Tuesday, May 31, 2022

May

At the beginning of the month, it seemed like this month would last forever. We have a lot of things to look forward to in June- the end of school and a new baby- but now as I look back the month truly flew by and there were so many memories made.

Quite a few times this month while Nate has mowed the lawn, a little frog will jump out and Baylor is SO excited whenever this happens. She loves finding frogs in the yard and calls all of them "Freddy". She loves holding them and after we let them go she often goes back to where they were and looks for them and calls out to them. It is the cutest thing. This little frog happened to really like Baylor and would just sit on her hand. 
Another cute moment that I want to remember- Paige and Baylor were doing a science experiment and Paige got Baylor all geared up to watch. :)
This girl loves to be outside. At the beginning of the month we hadn't put down seed yet in the part of the yard that got all torn up when they redid the drain field and she loved playing in the dirt.
I had a very sweet and relaxing Mother's Day. I was spoiled especially by Paige. I got all sorts of sweet notes and cards and Nate took the girls out the night before and got me some new bread pans and a new water bottle. I love them both! I love all the handmade cards that I will cherish forever. I feel so incredibly blessed to be a mom and I have two of the sweetest girls and we are ready to love on another one.
We love our yard and our own little oasis. The flowers and greenery of spring are really coming in and our yard looks gorgeous.
One warm afternoon the girls got to play some baseball with Dad. It was so fun to watch! Baylor even got a few hits in and every time she did she would be so excited and do a little dance. Paige has quite the swing and loved it when she would hit the ball into the driveway and onto the road. I love watching Nate interact and play with the girls. He is such an amazing dad and our girls are so lucky to have him in their lives.
Paige's amazing chalk drawing- "Squeaks and Stories"
One warm weekend we went to the zoo! We hadn't been since the summer of 2019 and so it was long over due and I knew that both girls would love it. Paige made this cute search and find for Baylor to have while we walked around to check off when we saw certain animals. We invited Nona to tag along and it was a great outing and a great day.
First stop was the aquarium.
Oh how I love these two!
More animal fun! Paige liked to have the map and be our guide. We took a picnic with us and enjoyed lunch in the zoo.
Paige got to feed some birds. We saw one bird land on a little girl's head. Baylor had no interest in them at all. She preferred playing on the stairs while Paige patiently waited for a bird to land on her stick.
2019 vs 2022
Then Baylor's favorite part- the goats. Of all animals in the zoo for some reason the goats were her favorite. She attempted to feed them once and once she got licked she was done feeding them. She loved petting them and Paige loved feeding them.
We went on the carousel there for the first time.
The zoo is on a peninsula and next to it is this big park that has beach access and so many trails to explore. The beach was closed but we stopped to see something that has been on my bucket list which was the rhododendron trail. The trail is very short and some of the rhododendrons were huge. It was a really nice way to end our outdoor adventure for the day.
We also stopped by to see the fort that is in the park. They were having an event that day so you had to pay to go in so it will continue to be on my bucket list to go at another time but there was this cool tree there that was fun for the girls.
We got our garden planted! We have strawberries, raspberries, carrots, broccoli, onion, tomatoes, green pepper, and jalapenos. I love our little garden and it looks so good with plants in it again.
This past Friday there was no school for a teacher workshop day and for our combined youth activity for the month we got to go to the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle. I decided to take my whole family and it was such a cool museum. I would love to go back with my parents and take more time to look around. The views of the city are incredible and the museum is so well put together.
A couple of times this month the girls have enjoyed a dip in the hot tub at Nona and Pop's house.
Silly little girl wanted a snack in the car while we waited to pick up Paige from school and what did she pick- chow mien noodles. :)
This past Saturday, Paige got sick and wanted to stay home but Baylor and I wanted to get out of the house for a bit so I took her to the park. She loved it and it was a little rainy so there was hardly anyone there. She was being so brave and climbing higher on the the different things than she has ever before. 
We then walked around to see the wisteria growing and then made a stop at Nona and Pop's house so that she could dig and play on the tree- it is one of her favorite spots in their yard.
Our rhododendrons are in full bloom and I love them so much!
Memorial Day we did our traditional visit to Tahoma National Cemetery. It was super busy but still so peaceful and I love walking amongst the flags and flowers.
Today we went and watched the goats by Fred Meyer eat in one of the retention ponds. It was pretty fascinating to watch and the girls loved it. Little moments like these are really what makes life joyful!
What a great month! It went by fast. Yes there were hard days but that truly is what life is about, appreciating and enjoying those happy and simple times and time together as a family. It truly is what makes life so sweet. We are so excited for June and can't believe that we get to meet our new little girl in just 22 days!

Saturday, May 28, 2022

Letter Q

Letter Q Week- not many activities that start with Q but we had fun with what we did do.

Started off with letter Q tracing
Then for the craft Baylor created a Queen out of a Q. She colored the Q and I traced the crown and she cut it out and glued it on.
The next day we did a quilt. She was a little confused about what a quilt was and so for the days following when I would ask her what we did she would always say blanket or the blanket on Mom and Dad's bed. :) I traced squares on different scrap fabric that we had and she cut them out and then glued them on the letter Q to make her own "quilt".
The third day was Q-tip painting. I gave her a big paper with lots of Q-tips and lots of different colors of paint and just let her create and paint to her heart's desire.
Our last day since we had a busy Friday was our quarter day. We first did a math activity where I would put so many quarter on the page and she would trace them and then add them together. After we did addition, I had all the quarters in a pile and had her count the total and then I would take some away and have her count how many were left.
Then she did quarter tracing. It was like a seek and find for her and she loved whenever she felt a quarter through the paper and was excited to color it.

Tuesday, May 24, 2022

Letter P

Letter P week- We got all 5 days in this week! Monday we started with tracing the uppercase and lowercase letter P and then we each colored a pirate coloring page.
Tuesday was our pizza day. Baylor created a pizza out of a paper plate. She first used brown and red markers for the crust and sauce. Then she cut out strips of yellow paper for the cheese that she glued on and last she drew some pepperoni and cut them out and added them last.
Then for lunch she got to make her own little pizzas to enjoy.
Wednesday she created a parrot. I cut out the body and I drew the tail feathers, beak, and feet and then had her cut them out. I then helped her trace her hands and she painted them. Once everything was dry we glued it all together.
Thursday was our popcorn day. She colored the popcorn bag and then glued on the cotton balls for the popcorn. She then colored the cotton balls with a yellow marker to make her popcorn buttery.
Then she played in popcorn kernels. I hid some small toys in it for her to find and then she just played in it with her hands and some measuring cups. We enjoyed some popcorn as a family later in the evening while we all watched Survivor.
Friday we started off doing our alphabet puzzle and she could tell me all the letters!
Then our last activity was using pom-poms on purple paper to make the letter P. She drew the P and then put the pom-poms on.