Reading Time

I'm thankful both of my girls love books. I bought a special papasan chair for our playroom so they can cuddle up by themselves or with someone to read whenever they want. The other day big sister decided to read to little sister. I had to get a picture. The book is "Old Hat New Hat" by Dr. Seuss. I think Papa and Nana or Aunt Dusty bought this for Allyson at Christmas. She LOVES this book!!

Parking It

Last weekend we went to an open house by the Greene County park board. It ended up being kind of lame compared to what I had imagined (and compared to what the parks department normally does!) but the girls got to enjoy a few new experiences.

First they got to try out the lifejackets and canoes. We plan to go canoeing later this year. (Stay tuned for what is certain to be a hilarious blog post.)

I don't remember what they call these but it's kind of a cross between surfing and canoeing.  

Nicole liked the tent on display. 

She did not like the archery demonstration. She let me take this picture but was too scared to actually let the arrow go. 

On our way home we stopped by a park we had never visited before. Nicole was very excited to find this huge tree. She'd been wanting to climb a tree for a long time and, even though we have an over-abundance of trees at our house, none of them are good for climbing. She was a little scared to go very high but this was just enough to make her happy! (Last summer I helped her go super high in a tree and ended up having to get a ladder and climb up after her. So, needless to say, I didn't push it this time.)

This is on another day last week at Chesterfield Park near our house. Nicole is learning to ride her new scooter from Papa & Nana and loves it!!! Notice the barbie doll in the front. It's a Barbie scooter with a special place for the dolls to ride. 

Happy Birthday Nicole!

Today our firstborn turned six years old! I've said it so many times but it continues to be true. I can honestly say I have enjoyed every stage of Nicole's life. She has brought us nothing but joy. The other day she gave me the greatest gift by telling me she was glad I was her mom. I am so incredibly glad she is my daughter.

She asked for blackberry pancakes this morning. Britt got up early to make them and we surprised her by delivering her breakfast in bed. She even got to have her chocolate milk in Mommy's china!

After breakfast she got to open some gifts.

She's been begging for this Ariel bath toy for a long time and was so excited when she opened it!

After school we went shopping at Toys R Us with money from Papa and Nana. She still had a gift card left over from Christmas so she had lots to spend! She ended up with a horse that makes real noises and will even eat a pretend carrot. She also bought a scooter and some Color Wonder art sets. Notice the crown and the sticker and ribbon on her shirt. By the end of the day she had two crowns, three stickers and a ribbon. You'd seriously have to be blind not to know it was this child's birthday!

After shopping we met up with friends for dinner at a Japanese steakhouse at Nicole's request.

After dinner they celebrated her birthday by singing and bringing out a dragon!

After dinner we tried to go bowling as Nicole has been begging to do this for months. Unfortunately the alleys were full of league bowlers. So we went to Incredible Pizza for some laser tag and bumper cars. Nicole (and everyone else) had a blast!!

She won a free buffet after spinning the wheel!

After a bath with her new Ariel toy this little girl was completely worn out.

Looks like her new horse was, too.





Church adventures

This picture is fuzzy but, hey, there are six kids here! Nicole's friend, America and her three siblings, Jonathan, Max and Amelia have been coming to church with us. The kids love to climb this large baby elephant in the lobby.

Seuss on the Loose

Last week Nicole's school held a literacy night event called "Seuss on the Loose," in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday. Prior to the event there was an invitation to participate in a contest where students and parents would come up with a literacy-themed board game. We signed up. So, several ink cartridges, reams of paper, a couple of trips to the store, a laminating spree and three 2:00 a.m. nights later... we came up with what we thought was a fun, creative and educational book based on Dr. Seuss' book, "I Can Read With My Eyes Shut."

Each of the four kindergarten classrooms had their own game contest. Students played the games and voted. The winning games from each of the four classes were on display in Nicole's classroom where people could come in and play them. Only two other students in Nicole's class even participated in the contest. Unfortunately, our game took third place. Unbelievable. Fortunately, Britt and I took it a lot harder than Nicole. She didn't seem to care at all. Of course, she didn't do nearly as much work as we did! (And, in my opinion, neither did the winning game's parents! Okay, maybe still a little bitter.)

A lot of people dressed up as Dr. Seuss characters. This is one of the other kindergarten teachers, Mrs. Lowe. She was actually Teacher of the Year last year for the entire district!

One of the classrooms had a "Bedtime Story" theme. There were lots of pillows and stuffed animals. We spent some time reading books here before the event was over.

There were a bunch of these amazing replicas of Dr. Seuss books as we walked into the school.

A local author gave a science demonstration in the library.

Sunny day at the Park

The weather has warmed up considerably this past week and almost all of the snow is gone. It was warm enough to take Allyson to the park. She had so much fun on the new playground.

Our friend Sandra met us at the park with her little ones, Max and Amelia. Allyson found Sandra's stash of graham crackers. Here she's snacking while hanging from the monkey bars. Thankfully Sandra made sure she didn't break her neck.