Girlie Day With Na Na

The boys went fishing yesterday, so Caitlin and I had a fun girlie day with Na Na. Caitlin played in the wading pool at Na Na's, went shopping, played a few board games, played with blocks, watched a couple of Dora movies and then, when Conall got back from fishing, played in the wading pool again.

Playing in the pool

Watching the rain during a downpour

Playing "Hi Ho! Cherry-O" with Na Na

Caitlin made up her own rules -- she wanted all of the cherries on the tree

Watching Dora with Na Na

Princess Ballerina and Saying Goodbye

Caitlin's new best friend, and our next door neighbor, Natalie, and her family moved this weekend. Both Conall and Caitlin cried when they left. We have exchanged phone numbers and have promised to stay in touch and get the kids together for play dates.
While they were packing the cars for the last time, Natalie and Jay came to play with Caitlin and Conall. Natalie played dress up with Caitlin, dressing her as a princess ballerina. Then, she taught Caitlin how to pirouette.

Hanging Out With Pop Pop

Making cookies with Pop Pop -- Conall's special thing to do with his grandpa

Caitlin "I want to help too" and then she went over and pushed Conall off the stool

Sitting in Pop Pop's chair

"Cheese" and making cookies again

Helping  Pop Pop with the computer

Conall "helping" with the computer

Kindergarten Graduation

I can't believe that my little boy is old enough to be starting first grade next year! His school had Kindergarten graduation today and he was so excited that he got up before 6 a.m. He has been climbing the walls ever since!
They did several song performances and then each child, all 80 of them, got their "diploma". Caitlin only had one potty trip and lasted through about 40 of them before Na Na took her outside to play. I think that's pretty good for a 3 year old.
Still, I can't believe Conall is here. I mean, my baby can read, write and spell now (no more spelling things out so that he doesn't know what we're talking about)! Not to mention all of the other things he's mastered, some much easier to accomplish than others.
Lately, I've just been happy to see him get into a wading pool or sprinkler barefoot -- no socks or water shoes! That is a major thing for him. The small things like that seem so big and you feel every moment of them and then, bam, they are graduating from Kindergarten. Wow! The past six years really have gone by fast.

Getting his "diploma" with his teacher

Waiting to be Served

Every night (or lunch when Conall is home) Inkspot jumps up in Conall's chair at dinnertime. We think he figures Conall is his best bet for getting table scraps, but Inkspot has persisted whether or not he gets food. Inkspot isn't willing to pass up the opportunity despite all of our best efforts to discourage him.  Of course, Conall thinks it is funny, which is probably why he continues to do it!

Want a carrot?

"Can't you do better than a carrot? I am soooo not interested."

Waiting to be served ...

Sibling Fun

Riding tigers in the living room.

Falling off tigers ...

Conall and Caitlin have gotten along really well lately and have played well together (now that I've said this, I'm sure it will change). Conall has even been a super sweet big brother and played dress up with Caitlin -- they have worn wings and played like they were fairies from Tinker Bell.

Playing Tinker Bell fairies

Photos From Caitlin's Sleepover

Here are the photos that Aunt Amy took of Caitlin when she stayed the night with her. They painted nails, stamped, watched movies and all kinds of fun girl stuff!

Pretty purple toenails with flowers!

Playing on Aunt Amy's couch

Stamping

More stamping

"No boys allowed! Girls Night In"

Caitlin's First Big Girl Sleepover

Caitlin had her first "big girl" (without mommy) sleepover with Aunt Amy last night. She did really well and they are still having a ton of fun! Here's a video Aunt Amy took of Caitlin talking about how the sleepover was her "No Boys Allowed, Girls Night In" party.

Gardener Conall

Conall has another garden this year. He got a gift of money from Aunt Jackie and Uncle Bill for Easter. He wanted to use the money to buy plants for this year's garden, and Caitlin decided to do the same with her gift. They bought Roma tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes (Caitlin picked out a "pink" tomato plant), grape tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, a bell pepper plant, a strawberry plant, a watermelon plant, two basil plants, some marigolds and a jalapeno plant (for Po Po and Pop Pop).
We also had some seeds for green beans, cucumbers, and flowers. We had already started the garden off with a rosemary plant. As always with Conall's plants, the plants are flourishing. They are healthy and he has at least 10 green tomatoes, if not more. The kids have already eaten about 6 strawberries and there are more growing. I am interested to see if we actually get a watermelon from our plant!

Conall showing his garden off to the neighbor boy

Girlie Girl

Princess Caitlin and Prince Inkspot

Our next door neighbor's daughter and three grand kids moved in with her recently. One of the kids is an 8 year old girl named Natalie. Caitlin and Natalie have become close friends -- I think Caitlin is like a little living doll to Natalie. She dresses her up in Caitlin's dress-up clothes, nice dresses, jewelry, princess tiaras, etc. She fixes and brushes Caitlin's hair. They play "dollies" together and Ring Around the Rosie.

Unfortunately, Natalie and her family will be moving next month. Caitlin will miss her so much!

Some of the girlie habits and play have rubbed off on our little tomboy. She wants to play dress up and "dollies" with everyone now! And, she'll let Natalie brush her hair without screaming -- Caitlin screams and fights when I come anywhere near her with a hairbrush!
Here are some photos of the girliness:

Natalie fixing Caitlin's hair

Caitlin and Natalie making dirt "cakes"

A photo Natalie took of Caitlin after fixing her hair

Visit With Barney the Library Cat

Conall has been asking for awhile to visit Aunt Susan's library and to see the library cats "in the library". We went to visit her, and the new Head Library Cat, Barney today.

Barney eating snacks from the kids and entertaining them with his tail

 

Aunt Susan had been forewarned that Conall wanted to give Barney some "snacks" so she had his treats ready. The kids loved giving Barney the treats and some catnip and Barney liked the kids while they were feeding him. He tolerated them really well, but it was the end of the day and Barney was tired and the kids were very excited to be there. Barney eventually decided he'd had enough and went and hid in the stacks. The kids chased him down and then he went to Aunt Susan's office to hide. Poor kitty!

Aunt Susan also had set aside some books she thought Conall and Caitlin would like. Conall enjoyed going through them and showing off his reading skills. Caitlin pretty much just loved seeing Barney, but she picked out some books as well.

Caitlin visiting with Barney -- he looks thrilled, doesn't he?

Conall also learned about Braille, since Aunt Susan's library is at the School for the Blind. He got to see how a machine makes Braille on paper and see his name in Braille. He loved that!

Feeding Barney his "snacks"

The Caterpillar to Butterfly Game

Here is a cute video of the kids playing the game Conall made up "The Caterpillar to Butterfly" game. They played this over and over again today.

Caitlin Riding Her Tricycle

Caitlin has really gotten good at riding her tricycle -- she is pedaling all over the place now. She tells me "Mommy, I a big girl now cause I can ride my bicycle".

Second Sleepover for the Boys

Conall and Kanton had their first sleepover at our house on Conall's birthday this year. Then, they tried a sleepover at Kanton's, but by 10:30 Kanton was asleep and Conall was ready to come home. Last night, the boys had their second sleepover at our house.

Conall and Kanton have been asking to have a sleepover since both boys got good report cards around Easter. Conall got to "earn" inviting Kanton over if he could keep green on his behavior light at school on Thursday and Friday. He's been having trouble getting green since they did the Kindergarten standardized tests and made it to orange on Wednesday. Conall cleaned his room Wednesday, got green at school Thursday and Friday, and helped me clean the rest of the house yesterday after school. He even started helping his uncooperative sister with cleaning her room! So, Conall got a sleepover last night.

The boys were most excited about having daddy (Mr. Stu to Kanton) tell them ghost stories before bedtime. He scared them with at least one story and Conall was up for awhile afterward saying he was "scared". I brought a sleepy Inkspot into the room and he climbed between both boys and helped settle them down with his purring. The boys both slept all night and were up at 6 a.m. this morning.

Conall and Kanton wanted to have pancakes and watch Ponyo this morning. They ate a few bites of pancakes and moved on to "the caterpillar to butterfly" game. They played and drew pictures until it was time for Kanton to go home and get ready for soccer.

Conall and Kanton "eating" pancakes -- they only ate a few bites and then were back to playing

Na Na's Rosebush

As most of you know, it has become a family tradition for us to take a picture of the kids in front of Na Na's yellow rosebush every year. We started when Conall was a baby and have continued every year.
The rosebush only blooms once a year.
This year, Na Na and Po Po were out of town when it bloomed. Aunt Megan kept an eye on it for us and let us know when it was blooming. We hopped in the car the next day for a quick trip to Na Na's and got some photos of the kids in front of the rosebush.

One of my favorites

One of the best of the two together

Silly girl

This is sooooo Conall and Caitlin!

Being silly

One of the funnier pics -- that look on her face and his eyes -- funny!