Mandy has a big girl bed!

It took a lot of coaxing on our part–Mandy adored her crib (and still speaks of it in wistful terms), but it was time to move on. We’re three weeks in and aside from a few late night wanderings, we can say that the transition is a success.  Good job Mandy!

Now about those pacifiers…

Last Monday, Mandy enjoyed an “animal encounter” at day care.  She was fluttering with excitement over all of the bugs, lizards, and snakes.  When I saw the pictures my jaw dropped… this is a brave girl I have!!

Ally has started to receive phone calls from her friends.  Their conversations are hilarious. “Do you like carrots? I don’t like crunchy carrots. They are too hard. They taste like dirt.”

Ally and I enjoyed a special afternoon recently with my Mom at her church’s annual springtime tea. Ally was terribly excited to dress up with us!

At the tea, she and my Mom couldn’t stop giggling at the prospect of a plate of six desserts.

At the end of the tea names were drawn for door prizes, and the organizers were kind enough to invite Ally, the youngest attendee, to draw the names. Much to our surprise she found her own name and was awarded a very large gift basket!

It was a lovely event and very special day!

Ally participated in her very first science fair a few weeks ago! During her spring break from school, we did her experiment, which involved using different ratios of cornstarch and water to determine the best recipe for Oobleck, that kind-of-liquid kind-of-solid oozy stuff.  Ally was most excited about playing with the slimy stuff, of course.

We took lots of pictures of our different recipes to put on her science fair board. I personally think she should have won first prize just for the expressions she used to communicate the success of each recipe, but I’m a bit partial.

In the end her project won an honorable mention and she was so proud of her ribbon!

The Friday before Easter brought a favorite event: the annual egg hunt at Mandy’s day care.  Ally attended as well since she was home for spring break, and I think she was just as excited, if not more!  Ms Dawn wisely sends the youngest outside first, so Mandy had a chance to retrieve the easier to find eggs before the faster, bigger kids had a turn.  With 150 eggs spread through her yard, there were plenty to go around!

Before the hunt Ally and I talked about helping the younger children and we agreed that she could collect ten eggs and then she had to help the little ones.  She was quite graceful about our decision and watched her egg count carefully, and even though I think she managed to snatch twelve eggs I’m proud of her restraint.  (I know, I know. Us and rules. Eye rolls accepted in our general direction.)

In the end, once Mandy discovered the eggs held chocolate she couldn’t care less about the hunt. She just wanted the treats!

The girls did a wonderful job decorating Easter eggs this year!

Granted there were still a lot of towels and smocks involved, but the end result of their efforts were really cute.

I’m never quite sure what to do with the eggs once they are decorated. None of us are fond of hard boiled eggs, and the girls of course want to play with their little animal eggs!  Mandy became very attached to one egg and carried it around, snuggling and whispering to it.

Ally took the rest and played Barbie – egg school with them. Of course!  I’m sure boiling their little eggy brains didn’t affect their scholarship.

Warm weather and sunshine arrived early this year. It’s April and our grass is dry… and weedy! The girls have enjoyed their time outside so much. Now when the occasional cool day arrived Ally looks at us, stunned– what? I can’t wear a sundress today?

Ally’s been on spring break for… hmmm… 9 days now? And one of the ways we managed all of her time out of school was to hire babysitters for 4 of the 6 days.  On most of those days I worked from home while Ally played with her babysitter, so I enjoyed listening to their banter while working.  My conclusion near the end of this period in time is that babysitters win over mommies because when Ally says, “why don’t we…” they almost always find a way to say yes while I more often than not find a way to say well ok but I need to unload the dishwasher first or why don’t you just plays legos for a bit? or oh my gosh that sounds really messy.

Her babysitters have been creative and energetic and fun in ways hard for me to match.  I’m so grateful!

every time I lie on the floor.