Happy Birthday, Hollis!

Hollis turned TWO on Sunday! The girls began the festivities on Saturday by getting all the decorations made and put up. Marin, our family party planner, decided that the theme would be dinosaur. Hollis was ok with the idea and so dinosaur party it was. But the girls made a couple of dinosaur crafts to put on the table. Once Hollis went to bed, we snuck Marin back downstairs to help wrap presents and hang balloons. SHE. WAS. SO. EXCITED. And Hollis loved it all when she woke up. We had cake for breakfast and opened presents. Then it was time for church where her teacher and friends sang Happy Birthday to her. After church we loaded up and headed to the ZOO (it was a beautiful, 70+ degree kinda day). The zoo was awesome. Marin's only request was to see the elephants and an ostrich. And she got to see both. The elephants were very entertaining. I guess it was bath time but the baby elephant was a bit reluctant, so the Momma elephant had to "encourage" him to get in the water. The girls watched and watched as the big one pushed the little one in. I thought I was videoing but of course, after it was all over I realized the camera was off. :o) But the girls LOVED it. It really was a great day at the zoo. Hollis, we love you, love you, sweet girl! Happy Birthday! 

And now for the 5 zilion pictures....

 Making the dinosaur decorations....

 The dinosaur table....lots of dinosaurs!

 Daddy-O getting the balloons all ready for the party.

 The birthday girl came downstairs and went straight for the presents. :o)

 She got Sofia pajamas, a tea party set, and a picnic basket. She also got a Christmas/Birthday combo gift...a trampoline. She loves it all!

 Marin finally got to blow the birthday horn!

 Happy birthday to you....blow out the candles! Notice the basket on her wrist. It hasn't left it yet. Seriously, she even sleeps with it.

 I love this picture of Marin. She had so much fun on the train. Did I mention we rode a train (and a carousel) at the zoo. They, of course, LOVED it. Marin and Burke rode together on the train behind Hollis and I. Everytime they waved at people and got a wave back they gave each other a thumbs up. If the people didn't wave back, I heard, "Awh nuts." :o) But this picture of Marin...such sweetness. She was so happy to celebrate her "sister Hollis".

 Yep, Hollis liked the train too.

 So, so cute.

 And the elephant show...she pushed and she pushed....

 and finally got him in there.

 The girls watched and watched and watched.

 Hollis saying WHOA for the 100th time.

 STINKER!!!

 Marin was exhausted.

 Reading the map for us.

 She was exhausted too but waited until we pulled into our neighborhood to fall asleep. ;o)

We love you so very much, sweet HOLLIS!!

A little bit of everything....

Here are some pics from the end of January...

She got her new "ballerina" in the mail and couldn't wait to wear it. Here she is doing "first position". :o)

Getting her feet just right.

Hollis got a salt tray...I will let you guess how that turned out. :o)
She did love it though. 

I found these little trays at a yard sale and they have been so much fun for the girls.
Working her #s 11-20 Valentine's puzzle. She has learned how to cut and loves using her scissors. 

Hollis just likes to draw 100 circles. :o) But look how serious and so very cute she is.

Practicing a little early. 

I think it's funny when the girls play dinosaurs and Barbie. 

Pretty days outside....

We moved our swing set and the girls are having so much fun with it. 

Stinker.

Big stinker. 

Hollis LOVES baby dolls. She carries one around just about every where she goes.
And we kept a baby swing on the play set just for her doll. ;o)

A little "school" time...so stinkin' cute.

Looks so big. 

I need to update the little learning blog with these pics but I love her little tongue stinking out as she cuts. Takes  concentration.

Putting her animals on the Animals in Winter poster.  I love her. 

More random pictures coming...

Spark

The school district here offers a free Pre-K program called Spark. Children ages 3-5 can sign up for different 2 hour classes throughout the week. They have Arts and Crafts, Storytime, Messy Fun, field trips, etc. It really is cute. They do calendar and songs and a couple of activities centered around the letter of the week. I try and sign Marin up for one class a week if I can but they fill up fast. She does love it and the teachers are so nice.

Coloring her snowman sequencing sheet.

The Tooty-Ta song...

This is what Hollis does during class....climbs ALL OVER ME.

Looking so big.

An abc song...

Going on a bear hunt...gonna catch a big one...with great big EYES...

and a fuzzy little tail! 

Story Time!

 One thing the Spark class really wants to teach them is how to write their name. One thing they do is to tell the parents to write their name in yellow (or lighter color) and then the child traces over it with a darker color marker. Marin HATES this activity. If she messes up one little bit, she "be sad". Not quite ready for that one. But she does love writing the letter i. So she'll do that part in her name. :o) But to help with those little fine motor skills we started doing a salt tray this past week. (It's just salt in the lid of Christmas cookie container. Nothing fancy.) But she practices "writing" letters and shapes with her finger. When she messes up, she just shakes the lid and starts over. She loved it. LOVED it.

 And we have been doing Winter-ish stuff in our little "school". P for penguins and polar bears and we will start S for snow/snowmen/snowflakes, etc. this week. (Going to try and update the little learning blog today fyi, grandparents. More pictures over there....but I did love this one of Marin. So stinkin' cute and looking so big. It was a little snowball (marshmallow) counting game. She rolled the dice and placed a "snowball" on each dot and counted them. Eating the snowballs was the best part of course.

Snowball eating  counting. 

MVI 8740 from Stacey Brednich on Vimeo.

Our Little Ballerina

Marin had her first ballet class today. Hollis and I watched from the window. She did so great and the class was so adorable! They did a little obstacle course, danced with stuffed animals, practiced on the ballet bar, and danced to some songs. It really was precious.

Waiting for instructions...

Watching big sister. She shouted "Marin" every single time it was her turn. 

Obstacle course...

Balance beam!

Jump, jump, jump. 

When they go from activity to activity, they move on their tiptoes with their arms up.
It is really, really cute. 

Ballet bar

MVI 8807 from Stacey Brednich on Vimeo.

MVI 8805 from Stacey Brednich on Vimeo.