Rainbows

I have been reading "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" to Rachel lately. She really loves the rhythm of the book and it has helped her learn her colors. Mary has been helping Rachel learn her colors too. Mary pulled out another book we like about making a Rainbow with ribbons inside. Later that afternoon Mary wanted to paint on her easel and I thought it was pretty cute when she pulled out the book with the rainbow on the front and painted a rainbow just like it. I have noticed that Mary really likes having directions to follow and she also enjoys giving direction to others. She told the mom teaching preschool yesterday that she wants to be a preschool teacher when she grows up.

Thank You Notes

Mary really enjoyed her fourth birthday. She sent out thank you notes to let her friends know that she appreciated them remembering her birthday. Mary signed her name on each card, drew a picture for them and decorated the outside with stickers. I think she did a great job!

Chicken Foot

Every other Saturday we like to run over and check out the goodwill store by our house. Why every other Saturday? Because that is when everything in the store is 50% off. It is wonderful and I totally look forward to it. I have a list of things that I am always looking for and I get pretty excited when they pop up. Murray found a full set of some nice dominoes. We played "Chicken Foot" one night after the girls went to bed instead of watching a show and it was a fun little date. I really like this game and it makes a cool design when you are finished.

What do you see in this picture?

Birthday Party at the Park

I asked Mary what she thought about having a family party this year. I explained that it would be nice to alternate between family and friend parties. Mary didn't agree and felt quite sad that she might not celebrate with her friends. We have been to several friend birthday parties lately and Mary really wanted to get together with them. We aren't living in freezing temperatures here in Arizona so we took advantage of the beautiful weather and took our party outside to the park! The kids loved playing on the playground and we brought snacks, cupcakes and balloons. Mary had a great time with her friends and we are really glad they could come and play with us! Murray was able to come toward the middle of the party and being the fun dad he is, he put together some animal races for the kids. They thought it was fun and the moms thought it was very fun to watch!

Mary Turned 4 Years Old!!!!

Our sweet Mary turned 4 years old and I can hardly believe it! I thought she was going to stay a baby forever! Usually I cry when Mary and Rachel have a birthday but this time I decided to be happy about all the wonderful things they are learning and doing with each year that passes. I still cried a little.

I woke Mary up in the morning with a purple tutu outfit because purple is her favorite color. Rachel and I brought it in and sang "Happy Birthday". Mary was so happy she put her hand on her chest, sat in my lap and told me she felt "emotional". She came downstairs and saw we hung our family birthday sign and her wrapped presents up high. Mary asked me who did that. I told her I wrapped her presents and grandparents sent some. She told me "Thank you mom for everything" with a great big hug. That is the kind of girl Miss Mary is! Here are four of our favorite things about Mary!

She is thoughtful and loves others! Mary tries to cheer up her sister or even myself if we aren't happy. If she sees a child in a group who is shy she has been known to welcome them, take their hand and be their friend.

She is brave. Mary will tell me how she thinks it is. If Rachel is need of a time out Mary will come to her defense and tell me "Mom she is just a baby, be nice to Rachel!"

She is creative! I am amazed at her ability to make up games, draw pictures and find things in the world around her that I miss all the time.

She is fun! Mary can always think of something fun to do! She is funny and makes me laugh everyday! I love the conversations we have together!

Mary loves her magazine subscription to "The Friend" from Grandma & Grandpa

Alex sent a card with fun jokes in it!

The famous princess card that sings!

McDonalds money!

Princess Books

Everyday you can find Rachel looking through her princess board books that Grandma gave her for her birthday. I usually put them back in the case and on the book shelf when she is finished. The next day she picks the same princess board books. Of all the books to pick from they are her favorite! Her favorite one to read is Sleeping Beauty. I will read them with her but she likes to look at each picture by herself too. I think it is so cute to see someone so small enjoying a good book!

Nap Time

Rachel has learned to really love her nap time! Everyday after lunch she starts to feel a little tired. I ask her if she wants a nap and some days she says "No I'm not tired, I don't need a nap." because she doesn't want to miss anything fun, even though she is clearly sleepy. But most days she happily takes my hand, says "goodnite" to Mary and walks upstairs to her room. I really appreciate this because carrying a crying kicking child up stairs when my belly is growing bigger by the second isn't my idea of fun! Rachel takes a pacifier some days, reaches her hand into her hair and falls asleep for 2-3 hours and wakes up a very happy girl! I am glad when I can be home for her nap time because it really makes her a happier child and that makes me a happier mommy! Some days I will lie down with her and we will cuddle. I am learning I need to cuddle with her before because she can expect it at night time. I can't leave Mary unattended for 20 minutes downstairs because interesting things happen if I do. That's another entry though.

Hide and Seek

One morning it had become pretty quiet when the thought crossed my mind "What are those girls up to?" I looked downstairs, I looked upstairs, I called their names louder and louder. I checked the garage, I checked the backyard and I started to feel nervous. Could they have escaped the house without me noticing? Then I heard giggling and "We're in here". I opened the coat closet, pushed the coats to the side where there are tubs of stuff piled and there those munch-kins were sitting on top of it all!

I had a baby shower with Mary and all the ladies filled out cards with a piece of advice. On one of the cards it said "When things go wrong try to laugh and take a picture." In this instance that advice came to me and I reached for the camera.

I really am glad they have so much fun together.

Preschool With Mommy

Mary loves to learn new things! She does her fair share of imaginative play. It is fun to listen to the things she comes up with and plays with Rachel. Lately, they pretend the space by our stairs is an elevator and they take it to different places they like to visit. They also like to pretend that our slide is a pirate ship. Even with all of that fun Mary still likes to do an activity with just mom when she can. While Rachel takes her nap Mary and I will take a little time to do something fun together. This day we did some fun "M" activities.

Painting with giant marshmallows. Mary found them at Walmart and pleaded to get them. I'm glad we could think of something to do with them other than just eat them!

Found "m" words on marshmallows and glued them in the hot cocoa cup.

Followed her own recipe for marshmallow mix.

I got these ideas out of a book I really like "Letter of the Week Book 2" Grades PreK-K" It is a Mailbox book. The magazine that they make for teachers. I found it at Lakeshore Learning. I have used it mostly for co-op preschool ideas but it has worked well for alone time with Mary too.

Library Time

We don't make it to the library for their story times. They offer really wonderful story times that are grouped into ages and we seem to fall between them right now. We do still make frequent trips to the library to pick out books and movies. There is a fun area the girls like to read books in and make new friends. I really like being able to put books on hold so they are ready to pick up. The girls both have their own library cards and like to scan them and check out their own books.

We discovered new dvds that we love. The girls love them, so I love them. They are anything by Richard Scarry and Baby Songs.

Going to the library used to be a bit stressful when the girls would get excited and run around. Fortunately, they have been behaving beautifully in the library. They know to stay right by me and use library voices. I am very proud of them. I have also learned that if Mary is on board Rachel will usually follow. Good thing Mary is a little girl who enjoys pleasing her mommy, most of the time.

The girls just participated in a program the library was having. They had to do a certain amount of reading and write it down to get a prize. They both picked out prizes and got t-shirts that they like to wear at bedtime.

The girls with the toys they picked out of the treasure box.