Ryan x 4

This morning Ryan went on dissertation about how "we need to be nice to people, everybody has to be nice to people, it's just the nice thing to do"....to which I, of course, agreed with.  She gives me that look and says "mom, I was talking about you....you need to be nice to me" - I responded by asking if she was referring to when I called her out for not listening to me while she was attacking hugging her sister. She says "Mom, I said, we're talking about you.  Not me.   You need to be nice to everybody in the world". Regardless, here are four shots of my mini-me.

Scooter mania

With the ridiculous weather we've been having, Ryan was able to bust out her scooter and beloved helmet. Cruisin' the hood with her buddy Amelia.  And by 'hood', I mean Amelia's driveway.
This one was only allowed to stand. The day we allow Reese onto any sort of movable device is when they make full body armour for kids and a padded cage for which she can practice. That kid would be off full force down the block at mach speed, belly laughing the whole way, obliviously into onward traffic. Shutter.

Giada

Ryan is mildly obsessed with Giada de Laurentiis, which couldn't make me happier. When Reese naps, we'll sometimes sit down and watch our 'cooking show' together. We now bring our little Target side table (which weighs all of 2 pounds) into the kitchen so Ryan can 'play Giada'. She's even been known to ask to watch episodes on my computer. Now if this could translate into a cooking sensation by age seven, I won't object.  She's a pretty mean egg cracker, if I do say so myself (minus the one I found prematurely cracked all over the inside of my fridge...but whatev)
Watching intently:
Stirring ice with her sous chef:
Checking on her baked goods, clad in two aprons....like any diligent chef.
Another day, another menu to create.  Reese found banging her spoons as loudly as humanly possible more enjoyable than the finer arts of the culinary craft.
Sous chef is out of control. Chef has resorted to covering her ears....so hard to find a good assistant these days.

Sunday Spencer Series

Bring-a-friend edition....Special guest appearance by Amelia (pronounced oh so well by Ryan as 'a-meal-ma-ma').
And at a coffee shop across town, this little beaut was rockin' some tiger shades...

iPhone randomness

Happy Friday! I remember to upload my photos from my phone maybe once every 3 or 4 months (If I'm that good) so here are a handful....
Give these girls a piano and forego the need for a babysitter. We have two lucky playdate friends who each have a piano. My Grandma Britt would be proud.
"Modeling" a new skirt from Ella
Reese has a new favorite store...Trader Joe's and their pint sized shopping carts. Usually accompanied by a not-so-pint-sized-fit when we have to leave.
The essentials: backpack, ballet skirt over pajamas, one of mom's shoes. She's ready to go.
Reese starring as Mickey the Mouse after bath
Ryan's favorite date with her dad....the car wash
Reese is ridiculously interested in going potty like her sister so while we aren't full on training just yet, we have busted out the training potty for a little practice. Unfortunately it sometimes doubles as a booster and general play toy.
Someone is following in her sister's footsteps in the "opinionated about clothing" category...sadly Reese hasn't quite mastered the art of being fully dressed just yet (just like some of daddy's former girlfriends)....Zing.

Arrrr matey!

Our second Kiwi Crate activity arrived yesterday and this one was oh-so-suited for Ryan.
She loves 'reading' her directions
We made a pirate hat, patch, flag and went on a treasure hunt
I drew a map of the living room and marked where the treasure was buried....off she went
She spots her treasure
Got it!
She proceeded to hunt for treasures the rest of the afternoon - well done Kiwi, well done.

Princess lunch

My mom and I took Ryan to a little Princess luncheon last weekend where there was a special guest star: Cinderella. Ryan was enamored with her but not in the shrieking, giddy, let me at her kind of way....more in the I will stare at you from afar and when I get close, I will clam up and simply gawk at you.
We had come straight from gymnastics (such is the life of a busy 3 year old) so we arrived in a leotard/skirt combo:
And of course we succumbed to the marketing prowess of the cute boutique stores selling children's clothing....thank you Grandma!
The pink lemonade in real tea cups was her favorite
Followed closely behind by the adorable pink princess cupcakes

My kind of winter....

This winter has been just delightful - mild, relatively sunny and only a few snow showers.   Ryan got a new hula-hoop from Grandma so we took it outside for a spin.  The girls discussing the proper hula location in the yard:
We quickly found a new game for the hula hoop:
The swing set is always the major draw and back to it we went....
Ryan likes to twist up Reese's swing and then let loose. Reese loves it even more.
My babes....a rare moment of peace in the world

More Reese

More cowbell.
And I was playing around with the white balance on my camera.