Where did the time go?

It has been quite awhile since I posted any information.  Over the winter, I took time to get all the posts from the blog published into a book format to give to both grandmas for Mother's Day.  After looking through the book this spring, I realized that I needed to keep up the blog as much as I possibly could.  The moments that were captured with our family mean the world to me and the book brings back so many wonderful memories from our first years with the girls.

So what are we up to currently.  Mommy returned to teaching this year after a two year leave to stay with the girls.  Emma started her kindergarten year at Wildwood Elementary in Mahtomedi, Analise spent a year at White Bear Montessori developing her own levels of independence and Daddy made multiple trips to India with his work (one in the summer and one in January). 

First day of kindergarten for Emma

In later spring, Mommy's cousin Annie got married to Tim and Analise got to be the flower girl in her wedding.  Analise did an amazing job walking down the aisle and passing out programs.  Both girls loved dancing and taking pictures in the photo booth that Annie had available for all guests.

During the summer months, we finally located a new house (after about six months of hunting), we sold our old house after a total kitchen remodel.  We also repainted the deck, put in a new garage door, cut down so many branches, and spent many trying weeks of being on the market.  By the end of the open houses Mommy didn't think she would ever want to make the beds or lay out fresh towels ever again.

Good bye old home...

While trying to distance ourselves from the hard work of buying and selling homes, we caught and tried to raise tadpoles, we spent a lot of time exploring farmers markets, parks and visiting the swimming pool in the late summer and early fall.  Grandma Jan and Grandpa Bruce took the girls boating, swimming and fishing.  Mommy spent some time setting up her new classroom and getting to know her new teammates.

Chalk lipstick...Whose idea was this?

 Hanging out in the hammock at our new house and grilling on the patio

 Becky, Jan and Bruce visit the new house

 Our new neighbors have a trampoline

Grandma Kathy's birthday at the Shoreview Community Center

Of course we made it out to a few different fields for picking pumpkins and apples as soon as the leaves started to change.  Analise participated in soccer and both girls completed tap and ballet lessons.  Emma started Girl Scouts in November and has enjoyed many of activities that the group has participated in.  We even tried roller skating as a family at Saints North.  There were a few falls but we kept getting back up again.  Persistence paid off when Emma won the Hokey Pokey competition.

Gateway Trail Biking

Pumpkin Night Festival at State Fair Grounds

Hula hooping competition sandwiched in between roller skating loops

Matching Elena of Avalor Costumes

In later fall, Aunt Marchie passed away and we attended her funeral on one of the most beautiful fall days Mommy has experienced in Duluth.  We stopped for a picnic lunch and a bit of hiking at Jay Cooke State Park before heading home.  Carolyn celebrated her wedding to Brian in late November.  Emma was the flower girl and they had a beautiful wedding at the cathedral followed by a reception at the Science Museum of Minnesota.  Our family had a blast roaming through the exhibits while we waited for dinner.  There was lots of dancing and happy smiles all around.

In December, we hosted our first Christmas celebration.  Andrea and Alex visited from Louisiana.  Grandma and Grandpa Walczynski came over as well as Grandma Jan and Aunt Becky.  Grandma Jan and Becky took the girls to the Monkey house and lots of indoor attractions.  Grandpa Bruce stayed at home this vacation because a cat was stuck in the wall of their house.  For Christmas Becky and Michael had given Jan and Bruce two new cats.   Unfortunately, the cats were a bit scared when they first arrived.  Thank goodness they finally came out of hiding and are settled in.  During holiday break we were able to fit in Emma's first volunteering experience with Feed My Starving Children.  Emma helped bag up rice meals for children in Central and South America.  We also decorated a tree for the birds and woodland creatures in our neighborhood.

How many cranberries can you string for the birds?

Feed My Starving Children

Building Project with Grandpa Mark

 Deck the girls with strings of lights....Fa la la la la la la la la....

About two weeks after Christmas break, Dan headed for India and Grandma Jan and Grandpa Bruce came for a week to help Mommy with the girls and daily house chores.  We visited the Crayola experience and the girls attended The Works museum to practice their engineering skills.  This was the week of our first big snowfall.  Unfortunately, our snowblower wasn't working and the cars had a hard time getting up the hill.  Mommy was so thankful that Grandpa Bruce was able to get things working and that Grandma Jan got Emma to the bus stop so she could get to work on time.

Helping with dinner

Oakdale Nature Center Brisk Walk

 Girl Scout Outdoor Explorations

Over the winter, the girls participated in gymnastics and some science camps.  Emma played card sharks with classmates after school to learn new math skills and Analise became very interested in fuse beads.  Both girls were able to volunteer with the Substance dinner program that serves meals to the homeless on a weekly basis.  Mommy got really excited about having dogs come to read to her students after a school carnival event that Emma and Analise attended.  Both girls read to the dogs and began to get over their fear of being around large animals.  Mommy currently has six dogs that visit her classroom on a weekly basis.

Analise celebrated her birthday in February "Frozen style."  The girls made princess crowns, played with sparkling playdoh, played pin the nose on Olaf, tried to throw rings on Sven's antlers and ate ice cream with sprinkles.  During winter break, both girls had friends over to play.

 Jackie, London, Iris, Olivia and Sasha from White Bear Montessori came to celebrate with Analise.

Every single day a new person joined us for activities like making Borax crystals, painting the planets, tea parties, construction of giant city scapes and of course outdoor sledding fun.  Our new house has a hill that is the perfect spot for sliding.  We also spent much time making snowmen and building forts with all the snow we received this winter.  The girls did try ice skating but Analise's feet were still too small for the ice skates to fit properly.  Perhaps we will try again next year.

 Plunger games in the gym...The bathroom product obsession continues.  Remember girls you used to love putting underwear on your heads.

Looking fashionable after the Daddy and Daughter Beer and Learning to Braid Hair Event

Would you like to build a snowman?

This spring, we volunteered to be part of the Sandwich man project at Mommy's school.  Emma and Ani helped to make over 1,000 sandwiches to feed the hungry.  After our sandwich making adventure, we headed over to Emma's school to volunteer at the prize booth for the school carnival.  It was loud in the gym, especially when a group of boys decided to buy the plastic trumpets from the prize booth.  Analise spent a good portion of the evening with her hands on her ears.  We started Irish dancing at the end of March and both girls have fallen in love with the quick steps and jumping involved in the activity.  Afterwards, we often visit a local park and hang out in the sunshine.  Both girls will continue dancing throughout the summer and perform at the Irish Fair in August.

The Sandwich Man Project

For Easter, we had two bunnies from Ani's school join us.  Rusty and Freckle were a nice addition to our family gathering.  This year proved strange because we still had a lot of snow on the ground and an even bigger snow storm arrived a week after Easter.  We did our egg hunt indoors this year and Mommy and Ani made an egg bake that the family enjoyed.  Daddy made banana bread and Emma helped set the table.  Easter baskets included Hatchimals and of course chocolate.  Aunt Joan, Uncle Don, Grandma and Grandpa Walczynski and Theresa joined us for the celebration.  Emma ended up using her Easter money to buy a little African violet of her own.  African violets are Mommy's flower of hope.  Analise also bought one with her money.  Now we have a large African violet as well as two smaller pots flanking it.

Please no more snow!

Both girls have been working on learning how to read and write using Orton Gillingham methods as well as Montessori materials.  Analise has come a long way with her letter sounds and counting/number recognition.  Emma has picked up on digraphs and dipthongs and is currently plowing through a few books every day.

Relax and read

Even though  we read a lot, art is still one of our favorite things to do.  

Emma lost two top teeth this past year.  We are still trying to figure out if the tooth fairy is real.

Both girls love to bike and go on their scooters.  We take nightly walks and read American Girl books to learn about historical concepts.  We also love Magic School Bus books and learning about medieval times.  We are about to start building a castle and labeling all the parts.  Emma attended her first Take Your Daughter to Work Day with Daddy this year.  Both serious work and silliness were a part of the day.

Out for lunch

This spring both girls have started soccer.  We have weekly practices and games on Monday evenings.  It is peaceful watching the sun sink into the horizon as the girls aim their ball into the net.  Emma has proved herself a great goalie.  The Girl Scouts wrapped up their year with a picking up trash service project and end of the year celebration.

 Now we have a clean park to play in!  Thank you Girl Scouts!

 Emma and Ani experience their first soccer game.  Go Pink Team!

Daddy installed a swing on our front porch and this has become the go to spot for reading stories.  We are getting a Giving Garden installed in our front yard within the next week.  Half of the garden will be dedicated to our family and half the produce grown will go to the local Food Shelf.  We will also plant a herb garden on a wall using an old palate.  Daddy plans to do some landscaping of our hill this summer and turn it into a larger garden format.  Hopefully we won't go too crazy this time around with all the things we decide to plant.  We have filled our window boxes and some buckets on our porch with lots of bright flowers.   Mommy also went on a bike ride with her friend Joy whom she hadn't seen in a long time.

Emma will be celebrating her birthday in a few weeks.  She received a new bike and some summer clothes from Mommy and Daddy.  The weather has become warm rather quickly so we needed new shorts and dresses stat.  Emma is excited to celebrate her party with eight of her close friends from school.  She will have an art theme party where children will paint canvases and rocks.  We also plan to have some outdoor relay races and hide and seek games.

As for this summer, Emma and Ani will have Spanish immersion tutors that work with them three days a week.  They will travel to different locations to learn about zoo animals, colors, food and other outdoor activities while at the same time being immersed in the Spanish language.  Both girls will also attend a nature camp at Tamarack and Mommy will of course spend some time leading them in cool art projects and science experiments.  This will be our first official year for camping with the girls.  Mommy and Emma plan to attend Girl Scout camp for a weekend.  Over the 4th of July, Dan and the girls will visit Grandma and Grandpa Maas as well as Aunt Becky, Uncle Michael, Shawn and Ashley.  The girls are excited to see Grandpa's new boat.  Mommy and Daddy will attend a couple's retreat in July and Mommy will visit Colorado at the end of June for some teacher training.  Of course we will throw in some comedy in the park, Shakepeare in the park and even a lantern lighting festival in late August.  Mommy has planned a class bike trip with her teaching colleagues.  Emma and Daddy will join in the day trip with the group.  If all goes well perhaps the trip will become a yearly tradition.