Gardening

We went to Las Cruces over Easter weekend, the weather is warmer down there than it is here at home. So Naomi helped to plant some seeds in Yaya and Pa's Garden. Otis looks like he wants to help too!

Doesn't she look cute with her gardening gloves!

I'm not sure she really understood that plants were going to grow from those little seeds, but she planted them just the same.

And a final pat to make sure that the seeds don't escape. She also watered them thoroughly to make sure they had a good start.

Hoping this video shows up...

4th Birthday

My 'baby' is four! The time has both flown by and gone slowly.
Yaya, Pa, and Jennifer made a gift that was a great hit! It was an edible aquarium!

Here she is getting ready to open a gift from Michael and me.

It's Ponyo! She LOVES this movie and we've watched it a ton since she got it.

A Ponyo cake to add to the craziness.

Gymnastics

Naomi has been in gymnastics for about a year now! She is so much more coordinated than she used to be. She even knows a ton of gymnastics terms and doesn't look at the coach with a strange expression when she asks her to do a V-sit.

Since it's a preschool class they have them do things fun like hopscotch, it makes them learn to jump onto one or two feet depending on the squares.

Here she is climbing the 'mountain'. If the coach isn't watching closely she'll climb all the way to the top by herself!



Every class, the coach create a series of activities for the kids, this time they were supposed to do a chin up and then pull over, then climb up the hill doing a bear walk and slide down, then they were supposed to jump from the spring board to the mini trampoline then to the mat with only 3 jumps, and finally they finished with 'donkey kicks' on the four colored squares. Of course, the camera and I had a fight, so I missed the first part when she did a chin up to a pull over, but she was awesome I can assure you!

Why on why would the cat climb into Naomi's bed?!? Foolish animal! I can't decide if Naomi actually wants the cat to like her, or if it's just her secret desire to be able to pick the cat up and carry her around. She acts like she's going to pet her, and then suddenly she grabs her, and scuffle ensues and someone ends up being angry (usually 3 someones, 1 got grabbed, 1 got scratched, and 1 is yelling...I'll let you decide which is which).

This and that

This is in Durango. We went up there last weekend to attend a wedding. Naomi had so much fun playing in the snow near our hotel, but sadly we couldn't pack it into balls.

I just thought this was a great picture of her! She's all dressed up to go to the wedding.

And this last picture is what happens when you ask a 3 year old to clean up. All of these toys were in the living room, I asked her to move them into her play room (which for her credit, she technically did...) while I cleaned up in the kitchen. Guess we'll working on putting things away next!

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!