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.

Happy Easter 2010

He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! We had a wonderful Easter going to church and then a day up North. Natalie had fun doing an egg scavenger hunt. We all enjoyed a great Easter dinner. And then Natalie had a good time playing marbles with Grandma. I believe Jocelyn enjoyed her first Easter as well.

Bike Ride

We took the girls biking tonight. It was officially Jocelyn's first bike ride. Nate pulled her in the trailer. He said that she talked a good portion of the ride. Natalie rode her tag-a-long bike behind me. It was a new experience for me since I did not ride most of last year. I thought it would be easier with a child that could help me pedal. It felt like I was biking for the first time because it seemed like we were off-balance. Thankfully, Natalie and I didn't crash. It was fun to get back out on the bike again. I am looking forward to getting out again soon.

Weekend of Fun

We had a wonderful family weekend! It started off with a fun birthday party on Friday evening for our good friend Amber. Saturday, we took a friend to the zoo and enjoyed a gorgeous afternoon. On Sunday, it was too beautiful to stay indoors so we called some friends, and after church we went geocaching for the first time. What a great way to have fun outdoors.

School assignment

I am amazed, humbled and yet proud of Natalie. She had an optional writing assignment for Lutheran Schools week based on 1 Corinthians 12:5. The topic was "In His Service". This is what she came up with. I love her very much and she's reading this post as I type. :)



She started with this outline that she developed herself. This was a huge surprise to us, and she layed it out better than I used to for even my college papers. :)





This was the initial sentences she created based off of her outline.

Here is the final product after a re-write. She corrected some of her own spelling mistakes. I did not proofread at all, instead focusing on the importance of this coming from her heart rather than the technical perfections.

Gates

As of yesterday, it is official. Jocelyn started to crawl around the living room. She especially likes all of the adult things in the room...like the remote control, the telephone, and the television and all of the cords and things that go along with it. She has not figured out that she can crawl after me yet. When I walk away, she still cries as if I will be gone a long time. It is time to break out more gates and continue to baby proof the house.

A couple of days ago, Jocelyn did something very cute. I have been playing the game where you touch your nose, and then stick out your tongue. I touched Jocelyn's nose multiple times the other day, and every time, she stuck out her tongue. It was so funny!

Natalie continues to get Jocelyn to giggle. The two of them have so much fun together.

Made-up Super Hero Day

Nate came up with a great made-up super hero for Natalie today. She went to school dressed as Super Sister with a "nuklace" around her neck, a receiving blanket as a cape, a diaper tucked into her belt, and I'm a Big Sister t-shirt. Her job is to keep her sister safe, happy and giggling, and to teach her about Jesus. I've got such creative people in my home! One of the kindergarten teachers said she loved Natalie's costume.

Great Grandpa and Basketball

Today, we had the opportunity to visit with Great Grandpa. We haven't been able to do this recently with all of the illness that has gone around our home for the last few months. Natalie made him a cute Valentine's. Great Grandpa got to see Jocelyn for the first time, and seemed to really enjoy seeing both girls.

We also watched a lot of basketball this weekend. Nate's cousins were playing in 2 different tournaments. Hannah's team took 3rd place today, and Nick's team lost a close one tonight so he'll be playing for 3rd place tomorrow. At both tournaments, Natalie took part in the "Half-Court" shots during halftime. This was the first year that Nate did not put her on his shoulders to make the shot. In past years, it was very cute. Natalie won a number of neat prizes this way. We decided that this was her year to try it on her own. She did a great job, but still needs a little more practice and a little more muscle to get the ball in the hoop.

Jocelyn enjoyed seeing and petting Auntie Pam and Uncle Kirk's dog. She thought it was pretty funny when Connie was giving her some puppy love. We'll have to see how she enjoys Chloe and Jazz next time we see them.

Haircut and Gymnastics written by Natalie

Yesterday, I went to get 2 1/2 inches cut off my hair. I really like it a lot. It is easier to brush now.

Today, I went to gymnastics. I went on the high balance beam. At first, it was a little scary. But after I got use to it, I liked it. After I walked across it, I got to jump into a big, cushy mat. That was fun!

Gymnastics

Natalie has been enjoying another neat Parks and Rec program. She has attended 2 gymnastics classes so far, and really seems to be enjoying her time there. Tonight, she was even showing us some of the things she has learned. So far, she has done tumbling and some balance beam exercises. Last week, when she came home from the class, she went into her bedroom to draw me a picture of what she did in class. It was very well done, and it explained what she did extremely well.

Since Nate was out of town this past week, I was able to go with Natalie to her cooking class. It was Italian week, and we had to make our own noodles. What a week for Nate to be gone! It was a good learning experience for me. I am sure that Natalie will be happy to have her Daddy back this coming week.

Jocelyn has been very content to sit on our laps and sit back and enjoy life up until this past week. Since Thursday, she has been very eager to move. When we put her on the floor, she likes to roll around and explore her surroundings. She is getting up onto her knees. I know I should be ready for her to crawl, but I have enjoyed the stage where I know that she is not getting in to things when I am out of the room for a minute or two. Ready or not, here comes Jocelyn! She has also started to babble a lot more this week as well. It has been very cute listening to her as she tries out new sounds and volumes.

6 months and still having fun

Yesterday, both girls got to get shots at the doctor's office. Natalie needed a follow up one from her 5 year old appointment. She really did not enjoy hers. Jocelyn did much better with her shots than a couple months ago. Hopefully, that continues since she needs to go back in a month to get more. Jocelyn is continuing to follow all of her statistical curves. What continues to amaze me is how close she is to Natalie's stats as a baby. When Natalie was this age, she was only a pound and a half different than Jocelyn and 3/4 of an inch taller. Natalie still adores Jocelyn. I hope that continues as Jocelyn gets into Natalie's toys.

Natalie had a friend call her to talk the other evening. It was very cute. I told Natalie that she had to eat her dinner, and then could call her friend back when she was finished. Usually, it takes Natalie a long time to eat her dinner but not on Tuesday night. She was done in record time so she could talk with her friend again. I guess I know an incentive to get her moving at the table.

Dinner

Last evening, Natalie and Nate tested out one of the new recipes that they tried out on Tuesday night in their cooking class. It was delicious! I am looking forward to the German breakfast they are going to make for me.

Jocelyn continues to be a happy girl now that her ear infection is cleared up and her teeth have broken through. She tried sweet potato puffs and Cheerios yesterday. I think they were a hit with her.

Teeth are Good for Eating Natalie's Cooking

Jocelyn is doing much better than a week ago. Her double ear infection is under control, and her first tooth has broken through. She has another one that will be showing soon as well. We have moved things around in the living room, and I believe that she thought that she ought to explore her new surroundings. Today, she was rolling around from one side of the room to the other. Jocelyn seems to be enjoying her new mobility.

The teeth that Jocelyn has in her mouth will be helpful in tasting Natalie's newly acquired cooking skills. Thanks to our Parks and Recreation department, Nate and Natalie will be cooking their own dinners on Tuesday nights during the month of January. Natalie is also excited to start taking some gymnastics lessons which are also through our local Parks and Rec. She had a good Christmas break, despite her sinus infection. Her cold did not keep her from enjoying her friends and family over vacation.