August 2014

We started the month by taking a trip to AR to visit Nathan's family.  So thankful that the girls are good travelers.  There was hardly any whining in the car.  Hannah enjoyed reading signs out the window and they both enjoyed the many cows and horses.  Even though it was hot we met Nathan's dad at the park.  Everyone had fun and this park has a train to ride.  It was the highlight of the trip.  =)

Summer is almost over and I'm sure you're asking yourself where the swimming picture are...finally here!  We've had some crazy rain storms that made for some cooler weather (not that I'm complaining).  Hannah did swim lessons with Miss Julia (my mom's former students) again and we had a friend from church join us too.  She is still not swimming independently, but made LOTS of progress and has more confidence too. She's even jumped off the diving board, with her puddle jumper on.


 
Abigail started the summer not really too sure about the water.  She watched Hannah's swim lessons from the other side of the gate.  She played in the gravel box with the younger sister our friend.  She was paying attention because the next time we swam with her she wanted to try new things.  She will blow bubbles, let me hold her out on her tummy and kick her legs.  And she'll float on her back for about 2 seconds before she's trying to sit up.
 

We've also finally found a splash park that the girls will actually play at instead of just crying.  They are still cautious but will actually get wet and seem to have fun.  Thankfully it's not too far from our house so we've gone 4 or 5 times.

July 2014

The girls and I had so much fun at VBS last month that when I was asked to help out with preschool music camp, I jumped at the chance.  The camp was 4 days and went from 9-2.  Although, I was done by lunch every day except Thursday, performance day. The kids learned 6 songs and did a program for their parents at the end of the last day of camp.  Hannah and Abigail had so much fun, but it was definitely hard on Abigail to mess with her nap schedule. They laid down in her room, but she never really slept. The theme was Kids Under Construction.  Hannah's teacher accidentally wrote her name on her costume so she got to keep it.  Oops!  All in all it was a great experience and I will gladly work next year if I'm asked. =)

We were hanging out with my family on 4th of July and I asked my mom to take a few family photos.  It was hot and we didn't want to frustrate the girls so we only spent about 10 minutes.  These may not be the best shots technically speaking but I LOVE THEM!  They are real and genuine.  Hannah was not feeling the camera love that day, but Abigail was being a total flirt! These are just my 2 favs.

Lately I've tried to be more intentional in our play activities, especially with Abigail.  When Hannah was 2, I worked with her all the time to learn her letters.  Not so much this time around.  Abigail is just as smart as Hannah and the same desire to learn.  She's known about half the capital letters for quite a while (most of which she picked up on her own or from Hannah).  After a few fun learning games she now knows all but about 4 or 5.

And Hannah is reading or trying to read everything she can get her hands on.  As she told my mom the other day "Grammy my only problem with reading is that I can't stop!"  He he, so cute and VERY true!  Lots of readers in the family on both sides!  =)

A few weeks ago we decided to get out all the art supplies.  Neither of the girls really enjoy being messy and we're attempting to teach them it's OK to get dirty.  Happy to report that they both did paint and get dirty, but it was not their favorite.  Next time we will try painting with brushes.  Both thoroughly enjoyed the chalk!  Fun times!
 

June 2014

We started the month off by attending VBS at church.  Both girls are actually still too young, but I was working so they got to come.  Abigail was just in childcare, but did get a bible story every day.  Hannah was in one of the oldest childcare rooms so she got to do all the preschool activities.  They both had lots of fun!  And I had a blast too.  I worked in the music and bible story room with two of my good friends.

Potty update on Abigail... She is doing really well!  We still have occasional accidents, but is doing much better at telling me when she needs to go.  We have even ventured out of the house on short errands in panties instead of pull ups. =) I bet by the end of the summer if not sooner she'll have it all figured out.

Both girls have sucked their thumb at night since they were about 6 months old.  Pretty much as soon as we stopped swaddling them, the thumb found their mouth.  When Hannah turned 4 we began talking a little bit about how we don't need to suck our thumb at night.  So about 2 weeks ago we decided to really start working on that.  I did some reading on the internet about how to help your child stop sucking their thumb.  There is lots of info out there and obviously not all suggestions are for every child. Our plan was to talk with Hannah and explain what happens to your teeth, how she's a big girl, etc.  She always sucks the same thumb (big callous) so we started putting a glove on that hand while she sleeps.  Lots of talk about how she didn't need to take the glove off, the glove won't taste good to suck on.  Then we told her if she could go 5 days of leaving the glove on and keeping it dry she could pick a stuffed animal to sleep with.  She has actually done really well.  Her callous is starting to get smaller and she's enjoying sleeping with a friend. We'll keep her glove on for at least another month to make sure the habit is truly broken.

Last but not least...NEW PHOTOS!

Gonna catch those bubbles!

LOVE THIS!

They love their new little bench in my parents garden!

Let's go fly a kite...(dare you not to sing the song)!

They had so much fun!