Christmas

We had Christmas at our house for the first time this year! Naomi loved doing all the preparations to get ready for Santa Claus. This picture is of her first thing Christmas morning, she got up at about 6:45 am, pretty late for her.

Here is Aunt Jennifer showing off one of Naomi's Christmas gifts. It's hard to tell, but it's a straw that is shaped like glasses, we tried it out with water later in the day, very funny!

Naomi got an Easy Bake oven, plus a cake decorating station. Now she can be just like Mama!

Here she is baking her first cake.

And the completed masterpiece! She covered it with red fondant and then sprayed a green design on. We all ate a piece of course.

We had a wonderful Christmas, and it was almost white. It snowed on Wednesday pretty much all day, but then it was mostly melted by Thursday.

Thanksgiving

I know...I'm a month behind, but life has been crazy!
Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving in Las Cruces: Naomi made Apple Tarts with some guidance from Yaya.

They were delicious!

Then Yaya and Naomi concocted some spa treatments, a fizzing bath salt, and an oatmeal honey face mask!

Not much stayed on, but she had fun licking it off!

All the excitement was too much for Michael, so he had a little nap during our vacation.

Cute Naomi

If you're having a hard time figuring out what's being said:

Tina: "Naomi, what comes out of a volcano?"

Naomi: "Hot Blabla."

Tina: "Can you say it again?"

Naomi: "Hot Blabla."

I'm not sure how lava has turned into blabla, but we can't convince her that she's saying it incorrectly. Oh well, it's cute!

This is a song she learned in school today. Earlier there was something about sending her frown towards heaven so it turned into a smile, but she seems to have left that part out. I think she improvises sometimes.

Preschool Halloween Party

Naomi had fun dressing up as a ladybug for her Halloween party at school.

She and her classmates had a costume parade around the Cul-de-sac that her school is on.

Here they come!

So this is what happens when you try to get a group of 3 year olds to sing for their parents...

Fishing With Pa

Pa took Naomi and I fishing up in the Pecos. We started at the lake.

And almost immediately we caught a fish! Naomi loved catching the fish in the net.

This is the fish we ended up taking home to eat, but we caught 4 others. Naomi loved the fish, which is really saying something since she is so picky about what she eats.

Along with the lake fishing we also stopped at a couple places along the river to fish. We were very successful in one place, even while Naomi was throwing rocks in.

For lunch we stopped at a picnic area so we could have a campfire and roast marshmallows for smores! Yum!

We also visited the hatchery where Naomi enjoyed feeding the fish.

First Day of Preschool

Naomi started Preschool on Tuesday, the 8th of September. I was so excited for her to take this first step into education! She was sure for a while that she hadn't 'grown up' enough to be a big preschooler, but she got over that very quickly. We went to her school on the Friday before labor day to met her teachers and classmates, and so that the kids could start getting used to the school. After that day she was really ready, she even asked if the bus would take her home from school (mind you, the IS no bus for the school, LOL!).
She's still very into dresses, so I let her wear a dress for her fist day. She also took her Elmo back pack which she calls her 'luggage'.
Here she is in front of her school. She is wearing a name tag she made on that Friday before school started. It is a piece of yarn with beads and a note card with her name on it.

Here is her class with all the Moms and Dads helping them with a project. They made Kissing Hands.

So what was the most memorable part of her first day? The treat they had after picking up the toys before they went home. Naomi told me that she had a red bean that was sort of spicy. It took me hours, but I finally realized that she was talking about a cinnamon jelly bean!

Ballet Recital

This picture sort of describes her attitude throughout most of the performance. The recital was at 2 pm, not a great time for 3-5 year olds, which most of the dances were...

One good shot of her. After this picture, I was only able to take pictures of the back of her head, or when she wasn't paying attention to me.

Austin Trip

Naomi and I took a trip with Terri and Jessica to visit friends in Austin, and to attend a wedding in Dallas. We were able to drive the 10+ hours in a single day, the girls were SO good! This is Naomi asleep about an hour into the trip.


We visited a really neat museum where the girls found 'fossils'. We also saw some animals like a bobcat, foxes, assorted lizards, and even rabbits.

Here they are with the 'princess' otherwise known as the bride. They paid a dollar in the traditional dollar dance so they could dance with her.

This is Naomi with Sarah, we had just spent the day at Zilker park and went swimming.

The girls just loved Sarah and Gem! They were very sorry to have to leave them to come back home.

Camping

Here is a view of the beautiful valley we camped in!

Naomi standing in front of out new tent. It was huge!

Just before we roasted marshmallows. She likes her uncooked.

We stopped in this glen for a rest during our hike, the temperatures where so nice.

We also found some wild strawberries along the way. They were delicious!

The 'Wedding'

Naomi decided this evening that she and Michael would get married. She chose outfits for both of them of course!

It wasn't your average ceremony since the bride designed it herself. Simple and too the point, I'm just not sure what this part was, walking up the aisle perhaps?

Here is the beautiful Bride! She was very proud of the flowers.

And the handsome Groom. They yellow blanket was his hat and the pink blanket a cape, I guess he was prince charming!

They kiss and live happily every after!

Ballet

Naomi is also taking ballet classes this summer. They will go through the end of August and she'll have a recital on August 30th! This is a picture of her first ballet class. She is getting ready to touch her feet to her head.

Here is her second class. They will also be learning tap. They were all so excited about getting on the stage for the first time! More pictures to come!

Swimming Classes

All ready for swim class! Naomi is about halfway through her swim lessons and she's having a great time!

An action shot, they are jumping out of the pool like frogs.

Here they are being alligators. All of these activities are meant to help the kids become more comfortable with water.

This is wear they jump into the pool to the instructor. It's only about 3.5 feet deep, so they pretty safe!

They are waiting for the instructor to tell them to kick, work those leg muscles!

She'll finish her class at the end of next week. I'll try to add some more pictures!

Disneyland 3

We are looking at Casey Jr. Train, I think they are all saying 'Chew chew'!

Jennifer and Naomi posing before we got on the teacups. This is another ride that Naomi really enjoyed.

We are all (all eight of us!) going into 'Small World'. Naomi said it was scary, but I think that's because it was inside and a little dark.

Outside of 'Small World' our ride ended just as the clock did it's thing!

Disneyland 2

The first day at Disneyland started off ruff. I can't even remember why she was crying, it may have been because she didn't want me to take her picture. The tattoo on her arm says "If I am lost please help me" and then our cell phone number.

She wasn't sure about Pluto, so Yaya had to go up to meet him too.

This is in Main Street before the main park opened, she's happy enough now!

The first ride was Dumbo of course! She loved it, I think she rode Dumbo about 5 times.