2 Wheeling!

Yesterday, while Natalie was off on a playdate we were trying to think of something special for Sadie to do. Without really thinking it through, I suggested to her maybe we could try her without her training wheels. She LOVED that idea and got right on Nick to take the training wheels off. In about 1 min of guidance from Nick, she was off and going on her 2 wheeler!

It was amazing to see how fast she caught on to this and how confident she was. I think we have a little athlete on our hands!

Sadie was so excited and proud!
Us too...

Nice job Sadie!

It is so interesting to see how Sadie (who has a different personality than Natalie and is 2nd born) tackles new challenges. As for bike riding, I am sure it has a lot to do with how much one is exposed to the task. Natalie lived in a house with a gravel driveway until she was almost 4, while Sadie has grown up a flat driveway and cul-da-sac in which she has ridden her bike (tricycle to her small bike with training wheels, to her bigger bike with training wheels) all the time. She has always been confident on her bike, probably because she didn't know anything different. When Natalie learned to ride a 2 wheeler, she was 5+ and it took may tries and attempts. She started on the grass, had lots of falls... but eventually got it.

Sadie, at 4, just went with it!

Yum.. BROWNIES!

We all love brownies and now we have are very own Giumarra Brownie!

Natalie has very much enjoyed her year in Girl Scouts as a Daisy. Last week, in the midst of all the end of the year celebrations, Natalie and her soon-to-be 2nd grade friends, became Brownies. The did a little ceremony called "Bridging to Brownies," in which the girls left their daisy troop on one side of the bridge and then joined the brownie troop on the other. The girls got their new brownie sashes (in which Natalie was most excited about)!

Below is the picture of the entire daisy troop (brownies included) with their 2 co-leaders.

It was sweet how they did this part of the ceremony. After Natalie walked across the bridge as a daisy, her leader talked to her a bit, then I was asked to come up and help her take off her daisy uniform and put on her NEW brownie sash!

Congratulations Natalie!

I finally get a niece...

She just happens to be the 4 legged kind!

My brother has been wanting and planning for a dog for his entire life! He has been able to be pacified with this dream for many years through my parents dog that he unofficially adopts as his own, but this weekend his planning finally played off.

Introducing Maddy...

There is never a "perfect" time to get a puppy, but my brother and his girlfriend have planned this the best that there is. Maddy will get their undivided attention for the next 2 months and then already has her "doggy day care" spot lined up for the fall.

I am thrilled for my brother and Amanda that they were able to start their family!

Welcome Maddy.

1st Grade Picnic

It is time for all of the end of the Year celebrations.

1st grade ended their year with a fun family picnic. In the midst of 3 days of straight rain, the skys seemed to clear for a couple of hours just in time for this picnic. Natalie has had a GREAT year in 1st grade. She has made some great friends and her academics have really exploded! Just the other night, I went into her room and she was looking at a book. It wasn't an easy reader either... she told me she was "reading" it, so I asked her to read some of it to me. I was totally surprised when she started to fluently read every word of it to me! Then she say... "When I don't know a word, I just try and sound it out. If that doesn't work, I just keep reading and try to figure it out as I go!" Holy smokes!! I guess that's what happens...

We are so very proud of Natalie. We know that she takes great pride in her school work and in her efforts to be an overall nice kid.

Natalie and some of her classmates and friends!
Natalie and the Principal, Mr. Pomerville.

Natalie and her very favorite teacher, Mrs. Morris!

Mrs. Morris has been the perfect teacher match for Natalie... and a good match for us too! Mrs. Morris obviously really enjoys what she does and that makes such a difference in her teaching. Natalie just loves how Mrs. Morris jokes with her and appears to have a natural way to connect with these kids. As a parent, it is super hard to let your kid "go" for 6 hours of every day. I feel like Mrs. Morris has done a great job making me and Nick feel connected to Natalie's schoolwork and her day. We so appreciate what she has done with Natalie and we will miss her.

(Mr. Morris teaches 2nd grade... we are keeping our fingers crossed!)

Natalie and Amanda.

Amanda is a friend that we started hearing about on the very first day of school and have continued to hear about every single day of school! Natalie just loves this little girl. Amanda is a super sweet and they have such a great time being classmates and friends. In a district as big as ours, there is a very little chance that the same kids will be in the same class year after year... thus true friendships have to work to stay together. We hope that these girls hold onto the sweet friendship they have developed.

Here's to 2nd grade!

Winner!

Queensbury Elementary School Grade 1 field day was today!
This was not a day that I remember loving as a kid... as I was never very good at sports, nor was I one that liked competition, but as a Mom it was very fun to watch all the kids run around and be excited about all the different events. It is possible that Natalie has inherited my talent in sports, but she definitely had a great time!

Each 1st grade class (I think there are 13 of them!!) got assigned a color for their shirt. The shirts are called their "DREAM" t-shirt to go along with theme at school. Obviously, Mrs. Morris was the GREEN team.

Natalie loved having Nick and I there as her cheerleaders. She acts so silly when we are around in this types of setting. Not sure if that is her way to show off or if she doesn't know what to do with us or how to interact with us in a large group. Let's hope she isn't that silly in the classroom.

Here is Natalie and the World's Best Teacher, Mrs. Morris!

Just recently, Natalie brought home a bunch of schoolwork that she has done at school. One of the things was a book she had written all about herself. She had written about how she was 7, that she had a brother and sister and such. One page of the book was about her favorite person and as a mom, of course I was sure it would be me... nope!! Mrs. Morris won as Natalie's favorite person!


You have to love how Natalie looks in this picture. Let's face it... Running the sprint isn't always about getting there 1st. Sometimes it's just about knowing what's going on around you and having fun.

Natalie in her true talent (thanks to the Wii fit). Hula hooping several hoop!

Go Natalie!

And he's off!

It took him a year to learn to scoot.

Another month to figure out how to crawl.

and only days to finally walk!

So happy to be walking.

So proud of himself.
1st steps - June 12, 2009.

UVM 10 year Reunion... with the DELTA's

What a weekend! This past weekend, my college girlfriends (the ladies of Delta Delta Delta) and I all got together in Burlington to celebrate our 10 year college reunion! This group of friends now all live scattered over the country, are busy with kids, family and jobs... so it was really quite a feat to get us all together in the same place, at the same time. The whole drive up to Burlington, I kept thinking to myself, "I can't believe that we have really pulled this off. We are all going to be together!" The last day we were all together was graduation day in May 2000. Lots have changed since then, but our friendship has remained strong!

Me, Bridget, Molly and Anne at Bruggers on Church St. The home of a plain bagel, cream cheese and tomato!
All out at the Wine Bar.

What fun to stay right at the Delta house. It was the perfect place to truly re-live the memories... we all slept in one room and had a big giant sleepover!

Can't resist showing off those Delta's!

This weekend could never have been possible without the world's GREATEST husband and Dad.... Nick did an outstanding job being home for 3 days with all 3 kids (which is no easy task!). He almost made it sound too easy - on Saturday alone, he took the kids to the home depot for a kid craft, off to a playdate and then had friends over for dinner?!! He told me to enjoy my time and make the most of it. I am so lucky to of had this opportunity. Thank you.

The 2009 Spartan Sprint

With me off in Burlington, Nick got to run the Spartan Sprint with Natalie this year! It was so funny to listen to Natalie the week before the race... all concerned about having Nick as her running partner. "Mom, Dad doesn't run. What if he can't keep up with me?" Well no worries... they did an amazing job. I was so bummed not to be part of this annual tradition for our family and the community, but so glad they had a good time. Nick says that Natalie took the race very seriously and ran faster than he had ever seen her do. They finished in 8 min. 16 seconds. The debate is still out on who finished first... Nick or Natalie?! Check out the below picture and give us your verdict!

The runners.