Sensory play

One big container of rice + two small containers of green water = one easy hour for Momma. I like math :)

I love the differences in their personalities

One is very expressive, one has one expression ;)

Dress up Day!

Her faces crack me up ;)

Little anime girl :)

Homeschooling

We're ramping up our homeschooling now, and Momma is super excited. The girls have already learned most of the alphabet, although the words they have associated per letter is still fairly limited. Behold, my genius plan:

Each day is dedicated to a letter, and each time the girls or I say a word starting with a letter we write it on the list. Today is B-Day, and it turns out a lot of B words happen over the course of our mornings. Right now I'm doing most of the instigating, but the girls have already contributed a lot more today than yesterday. I'm looking forward to filling our hallway :)

Their breakfast this morning:

They're also learning their numbers and although they know them verbally they haven't yet learned the symbols. Behold again (this is what happens when I get enough sleep):

There's a balance beam, two things to climb (buckets and step stools), the patio (not shown) and the fence up the hill. My diabolical plan: I yell to them which number to run to and they identify the number and run/twirl/skip/jump/roll to it, thereby training their symbol knowledge and also wearing them out. They're currently sleeping really well ;)

We have puzzles, focus toys, workbooks, and learning games as well, and the girls are having a blast. Who needs preschool? I would be bored!

Independence Weekend

For Independence weekend we just stayed around the house, BBQed and had some picnics outside. 

My little vampire :)

First cherries. These got all over the place.

Smiley boy.

We're dogsitting for a friend, which is a good test run for a dog of our own some day. It's working very well so far!

Outdoor games. We have a couple of 2x4s set up as balance beams, and here's a throwing game they're practicing. I say practicing but they really just like to dunk the bean bags ;)

Theo is solidly on the move now but mostly via scooting. Lily can move a couple inches but her form is impeccable - we embraced the inevitable and put up the baby gate.

Making their own breakfast - oatmeal for Avy, yogurt for Ellie. With "wots!" of raisins.

And raisins for the babies, too! And Daisy...

Outside helping Daddy BBQ. This little bug looks like a pixie with that hood.

One-handed pushups from Lily.

There's a wild blackberry bramble in the corner of our yard, and the girls and I picked some for everyone. They weren't the sweetest, but that didn't stop everyone from snarfing!

You can see the family resemblance...

Baby Tetris!

Ah the future. This is how I survive meals now - everyone eats in the kitchen! The babies are still taking bottles but more and more they're preferring solid foods - Theo especially gets mad at me initially every time I offer him the bottle. "What is this Mom? This isn't food."

Also a cute story and some news. Story:

The girls were folding laundry and Ellie finished her pile first. Since they both have to be done to watch Daniel Tiger (PBS tv show), she started helping Avy with her pile. Avy looks at Ellie then tells me, "Ellie is helping me because... because I am helperated! Yea! That means I need help!" She then used that word all morning ;)

Our news is that we are 1 of 4 potty trained. That's right, Ellie is on her 3rd day of no diapers (except at night). It's been surprisingly easy, just gentle reminders every 1-2 hours and offering a whole lot of skittles per success. Bribery works. it turns out, once you get the exchange rate right ;)

Goodbye June

June was a busy month for us! We had many family and friends visit us and got to go many places. Definitely a good month!

The Aldridge clan were with us in early June, lots of pictures previously posted. Nana Becky and Pop Pop Mike visited for a couple days, and Heather and Delilah as well! We loved having everyone over, so much fun!