Yesterday, we went ice skating at the Pettit National Ice Center. The girls had been asking all Winter to go ice skating. The 400 meter, Olympic oval track has seen such greats as Bonnie Blair and Dan Jansen. Now it has seen Katherine and Maggie Sepersky (with Chris). When we arrived, the Zamboni was preparing the track for us and about 500 of our ice skating friends. While waiting for perfectly groomed ice, we watched the figure skaters practice:

Once the ice was groomed to our high expectations, we took to the track ... And quickly returned to the spectator area. One dad with 2 flailing children was not going to work. Now, Maggie and dad have been ice skating before, but you wouldn't know it. So rather than abandon hope, we opted for "practice" - one daughter would sit on the bench next to the track while dad and the other girl walked about 20 feet up-ice and skated back. Then we switched. Repeat for about 30 minutes. Finally, Maggie was convinced to keep going without help. The problem was ... once you start around the 400 meter oval, there's NO TURNING BACK!!!

Maggie performed many triple-salchow-double-axels, landing graciously every time on her bottom. After about 50 meters (did I mention the oval is 400 meters?), the girls wanted to turn around. Daddy informed them that the rules are that everyone keeps going one way.

Once you get around the first curve, there was a breakspot (Hallelujah). We pulled over and the girls wanted to walk back. Again, daddy told them the rules said you have to keep skating - no walking back. Katherine replied "Where is this rules person? You SAY you know all the rules, but I don't think you know all of them!" Here is a picture at the breakspot.

After returning to the ice, an employee took pity on us and gave the girls a 1-minute lesson. This may have given Katherine too much confidence because for the last 300 meters, she wanted to do most of it on her own. We competed bravely in the 400 meter, completing ONE LAP in about 45 minutes. I'm not sure what kind of medal that gets us, but there sure was a lot of celebrating at the end. The girls did not want to do another lap at that time, but do want to go back again.

Just a few scenes from our day yesterday. I worked Tuesday evening, and for the second Tuesday in a row, I had to stay until 0330. Going to bed after 4, and waking before 7 makes for a very long day.

Last Wednesday, I put Katherine and Abby down for naps and climbed into my bed as well. But, it turns out that Katherine got out of her bed, and was distressed not to find me downstairs. She didn't think to check my bed, so she sat downstairs for at least an hour, not sure of where I was.

Yesterday I told her she could nap downstairs, with a movie.

Her rest time gave her plenty of energy to play outside with Maggie after school. We haven't had much snow play this season. They started out trying to make a snowman, as they could see that the neighbors have made 2! but they gave up and just played until I called them in after dark!
Finally, a snapshot of our dinner last night. It was sort of "free choice" as I didn't have the energy to plan a real meal. But, as we have done through most of Advent, we lit the candles on our Advent wreath and talked about waiting. The girls have been waiting to be able to light all 4 candles, and now we wait this week for Christmas to finally arrive!

Last Friday was Katherine's Christmas program at school. It also happened to be Maggie's pajama day at school. Boom Boom and PopPop came to the house for Katherine's performance. I think we might be able to solve the energy crisis if we could harness the excitement that such a day creates!

Katherine was so serious for most of her show. She cracked a smile here and there, but most of the time she was concentrating. It took all of her concentration to remember words and actions, play instruments, and not smack the naughty boy next to her. She did so well! Here are some selections for your enjoyment!

In other years, we've been gifted a snow day early in December, and have spent that day decorating the house. I'm not complaining about the lack of snow, but it did delay our usual festivities! Luckily we're having a pretty laid back year, so it didn't matter!

The girls were quite helpful and really enjoyed the decorating. Well, Abby is still un-decorating more than decorating, but such is life with a toddler. We've had a few broken ornaments, but the "valuable" ones are safely tucked into the highest branches!

I haven't captured my favorite scene on camera yet. There is nothing sweeter, or more hilarious, than watching and listening as the girls play with the figures of the Nativity set. You never quite know what the Holy Family might be doing.

Maggie is excited to be on a Basketball team. This is her first experience with Basketball. The rec department has a league for Kindergarten and First grade, with a heavy focus on skills, and a brief scrimmage each Saturday to entertain the parents. I am having flashbacks to my own days on the court, watching Maggie use every ounce of strength shooting a basket, hoping the ball might hit the rim. She has scored 2 actual baskets and she is quite proud. I'm also pretty impressed with my own memory of terms and drills and ability to offer tips and advice to my budding star.

In fact, starting after the holiday, I'm joining the coaching staff. Her volunteer coach (a team Dad) asked for another parent to help him keep the kids focussed, running in the right direction, and dribbling rather than running with the ball. Apparently I was the most qualified (only) interested party. Go Tigers!

You can see I've been teaching her some of my best moves already!

December has gotten away from me. Honestly I can't believe that it's only 2 days until Christmas. I think you could say that I am NOT ready. So, rather than do what needs to be done (wrapping, planning, cooking, cleaning) I thought I'd catch up on this month that has flown past! How about a series of short posts with lots of pictures?

One of Katherine's highlights was Reindeer Zoo School. We spent 2 1/2 hours at the zoo learning about the Caribou; where they live, what they eat, how they travel, the clicking sound that they make. She made a costume and then we even got to go behind the scenes to see the reindeer in the zoo. We got quite close! Of course the real highlight was a certain special visitor from the North Pole who checked his list and confirmed that Katherine was indeed on the nice list.....so far!

One Sunday, while I was working, Chris took the girls to the Public Library for a tree lighting and Santa visit. I was told that Santa made a spectacular arrival on a firetruck! Chris managed to capture all 3 on Santa's lap. Abby's face clearly tells you what she thinks of Santa! (Even when PopPop wore a santa hat to be cute, Abby was terrified.) She does enjoy saying "Ho Ho Ho" when she sees a santa picture. Maybe next year she'll stop crying long enough to enjoy the moment?

I'm feeling a little guilty that tomorrow is December and I still haven't posted Halloween pictures. Does anyone even care? Well, since I can't seem to stay on top of printing my pictures for albums, and this blog might be my only reference point some day, I need to post them. So here's a recap of the last month, starting with tonight.

Tonight we sat through Maggie's dance recital. It was the definition of "you get what you pay for." She's been in a rec department program. We have not been impressed with the organization during class, and I'm not sure that she's learned any actual ballet. Tonight's recital was ridiculous. First, she had a 545 rehearsal. The doors were supposed to open for parents at 645. They did not. The show was supposed to start at 7; it did not. Once it did start, it was never ending. It was loosely based on the Nutcracker Ballet. Loosely. It took at least 5 minutes between each dance to reset the stage. And then, each dance was just a few arm waves and toe taps. We didn't get home til about 845. Insanity.

However, Maggie LOVED it. She went to bed with a huge smile on her face. And that is what is important!

Last week, we hosted our first Thanksgiving. It was wonderful! The girls worked hard to create place card/napkin rings.

And they were thrilled to sit at their own special table

We ate, we laughed, we were grateful for all of the blessings in our lives. It was a fabulous day!

I tok this picture one morning to capture the crazy outfits my girls chose one day. Hello, orphans!

Almost 3 weeks ago, Maggie and her best friend Lauren had a joint birthday party at Katherine's gymnastics club. They had the exact same party last year. Hey, if it's great, why change it? They gave each other the same gift....without planning!

It was easy for the parents, exhausting for the kids, and fun for all!
This picture demonstrates Abby's new skills. She now takes a stool from the bathroom to help her get what she needs elsewhere in the house. She is sneaky and smart. She understands everything you ask her to do and follows directions....sometimes.
I loved this. Just a quiet morning before school, and before I would let them watch TV for the day. Just 3 girls reading, adorable!
Sometimes, you just HAVE to have polkadots!
That takes us back to Halloween. Abby tried to reject the idea of a costume, but once she got used to the pumpkin suit, and discovered how fun it was to walk and wiggle her butt, she loved it! Maggie was a unicorn, and in most of the pictures I took, she put her face down so that you could see the face of her costume instead. Katherine enjoyed pretending to "sting" everyone with the stinger on her bottom. We had plenty of fun, and we still have some candy left if you're interested!


In WI, the last Thursday and Friday of October are always days off of school for a Teachers' Convention. Luckily, my favorite teacher does not feel the need to attend the convention. So we traditionally get away for a night. We went to Key Lime Cove for the third year in a row. What's not to love? It's less than an hour in the car, with water slides, wave pool, lazy river....it was delightful!


So, now that we have October and November documented, we can push on to December!

Katherine just bounced downstairs after her nap, a little earlier than usual, but really, I had 1 1/2 hours of quiet, so I can't complain. She and Maggie like to listen to music to fall asleep and this week they changed their CD to Christmas music. Katherine's first question when she came downstairs was "Mommy, what's pounding?"

"Uh, do you mean, like pounding a hammer, like this?" making a hand motion as if I were using a hammer.

"Well, maybe" she answered, unsure, but willing to settle for that answer.

"Why are you asking Katherine?"

"Well, there's a song on my CD, and it says, 'you better not pound, I'm telling you why, Santa Claus is coming to town' but I don't know what pound is!"

She wants to be sure to do all the right things, so that Santa will bring her presents. Oh Katherine, that moment of sweet innocence almost makes up for the screaming, yelling and spitting that won you a time out before 9am today. Almost.

Yup, skipped the Halloween post. For now, let's talk about Maggie's birthday.

Somehow, this sweet little baby....

Turned into this crazy 7 year old!

And so we celebrated. She woke up to find presents and balloons in the family rom. She was more excited about having a bike with a KICKSTAND than the bike itself, but whatever! We enjoyed chocolate chip pancakes, with a candle and singing, of course! And, because it was my day to volunteer at school, I was able to enjoy walking into school with her, friends calling out "Hi Maggie" and Maggie replying "Hi___ It's my Birthday!" Not only was it her birthday, but she had completed another 100 books in her reading journal, so it was her day to wear slippers and sit on the class couch. She wore a grin on her face all day long!

In the afternoon, Katherine helped with the cake. She carefully sprinkled all of the sprinkles onto the frosting, and worried that we didn't have enough. She wanted to write a novel on top of the cake, we agreed upon simply, MAGGIE. She objected to my single #7 candle and created an elaborate display with candles and princess figures. And while there was some jealousy surrounding the birthday overall, she also took great joy in writing Maggie's card and making sure Maggie's day was as special as it could be.

After dinner at Olive Garden, we came home for cake, but quickly adjusted those plans after Abby took a tumble off the bathroom stool and needed some minor nursing attention. The big girls took showers while Abby ate some ice. But then we sang, and blew out candles, and ate just the frosting off the top of the cake.

And when it was all done, and cleaned up, we found the girls like this......
...the perfect end to a perfect day....... 3 sisters being silly together.

And the birthday fun continues.....family gathering tomorrow, and a friend birthday party next week!

We had a busy day Wednesday, and since Chris wasn’t home for dinner, I let the girls choose whatever…sandwiches, yogurt, crackers, it was simple and easy. Partway through dinner, Maggie got up to wander, and I was just about to snip at her to stay at the table when I realized she’d wandered over to me. She threw her arms around my neck and sighed “I Just love you MOM I’m so glad you’re my mom”

It was totally out of the blue and it was wonderful. She’d had a great day. She brought a friend home after school – it was a half day and the friend got to ride Maggie’s bus instead of her own. This is HUGE in first grade! They played happily all afternoon, even sharing their playtime with Katherine. She was exhausted, but she had a great day, and she threw her arms around me in the middle of dinner to tell me she loved me. It was so sweet.

Of course, an hour or so later, in her excitement about being invited to Riley’s birthday party, she told me “You know, he’s kinda like my boyfriend” Um, let’s go back to sweet and innocent please! You’re too young for boyfriends!

In other news we had fabulous (though much too short) trip to Evanston on Sunday to visit with our favorite Iowa City residents. It was wonderful to watch the cousins play together. A trip to the park, playing on the front porch, reading stories, and a “private” dinner at the “kids” table in the kitchen - it was perfect!

We’ve had perfect weather for the last 3 weeks; Almost no rain, and warmer than average temperatures. We’ve been soaking it up – knowing that all too soon the snow will fly. Almost every afternoon has found us outside raking leaves and jumping in the piles. I never get tired of watching their glee, jumping, tossing, skipping through the leaves.