Rewind to September 2013

Looking Back

It is amazing to look back a year and see how different they look - how little! What a great time to compare and think of the year gone by and be sentimental about the milestones ahead.

 With Grandpa for his birthday.

 So excited to take a trip to Iowa in the Jeep!

 Maren loves her LuLu. And taking pictures of her with LuLu!

 Playing with toys at Grandpa's

 At Jonquil Terrace Park on the roll-y slide

 Gotta love that big cheesy grin. This time the babies are going down, too.

 One morning while Elena was at preschool, I got my flute out and let Maren have a try. This is her on the piccolo, which is harder than the flute. I can't really play it any more. But Maren had a great time working on playing both of them. 

 Had to include this snapshot I took from the parking lot, watching Kirk and Maren walk around the building. Sometimes - sometimes often - I get that feeling in my chest, how little they are, how precious these days are and I want to remember them that way forever. If only I could freeze time. How blonde and tiny she looks!

 What on Earth?? You might ask. Well, this is the Famous Spicy Square. This is the little patch on Elena'a beloved Blankie (it's a girl, I've learned) that she scratched and rubbed and eventually wore off of her blanket. You can see where it has been stitched back on. She wanted a picture of it to remember it.

 Elena made her very own creation from Diego and Dora blocks. Love how proud she was of this!

 Heading in for the first day of 4 year-old preschool (2013) with Ms. Edyta and Ms. Jill

 Playing in the classroom.

I really liked the way they eased them in this year. For forty-five minutes, they came in with half the class and a parent and got used to the teacher and classroom.

 Sitting at circle time. She brought her lamb from Meme's house with her.

A budding Picasso at work.... or play

Maren and I went and had a little treat to celebrate Elena's first day

..

That first day and the anticipation of it... exhausting.

A nap for a girl who does not nap. Except the first week or so of school.

On the preschool playground together.

Maren's first day of 3 year-old preschool 2013 with Ms. Diane and Ms. Penny.

Love that little smile. Was she nervous? 

I don't think so. She told me later: "Mama. I taught myself not to cry."

I got to be there on the very first day so I got to snap pictures. 

More June Activities

Just a few things I forgot about June... it was a busier month than I remembered! We spent Father's Day weekend partly at my mom's and partly at my dad's. We flew to Meme's and then borrowed her car to drive to my Grandpa Bob's. We worked in conjunction with Uncle Rob and Aunt Tara and went and got some flowers for Dad. I decided to go close to naptime. Not the greatest timing. Elena decided to stay at Grandpa's and watch shows while Maren came with me. The poor child passed out in the frozen food section of WalMart (remember the no nap thing!!!) and I ended up carrying her and pushing her all the way across the store to the garden section because I was afraid she was going to smack her head on the cart. A wonderful young man helped me get everything in the car while Maren continued to sleep on my arms and in the car seat. I am not a WalMart shopper, but I have to say this turned out to be a experience I would tell people about!

Back at Grandpa's, he helped clean out many of his pots and I planted snapdragons and some other flowers that I do not know what they are called in six giant pots. It was fun doing it, and Dad has something nice to look at every time he comes in or goes out of his house. GREAT idea, Aunt Tara!

We also got to see Valerie, Nick and Danny for a while that weekend, too. We got to visit their chickens, ride Danny's little John Deere vehicle and visit for a while, always a big upper for all of us. We stayed in a hotel that weekend, too. The girls thought that was great fun. It has been quite a while since we had stayed in a hotel. Elena loved having her own queen sized bed and Maren enjoyed sleeping right next to me. And I next to her. :) 

We unfortunately did not get to see Kirk on Father's Day, but he got a nice relaxing weekend with the house all to himself, which he appreciates. So that was a Father's Day gift in itself. 

The other big thing was that Maren and Elena started ballet and tap classes. This is from their first class. It is a lot of fun to watch them. Most of the parents wait outside the room but they both wanted me in there and the teacher is fine with it, so I stayed, especially since Maren has not taken classes by herself yet. It is so fun to watch little girls do tap and ballet. Elena and Maren love it.