The girls had a lot of fun at dinner tonight, roaring like dinosaurs and singing the stegosaurus song. Bree was really full of energy and smiles tonight.

I love my silly, sweet, beautiful girls!

While Adrianna was doing some of her school work, I was sitting on the floor with Bree, helping her put the shapes in the shape sorter. It took some time (and frustration) on Bree’s part to figure it out at first. When she started to do it on her own, I was cheering her on with each one she got correctly.

Later, Bree was on the floor by herself, still playing with the shape sorter. And every time she was able to get one in, she would say, “Yay!”

Last weekend I attended a “Mom Heart Conference” with some friends from my homeschool support group. I also ran into three moms from my MOPS group and a friend from high school / my hometown. Shay and I ran into each other at the CHEC (homeschool) conference last June too.

The main speaker was Sally Clarkson of Whole Heart Ministries. Though she was a homeschool mom and homeschooling did get mentioned, it was a conference for all moms of school-aged children. The conference theme was how to be a heartshaping mom who opens, fills, and holds the hearts of her children. So, so good and refreshing.

The main sessions were:

• The Heartshaping Mother: Getting Out of Your Child’s Face and Into Their Heart
• Shaping with Relationship: Opening Your Child’s Heart with Grace
• Shaping with Influence: Filling Your Child’s Heart with Truth
• Shaping with Culture: Holding Your Child’s Heart with Love

It was a two day conference and I was excited to have an overnight hotel stay. It felt weird packing for just myself. No toys, diapers or kids’ items to worry about. After the sessions ended on Friday, Heather (Aubriana’s mom) and I spent time in the hot tub and pool. It was a great time to share our stories. Then, at 11:50 p.m., we headed back to our room for more conversation with our other roommate, Kris. We stayed up until past 1 a.m chatting.

The conference was so unbelievably refreshing. I think I need to do overnight getaways or conferences more often! Thanks Greggors for watching the girls so I could have an evening away.

This week was a busy week for us with two homeschool field trips.

Butterfly Pavilion

The first trip was with our Options group to the Butterfly Pavilion on Tuesday. This trip started with a 45 minute “class” about the different types of invertebrates, which included some live invertebrates that the kids were able to observe up close and/or touch, including a huge Madagascar Hissing Beetle, a hermit crab, a millipede and tarantula named “Rosie”.

Having been to the Butterfly Pavilion one time previously, we knew that they had a tarantula named Rosie that you were allowed to hold. At our class, we discovered that they actually have up to 100 tarantulas with the same name so that they can take turns being part of the exhibit and being held. (This particular type of tarantula is also more laid-back than some other species.) We also learned that the females can live up to 25 years!

After the class, we were able to proceed on a self-guided tour of the facility.

We started out in the insect/arachnid room. After admiring all of the various bugs, Adrianna surprised me by asking to hold Rosie. My brave girl!

We then headed toward the butterfly room. The butterfly room is fun because they are flying around loose in the room with you. Bree was very excited to see all the butterflies. We had talked about butterflies before while reading some of her books, so she knew what they were. She kept pointing out each one she spotted, saying “Fie. Fie!”

Adrianna was excited that some of her friends, Audrey and Laura, were on the field trip. Audrey and Laura are friends from both Options and our Pneuma group. They had a lot of fun exploring the Pavilion together.

We ended the trip with some time spent in the play area. Bree ran around the play area and was having so much fun that I had a hard time getting her to leave when playtime was up. Adrianna went on the zip line and she and her friends also played in a maze, pretending to be hiding from a wasp. We also enjoyed looking around the gift shop.

Colorado Symphony

On Wednesday, we had a field trip to see the Colorado Symphony with our Pneuma group. (Our homeschool support group.)

I knew that Bree would not sit still for a concert so we had arranged for her to spend the day at Janette’s. Greg was able to take the morning off to attend with Adrianna and I, so it was a nice little “date” with the three of us. Adrianna wore a pretty burgundy velvet dress that had been mine when I was young. She was very excited to sit with her friend Aubriana during the concert. Unfortunately, she couldn’t keep from talking during the concert though, so I had to split them up and she sat with us for the remainder of the time.

After the symphony, we took her out for lunch. Her choice: McDonalds.

Sadly, I didn’t get around to taking any pictures of our time at the symphony.

When I picked up Bree from Janette’s, Bree shared a new word with me: “Neh-nee” (The kids call Janette “Netty”.)

Bree had her 2 year checkup on Thursday.

Height: 36 inches – 91st percentile
Weight: 29.8 pounds – 80th percentile
Head Circumference: 19.5 inches – 91st percentile

So she continues to be a tall girl. Her weight has gone up from the 50th percentile to 80th since her last checkup. I guess she’s getting enough to eat, in spite of her picky ways.

The doctor agrees that she is very healthy and progressing well. The doctor’s only concern, which is also a concern of mine, is her speech. She brought it up without me having to mention it, actually. She said we don’t need to worry (yet) but if in 6 months Bree still doesn’t have many intelligible words that we should have her checked out by a speech therapist in regards to her word articulation. Because Bree is obviously very chatty, even during her appointment; we just can’t tell what she is saying most of the time. Her recommendation of not worrying until Bree is 30 months old is on par to some things I have read online, so we’ll wait until then to before we get too anxious about it. I do plan on continuing to encourage Bree to say new words in the meantime.

New words:

• No-en (Snowing)
• A-na-na (Adrianna)
• Eyes
• Puppy
• Ki-kee (Kitty)
• Boo (Bunny)
• Bum (Bump)

So I guess she is up to about 17-20 words that we know of.

Bree has really started to blossom over the past few weeks. She is getting more interested in animal toys and imaginative play, she loves to color and she is trying new words. Bree loves to help me around the house, do things herself and be a big girl. She is almost always pleasant and easy-going. I thank God every day for my sweet little Breezy girl.

I am so glad we bought our keyboard. Not only do I get enjoyment out of it but so do both of the girls. Together. I love watching them play “duets” together.

Adrianna has been attending Children’s Music Academy once every week. It is a class for 4-6 year olds and they teach music in a fun, kid-friendly way. Parents are required to attend and be involved during the class. They also have “home fun” to practice during the week. Already they are learning little songs on the keyboard and have to play them as solos during class. The solos include them singing along too.

They have also been required to write their own songs (about 3 measures in length) and play them as solos. Adrianna enjoys making up her own songs and does it all the time now at home. It gives me such pleasure watching her develop her musical talent in singing and now playing and composing her own music.

Greg just found this on his desk tonight.

It says, “From Adrianna and Bree. I would like to go to the zoo with you for a Daddy/Daughter day. We wish we got more time with you. You are the best dad in the world.”

Sadly, the forecast is in the single digits for the next couple of days. We will be taking her to the symphony for a date in a couple of weeks though.

I just LOVE it that both of my girls enjoy singing.