Swimming

Naomi loves swimming!  She just recenty learned to swim comletely on her own.  She'll go to swimming lessons the last two weeks in June, and the first two weeks in August, just before she goes back to school.  Her classes are at our Aquatic center, which has a great indoor pool complete with water slides!  Here she is on her first day, she's all ready with her goggles.

Much to her horror, she's in a class with all boys, including the insructor.  She still seemso enjoy it though.  They are learning to use the kickboards to strengthen their legs. 

 Naomi doesn't care for the kickboard, but she does pretty well with it.  When I told her that I never liked kickboards either, it seemed to make her feel better.

 Naomi loves being able to go into the deep end with her class.  I think the 'deep end' in this pool is about 4.5 feet at the most, but that means that the water is over her head, so it works for her.  The pratice swimming from one edge to another while the teacher spots them.

Hopefully she'll pass this class so she can move on to the next, she's doing great!

Ladybugs

For fun, we bought a lady bug kit (complete with coupon for free larvae!).  Due to weather issues, too hot, too cold, etc, it's taken us a while to get our bugs into their dome.  They came as funky looking long, skinny, black bugs with yellow strips.  They ate some kind of grainy food the lady bug people sent along with them, then traveled up the side of the dome to morph into ladybugs.

I took a couple of shots of them as they were starting their change.

This one makes it look like monster bugs are invading our home, ha ha!

Naomi enjoyed them for the most part, but her favorite part was when we released them today.  We took them into the back yard after lunch and took off them dome.  At first the ladybugs had no idea what to do, their either stood very still or ran all over the bottom of their habitat.  Naomi decided to help them along by coaxing them onto leaves and then transplanting them to a nearby mint plant.  Some of the ladybugs accepted her help gratefully which others discovered their wings and took flight.  One ladybug even decided it wanted to continue to live with Naomi and climbed into her hair!

Sorry, no pictures of the release, I was concerned for the ladybugs safety!  You never know what a 5 year old might do.

Easter Part 2

This is the egg hunt that the Easter bunny set up at our house.  He did a very good job of hiding them!

He hid the hard boiled eggs that we had dyed the day before, luckily Naomi found them all.

Here she is with her basket full of eggs!  We turned these into deviled eggs and egg salad.

We also had an egg hunt over at a friends house.  I'm not sure if she and Max are going for two different eggs or if they are fighting over one.

Coming for the backyard with a basket full.

She did pretty well for herself!

And a pretty pose with her eggs.  Thanks so much to the Kofchur family for having us over for Easter dinner!

Easter Part 1

Naomi and Michael dyed eggs before Easter.  I got in on the action too, but I had to take a couple of pictures first.  And yes, she's not wearing a shirt, we have found over the years that egg dye + clothing + Naomi = a big mess. 

Here are some of the eggs we dyed.  I think we did almost 3 dozen in the end (lots of egg salad and deviled eggs!). 

This year we also helped to organize a community Easter egg hunt for our area.  These are all the eggs that were returned to us after the event (hopefully it was all of them).  I put them straight into the tub for a bleach water bath!

Here are the ladies who helped out with the event, they worked hard!  We're all sitting on the bouncy house that we had at the event :-)

Legoland California

I never even imagined what could be done with Lego's!  I built small houses and maybe vehicles when I was a child, but never full (and detailed) cities!

Naomi is looking at a farm.  The buttons (she's pushing one, not sure which) make the animals move and make noises.

Michael is standing in front of one of the structures in the New York section.  My husband is not a short guy, so you can imagine how tall this building is!

This is in the medieval area.  Naomi is jousting! 

Captaining a Lego boat.  Within the canal of water, these boats could go any direction, even do a 180 and go back in the opposite direction.  That's a little disconcerting when they encourage young children to be the drivers.  We ran into one kid who had decided to go back to the beginning.

This is the driver's school for kids ages 3-5.  Naomi had a blast, and it gave me real hope for her future!  She didn't have a single accident, she stayed in the lines, and she never went the wrong way.

Naomi and Michael in front of the entrance.  This was taken at the end of the day because we were just too excited in the morning!

Oceanside Beach

One of the days of our vacation was spent at the beach.  It was a little overcast and breezy, but still plenty nice to put on swim suits and go play.  This was Naomi and Michael's first trip to the beach/ocean.

Naomi has been wanting to build a sand castle for ever!  We have plenty of sand at home, but it just doesn't seem to reach the correct consistency even by adding water, so we made sure to pack all her building tools.

She and Michael made a very nice Sandcastle while I stood up on a ledge guarding the rest of our belongings.

We also took a walk out onto the wooden pier.  We saw some people fishing from the pier and lots of birds including flocks of pelicans.  We ate a restaurant out at the end of the pier which was a really neat experience.  We will definitely return to Oceanside in the future!

Princess Lunch

If you've never had lunch with a princess, you definitely should!

We ate lunch at Ariel's Grotto as part of Naomi's Birthday Trip, of course we had to have a picture with each princess that came along.

Here she is with Ariel, in her human form of course.

Sleeping Beauty a.k.a. Princess Aurora

Belle

And don't let Michael blame this blurry one on me, he was in control of the camera!  I don't blame him though, the camera just had a melt down, I guess it must be a big Belle fan.

Cinderella

And Snow White

And after a delicious lunch with beautiful princesses, a little shopping was in order.  We didn't actually buy this, but I thought she was just too cute to pass up a picture.

5 Years Old!

Naomi had some picture's done by a very talented friend.  For some reason 5 year olds get that fake smile that looks like they are in pain, this is a collage of the best pictures.

So my little girl is no longer a preschooler, she will start kindergarten in August, we have kindergarten round up in about a week and a half. 

I took her to her five year check up and she is of course perfect ;-)

She is 43.5 inches tall and weighs 43.5 lbs.  The nurse joking said she was Sponge Bob Square Pants and Naomi gave her the death look.  Luckily the nurse didn't take it personally and just laughed it off.  While at the check up they also tested her vision.  She has great eyesight and was able to use the letters instead of the symbols, the nurse and doctor were duly impressed! 

The gave her the typical 60 month evaluation:

• Does she use sentences with at least 4 words - as I'm reading this questions Naomi says "I think I'm going to color this rabbit entirely red, because red is my favorite color today!"...yup, I think she used at least 4 words.
• Can she copy her name after you've written it below - well I read that one incorrectly and just asked her to write her name, preschool has taught her well.
• Can she count to at least 15 - she had just spent the 5 minute ride from preschool to the doctor's off counting to 100, all good.
• And so on and so forth - ending summary, we have a smart kiddo.

Other than that the 5 year check up is pretty boring, no vaccinations again until she's 11, much to Naomi's relief.  The doctor wanted to make sure we new all about the child seat rules.  She talked to Naomi a little bit about strangers, reminding her to never take food, candy, toys, etc from someone she doesn't know.

So all's well in the Wildman household.  We are all busy and we may be blown away by this New Mexico wind, but we are also all happy and for the most part healthy (I have a cold, but I'm sure I'll be over it soon).

Birthday Vacation

Disneyland 2011

Naomi turned 5 this year!  To celebrate her birthday (since it nicely fell during Spring Break) we drove to Southern California.  Our first stop was Disneyland.  We took this picture of her standing in front of a bunch on Birds of Paradise flowers because they are her Nana's favorite.

She had some birthday money to spend while we were on vacation, and a goodly amount was used at the build-a-bear store in Downtown Disney.  She choose a black dog who she named Heart.  Heart of course needed clothing, and socks, and shoes, and a food bowl....

Doesn't she look happy?  We rode in on the monorail where they point out the Matterhorn so she was certain that, that should be her first ride.  It quickly was put on the 'NO' list, as in "NO I'm never riding that again!"

She did like the teacup ride, and insisted that Yaya and Pa pose with her for a picture.  I think she rode in a yellow teacup on the ride, yellow has become her favorite color again.

First Celebration

Each year we have several parties for Naomi's birthday.  We have a party with her friends, a party on her birthday with whoever is around family-wise, and a party with our families.  This year we did her friend party early because two of Naomi's dearest friends will be moving away soon (siblings, so just one family).

I'm not sure if you've seen the movie Tangled yet, but it's super cute! Disney's new take on Rapunzel.  Naomi asked for a Tangled themed birthday like so many little girls will do this year!

I spent some extra time with the crepe paper to make the living room look pretty :-)

This is the cake that Ms. Birdie made for Naomi.  It's Rapunzel's tower with long golden hair coming our of the window (faces are really hard to do with icing!).

I thought I flipped this picture, sorry.  It's just a closer look at the cake.  You'll notice that is also includes a cute little chameleon, he is Rapunzel's best friend in the movie!

Michael lights the candles as all the kiddos look on.

If you look closely, you'll notice that all the kids have backed away from the cake by this point.  Naomi begged for relighting candles, but they spark!  At least all the kids have enough self preservation to scoot back!

Naomi had a hard time blowing out the candles on her own, but like the good friends they are, all her party guests helped her out!

As a grand finale, Naomi was allowed to have two of her girl friends stay the night, and what an adventure that was!  They played games, they drink too much juice, then they all sprawled out on the living room floor in their sleeping bags to watch a movie.  I think they finally went to sleep around midnight, but I can't be sure because I was exhausted and Michael took over for me.  The morning brought more playing, pancakes, and another movie!  I think it was a success :-)

Alice in Wonderland

Naomi loves Alice in Wonderland, no, not the cartoon version that Disney has, but the scary Johnny Depp version.  She convinced Michael and I that it would not scare her, and has watched it about 5 times over the last couple of weeks.  No nightmares, so I guess she was right!
I came across an ad in a children's magazine for a production of Alice in Wonderland as a Ballet, so I popped on-line and bought some tickets.  This is Naomi's fist time going to a ballet, or anything live for that matter.  She's been to movies, but the characters on the screen don't get distracted when a small girl laugh or talks.
She loved it!  She was silent as a mouse for the whole 2 hours, totally enthralled!  She loved the dancing and the music, and even got the humor from it. 
She's so excited to go to see another one.  Guess we'll be going to the Nutcracker ;-)

Ask and you will receive!

So after my rant about Naomi, I received an email explaining why children have a hard time staying quiet and why they tend to interrupt.  For anyone out there who would like to read it here's a link: http://www.babycenter.com/0_interrupting-why-it-happens-and-what-to-do-about-it_65472.bc?scid=mbtw_post4y_9m_3w:.978&pe=dLN2ub&st=MjAxMTAxMDQ=
I feel much better after reading it and realizing that she's not talking to annoy me, it's just a development stage.

Ready for school!

Naomi starts back to school tomorrow and I think we are both ready for it! 

She is bored out of her mind.  She acts like I'm abusing her because I turn off the TV and insist that she does something else.  I realize that vacation is time for relaxing and vegging a little, but come on kiddo, you can not watch TV all day. 

I'm tired of the questions.  Yes, I LOVE having a child who is inquisitive, who cares about the world around her, who yearns for more information about everything.  But...enough is enough.  It will be nice to have a break when she can ask her teachers instead of me.

Don't get me wrong, I've loved having some extra time with her alone over the holidays.  We enjoyed our time down south with our family.  But yeay that school starts again tomorrow :-D

Christmas Poem

Some of you know that I write a Christmas poem each year. I usually send it out in Christmas cards, but as my family grows, I'm unable to send the cards to my friends. So for all you friends that didn't get a card, it's not because I don't love you and wish you well, it's because I can't make more cards. Please know that I wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and I'll post my poem so it can be enjoyed :-)

Twas a month before Christmas and I'm here at home,
Once again composing my Holiday poem.
I hope you're healthy and you've had a good year,
May this season give you much festive cheer.

Naomi is four now, growing with great speed!
This year she's even starting to read.
She still loves dinosaurs and learning their names
She'll grow up to be a dog trainer, or so she claims.

Michael's still working and going to school.
Luckily he doesn't have to use a slide rule!
He's just had a birthday, the big 30 this year,
We celebrated with his family, all quite dear.

I'm much the same, stay at home mother.
But I'm very happy, wouldn't have it any other.
I like making crafts and keeping a scrapbook,
I love reading too, especially with my nook!

Pets we have four of, 2 fish and 2 cat,
Very sadly this year, we lost our dear rat.
Milo and Demi aren't sure of each other,
It's a good thing Naomi acts as Milo's mother.

I'll leave you now and finish this poem,
Wrap up those presents, decorate the home.
Remember that Santa will come any day.
Merry Christmas to all, and a Happy Holiday!

Snow :-)

My camera had an unfortunate accident involving a certain 4 year old and a cat hidy hole, so no pictures...sorry :-(
We got snow! I love snow, I don't like driving in it, I don't even necessarily like playing in it, but it is beautiful.
Naomi was thrilled, she immediately asked to go out and play in it. For anyone who has kids, you know the drill. You suit them all up, the thick socks, the snow pants, trying to keep the long sleeved shirt sleeves down while putting on the jacket, the mittens, the hat, the boots.... Your kid can barely move, they shuffle out into the snow, play for 15 seconds and then are freezing and want back in. Or, alternatively, they need to pee. She did actually come back to the door to yell that she wanted in and I told her that if she came back in she was done for the day (I know, bad Mama!), so she gave me the Naomi look and went back out to play again. She had a blast throwing snowballs at the house! I'm pretty sure she ate quite a bit of snow and she ran around in it. We were lucky enough that the store stayed around for 2 days without getting slushy and icky, so she played in it the next day too.
As much as I like the snow, I'm glad that it is melting today. Michael has to go back to work tomorrow, so I'm glad that his commute will not be hindered by slippery roads or NM drivers.
I probably won't write again before Christmas, so I hope you all have a wonderful week! Be safe and take a moment (or two, or three) to enjoy your family and this time of year!

Halloween

So many fun activities are available this time of year. Pumpkin patches for instance! We went to a great one that a local horse ranch puts on (Galloping Graces). The were able to play in a pile of corn, ride small tractors, have rubber duck races with old water pumps, go through a corn maze and a hay maze, AND they could ride a horse! Naomi and her cousin waiting their turns.

Naomi's horse was named SeaBiscut. She loves horses so she was thrilled to have a chance to ride one again!

Carving our pumpkins. Naomi really enjoyed getting the seeds out, but was unimpressed with the remainder of the process. She could not understand why she couldn't just draw whatever on the pumpkin even after I tried to explain that I had to be able to cut her design out.

Here is the ferocious dragon! She decided to be Toothless from the move How to Train Your Dragon. For those of you who haven't seen it, it is super cute! I made the costume over several months, and I feel pretty good with how it turned out :-)

Here is the back. Again, background story from the movie, Toothless the Dragon is injured and has problems flying because he loses one of his tail fins. A nice human (Hiccup) makes him a replacement fin and helps him learn to fly again. So the thing that looks like a paper bag (because it is) is the replacement fin.


Naomi had a good time trick-or-treating, she went out with Daddy this year while I stayed home to await the other T-or-T'ers. Next year she's thinking of being a bride.