A Day of Firsts

Today was Lauren's first day of school! Okay, not really, but we did go observe at a Lutheran preschool this morning. While it didn't surprise me that she wouldn't talk to the teachers and wanted to hold my hand and keep me close, I was surprised how quickly she warmed up. I am sure it helped that it was "free-time, aka, play-time" while we were there, but she jumped right in and made her way around the room playing. And she didn't run away crying when a nice little girl wanted to talk to her and play with her! She actually didn't want to leave, so we stayed for almost 2 hours. We will be attending the open house next week so Dan can check it out, but it looks promising.

Showing off the flower she made at preschool

Next we took Lauren for her first haircut. I had planned on finding a very kid-friendly salon (which doesn't exist in Rice Lake), but I decided that either way she was just going to sit there very seriously and not show much emotion. So she agreed that it would be fun to go where daddy gets his haircut, nothing fancy, just good old Great Clips! She did really well, didn't like having her hair combed over and over, but also didn't cry and scream like she does for me. She sure is turning into a big girl.

Very serious

First cut!

I promise to post a picture of her new haircut, but she is taking a much needed nap. Probably won't be able to tell much of a difference, we kept a lot of the length and added some bouncy layers.

Letting Ella in on the Fun

It is usually pretty stressful during the day when Lauren wants to get out the scissors and paints and glue to do art projects- because little miss Ella thinks she is a big girl too and wants to join the fun. She used to be satisfied with some crayons, but now she is old enough to realize she is missing out. While it means a little extra clean-up for me, she sure enjoys painting. Here she is working on one of her masterpieces:)

Lauren turns 3!

Lauren celebrated her 3rd birthday on Sunday. I cannot believe my baby girl is 3 years old! She is turning into such a big girl and is so great with Ella- my favorite is when they are off playing and I hear Lauren say, "No, no, sweetie. Don't do that." It is seriously so cute. We kept her birthday celebrations pretty low-key since there will be two more parties this weekend with our families.

Lauren's friend Leah turned 4 on March 1st, so we had a play date with them and the girls each blew out their candles. The cake was pretty simple since both of them love the color blue!

Lauren's turn!

On Sunday we celebrated at home. Dan took Lauren outside sledding and for a 4-wheeler ride and we did presents in the evening.

By far her favorite gift- a doll swing that actually swings and plays music!

Weekend in Dodgeville

While we were in Dodgeville for the weekend at Becky and Eric's we decided to take the kids bowling. I have been wanting to take Lauren for awhile now, and I am glad we did. They had a lot of fun and Lauren has been talking about it ever since. Even Ella took a turn at rolling that heavy ball!

Back at the house Leyton was kind enough to share his paints with Lauren! They had a lot of fun and then wanted to move on to Play-doh...


And Ella enjoyed some marker time!

Road Trip

On Wednesday the girls and I headed to my friend Megan and Scott's house and we were able to meet sweet baby Cecelia for the first time. We had a lot of fun, and the girls slept really well all weekend which is not the norm for them when we are away from home! Dan was in Missouri for work and met us Thursday and stayed the rest of the weekend. Megan took us to the Madison Children's Museum where the kids had a blast. Maddox was busy running and playing with all his favorites so I don't have any pics of him, but the girls preferred the activities that were a little less busy! Friday night we headed to Becky and Eric's and stayed til Sunday. That will be a separate post.

They loved driving the horse and cart!

Collecting chicken eggs was their favorite activity.

Lauren opening her birthday gift from Maddox- she loves her new hopscotch game:)

Maddox opening his big brother gift.

Thanks for having us Megan and Scott! We had a great time!

First Time in Pigtails

I think you will be seeing a lot more of these:)

Valentine's Day

We had a lot of fun here for Valentine's Day! Dan worked late so the girls and I decided to celebrate all day! We dipped strawberries in chocolate, ate heart-shaped sandwiches for lunch, and enjoyed yummy cupcakes. Here is Lauren in her Valentine's Day outfit (hand-picked by herself!).

The girls each got a Valentine's puppy...

Time for dessert!