Lessons from a Sunbeam

Caitlin is now in primary at church, and attends the sunbeam class. On the way home from church today we had a discussion about what she had learned.

Me: "I see that you learned about CTR today. What does CTR stand for?"

Her: "Use the right"

At least they sound the same, right? She did know what "choosing" the right meant though, so she was listening in class. Cute girl.

And just for the record, Ashlee has been attending Nursery now for 2 weeks, although she will officially be 18 months next Sunday. HOORAY!!!!!

assignments

Cleaning up has never been a big issue with us. Both Caitlin and Ashlee are happy enough helping put their toys away. We have, however, been getting some recent talking back from Caitlin when asked to help clean up.

Last night when we had to clean up the mess in their room, I tried a new approach. Caitlin came and told me when she was ready to start cleaning up, and then she gave out the assignments.

"Mom, you clean up the books and I will do the blocks"

"Now you do these other blocks and I will do the Candy Land game"

.......etc.... until everything was cleaned up.

She seemed to like being the one in charge.



For dinner I do not cater to my kids. We eat whatever I have decided to make, and that's that. Chris and I, and usually Ashlee, always think it is delicious, Caitlin doesn't like anything but eats it anyway.

But once in a while I will make a fun meal focused on the kids. Last night was such a night. I saw this in a magazine and we tried it out.

The girls loved it, and Chris and I ate it. I am happy to make fun things for them every now and again :)

Other pictures

from out weekend.

walking the dog with grandpa.

she loves to hold the leash and be in charge.


there was lots of eating.

delicious food and lots of it.

reading books- of course.

this book is about 300 pages long.

it has nearly all of the disney stories in it.

they wanted uncle nate to read the whole thing :)

trying on some of nani's beloved possessions:
a beret which she could be seen wearing in the winter,

and the sunglasses she wore any time she could.

Barbara Quinby

We made a trip last weekend to attend the funeral (aka life rememberance) of Chris's Grandma Barbara Quinby (aka Nani- pronounced Nah-knee).


She loved the theater, so the service was held at a local theater in Loveland that she often frequented. (as I am typing this I can't remember if the place is theater or theatre. I should know being the wife of a theater teacher, oh well.)
It was all done very nicely, and it was good to remember some of the great things she did with her life.
We also got to see and/or meet many relatives who came to Colorado for the event.


Some of her pictures were inlarged and placed in the outside marquee, which was really neat and something she would have just loved.



Her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and spouses.


Chris has always held a special place in his heart for his Grandma, who helped instill the love of theater in him.

lessons

Today was the first day of swimming lessons for Caitlin.

She was so excited, and she loved it.

She will under no circumstances put her whole face in the water, but she did like to put her mouth in to blow bubbles.

There were only 3 of them in her class, so they each got a lot of time swimming with the teacher, it was great.

She can't wait until her next lesson on Tuesday.

-

And just so you know that I wasn't one of those parents who stands right on the side taking pictures, I was sitting clear back in my chair and letting the zoom get in close for the pictures.

Ashlee talking

Ashlee is nearly 18 months now, and is developing quite a vocabulary. She has always been good at communicating what she wants, now she just has a few words to go with her other sounds, actions, etc.

The only thing she can't express well are her frustrations. A couple of days ago she resorted to biting, and the culprit happens to always be Caitlin. She just doesn't know what else to do, so she bites.

We scold her, tell her we don't bite and put her in her crib for a sort of time-out. But we just don't know what to do. Caitlin never bit, so we haven't a clue. I hope this is a phase that passes very quickly.

over the river and through the woods

We had a free weekend, so we headed to Logan, UT to visit my grandparents.

We get to visit them quite often since moving to Rock Springs.

Caitlin remembers them, and their cat, Tasha, and the books and toys, etc.
Ashlee doesn't be she just needed to few minutes to warm up.

Grandma showed the girls her jewelry boxes and they looked at every piece of jewelry.

Caitlin needed 2 rings on every finger.

And, of course, there were books to be read.

We always have a great time when we go to visit and this was no exception.

I'm so thankful that we live close enough to be able to visit many times a year.

A Shout Out

to Great Aunt Margaret.

"We are excited to meet you very soon!"

taken by Caitlin

she would take pictures every waking minute if I allowed her to.

Ashlee and I are looking out the window at a dog Ashlee spotted.

ponytail

Ashlee's hair is now long enough for a small ponytail.

It may look a little silly, but it is some progress.

She likes to sit and have her hair done, just like her sister, but she does have a tendency to pull it out.

I'm just happy that her hair is growing!

These adorable jumpers were made by my Mom. The fabric is from Scotland, she just didn't make anything with it until now.

They turned out so cute. Thanks Mom, and thanks Trish for getting the fabric while we were in Glasgow.

67-12 Juno Street

was the address we all shared in NY.
It was one house with 2 apartments. We lived in the upstairs apartment and our friends lived downstairs. It was awesome and unique to live so close to friends, but we loved it and we developed a very close friendship.

Then we moved to Wyoming and they moved to Iowa, so we took a rode trip to spend the New Year with the Ransom's.
It was a great trip and we did a lot of fun things!

Caitlin loved playing with all the kids, especially Eden.

Thanks for all the fun and memories. We had an awesome time!