Float Test

Natalie has been in swim lessons for almost a year...she is an independent swimmer and we have been told she is "water safe". This weekend, her swim school offered a float test to show the parents, the kids and the swim school that these kiddos are actually "water safe". Natalie was so excited because she got to pick out an outfit to wear into the pool! The school provided shoes and Natalie was set to float fully clothed!

Float she did and giggle and laugh her way to the edge of the pool two times. She PASSED! She earned a medal which she is soooo proud of! She also got a cool Float Test cookie!

She is one silly swimmer - can't wait for summer!

Tea with Aaron

I think this may be my first post to acknowledge Aaron our amazing friend and special sitter for our girls. Living so far away from grandmas ad grandpas, aunts and uncles we have found a savior in Aaron. She LOVES the girls to pieces and in return they love her too. She knows the in and outs of their schedule, has taken them to the library, for haircuts, to the doctor, the mall, out for meals, and most recently on a family trip (where Natalie threw up ALL over her).

I appreciate her so much and she was cemented herself into our family so strongly any changes to our "system" would be catastrophic. Here is a special lunch just for Aaron. She is a huge fan of all things old, fancy, and Victorian...her favorite place - Truffles and Lace the Temecula Tea Parlor. Here we are and Shannon too enjoy a "spot of afternoon tea".

Giving Soccer a Try

As we all know, Natalie loves to try new things! At a mere 4 and a half she has tried gymnastics, gymnastics with music and movement, Gymboree Play, Ballet, tap ( both on her own and mommy and me), story time at the library, candy making, bowling, swimming, and I'm sure I'm forgetting a few more...

Well as she starts kindergarten many of our friends will begin AYSO soccer. Natalie is as interested to play as any busy 4 year old but I worry about her level of commitment. After all she has never been on a team before. Each new activity she attempts, I swell with enthusiasm and declare his is it! Her talent! Then a few weeks, months into it she decides one day without warning that she chooses not do participate any longer and that is that!

Since soccer is a team sport, her name will belong on a banner, her teammates will rely on her as she on them. I want to make sure she enjoys soccer but also that she realizes what it is...up until Wednesday she thought it was the Chargers that played soccer and that she was going to required to wear her Charger Cheerleader dress to play.

I found a soccer skills camp offered through the city and signed her right up! In six weeks we will decided if we will become a soccer family or not. On the first day she really enjoyed it! She participated and followed directions really well - I'm not holding my breath. If you read a few posts back about ballet, I probably typed the same review....uggh!

As she ran off the field after her first session she was shouting, "Can I do this again Mommy?"

So far so good. We will see how the next 5 weeks go...August sign up's for soccer are a bit away. I'd love for her to stick with something....one of these days we will find what she loves...

Hot Diggity-Dog!

Ally LOVES "mouse". She doesn't get that his first name is Mickey - she is cool on the field and yells out his last name only like he might reply "Strader" in his squeaky voice. It seemed a perfect match to have a Mickey party to celebrate Allison turning two! Ben and I still marvel at our little family and feel so blessed to have the exact two children we need to complete us...

Natalie was very excited, and an excellent sport about planning a big party for her sister. She helped in the decorations, baking, and goodies bags. Of course now that Ally's party is over she is already announcing her plans for party, in SEPTEMBER!

We rented a jump house and I quickly discovered how stressful this task could be. After some panic and a VERY early alarm the jump house finally was being inflated in our front yard. As that big addition was getting set up Ben, my Mom and Aunt Di were busy answering my orders to mix this, set up that, and PLEASE - be careful of the cake!

My sister and her friend came early to construct the balloon arches - what fabulous talent our teens have these days.

One of the details I cherish about parties for the babies is that they include the nearest and the dearest. Ally doesn't have her own group of friends yet and she certainly isn't barking who is on the invite list so I still get to include all the special people that have been loving her before she was even born. The family and close friends that celebrated truly LOVE our Ally and that is after all what is special about BIRTHdays anyway.

I had so much fun designing and decorating the cake. I used a great secret weapon - Sweet Layers, I called and placed an order for a delicious cake but I didn't want any flowers, or balloons or even a name written on the cake - I just wanted a delectable confectionary that everyone would enjoy. However, for the design of Mickey's Playhouse, I started days before...I attempted my first shot at full fondant and I have to say it was a lot of fun! I bought premixed fondant and that made it it a lot easier! It was like playing with play doh, first the hand, then the windows, and last the yellow shoe that happens to have a door on the sole. Those set for 48 hours and on the day I added a chocolate bowl cake wrapped in red fondant, a swiss roll cake wrapped in black to hold the hand (watch out for the toothpicks). I also bought a few figures to add and when all that was assembled, including the huge mickey styrofoam ears I was deciding where to put Ally's name - I wanted it on the wall of the cake but while getting help from my neighbor Stephanie, I fingered the cake wall and left a divot. Stephanie suggested polka dots and fortunately I had bought teeny tiny circle fondant "cookie" cutters. And then there were polka dots....lots of them...it was fun!

For favors I went a little Mickey and made Rice Krispey treats with chocolate ears and sprinkles...what a great and easy favor, you just need a cookie cutter to match your theme.

I also used the cookie cutter to make watermelon Mickey's for the kids fruit...I plan on making pancakes in the future:)

Lots of love and of course a minnie tutu to add to the fun!

Happy Birthday Sweet Ally....

Blessed Easter

This was the first Easter my family was home to celebrate together. We enjoyed Church, Egg Hunts and even Candy...

Happy Easter @ from preschool

Natalie about to enjoy her Easter Lunch!

Baby Chicks in a nest art project - it's a keeper!

Enjoying the loot from the egg hunt at home.

Her cubby packed with goodies.

One of the bulletin boards.

Natalie had her Easter Party at school today and I was able to be the mom helper. Easter is a special time of year for us and this year was memorable because Natalie realizes that Jesus died for our sins. She is still confused about the cave part of the story, but the message is CLEAR! "Mommy, Jesus came out of the cave because he loves the world" from the mouths of babes.

Natalie has grown leaps and bounds this year and still struggles a bit with talking and listening the first time. She is a stubborn one but a smart one - just like her dad! Miss Alyssa at school has done an amazing job and we are so grateful to have had her for PreK. She has taught her about "love for the teacher" and most importantly she doesn't let her get away with anything!

Happy Easter Everyone - may you see how beautiful the world is - because HE made it so.

2 extra monkeys at the Phoenix Zoo

Ben is training for a certificate to fly a fancy new plane. Yes, he is crazy and may be taking a THIRD job...as if 2 weren't enough. The training is in Scottsdale and his 3 girls got to come along, how lucky are we! We flew in the Seneca and it only took 2 hours, it was a beautiful flight and the girls did really well. 2 hours seem to be the perfect length for us all to enjoy ourselves.

The first day here we went to the Stillmen Railroad Park, it was a great morning and we got to enjoy playing in beautiful weather and ride a mini train twice! You should see the first car Natalie picked for us to ride in. Holy Moly!

The next day Ben needed to sleep in (training is from 5pm-2am) so I headed to the zoo. I was outnumbered 2:1 and knew I was up for a workout! The zoo was awesome! I hate to say it but I enjoyed it MORE then our World Famous San Diego Zoo.

It definitely wasn't as impressive animal wise (which is why our zoo is so famous), but for keeping small ones interested it was the best ever! Little play areas, learning centers and LOTS of hands on activity centers.

Also, I paid an easy $26 to get us ALL in versus the $29 child ticket San Diego charges!

We saw elephants, monkeys, orangutans, giraffes, snakes, cows, goats, a bald eagle, and scarlet macaws. The girls got to milk a cow (pretend), they got climb around in a fairy enchanted tree house, play in a barn, garden and pet/brush the goats.

We washed hands about 3 million times and when Natalie got a drink from a drinking fountain I didn't think anything of it. Then the mom next to me was asked by her 4 year old if she could get a drink...the mom said, "Gross! No, we don't drink that yucky water". Then she gave her daughter a Grande Frappe chino - is loads of sugar, coffee, and calories really a superior choice to my drinking fountain choice? We weren't at the DMV or the heath office, we were at the zoo. I felt kind of hurt by her harsh criticism of the fountain. At first I wanted to defend myself, then I thought why? Clearly she thought her parenting skills were better then mine, I mean she had a healthy drink waiting for her growing girl right there in her stroller...

I guess if Natalie comes down with a rare mouth disease or a rash, I may not find the situation so funny.

I did leave a comment card and included my thinking that high fuctrose corn syrup should not be in the applesauce they serve. Good that I am worried about that and not the cootie covered fountain right???

Scottsdale gets a thumbs up, we have really enjoyed it and hope to come back! It is kid friendly and full of things to do! Just pack some bottled water - he he.