We've Graduated.....

....no more sitting in mid-air for Hanny and Griff. We've officially moved them to the big table with the rest of us! They are pretty happy about it :-)

Ah, Artwork......

Ok, I'm not sure why I hadn't thought of this before......but I finally decided to start scanning some of the kids' artwork to the computer. So much easier to keep it organized, AND I can post it so you all can see what budding artists I have :-)

No pictures of the kids today, but a couple of quick tidbits:

Griff
* Climbs into the truck when it's time to go somewhere, and immediately climbs over the front middle storage thingy to sit in the very small space where the cup holders are....this puts him directly in front of the radio.....and he then proceeds to push every single button, hoping to hear a "beep". He's the one I'll have to worry about sneaking into the truck and accidently putting it into neutral and it backing out of the driveway....

Hannah
* At 1 1/2 is able to glare at me, seriously. I'll try to get a picture of it. It's quite a mean look.
* She is also the best little flirt, especially with Mike. She looks up under her eyelashes and gives a sweet little smile. She's able to get one more piece of cake with this look :-)

Abby
* Is so sweet with Hannah. She will sit and play with her, and explain how to do a puzzle, or how to get a sticker out of a book. She's very patient with her, and I can see a bit of sisterly love when she plays with her. She's also this way with Griff, but does it more with Hannah.

And, now some artwork!

Abby's paintings.....she currently likes to paint pictures from her coloring books.

Hannah's coloring.

Griff's coloring....

Working at the Car Wash.....

Fun washing the car with Dad yesterday. There is nothing more fun than a bucket of water, a hose, and some sponges to throw at each other!

Hannah is back to her charming self and sleeping peacefully all night....let's hope it continues. Our neighbors had a cookout last night, and we all headed over there. It's fun to watch Hannah & Griff interact with the older kids. They so want to play with them. Enjoy the pictures.

A Lovely Day.....and Hannah....

Hannah, our little monkey, has been keeping Mike and me up at night the last few nights. We are not sure what has prompted this, but after getting up with her 5 times last night, between the hours of midnight and 5am, we decided enough is enough. We don't think anything is actually wrong, b/c as soon as I walk into her room, she stops crying - immediately. And then smiles....kinda like, I gotcha to come in here, yipee for me. So again, enough's enough. Tonight we let her cry. We had no idea that she would start pulling her little game early tonight. She gave us a little shout out at 7ish....I went up there quickly, popped my head in and told it was as night-time and goodnight. She laid herself down, and went to sleep...or so I thought. She started to cry again at 7:15 and kept crying until 8:10....almost a full hour. And most of you know Hannah is a loud child.....and her cries are LOUD (believe it or not, Griff slept right through it all). I was afraid our neighbors were gonna hear her. She seems to be sleeping comfortably now....hopefully for the night, but we'll see. After Mike and I calmed ourselves down (it's stressful listening to a screaming child!), we both remembered at the same time that Abby started to pull this same thing when she was around H&G's age. One night in particular stands out.....Abby not wanting to go to bed, crying and throwing everything out of her crib in protest. Mike and me listening from the great room....suddenly we hear a loud BOOM. We run up to her room to find her out of her crib, completely naked. She had stripped herself down, torn off her diaper and climbed out of her crib. It was the one and only time she ever did that, as I think she scared herself. But the memory gives Mike and me a little peace, knowing that at least our kids go through this around 2 years old!

ANYWAY.....we actually had a really nice day today. It was nice and sunny and warm. We took a nice walk on the trail and played in the backyard. Below are some pictures. We are all looking forward to the long weekend. I think I am going to try to paint Abby's bathroom, and hopefully plant the rest of my flowers. Oh, and maybe some shopping.....my neighbor and I had a garage sale last week and I have a bit of cash to spend :-)

Enjoy the pictures.

Hopefully these green little weed-like things will grow to 6 foot sunflowers by September. Abby and I planted the seeds a couple of weeks ago, and today we noticed these little sprouts.
And this is just a picture of my favorite tree in our front yard. It's starting to bloom and it's really pretty.

Last Day of School

Abby's last day of preschool was yesterday. She was very sad to say goodbye to her teachers and her friends. She kept telling me how much she loved school and that she didn't want it to end.

The parents were invited to share in the last day of school celebration. The kids all sang songs and then there was a little ice cream social afterwards. Below are some pictures.

Before Leaving for School....Hannah in the background!

Singing a Song with all the Students....Abby is top row, almost directly center
Abby's class, getting ready to sing
Singing a silly ABC song...top row, almost center
Waving at mom.....

One of her teachers, Miss Cindy

And her favorite teacher, Miss Joyce
Miss Joyce again

The Tooth Fairy is a Comin'.....

It's out! After two weeks, the tooth is out! I can't believe Abby has lost her very first tooth.

Abby is so excited to have the tooth fairy come tonight....the tooth is already in her little tooth fairy doll, ready to go!

And of course I got pictures to remember the moment...a little gross, yes, but had to do it :-)

B-I-K-E

Abby got a new bike today. It was about time, she was WAY too big for her old one. Surprisingly, she picked out a blue one, over the pink and purple ones that she also looked at. She had a good time riding it around the neighborhood this afternoon with me, and then after dinner, she and Mike took a bike ride together.

Creative Storytelling and SAND!

Abby's last Creative Storytelling class was this Saturday. I think both Mike and I were glad this was it. Mike ended up with the weekend drive into Minneapolis more than I did, and it's a bit much first thing in the morning on a Saturday. H&G didn't especially care for the drive either, but they had fun playing in the playroom once we got there...along with all the other snot-nosed siblings :-) Anyway, Abby said she loved the class and wants to do another...so, one of us may be making the drive again sooner than we think :-) Below are some pictures from her performance today. The theme of the class was The Fantastical Forest, and the kids made up the story, characters, props, music and dances. Abby was a princess (of course) and her favorite part of the performance was dancing around with her hand-made streamer braclets. It was cute, if not a bit out of control! She seemed very serious throughout the play, and once it was over, broke out into a big grin!

Mike also went and picked up the sand for the sandbox today, and finished the cover for it. He was a bit busy today (not to mention last night when he mulched our entire front yard). All the kids love the sandbox, but Abby seemed to have the most fun, making up stories and playing "treasure hunt" in it. Hannah liked it once she got over the fact her feet were going to get dirty (she's a bit of a neat freak), and Griff jumped in right away.

I wish for SAND!

Enjoy the pictures....I'm off to eat some ice cream Mike and Abby brought back from Dairy Queen!