My Little Helper

Allison enjoys washing dishes the old fashioned way.  This is her second time to help with the dishes.  She cannot be related to me because my earliest memories of washing dishes were not pleasant ones.  My brother and I used to have to wash the dishes after dinner each night before we had a dishwasher in our house.  I don't recall either one of us ever liking that job.   But Allison and Lauren LOVE it.  Lauren also enjoys helping put the dishes from the dishwasher away.  Now, if only I can find a way to bottle this enthusiasm for doing chores and bring it out when they are not quite so excited about doing their chores. 

Allison washing dishes



Allison posing for a picture of her washing dishes....... she is really smiling about this chore!!!  Maybe I'll bring this picture out later when I need to remind her that she used to love washing dishes!!!



A Chilly Spring Day

I have been really neglectful in taking pictures lately.  Therefore, I'm thankful to my wonderful brother who remembers to bring his camera when he comes to visit.  These great pictures are compliments of Uncle Bill's visit yesterday.

This first picture is of Allison in her "dress up outfit".  That girl loves to play dress up.  You can't tell in this picture, but she has on a short sleeved shirt, yoga pants, a skirt, and then the lady bug outfit over all that!  Love the sweet pose!

 This picture is of Lauren in her "dress up outfit".  She's sporting a t-shirt, tutu and leggings.

Both sweet girls together

After playing dress up, it was time to go outside and play.  It was really pretty chilly,

but that didn't stop the girls.

Lauren playing basketball



Allison and Lauren swinging



I love the toothless smile in this picture and the pure joy on her face



Allison on the glider



Lauren on the glider



Both girls having a great time together

This last picture was taken after coming back inside.  The are doing the Macarena dance.  Lauren has learned to absolutely LOVE dancing this year in her Kindergarten class.  I'm not too sure if I like that, or not!:)

Thanks brother for getting some great pictures.   Bill also brought me his pictures from Lauren's Kindergarten program.  I'll do a post of her program soon.

The Tooth Fairy

This was what Lauren found under her pillow when she woke up this morning!  The sweet tooth fairy left her first tooth for us to keep, a sweet note, and  five dollars!!!!  (I'm sure the tooth fairy realizes this first tooth was probably worth more than subsequent teeth!!)

She is quite proud of that "hole" in her smile and has already started wiggling that other bottom tooth that is loose.

A Smile is worth a thousand words

Lauren reached a major milestone today.  One that I wasn't quite ready for.  Daddy pulled her first tooth tonight after church!!!  When I picked Lauren up from school today she told me her tooth was really loose.  I had just brushed her teeth that morning before school and I didn't notice any difference from when we first discovered the loose tooth.  She went to the dentist last week during spring break and the dentist said it could come out in a week or months, depending on how much she wiggled it.  I hadn't noticed her wiggling it a lot.  She had kind of gotten used to the idea of a loose tooth and wasn't obsessed with it.  But today after school when I got home and looked at her tooth, it was really loose.  We wiggled it and I pulled gently on it, but it didn't come out.  After church when Bill got ready to brush her teeth, we asked her if she wanted Daddy to try to pull the tooth and she said yes!!!  She is such a brave little girl.  Bill wiggled it a little and it started to bleed some.  That scared her a bit, but she wanted him to keep trying.  After just a couple of quick pulls with a Kleenex, the tooth came out!!!  She was soooo excited.  It was just two weeks ago yesterday, March 8th when we discovered the loose tooth.  That seems kind of fast for a tooth to come out to me.  I don't know.

Both Lauren and Allison are quite excited about the tooth fairy visiting tonight.  When I told Lauren I would check on her tonight, she told me to be careful not to disturb her when the tooth fairy came.

Lauren's loose tooth right before Daddy pulled it

The hole in her mouth



Lauren's first baby tooth to come out



That precious smile



Another sweet smile



Big sister sharing the moment with her little sister

My baby is growing up way too fast.  I can't believe that she has less than 9 weeks of kindergarten left.  I am so thankful to Bill for supporting me and wanting me to stay home with Lauren and Allison.  It truly is a blessing to be able to enjoy these brief years that are passing so quickly.  I love my husband and my girls very much!

Drugs and More Drugs

It's very sad when you have to record all the medicines you are giving, just so you make sure you give everything you need to give at the right time.  Poor Allison has accumulated quite a lengthy list of medicines she has been taking for the past couple of weeks.  She is my little high-maintenance child.  Her daily medications for her Reactive Airway disease include Flovent (an inhaler) given at bedtime and Patanase (a nasal spray for allergies) given at bed time and again in the mornings.  When she first got sick two weeks ago we had to add another inhaler Xopenex every four hours, plus mucinex for her cold, plus Tylenol or Motrin for her fever and eventually an antibiotic for her ear infection!!!  With all those medications, I had to start recording everything I gave her to make sure I was giving her the right medicines at the right time.  Bless her heart, I think she is finally well enough to just go with the Flovent and Patanase....and her antibiotic for 3 more doses.

But now it's my turn.  I finally went to the doctor today and I got to start my antibiotic for a sinus infection.  I wish I had asked the PA if I could have had the bubble gum flavored liquid Amoxicillin instead of the horse pills I get to take!:)  I'm already feeling better just knowing that I can hopefully get rid of this sinus mess that has been lingering for so long.  I haven't been to the gym in 2 weeks.  I have missed church, our parenting class, and even grocery shopping.  Bill had to do that Sunday after church while Allison and I stayed home.

Fortunately, Lauren and Bill have managed to stay well.  I am praying Lauren does not get sick because she has her kindergarten program at school this Thursday evening.  She is so excited for this program.  They have been practicing for a long time.  She loves the songs they are singing and has a small speaking part in the program.  We can't wait to see her show.

Another very exciting thing that happened to Lauren tonight.......she discovered she has a wiggly tooth!!  Her first!!!  I was surprised she could go to sleep because she was sooooo excited.  I don't think she understands how long it will be before the tooth actually comes out.  She did tell me that her teacher, Mrs. Israel pulls teeth!  That's good to know!:)

Allison's Prayer

As I was putting Allison to bed tonight, her prayer started like this,
"Thank you God for giving me a sister........"

My prayer,
"Father, thank you for the tender heart of my baby.  Please let the girls' love for each other only grow stronger and deeper as they get older.  May they always share a special love for each other through out their whole lives." Amen

Lauren's Story

 Lauren has really taken an interest in writing stories lately.  Her kindergarten teacher has done a marvelous job at teaching Lauren how to stay on the topic of her story when writing.  Lauren loves to make up stories in the car and illustrate this point by throwing in a sentence that is off the topic.  She gets a big kick out of that.  (It does not take much to entertain this little girl!)

Here is one of Lauren's latest stories she brought home from school.

There was a really cute illustration for her story, but it was on a large sheet of construction paper and I couldn't scan that big of a paper.

I have also convinced Lauren that she does not have to know every single word in a book to be able to read that book to me.  Therefore, she is really starting to read more and more to me. 

I got this little paperback book, Read to Your Bunny by Rosemary Wells at a class I went to when Lauren was just a couple of months old.  The book is about the importance of reading to your child and at the end it says, "Read to your bunny, and your bunny will read to you."  Well, my bunny is reading to me.  I just can't believe it.

Allison is also getting very interested in reading and words.  She loves to spell word family words.  She has mastered the "at" family.  I am trying to get her to broaden her horizons and try other word families, but she really loves those "at" words.  She also has her own book that she can read, The ABC Book.  She loves to read it frequently to us.  She is also starting to "read" (recite from memory) familiar books.

Allison is enjoying writing as well.  She loves to write her name, Lauren, Cindy, Bill, Madison, Mommy,and Daddy.

We are very proud of our little girls.