Book Week and a Lost TOOTH!

Braden lost his first tooth yesterday... but if you look closely you will see that he actually lost 2 teeth!  The first one came out and then the second one just disappeared!  We don't know exactly when or where it came out but we were all very excited!  The tooth fairy came and visited last night and even left some fairy dust on the shelf. (Braden didn't want it under his pillow so he left his tooth on the shelf)

 We started book week last night.  I planned our schedule this summer so that I had some open weeks with the kids to balance out our crazy, busy weeks! I got into teacher mode and planned a fun-filled week full of books.

Last night started by giving a little overview of the week and reading a book about a librarian who was a dragon.  It was a beautiful night so after having smores with the neighbors we headed up to our porch and sat outside and read.  I knew Olivia would buy into the week but Braden was my wild card.  So far so good... he's been a great sport and into everything we've done. :)

 So far today... we read "Pancakes for Breakfast" and then made pancakes with chocolate chips in them. Read "One World One Day" while we were eating and talked about how kids all over the world live differently. Then we headed to the library to sign up for the summer program and check out books.  Before lunch we read a few books on Marsupials (and talked about their pouches/pockets), read "Pocket Poems" and "Bananas" and then made peanut-butter banana pita pockets for lunch.

This is my planning basket with books for the rest of the week!!!  It's really giving us some nice, focused family time and it's been great to watch Braden and Olivia devour books together.  

Bathroom REDO

 BEFORE...

AFTER...

The pictures don't do it justice. I love it and LOVE that it's finally done. :)

SUMMER FUN!

 We sat down at a recent family meeting and brainstormed our now annual summer fun ideas!  There are some similarities from last year but also quite a few new ideas.  Olivia, Braden and I all shared in the fun!  I'm so excited to start planning.

We have them taped around our kitchen to porch window this year and will take them off as they are completed.  

The list is...

1. Sprecher Rootbeer Tour

2. Catch Fireflies

3. Eat burgers at "Five Guys" 

4. Go to the Art Museum

5. American Science and Surplus

6. Spider Web Park

7. Custard at North Pointe on the Lake

8. Camp in the backyard

9. Smores!!

10. Swim at Bradford Beach

11. Hoyt Pool

12. Hike at Urban Ecology Center

13. Go to the Petting Farm

14. Castle Park

15. Eat a picnic lunch at Hoyt Park

16. Go see Dinosaurs at the I-Max

17. Ravinia

18. Adventure Rock

19. Tosa Tonight Concert

20. Bike along the Lake

21. Zoo

22. Lego Land

23. See Cars 2

Wow... that's a lot of fun to be had in the next three months!! I wonder how many we'll finish?

TOYS for SALE!

My friend Sarah wrote about a great idea here!  She often has great ideas that I borrow. :)  This one was to have an in-house garage or rummage sale.  This morning while Norah and I were at Children's for her ear tube surgery (which went well) Braden and Olivia went through their bath toys.  I thought we'd start small and then move on to the rest of the house if it went well.

 I got home and they couldn't wait for me to come shop.  Steve had helped them get organized.  They gathered toys, made piles of toys for 5, 10 and 25 cents and then made signs.  

 Braden even made a sign to direct traffic. :)

Photo compliments of Braden. These are my purchases!!!  They made $1.50 off me and Daddy dropped by and bought the rest for another $1.00.  Very exciting for them and awesome for me!  A cleaned out bath caddy.  Now I just have to decide which of the toys are going in the garbage, and which to Good Will.  

Thanks Sarah!!!  I can't wait to go through more toys. :)

Last Day of Kindergarten

Olivia Graduates!

Olivia graduated from Preschool last week.  She was so proud and had a wonderful time.

 We met the teachers and students at a local park.  I love this picture of she and Ava.

 Snuggled up on blankets.  Norah plopped right onto Sara's lap.

 Olivia sang a number of songs with the other classes.

 We pulled Braden from school. He had a blast running around with a number of his friends that were there watching siblings as well.

We are so proud of Olivia.  She had a wonderful year, enjoyed playing with her friends, came away with a knowledge of how school works and is really, really excited about going to McKinley (where Braden goes!) next year.

Yeah Olivia!!

Olivia Drives a Bus!

 Lately Olivia has been setting up the chairs on the porch as a school bus or train and taking her babies places! So cute.

I love this shot of Braden. He had just gotten home from school and was all sweaty because it was HOT in his classroom!

Dancers

 Olivia and Norah have been very into dress up lately.  Well Olivia has and Norah tags along.  Olivia dressed Norah up a few weeks ago and they were twirling ballerinas for the morning.

I love watching the two of them grow up together.  It's the sweetest thing being able to witness their love for each other.  Yes - they fight over toys and things but when it's just us home they really do a great job playing together.  They don't know how lucky they are to have each other!!

Norah is 18 months!

 Norah is officially 18 months as of yesterday!  WOW!  As usual... where has the time gone?

For those of you who enjoy stats... 

Norah is 33 inches which is the 90%

and 23.12 lbs which is the 50%

Similar stats to the last couple of check-ins.

For those of you who prefer the milestones...

Norah LOVES to laugh and make other people laugh.

She screams like the best of them if you aren't giving her what she wants.

She can climb the rock wall on our play set and slide down the slide all by herself.

She still takes 2 naps most days.

Her favorite drink remains milk and her favorite food at the moment might be popsicles.

She doesn't like to be dirty or wet.

She LOVES her froggy and blankie.

When we leave the room for bed she says, "Hug, Hug, Hug," really fast so we come back for one more hug!

She can whisper... well if we whisper she moves her lips very seriously as if she is telling you an important fact of life. SO CUTE!

I love this girl and although I think she looks a little crazy in the picture below it captures her personality perfectly.  I'm fairly certain she is saying, "CHEESE!"