Thursday, July 30, 2020

Norah was a beautiful flower girl with a new hole in her mouth!

Norah lost her first tooth! She was chewing on her shorts string, which must have just caught it right and popped it pretty loose. She had woken up in the night before crying that her mouth hurt, so then I wondered if it was starting to be loose then? Norah said it wasn't, but not sure. When she first noticed it was loose (and it bled a little), she got super scared and cried, but calmed down after a few minutes when we told her that this was normal and exciting to loose her first tooth. It was wiggly for a few hours but Norah did not want to try to pull it, but then she just kept wiggling it that it got so loose it basically just came out in her fingers without even pulling. Way to go, Norah! You are getting so big!


My cousin got married this weekend and my sister, Kayla, was a bridesmaid and Norah was the flower girl.


Wedding beauties!


So beautiful! Norah was so excited to be the flower girl. We talked about how to do it and different scenarios beforehand (like if she ran out of petals to just keep going, for example) several times, and Norah did amazing! I wondered if she would get nervous before, but she didn't and did such a nice job! She has done a few newer things recently and didn't get as nervous as she used to for new things.


Fun to see Grandpa and Grandma there too!


We painted nails before the wedding, and I also had a neighbor of a friend, who does hair from her house, come to do Norah's hair. I thought it would be fun for her to make it really special, and I'm so glad we did. She really got a kick out of her hair and it was so fun!


She loved twirling!



Monday, July 27, 2020

Fun with college friends visiting.

We had a fun weekend with some college friends (two of my roommates) visiting us! Brittany came from Colorado and Jackie (and her husband Joe and their three kids- Daniel, Noelle, and Thomas) came from Minnesota. It was a full house with lots of fun and catching up!


Kley and I surprised the kids with a bounce house for the weekend! They were running a special where you pay for one day and get it for the whole weekend, and it was genius. We used it so much. It was super nice to have with six kids running around and a special activity- definitely worth it!




Norah usually doesn't like taking pictures, but was on a role with the poses this day!



It makes me so happy to see kids playing together and just being kids. I love just watching them have fun doing normal, healthy kid things. Enjoying a summer day playing outside. Not having grown up responsibilities. Being safe and cared for. Having a good time. :)


We went to several parks together, and also went for a fun afternoon/evening at a local lake. We don't get there often but the girls love it when we do. They love swimming and an endless sandbox! Since it's 25 minutes away, we always eat supper there to maximize our play time, and their concession stand is actually really good and they have a lot more options than your typical concession stand. And it's a huge treat to not have to cook or clean up!



Lots of digging!


Kley is a good dad. I'm thankful for him.


Brittany was so good playing with all the kids!







Nothing like a summer ice cream cone!




The whole gang- love group photos!


Thursday, July 23, 2020

Swimming lessons 2020.

The girls were really excited for their swimming lessons this year! Lucy and Ellory are doing the parent/child class, which is a very basic introduction to the water with a parent accompanying. They do things like throw rings in the water and get them, practice holding a board and kicking, playing games, etc. It's not learning any strokes, but just getting comfortable in the water. Lucy and Ellory were both excited and did well! They liked getting to use the special pool toys. Next year I will have them do private lessons, which will be their first "real" lessons at level 1. 



Ellory makes a face similar to this one in many photos these days!





This was Norah's second year of private lessons. She passed level 1 last year, so was working on level 2 this year. She did amazing! We are so proud of how brave she was and how much she learned! She had the same teacher as last year, and she is super nice, which helped her feel comfortable right away. Usually Norah can be slow to warm up to things, but she didn't seem nervous at all and really seemed to enjoy them! Our pool offers group lessons too, which is great, but we felt our girls would succeed more and feel more comfortable in a private class. 




She's really swimming! Go Norah!


Way to go, girls! Another year of swimming lessons complete!

Monday, July 20, 2020

A fun season of Blastball and T-Ball!

We finished up T-Ball (for Norah) and Blastball (for Lucy and Ellory) recently. It was a fun season and so nice for the girls to have an activity to look forward to after not having much on the calendar for awhile. Overall, I think everyone had fun! It's so interesting to watch all three of them play and see their differences come out. Everyone grew I think! Many opportunities to learn about technique, teamwork, sportsmanship, trying your best, etc. 





Go, Norah, go! 



We had a view of a ball field many nights this summer!


Norah's red team!


Everyone got participation medals, but there was talk about winning and that the medal was gold. ;)


Lucy and Ellory enjoyed Blastball! Ellory had a good time, but wasn't too interested. Lucy definitely has the drive! She was super into it and really loved it!





Lucy and Ellory's blue team!


Medals and popsicles at the last game.


Grandpa and Grandma were able to watch the last game too, so nice!


Also, I can't end this post without giving a shoutout to the best coach ever! Kley coached both of the girls' teams, which was so kind of him. He was definitely the most consistent coach to show up, and made it super fun for the kids. I married a winner!