Hot Soccer

Hot . . . early evening (dinner time) . . . soccer.

Father's Day Art

The girls made unique Father's Day gifts at school.  Lauren's teachers took a picture of her wearing a daddy tie and had a photo card printed with a sweet quote.  Emma's teacher took a series of pictures.  The chalkboard says, "I love you because . . . you draw me pictures of Batman and Batgirl . . . you help me color in pictures . . . Happy Father's Day 2013!  Emma also made an "iDad" with words that describe Scott (funny, joker, nice, sweet, silly, fun).

Water Play

Dancing Raisins

You just need a clear, carbonated beverage and raisins for this experiment.  The bubbles collect on the raisins and carry them to the surface.  Then the bubbles pop and the raisins sink to the bottom.  Up and down, up and down, up and down.  Dancing raisins!

Cuddle Buddies

Lauren was willing to sit still momentarily with her sister because she wanted Emma's drink.  Luckily, it was just water and Emma had not had a sip, yet.  Whatever the reason for the brief embrace, these little cuddle buddies are adorable!

Gotta Dance

Gotta love this little dancer!  She had a great time at creative movement class with Ms. Jen and her fellow ballerinas.  Each week was centered around a theme - the circus, the beach, Cinderella, Rapunzel, The Nutcracker.  Ms. Jen gave the girls scarves, tutus, and props to use.  She also incorporated ballet terms like first position, plie, posse, saute, arabesque, sashay, eleve, port de bras, etc.  Since the parent room was literally an adjoining room with two small doorways for viewing, it was a challenge to get pictures.  Sometimes I would take short videos on my phone and Emma would watch them on the way home.

Minnow Girl

 

Emma passed her swim test and will move up to the "minnow" level!  She had a lot of fun in the water and was an excellent listener for her instructor.

Techie Girl

She's only four, but technology is creeping it's way into Emma's daily activities.  Here she's playing her Leap Pad 2 with super cool headphones.  (You've got to get the Leap Pad charger--$33 on Amazon--instead of going through dozens of batteries.)  We also have a subscription to abcmouse.com which has tons of great leveled educational activities (puzzles, songs, audio books, art, games, etc.).  I love hearing Emma use words like stylus, select, mouse, loading, and icon!

Overcast Day, Swing Away

Lauren loves to get outside and take a ride in her stroller or wagon.  We stopped by our nearby park on one of our many, many spring walks.  It was a little chilly this day.  And, yes, Lauren is still in her PJs.  It was a morning outing.

Pre-K Graduation

Emma's preschool held a graduation ceremony one evening in May.  Not surprisingly, Emma was sick and unable to attend.  (Frankly, we have been overwrought with illness since January.  The four of us have visited doctor's offices or prompt care 26 times from January 1 to June 1!  Though it's mostly been the girls who have been sick, we've endured croup, strep, ear infections, pink eye, colds, mysterious viruses, allergic reactions to antibiotics or food, flu, flu, and more flu!  Our pediatrician's office is great about getting us in, especially late in the day or on Saturday mornings.  We avoided the ER, but contemplated going a time or two.)  Back to Emma . . . she and her classmates spent weeks preparing for this event.  We are so fortunate that her teacher took cap and gown pictures of all the kids prior to Emma's illness.  So we have this beautiful picture to treasure.  The ceremony was held at a local high school auditorium and was broadcast via the web.  Even though she wasn't there in person, Emma and I watched it live and she gave her performance alongside the computer.  She was such a great sport about missing out on this exciting moment.

A Token of Apprecation

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

The girls gave each of their teachers (11 in all) a flower and gift card as a token of our appreciation for all they do.  Emma chose these bright pink geraniums and helped me wrap each of them in pink foil.  She also signed her name on each of the thank you notes after I wrote a personal message.  I thought to keep the 6-pot container the flowers came in, which had a handle--great for carrying them in to the center.  We brought these gifts to Emma's 5 teachers on Monday and Lauren's 6 teachers on Tuesday.  Emma set them up on a table in her room and just beamed when the teachers walked in with the kids from breakfast moments later.

Posing Pretty

Emma asked us to take her picture before Sunday School.  The pose is all her own!

Airplane Museum

It was a chilly day, but a great day for 4-year-olds to learn about aerodynamics and planes at the Prairie Aviation Museum!  Emma and her classmates were quite impressed with the various aircraft and facts they learned.  I usually accompany Emma's class on field trips, but Grammy Jill was the helper today.

Easter Day

The Easter Bunny left some nice presents for the girls and hid many eggs in the yard.  We even caught a glimpse of him while on our hunt!

Egg Dying with Smiley

She's so into her creations!  White crayon, dye, and stickers--two hours of fun!  I'm loving her side-pony bun in these pictures.  This shirt has a button on the back that catches her hair and gets tangled.  A regular pony tail gets wrapped in it as well.  So this do was a way to avoid the button.  I'll have to style it this way more often.