Nate and Bethany: June

I just wanted to post a June update of some of the fun and random things we have been up to. We are loving the warmer weather and enjoying being outside as much as we can.

We started June off with Nate's 35th birthday! He is pretty rad and I am so grateful for him in my life!

Baylor "helping" me make Dad's birthday cake.

Paige colored these Popsicle sticks to look like candles and hid all 35 in the front room for Nate to find when he got home from work.

Happy Birthday!

Paige made this soy sauce dispenser for Nate for his present from her- the story behind it is that a few weeks ago we were having a dinner with soy sauce and the only kind we had had a big pour spout and Nate was saying how it would be nice to have one that just drips out so you didn't get as much. That stuck in Paige's mind and she created the perfect homemade gift for Nate. She is one creative and thoughtful girl!

A few weeks before this we found lady bug larva at the park. We got a few and put them in a jar to watch them change into full grown lady bugs. The larva is what you can see in the top right eating off a raisin that we put in for them, the bottom right is what the pupae looks like that they come out of, and then the adult ones that we released into the garden.

One week Addison came over and Paige planned to do Cool Whip painting. For Baylor I just did three colors and for the older 2 I let them created what colors they wanted. They had lots of fun with it though Baylor didn't do much painting and mostly enjoyed eating it. :)

We are still having at home church and often after we do our sacrament meeting Paige will have nursery with Baylor. Paige sings songs with her, teaches her a little lesson, does puzzles or play dough with her and some coloring. One Sunday Paige talked about temples and printed this picture from them to color. Paige decided to this all on her own and it is the sweetest thing!

Another activity that Paige has been wanting to do is draw in shaving cream. I had done this before with her where she can draw pictures in it or I have had her write her sight words in it. I finally got some shaving cream the other day and Paige asked if Baylor and her could do it. I said yes and I should have supervised it a little more. I came downstairs to check on them and it was everywhere and Baylor was enjoying painting her body with it. They sure had lots of fun with and I just let them enjoy this silly fun moment before showers and major clean up.

Just some cute Baylor moments- Baylor wakes up pretty early compared to Paige so I usually let her watch Daniel Tiger in the morning while I wake up more and get ready for the day. She just looked so cute holding her baby doll with her blanket wrapped around her. The other 2 pictures Paige took with my phone and are just too cute.

At the beginning of this quarantine I started to potty train Baylor a little bit more. It has been a slow process and I took a little break for awhile when we moved. The past couple of weeks Paige made her a sticker chart and has been very helpful with taking Baylor to the bathroom. With the sticker chart and something clicking in Baylor's mind she has shifted and has been ready and goes to the bathroom pretty much whenever she needs to and I don't really have to remind her that much. She filled up her sticker chart and we went to the dollar store for a prize. She picked out 2 Minnie Mouse chap sticks and Minnie Mouse bubbles. She looks so cute in underwear and there is still an occasional accident and we still have to figure out number 2 but we are making progress.

Other cute moments with Baylor- waiting for dinner to cook, pretend sleeping with some stuffed animals, and playing in the hot tub with her "goo goo goggles".

She has also found a love of hammering. Pops has been rebuilding the railing on the front porch and she loves to go "help" him by nailing any nails that are popping up a little on the porch.

Bedtime is still a disaster at our house with them sharing a room but they sure are cute!

With the drawing YouTube videos that we have watched for Paige's class, she has found a love of drawing and watching videos to help her draw something. These are some that she drew to give to Addison. I thought it was funny that she picked to draw a girl with a mask but it is what is going on in her world and turned out so cute.

These 2 girls look so cute in masks and are champs at wearing them. Paige has loved being able to go to the stores with us and just get out of the house even if she has to wear a mask. Baylor hasn't gone out as much but when she does she is also great at wearing a mask. She sometimes asks to take it off but will keep it on. They had to wear it to the dentist last week and they did great. Paige did great going back by herself and is way more brave than I was at her age. She didn't have any cavities and was proud to show the dentist her new hole where she lost her 8th tooth the day before. Baylor made so much progress compared to 6 months ago. Last time she either refused to open her mouth and then cried which is when the dentist was able to take a quick peek. This time she answered some of the hygienist's questions and let the hygienist brush her teeth with a normal toothbrush. She didn't cry at all and even let the dentist look in her mouth with his mirror. We celebrated them being great at the dentist by going and getting a treat at McDonald's that evening.

Paige was eating her dinner one night and got her bread to stand up on its own. She was super excited and wanted to show me and take a picture with my phone. :)

This past week has been our first full week of summer break and we had such gorgeous weather and did so many fun things.

On Monday, Paige found some wood and the 2 girls worked together hammering a balance beam together.

Then we went to Lake Wilderness and walked around. It was good to get outside but this trip was a little disappointing. We were trying to find story boards that you walk from one board to the next that we read had been put up somewhere at the park but we never found it.

The girls loved climbing on anything and everything and going on a little walk through the forest.

Then the girls wore their swimsuits to go swimming at the lake. We walked over to the lake area and it was closed for 2 days since they put some chemicals in the lake. So I let them play in the creek that flows into the lake for a little bit before heading home. The outing didn't turn out anything like we planned but it was still a fun little outing with my girls.

Tuesday morning we helped Pops finish putting a pergola up. Paige helped hammer in some nails in the posts and I helped Pops put some bars on the top. Baylor loved climbing up and down the ladder over and over again.

I love the no pants, diaper, goggles look! :)

Then after lunch we went over to the lake to play and cool off.

It took Paige awhile but she finally went out to swim in her life jacket and we tried out a life jacket for Baylor that Nate found at the Goodwill Outlet. She loved it when I took her out deeper and held her hands and let her sway in between my legs.

Wednesday was rainy in the morning so we went to Hobby Lobby with Nona, Anna, and Eliza. Paige got some fun craft things and was in craft heaven walking through it. Also Paige has decided to do her own little preschool with Baylor and works on a letter a day. Paige teaches Baylor how to write the letter of the day and then does a craft that starts with it. For A she helped Baylor make this cute apple core. Paige decided to do this on her own and I love that they are creating and doing something together while I get whatever I need to done.

Thursday they did the letter B, made these cute hand print butterflies, watched a YouTube video on how to draw a bee, and they also had music and played with the musical instruments while singing some songs.

Then Paige went and played at Addison's house for the rest of the day and after lunch it was super warm out so I got the kiddie pool out for Baylor to cool off in.

I got the idea to put the little slide in the pool and Baylor loved it.

She is one busy girl that is full of joy and fun!

Then Friday after Nate got home from work we went to Dash Point State Park. It was low tide and that was a good thing since there were LOTS of people there and this allowed us to spread out. It was absolutely gorgeous! There was no wind but wasn't too hot. The sand felt so good on our bare feet. We set up our little area with the sun umbrella and then walked out into the water. It felt so good. Nate and Paige looked for shells and creatures and I stayed with Baylor. She was in a hurry to get to the "big water" but didn't like the seaweed at all. It was such a pretty day and the scenery around me was just stunning. I just kept thinking how lucky I am that I get to live here and be so close to the beach!

Then it was time for some fun in the sand. Both girls were content in building their own sandcastles and Baylor especially loved digging and dumping and just getting sand all over her.