Another Play Date

This week it was Madi's turn to have a friend over. Madi had Aubree (lives next door) over to play. As you can see, they had fun playing together....

 

 

Brushing

We caught cute moments of the girls brushing their teeth...

 

 

Playing Outside

Darryl brought Alice's bike (notice no pedals) on the trip. The girls had fun riding their bikes...

 

Look at Alice coast down the hill...

 

After biking, they jumped on the scouters. Emma let Alice borrow hers. She picked it up quickly...

 

 

Note: I noticed Emma's helmet isn't on correctly. I will fix it.

All By Herself

On Tuesday my brother, Darryl and my almost 3yr. old, niece, Alice stayed with us as they were on there way to Arizona (next week they will stay with us two days). While the girls were at school, I got out the Playful Patterns for Alice to play with. She sat at the table close to two hours working with the shapes. She didn't even want to stop for lunch. She did a great job.

 

If you ask Alice to smile, this is what you get.

 

Alice looking for the right shape.

 

Notice, the butterfly and caterpillar, she did.

Play Date

On Fridays the girls get out of school at 1:25PM (2hrs early). I usually run errands, but last Friday I did not. So Emma's friend, Brianna, who lives across the street, came over and played for about 2 hours. I had Madi do something else to give them play time alone, but then they invited Madi to come have "dinner" with them. Madi was super excited.

 

My Star Student

Last week Madi was "Star Student" in her class. She got to fill out the following poster and tell her classmates about herself. She also got to bring something for show and tell (the only time all year they can bring something to school, so it's a big deal). I suggested a photo album and she chose the one Grammy made her. It tells all about her family and first year of life. Her classmates favorite picture was of her face full of cake on her 1st Birthday. At conferences, this week, Madi's teacher told us that she loved Madi's poster; she did such a good job.

 

note: click on the image to take a closer look

Bowling

Last Friday, we went bowling; Chris had been off all week working in the basement (working about 6-8 hours a day, plus going to church, four out of six nights for meetings and events), so we thought it would be fun to go out and do something together as a family. Little did I know how much bowling was! The last time we went bowling was in Oregon, when the girls were 5 and 3 years old (with our church family). I know it wasn't $24, yes, that's right, I said $24. Twenty-four dollars for an hour of entertainment. We couldn't believe it! I do have to say, it was the nicest bowling alley I have ever been to, but still.
I also have to say, after we started bowling, that the time we got to spend together was priceless! We had a blast!

 

Emma remembered how to bowl; she did well.

 

Madi lifted her hand up after she let go of the ball, every time. Chris had to help her get her fingers in the holes the first couple of times.

 

Emma watched intently as Madi's ball rolled down the lane.

 

After Madi bowled, she was so excited and proud of herself, she jumped into Chris' arms. It was adorable.

American Flag

Last month we had fun watching the 2010 Winter Olympics. It's hard to believe that the last Winter Olympics, Emma was 5yrs. and Madi 3yrs. This year, they enjoyed watching it with us. One the very first days that we were watching the Olympics, Emma decided she wanted to make an American Flag so she had a flag to carry behind her back when an American won gold. She made sure there were 50 stars and 13 strips on it. I should have taken the picture of it right away, because it since has gotten some bents and rips. A week or so later, Madi decided she wanted to make an American Flag as well, but hers to imitate the ones the fans use to wave in the stands.
Emma enjoyed watching the personal stories and the ice skating with me. Madi's favorite was the bobsledding, but liked to watch the ice skating as well. Emma kept track of who was who and remembered the names of the Americans that won medals more than me.
During the Olympics, we were walking by the boys clothes department, in Target, and all of the sudden Madi stopped us(someone behind us almost running into us) and cried out, while pointing to a picture of Shaun White, "it's the snowboarding boy". The girls thought that was the coolest thing.

 

Excellence In Spelling

Madi recieved a Principal's Pride Award this Tuesday. She was recongnized for here excellence in Spelling. She has to learn new words each week. If I am remembering right, she has only misspelled one word on her spelling tests all year. She has had some recent words like because, teacher and favorite. She is doing awesome.
At the award ceremony, the students got to walk down the red carpet; encouraging words from the principal and their pictures taken; a certificate, pencil and two free kids meals; and their work hung up in the hallway.

 

The Principal and Madi posing for a picture.

 

Madi's work is in the bottom right hand corner.

 

Close-up of the front side of Madi's Spelling Test.

 

Madi showing off her certificate.

Last Day of Swimming Lessons

The girls enjoyed their swimming lessons, not to mention they have become swimmers in five lessons. They still have a ways to go, but they are doing it! Good job girls!

 

Emma and Madi became good friends with Grason; they had fun learning together.

 

Emma swimming to Madi.

 

Madi swimming on her back while Josie, the swim teacher, coached her.

Went to the Zoo March 2nd

Last week the girls were off track and the sun was out, so we took the opportunity to go to the zoo with Michelle, Olivia and Brooklyn. Zuri, the baby elephant, was entertaining as her mom pooped on her and she decided to eat the poop. The cougar was up and wondering around, trying to get the bird that got too close to the cage. The cougars are usually sleeping when we visit, but the air was cool and it wasn't afternoon yet. We were excited to see how much the baby giraffe had grown. He has grown quit a bit, but still cute as can be. His fur is so soft looking and he has cute little whiskers on his chin. He even smiled for the camera, or was it that I caught him just right as he was eating hay.
Our next stop was the three baby tigers. The have grown the most. We stood there awhile as we watched them play. One of the baby tigers decided to lay in front of the glass where we were standing. Michelle was squatted down patiently waiting for him to turn his head so she could take a picture. The girls were so excited to have him so close to them. Then, all of the sudden, he turned, jumped and swatted at Olivia. All of us jumped backed. To bad someone wasn't video tapping us, I am sure it was humorous to watch. After we calmed down, we stepped back to the glass and he jumped up several more times, playing with the girls. I would have to say, that was the highlight of our day. I don't think we could ever get tired of the zoo.