EASTER

Going through the Easter Baskets My girls love to sing.  They sing all the time.  Especially Emma.  She sings to put herself to sleep, she sings while she plays, in fact we have to ask her to stop when she starts singing at the table.  BUT, when she is in Choir you would not believe that she enjoyed singing at all.  This is how she looked singing on Easter.  (She is the one with the hat covering her face)

And another happy picture of her singing. The sister hug they have perfected.

I love this one!

Puppet Show

Many of you have heard me rave about my Learning Tower.  It came with some add on that I had been saving for a day when I needed them.  Our oldest daughter Kami gave us a gift certificate for the new wine bar we have here in our town along with babysitting for our Christmas present.  We finally had a chance to use her present.  So I thought it would be a good time to bring out the Learning Tower puppet show.  It also comes with a drive thru sign, a lemonade sign, and a grocery store sign.  I had some alphabet puppets that I had made when I was teaching pre-k years ago so I brought those out too!  The girls had so much fun.  Meilynn especially enjoyed it.  I love the Learning Tower!

Meilynn has fun with Merry Mouse She has never seen a puppet show, but she knew just what to do. Emma liked climbing on it better!    Emma holding the baby kangaroo and Meilynn the mommy Meilynn having fun with the puppets

Putting on a show Emma and Meilynn watching Kami and Meghan show them how it works The "big" girls having fun

Instrument Petting Zoo and more

First of all I want to thank you all for the advice on what to do with the Bunny Bed.  I still haven't decided what I will do with it.  Also, I want to thank the person who suggested putting the "L" on  all of the left shoes and showing the girls the "L" that is formed with the thumb and index finger to match the "L" in the shoe.  I took it one step further and painted their big toenails on their left foot.  They now know what shoe goes on which foot 90% of the time.  Thank you for the awesome suggestion!

The flower girl dresses we ordered from flowergirlsdressforless.com came in the mail two days after ordering.  The girls wanted to try them on so bad.  Here they are holding the green sash that they will wear on the dresses. Meilynn showing us the flower They were almost a perfect fit.  They are a little long but hopefully they will grow a little taller by August. We are just starting swimming lessons again.  Last year we were in the Mommy and Me swim class and I had to have someone come with us.  This year the girls hang on to the side and I don't have to get into the pool with them. Learning to blow bubbles Emma looking fashionable in her goggles Emma hanging on the side and Meilynn with the teacher. Not afraid of the Bunny this year. At our local University they put on a family concert and an Instrument petting Zoo.  The kids hear a concert and then they get to touch and play any of the instruments they wanted. Here we are in front of the sign, Meilyn in blue and Emma in Brown Emma enjoying herself Big sister Kami came with us What is this? Emma having fun

Cleaning out the garage and the Jump Zone

We finally got to cleaning our garage out after our remodel.  One of the things that is going is this bunny bed that I absolutely love.  It was a major purchase back in the days when we were a young couple.   I fell in love with it and we bought it for our older daughter.  After raising two daughters we realize that if we went to twins after their cribs that then there would be another purchase down the road for full size.  So we thought that it would be a good idea to skip the twin beds and get the full size beds next.  The best thing about a full size bed will be that I will be able to lay down with them to read their story, do their song, and prayers.   I was holding on to this bed hoping that some day I would use it.  Mike says it has to go.   Speaking of bed time, we pretty much do the same thing every night.  We head upstairs for baths at 7:30 if they have not had naps and about 8:00 if they haven't.  They both go into their rooms and pick out their jammies and panties.  While I run the bath water and pick up the bathroom.  Then they come in get baths, brush teeth, floss ( they love to floss!  I found these colorful ones at Target and I have to limit them to flossing once a day) and go potty.  We then go into one of the girls rooms and I comb out their hair.  They each choose a story or if I am in a hurry,  I choose two stories (this way I get to read what I want once in awhile)  We read them together and then whoever woke up first from nap gets put down first.  The other one can go in their room and read or wait in their bed.  I then pray and ask them if they want to pray.  I learn so much about what was memorable in their day from these prayers.  (Last night Emma asked God to help Daddy to not hurt her feelings)  What happened was at the dinner table she kept standing up on the step of her high chair (we use them at the tables without the trays).  He couldn't get her to listen so he brought his fist down hard on the table.  That got her attention!  He little lip quivered and she said  "Daddy, you are hurting my feelings"  He of course explained that she could have fallen over and hit her head on the tile.  She is our one that I worry will keep us at the emergency room.  She fell down the stairs just yesterday and scared me to death.  About the hurting my feelings.  At the park that morning a little girl kept saying, "Hi" to Emma and Meilynn and they would not say "Hi" back.  So on the way home I was explaining about hurting someones feelings.  I think we need to work on the concept a bit more.  Meilynn always starts her prayers with  "Dear Jesus,  Thank you for me and then she goes through everyone she knows while slipping "me" in several times.  I can tell that a lot of what I have said throughout the day has sunk in listening to their prayers.  Then they choose a song.  Meilynn chooses "Baby Beluga almost every night because she has figured out that this is the longest song I sing.  Then Daddy comes in to kiss them and tuck them in.  Emma still wakes up during the night.  She is just not a good sleeper.  That is our bedtime ritual.   Now how did I get so far off the topic of the garage?

The Bunny Bed I love all of the colors and the worn feeling it has. The last of the things to put away. The girls found these old stools of Kami and Meghan's Writing on envelopes I was throwing away. This kept them busy a long time. We have a new thing in town called the Jump Zone.  It is jump houses and slides inside.  We met up with a friend and had a great day there.  We were waiting for the day Emma got her cast off to check it out. OK, not a very good picture, but they wouldn't stop moving! Meilynn walking down the ladder.  Not a fan of the slides but loves the jump houses.  I have so much more to post so keep checking back, I am trying to get it done.