What a Butterfly!

This beauty was in the backyard for a while - long enough for me to run inside and grab the camera. Sadly, I only got to take 2 pictures. He was about 3 inches across. Just lovely!

S.W.A.K.

It looks like Anni is blowing you a kiss, but really she is saying no, then comes the pucker. It just started in the last week or so. Most of the time it's related to her saying no, though not always. It never fails to make me laugh. If I pucker up after she does, she will give me a kiss.

Pre-School Graduation

Because she won't be 5 on September 1st, Signe will spend another year in pre-school. Most of her class will be going on to kindergarten. Luckily, her favorite friend,Ryan, will be staying behind. (Ask her about Ryan and she'll tell you that he is the silliest boy. Things are often compared to Ryan in terms of silliness.) Anyway, they included all the kids in the ceremony to be fair. It was like a little play. They sang several songs - Signe's favorite was 5 green & speckled frogs. (Thus the green thing on her head.) For some reason, as they "walked" she became out of sorts. No one knew why. She spent the whole time making these silly faces. It was totally cracking us up.

She seemed perfectly fine afterwards. I guess she was just done performing.

A style all her own

Aside from being Monochromatic Girl, Signe doesn't care all that much about clothes. She is pretty easy going most days. I'll ask if she wants to pick out her clothes, or if I should, from there she gets dressed. If she dresses herself, she almost always wears all one color. If I pick, she'll usually wear whatever I pick out.

This outfit is a huge departure from her style. A package full of clothes arrived from Grandma Lolo. She picked out the 2 things she liked best to wear to school. Never mind that there was a cute shirt to go with the pants - she wanted to wear the green one. (Green's her favorite color, you know.) She added the boots because it looked like rain outside. At least the boots match her shirt, right?

Adventures with Anni

What can I say except that Anni keeps us on our toes? Not is a bad way, in a good healthy curiosity sort of way. Lately she is really testing her boundaries. Water is our biggest challenge. She just can't stay out of it. If she's too quiet, I know she is either trying to get into the toilet or turning on the water in our bathroom. (The faucet is really easy for her to turn on.)

Here is one of her new tricks. She likes to pour sand on her head. I.have.no.idea.why. Do you know how hard it is to wash sand out of a small child's hair? Not easy! I think it has something to do with discovering HOW to pour something over her head. She is doing it in the tub too, but I don't care if she puts water on her head.

Check out this outfit. Anni enjoys clothes. Lately, she has been bring stuff to me to put on her. Usually it's Signe stuff because she can reach them in Signe's closet. She's also begun to try to put things on herself. This always ends with a holler because she doesn't have the skill yet. Sometimes she'll let me help a little. Sometimes not. I try to do it so that she thinks she is doing it. The vest she's wearing belongs on a Kermit and the tutu is Signe's dress up. She insisted on wearing both and played in them for about 30 minutes.

Proud Moment

Is it just me or is Kent bursting at the seams in this picture? I think he's ready to go out and buy her a coronet. Anni gave it a try too. I sure he thinks that you can't start 'em too young.

You think we'll have our own brass ensemble?

Pictures are from the Stroll of the Heifers Parade. Yes - it's cow parade. They are the stars and I'll admit, they're pretty cute. It's one of the biggest events in the entire state of Vermont. Something like 10, 000 people attend. There is a fun festival afterwards all about the cows. I think people mostly come for the freebies and there are lots - yogurt, ice cream, milk, cheese and other stuff too. It's a great family event and we really enjoyed it. Anyone want to join us next year?

We were in the parade to promote KidsPLAYce. We're opening an ice cream shop this summer. It was warm and muggy. Signe insisted on wearing a long sleeved black unitard. (It's her favorites right now. She wears it as soon as it's clean.) Poor thing was pretty hot during the parade. She was grumpy about it until she was able to pick up some candy. Then at the end of the parade we saw her favorite friend from school and all was good again.