Birthday Fun

We started celebrating Natalie's birthday today. Cousin Ella came over to play and spend the night. Tomorrow, we hope to enjoy the day by doing whatever the girls decide they would like to do. I love summer and summer birthdays. The endless days of celebrating is so much fun.

Teeth

The girls are looking just the opposite of one another in the teeth department. Natalie was brushing her teeth tonight, and she came out to tell me that the Tooth Fairy would be making us another visit. I think I may need to either invest in some dentures for her or start using some of Jocelyn's baby food because she now has 3 of her teeth on the top missing. On the other hand, Jocelyn had 3 more teeth come through last week.

The girls and I are adjusting to having Natalie home all day, now that summer vacation is officially here. Natalie graduated from kindergarten last week. The kindergarten teachers put together a cute program for all of us to enjoy.

Natalie has logged numerous hours of biking and scootering in the past week. She and I have also rediscovered a lot of fun toys and things to do in the basement while Jocelyn is napping. We are looking forward to an enjoyable summer filled with fun with both friends and family!

Summer Birthdays

Grandma treated us to a great birthday present by taking us to see Cinderella at the Fireside. We had a girls' day out. Auntie Chris, Ella, Grandma, Natalie, and I saw an awesome show this afternoon. Natalie really enjoyed the day. She thought lunch was yummy, had a fun time with her cousin, and liked the performance a lot.

Books

We are so proud of Natalie! She has earned 50 points for AR this year. I took her in to school this morning, and she took 5 tests after reading a lot this past weekend!

At school, there is a reading program called Accelerated Reader. They are able to check out books, read them, and then take comprehension tests about what they have read. Based on the level of the book, they acquire a certain number of points throughout the school year. Natalie recently received an award stating that she had earned 25 points. When we talked about the certificate, Natalie told me that she actually had 42 points because the award had been written out quite awhile ago.

She also said that her teacher thought she could get 50 points by the end of the year. I was not quite so sure because there are only a few weeks of school left, and we encourage her to read, but do not have a set reading time each night. Since the weather has been nicer, we have been playing outside quite a bit.

I believe there are some contributing factors for acquiring this accomplishment. We did get to the public library a couple of weeks ago, and Natalie chose a Little House book. The last Little House book took her a little while to get through. She cruised through this one. And this past weekend, we were traveling around in the van quite a bit. To pass the time, she brings along books.

Natalie was really excited this morning, and so was I! We love the fact that she loves books! Way to go, Natalie!

Dinner and Dessert

This afternoon, when Natalie got home from school, I asked her if she wanted to help me make dessert. She agreed, so the two of us got to work while Jocelyn took her afternoon nap. Natalie tore apart slices of bread, and I sliced the apples. We both put the layers of this yummy apple dessert together. It turned out pretty tasty, and we surprised Nate with both dinner and dessert.

Jocelyn continues to enjoy playing. She willingly plays indoors with her toys and outdoors with the grass, leaves, dirt, sticks, dandelions, and whatever else she can get her hands on. She is continually getting braver by taking more steps each day. Now, she knows she can walk and is willing to keep trying this neat new accomplishment.

Both girls made me sweet Mother's Day cards. Natalie made me an awesome bracelet at school. It was made out of a picture of her that she rolled into what looked liked beads. Nate's card included both girls' trace handprints. How precious!

Spring Days

We have had an enjoyable April. Natalie is continually amazing me with her creativity and knowledge. Right now, she is working on a pretty "flower cup." She is loving her kindergarten unit on the solar system. The other day Natalie told me a lot of information about the planets after only a day of learning about them in class. I was very impressed. Through our parks and recreation department, she has been taking swimming lessons and is really enjoying a science class. They look at lots of neat things underneath microscopes. For school, she has quickly read through a number of American Girl books this week. Outside, Natalie enjoys doing cartwheels and riding scooters.

Jocelyn is entertaining us with all of her new "tricks." She started clapping about a week ago. At night, she loves doing this to keep herself awake. She has recently started to take a few steps without holding on to anything. When Natalie plays and encourages her, she really likes to practice her walking skills. Jocelyn is a very smiley child. She does get a bit sad when I do not allow her to play with outlets, electrical cords, and the shades in the house. I am sure we will have a lot of fun when Natalie is home all day once summer vacation is here.

Baby Fish and the Dolphin

This past weekend, we went up to the Green Bay area. We enjoyed a fun weekend with family and friends. The girls also had a good time in the pool on Saturday. This was Jocelyn's first experience in the water. We believe she thoroughly enjoyed her time in it because she stayed in the water for about 2 hours. Natalie had a good time going down the waterslide and playing with her friend Brooke.