Programs and Recitals

The holiday season brought with it a close to many of the activities that Emma and Ani normally participate in.  Swimming lessons, tumbling class and dance class all finished up by the last weeks in December.  Emma was the star in her dance group recital.  Somehow she managed to move up on stage so that she was dancing next to the teacher while the rest of the group remained further back.  She definitely is not afraid to be in the spotlight and show what she knows how to do.  At the Montessori Christmas program, Ani's group sang "Rudolph the Read Nose Reindeer" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas."  All of the toddlers looked stunned as the audience took pictures and sang their songs with them.  Unfortunately we didn't get a great photo of the group.  Emma's group sang many songs.  Two of Emma's favorites were "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" and "Happy Birthday Montessori."

 Waiting to go backstage

 Ever so slowly it is becoming the Emma and Miss Meg show

 Just a bit tired after the performance

Thanksgiving and Dan's Birthday

We visited the Maas family for Thanksgiving and had a wonderful vacation.  On Thanksgiving, Uncle Mike and Emma made an organic chocolate cake for Daddy with cream cheese frosting.  Grandpa and Grandma took the girls to a unique Lego store where they could make their own lego sets from a variety of characters.  Each girl was able to pick out two of their favorite characters and then they got to share a princess Lego set.  We attempted to take the girls ice skating however the weather was not cooperative for the unveiling of the ice.  We did get to listen to some nice holiday music with bells and a choir instead.  On Saturday we went to the Wisconsin Children's Museum and had a blast.  Mommy's favorites were the hamster wheel and the water tornado.  Emma said that she really liked shadow room and the diner where she made pretend pie.  Ani seemed to like the water tornado, paint area and spaceship.  Daddy even got Mommy and Emma to have a dance party in the elevator when we rode between floors.  So many cool things to explore!  We will have to go back there when the weather is warm to try out the outdoor play areas.  Both girls slept the majority of the way home and we were all exhausted after two hours of unpacking and cleaning.  Time to get back on schedule!

Happy Birthday Daddy!  Thanks for reading Strawberry Shortcake and the Fake Cake Surprise for the 100th time over the weekend.

Trick or Dog

We tried trick or treating this year, but the girls preferred searching for dogs and asking if we could go home to eat cucumbers.  We did manage to find a few houses with small dogs that the girls could pet, and we munched on cucumbers while listening to Halloween music once we got home. 

Emma also enjoyed being the trick-or-treater lookout.  She stationed herself at the front door with a pile of Legos and stared out the window.  The post was abandoned many a time when a good sing-along song came on the computer. 

Although Emma liked the trick-or-treaters, Ani's favorite Halloween activity appeared to be cleaning out the pumpkins.  Ani developed a clever method that would allow her to clean out pumpkins indefinitely.  As soon as she would take out all the guts and seeds, she would stuff them all back in.  For over an hour, we heard, "Take them out, put them in!"

A Scribe or Pirate Life for Us?

Yesterday Emma wrote her first word all by herself.  After successfully writing "mom", she practiced it over and over again.  She also accidentally made a "Q" which caused us to begin to learn the letters for the word queen.  In addition to queen, Emma knows how to write a capital letter "E" and is working on her lower case "a."  Very soon she will be able to write her own name.  Mommy thinks in a few short months Emma would be considered for scribe training.  Too bad we don't live in Egyptian times and that they refused to train girls.

Besides her writing skills, Emma has really taken off in her singing abilities.  She has created her own first song titled, "Three Little Apples"

Three little apples hanging on a tree
along came daddy with a Paddy for me
(there is something else in here I can't remember)
He plucked that apple right off the tree
and away he went, as happy as can be
Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo

As for Ani, the little kiddo can't get enough of words that people use.  In the past few weeks, she has become a little parrot.  Mommy has heard her stringing together full sentences with four or five words.  Perhaps she will find her calling with a bunch of pirates.  Besides sentences, she can now recite the full alphabet, sing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" as well as say other nursery rhymes in their entirety.  Mommy has even caught her singing the song that Emma made up all by herself.

Analise also loves to draw.  She holds her pincer grasp correctly and loves to make circles.  As she makes them, she shouts circle, circle, circle with ever increasing volume.  Mommy is currently training her in the art of triangles by using syllables as we make each side.

Maybe we won't make it as scribes or pirates, but we definitely have some artists in the family.

Whistling Well Orchard

Last weekend we visited the apple orchard as a family.  The girls got to see chickens and goats, jump off of hay bails and munch on delicious apples.  We came close to taking a family photo with all of us smiling.  Before leaving, both girls threw a coin into the pretend well to make a wish.

It is now a week later and Emma can't stop talking about wishes.  She wants to make sure her wishes come true.  If you really listen closely in the car or at times when Emma thinks she is by herself, you will hear her whispering wishes.

Picture Perfect

The girls and Mommy recently had a photo shoot in a Minneapolis park.  Between finding a place to park the car and running after each girl when they didn't want to take a picture, Mommy found herself exhausted.  Thank goodness we managed to get a few good shots for holiday cards.

(Ani at the tipping point... )

More Fun at the Farm

Emma and Analise tried out a few new items at the family farm today.  Although Emma and Analise both tried out a hammock for the first time, Emma was the one who wanted to take a nap in it.  She spent much of the afternoon ordering around another little boy, asking him to do her bidding as she rocked in the hammock. 

Emma also had her first opportunity to ride on an ATV around the farmyard.  She enjoyed when the four wheeler went slowly but became rather upset when Daddy drove the vehicle a bit faster. 

Both Analise and Emma enjoyed the homemade ice cream and delicious potluck that was prepared by lots of family and friends.  Analise had her first opportunity to sip from a bottle of water.  What she still hasn't figured out yet is that there are many water bottles that look like the one she used.  Anytime she found a new one on a table or in the grass, she thought it belonged to her.  Mommy has decided that we will need to purchase a water bottle for Analise so she can easily distinguish her beloved bottle from all the rest.

Dragonfly Catchers

This weekend Emma and Daddy participated in a class that taught them the art of bug catching and identifying.  The adventures did not stop with the collection of dragonfly nymphs at the Maplewood Nature Center.  Emma progressed in her capturing abilities while we visited Lee and Beth's family farm near Lacrosse.  Below is a picture of a newly discovered bug.  This bug is so new that there isn't even a name for it yet.

To Grandma and Grandpa's House We Go

This past weekend, we visited Jan, Bruce and Michael in Madison, Wisconsin.  On the car ride over Mommy perfected her skills in manipulation.  What do you do if you have someone who intentionally drops the item you just handed them and then screams for you to pick it up again?  You develop a secret plot called "Kitty Time."  We have two girls that love kitties!  Any screaming or whining in the car meant that more kitty time was ticking away.  As soon as Emma found out about kitty time, the whining stopped and peace enveloped the car.

After arriving at the Maas home, we went out to the Union at the University of Madison.  The girls sat on the steps by the lake and threw bread crumbs to the ducks.  Emma even let the duck eat out of her hand.  There was a sign that asked us to not feed the animals but Mommy has to admit that feeding the ducks with my grandma was one of my fondest childhood memories.  She was so glad the girls had an opportunity to do this with their grandma.  After the bread crumbs were gone, we headed over to Michael's new house.  He showed us all of his current house projects (painting, carpeting, etc.)  Emma checked out his backyard and immediately saw a large red shed.  "Does Uncle Michael have a barn like Old MacDonald Mommy?"  But of course he does.  Emma is hoping that Michael decides to raise chickens in his "barn." 

 Memories were made here

On Saturday, we visited the local zoo and spent time at the playground.  We were able to hear a lion roar, saw grizzly bears play fighting and posed like the flamingos for a picture.  Although most animals were the same as those we see at the Como Zoo, we did get to see a peacock and a rhino.  One of the playgrounds we visited had a slide that was designed like the fairy tale story the Little Women who Lived in a Shoe.  Of course the girls loved the swings and spent a good majority of their time asking to be pushed.  In the evening, Michael stopped over and we had pizza.  Daddy and Mommy got a chance to go on a beautiful walk in a nature preserve while the girls listened to stories and drifted off to sleep.  Mommy and Daddy found a natural spring.  It was amazing to see how the water just bubbled out of the ground.

 If only we had one of these at home

 

Who knew there was an exact way to say the ABC song.  Uncle Mike and Emma may need to debate this issue further (but Mommy is pretty sure Emma will win every debate).

Bath time with Grandma is always the best

Sunday brought with it more playground time and a trip to the beach.  Emma and Daddy built their one of a kind beach bathtub while Ani and Mommy explored the potential for pouring water down a sandy hill.  By nap time everyone was exhausted.  We packed up and spent the majority of the car ride in nap mode (thank goodness!).  We arrived home in time for dinner and some serious unpacking.  Thank you to everyone who helped make our trip a wonderful one!

 Beans, thank you for putting up with so much this past weekend.  We hope you get lots of rest this next week.

The most beautiful picture Mommy can imagine

No Fireworks, But Had a Blast!

It was a great time to get out and enjoy some gorgeous weather over 4th of July weekend.  We started the weekend off by setting up the tent in our backyard and pretending to camp.  Both girls absolutely loved the tent and Emma referred to it as her playhouse.  We kept the tent up the entire weekend.  Dan and I got to use the tent as well to view the neighborhood fireworks after the girls went to bed.  Besides hanging out at home, we went to the lake for the 4th of July and then out for ice cream. 

 Mommy and Ani spent time building sand castles and sending princesses down rivers

While Emma and Daddy went for a swim

 And an inner tube ride

 Daddy:  "The fish is biting my butt."

 Emma:  "I want the fish to bite my butt."

 Swings are a great way to dry off

 Although Ani was resistant, Grandma made sure that she didn't miss out on all the water fun

Emma's Birthday

Although this post is over a month late, Emma had a wonderful birthday.  Over the weekend both sets of grandparents and Emma's Uncle Michael visited.  During the week, Emma had a celebration with her class.  Grandma Kathy and Daddy were able to attend the celebration.  Daddy read some favorite moments from Emma's first three years of life as she circled the sun with a little globe.  Emma went around the sun three times to represent her first three years of life.  Then each student gave her a stone for her bag.  With the stone, the student said something they wished for Emma in the coming year.  Emma also received handmade birthday cards from all of her classmates.