Week In Review!

I can't believe it's already Friday!  We've had a very full, busy week.  Over the weekend, we went to The Wilderness Park.  I tried to get Mr. M to take a cute picture of me with the girls - and well, he tried!  But he can only do so much!  Ha! The top picture is the best one...

This one is good but Ginger's not looking at all:




In this one, everyone is happy...well, except for Violet!





I love this picture of Ginger and Paprika.  They truly are the best of friends!



Violet explored the whole park, of course!  In her swimsuit, no less!  (She insisted on wearing it - it's Paprika's size 6T!)



Paprika and Ginger's favorite log - they call this The Iguana:




 Here is a picture from WAY back when (September 2010 - almost three years ago!) of the two of them on the same log:





And here they are three years later:





Ginger hanging out with the ducks:




The girls had a great time watching this birdie...a Great Blue Heron?:



I love letting them explore:





The rest of our week has been busy, as well!  On Monday, Devon came over with her girls. Our house was full and loud for about 9 hours (we don't live as close as we used to, so Devon stayed late to avoid rush hour!)

I love that after not seeing each other for months, the girls pick right back up where they left off.  Even Violet was in the mix, and was so happy to just tag along with the big girls.  It was a magical day - it always is when we get together with Devon!

The girls made lemonade from our lemon tree in the backyard.  They fixed Devon and me lunch and served it to us on fancy plates.  They tried to make a hot air balloon in the backyard.  I was worried that because we have so few toys now that the girls would be bored - but OH MY, they were not!  Their imaginations were on overdrive all day long.  Love it!

This week was also the beginning of the public school year here - on Wednesday, Paprika would have been in 1st grade! Intstead, she happily spent the day finishing up her Third Grade math curriculum, reading lots of books, playing outside, and well...not waking up at the crack of dawn! Ha!


Ginger has been working hard on HER homeschooling, too! I am not pushing her AT ALL - instead, I often find her looking over Paprika's shoulder as she is reading, doing math, writing, etc. It seems like it all rubs off on Ginger.



Yesterday, I found Ginger working on some Algebra apps on the iPad and getting ALL the answers right. She amazes me - her strong-will and her smarts are going to take her far, I just know it!




Paprika had her end of the summer Swim Team Party tonight!  Mr. M took her - and she got her first trophy (for participation).  It was really sweet!  I stayed home with Violet and Ginger - and Paprika got to have her one on one time with her daddy.  She felt so special!


We spent a good chunk of today at the park.  After Paprika finished her lessons early, we had the whole afternoon free.  That is one of the things I love about Homeschooling!  This is Ginger during our Hide and Go Seek game today:



Violet was my little helper in Hide and Go Seek.  Violet LOVES being at the park - and asks to go all the time!  She is talking so much more now, and I love it!  I can actually understand much of what she says - and it's so helpful to me!

Her favorite thing right now is Jessie from Toy Story.  Everything is Jessie, Jessie, Jessie!  She has a Toy Story Sippy Cup - and that's her favorite thing to carry.  She has Jessie and Woody dolls - and they hardly ever leave her side.  I even went out to the garage into the bags of stored toys (I still haven't brought them inside!) - and I unearthed Buzz Lightyear!  She was over the moon with joy about seeing Buzz!

(But I soon regretted that decision because Buzz Lightyear is one obnoxious toy! Ha!)


Violet also does this with her hands when you say:  Smile!  (like for a picture).  She takes her fingers and pulls out her cheeks.  It's the cutest thing!  She is such a handful lately - and into everything - and well, I just love her so much that even though she's a ton of work for me, I do wish I could freeze time with her!

Love her to the moon and back!




The End!