Easy yet effective

I wasn't very good about doing organized, regular learning activities with Cyrena over the summer. I needed a break after teaching preschool. But I tried to set up a few here and there for her. This was one.

Summers in Arizona bring BUGS, BUGS and more BUGS. We see a lot of bugs in the bathroom and I've explained to Cyrena that they are thirsty and like to be close to water. So when I dug out these rubber bugs (I purchased them at the $ store a few years ago) I knew I could set up a fun and easy activity for her.

Each bug has a # written on it. Her job was to give the bugs that many 'drops of water' which were really flat floral marbles. She enjoyed this activity and it was easy to set up and clean up.

Preschool

So granted I am Cyrena's preschool teacher.....and it's in our home.....but STILL this is her first official week in preschool!

Tuesday was the first day and it was so fun. She has been so excited all summer to have preschool friends come to our house. She was all ready with her backpack, folder and such.

I asked David a few days previous about when he wanted to start doing 'beginning of the school year' priesthood blessings. I told him it was completely up to him when he wanted to start. He decided to start now. So on Monday he told Cyrena he would like to give her a blessing. He explained how this is a "Father's" blessing and was different from a blessing when she's sick. She was SO excited to have this attention from her beloved daddy. She sat completely still the entire time and when it was finished she said "Daddy, why do you have drips on your cheeks?" He just couldn't hold the tears back, poor guy. He's a sucker when it comes to his special girls.

Ok, I am too.

I am super excited to be Cyrena's preschool teacher. She loves to learn and is so eager to help....and try to be the teacher as well. :) In fact she's 'playing' preschool right now with her as the teacher of course. I'm looking forward to a wonderful year with a great group of kids!

My little student

Can you say adorable? Just looking at this makes my heart melt.

Bathroom Humor

It seems we have yet another Daddy's girl on our hands. Didn't I call this when I found out I was having a girl? I believe I did. Natalie wants her Dad's undivided attention when he's home. She follows him around whining until he picks her up.

Last Saturday when David came home from playing basketball and helping a family move the girls were all over him. He wanted to take a shower but Natalie was NOT happy about it. She followed him over to the shower, sat on the rug and watched him, crying, the entire time he was in the shower.

That's devotion.

And he loved every minute of it. When he finally got out and picked her up, she immediately stopped crying. Oh she's a sneaky little thing. She has all of us right where she wants us.

Look at those red eyes, poor thing (yeah right!)

And here's a cute bathtub video David took while I was gone one night last week. Natalie worships Cyrena, even more than she worships David. I love seeing my girls have so much fun together.

Storytime Felt

*Sigh* Another giveaway I really want. I have always been a fan of storytime felt but have yet to purchase my own sets. Now there's a giveaway on another of my favorite sites and I would love to win!

Great books

Check out the giveaway on one of my favorite sites. There are many giveaways that you may be interested in. I'm hoping to win the preschool book one!

Moving on up **EDITED**

Ok people this is a little too much for me to handle. In the past week my baby has cut another tooth and started pulling up. It's a little unsettling to see her standing up in her crib when she's done with her nap. Of course she thinks it's so funny!

I left this video (above) uploading and went to clean the bathroom. When I came back to check on it, the post was already published so I guess my little helper pushed some buttons. However, I wanted to add this video (below). So here you go.

Don't you love 3 year old's fashion statements? Pink shirt, too short green leggings, and red/white/blue socks. So classy. I love when Cyrena tells Natalie she's "so proud of her" Ahh, that girl cracks us up!

Watch out mom, I'm 9 months old today!!

(Milestones)

I've been meaning to post this for a few week now but am just now getting around to it. My baby girl is getting SO big! She made a couple of developmental leaps while we were in Seattle. She started officially crawling and she had her first tooth break through! I am a little shaken by all of this at once. :) David's dad has two cats at his house and we believe that's what got her up and moving, she really wanted to chase them. This video was taken early in the morning on the 4th of July.

She had been running a slight fever and was a little touchy the first few days we were in Seattle then on Monday I saw a little sliver poking out of her gums! We were at the park playing and I said, "David Dean we have a tooth!" I was excited for her.

Natalie is exactly Cyrena's age when she got her first tooth. But Cyrena was about twice Natalie's age when she started crawling. She was definitely a late bloomer!

So now I am remembering what it's like to have a crawling baby into EVERYTHING. She has found and played with every doorstop, every dead bug, and enjoys smearing and swimming in her own spitup on the tile. Anytime you pick her up, she immediately swivels around and tries to get down or to see what's going on around her. She will not be contained now that she's had a taste of freedom.

Natalie feels that now she has a tooth so feeding her with a spoon is no longer necessary. She can mash food pretty well and is doing AMAZING picking up food and feeding herself. I LOVE this stage! She is also very vocal, social, and nosy. She always needs to know what her sister is up to.

Anyone have some freezer space? This girl is growing up too fast!