarification). I think the girls had a great albeit exhausting Halloween. Halloween on Sunday meant 3 days of costuming- parties at school, NOAH party on Saturday and trick or treating today. Now, on to secretly decreasing the amount of candy in those pumpkins without anyone knowing...

Gotcha

Four years ago, we trick or treated in Guangzhou, China with the sweetest, spunkiest, most interesting girl I had ever met. Not a day has gone by in these four years that I don't marvel at this amazing child of mine. God has truly blessed us. Lately, Helen loves to ask me to tell her the story of when we got her and how much we wanted her. It was a match made in heaven! I am amazed how quickly time goes and how grown up Helen is already. I cannot wait to see what else life has in store for this precious girl.

Beach trip

Beach trip, aka why October helps us remember why it's good to live in Texas! The temperature has started to drop- wait for it- to the 80s- gasp! You have to live here to know how big a deal that is. We haven't seen it since April. And lows nearing the 50s, well that just renders me speechless. We took the girls to the beach Saturday morning. We haven't been in a very long time for many reasons- too hot, Helen was afraid of ocean sounds, the stars wouldn't align to get every factor in the right place, too hot- wait, I said that, and ummm...oil.

I tried to take the girls on the 17th of September when school was out, but I failed to account for a tropical depression off the coast of Mexico, which apparently reached to Surfside Beach. We got within 4 miles and the dark clouds and thunder rolled in. This Saturday was great. It was almost chilly when we got there early in the morning (to avoid the sun) and just warm enough to be very pleasant by the time we left at noon. Daisy's teeth were chattering but she loved the ocean so much. She was down on her knees letting the waves crash into her. Helen was all about the seashell hunting. She brought home a bucket full and then carefully washed and dried every one of them for 2 hours when we got home. They were two of the cutest beach bums you ever saw.

Cicadas

After school, post-snack and homework, we ended up with a little impromptu science lesson. The climate outside was actually hospitable to human beings so we ran outside to enjoy it. We have been hearing the cicadas en masse for several weeks now and they leave their little exoskeletons hanging off of everything, but the girls have not seen them. Helen came wandering out with her binoculars and notebook ready to write her observations so I helped out a little by dropping a cicada skeleton on her book. Daisy said, "Ewwwww!" Helen got to work on her sentences. I printed out a bit of info and we learned why there are holes in the ground around my oak tree, why it's so loud out there, and that people in China eat them- Ewwwww!

Gymnastics

So Daisy started gymnastics a couple of weeks ago. As you can see, she may need to be a ballerina also based on that photo standing on point. The girl can walk on her toes- I mean on. the. end. of. her. toes, easily... She also has no problem bending her toes under and walking on them that way too. But for now, we're in gymnastics. She is the tiniest one there. So much so that the teacher came out the first day to ask when she was turning 3. My response, "Uh, she's 3 and a half." Great for a gymnast though right? I hope she gets some strength in that little body. She is going to have to work hard not to get knocked down in the school hallways. I keep seeing a little Vietnamese girl at the girls' school who is in Kindergarten and I know that is going to be Daisy in 2 years. The girl is so tiny and I saw today that she is still in a car seat, not a booster seat. But you can't see that picture of Daisy up above and not see that there is a giant personality in that teeny body!

Go Pack!

The girls are getting reintroduced to Wolfpack football. Tonight's game was so typical- have to wait to the last minute to type that we won even when we seem to be running away with it. Of course, they were in bed before halftime even though they don't have school tomorrow. We have to work hard to instill the NC State love in this land of Longhorns, Aggies, Cougars and who knows what else. Well, let's enjoy the moment: 3-0! Go Pack!

Triathlon

Helen participated in the Sugar Kidz Triathlon in Sugar Land today. She swam one lap of the pool, biked 1 mile and ran 1/4 mile in the 5-7 year old age group. There were about 350 kids age 13 and under. She was escorted by a lovely 10-year-old girl to be her "guide" and help her get around the course. I was so emotional it was beyond ridiculous. My picture are terrible and I don't have any of her actually swimming because I was crying the whole time! I am just so proud of her! She was not in any particular hurry but that was just fine. She also took a spill on her bike when another kid ran up on her from behind, but she got back on the bike and kept going so she has a little blood to show for her first triathlon.
One of the charity recipients was the C-different foundation, which works to help blind and visually impaired athletes compete. They have assisted blind athletes in competing in Ironman competitions and in other events like the NYC Triathlon.

Fan club!

Helen and Triona

Finishing up the bike ride

Transition area

Almost there

Finish line!