T ball!

Olive is playing T Ball this summer. She and her best buddy, Wren, are on the same team (go Diamondbacks!!).

It's a team for 3 and 4 year olds and a parent, too. The parents are there to guide the children around the bases and make sure it isn't complete chaos (which is still is).

They had their first game last week and it was pretty awesome. Someone was crying pretty much the entire time. Luckily, it wasn't our kid (this time!).

Here she is, T Ball player extraordinaire:

Olive and Wren:

Wren up to bat:

Olive at bat:

Olive was much more aggressive than I thought she'd be. She really went for the ball when she was in the outfield. I was impressed:

Olive and Sam at 2nd base:

T Ball buddies:

Nice job, girls!

Daddy-O

My girls sure are lucky, just like I am:

Happy Father's Day to Sam. Thanks for being Olive and Mae's Daddy-O, you're the best.

Happy Father's Day to my Daddy-O. Thanks for being an incredible role model on parenting for Sam and me.

Happy Father's Day to all the other men in our lives who parent our children when we aren't around, and who love our girls like their own.

Playhouse!

Olive and Mae got a playhouse! Sam and his brother, Charlie, spent several hours assembling it a couple of weeks ago. Charlie is a carpenter and I am confident that Sam and I wouldn't have been able to get it completed without his help.

Assembling in the driveway (can you spot Mae helping out?):

Moved to its permanent location, almost done:

Olive checking it out (she's a big fan of the working doorbell!):

Olive and Sienna in front of the completed house (wearing costumes, of course!):

Olive eating her breakfast:

We know the girls will have lots of adventures and fun in their new house.

Bathing beauties

Summer has finally arrived!

Little orphan Annie

Olive has been enjoying all things "Annie" lately. We just saw the show at the Children's Theatre, and in preparation for that, she watched the movie several times.

So most kids would dress up like Annie, right?

Not this kid.

The other day she told me she was going to dress up like Miss. Hannigan.

And she did:

Unbelievably accurate, I think.

In case you were wondering, her favorite character in "Alice in Wonderland" is the Queen of Hearts. Not kidding.

Preschool picnic

Olive had her end of the year preschool picnic last week. I can't believe she's already done with the 3 day preschool program and moving on to 5 day next year! Ack!

Before we left, I asked her if I could take some pictures of her in her dress.

Here's an example of the poses given by a 4 year old when asked that question:

Mae, on the other hand, didn't make any silly faces during her photo shoot:

Olive picked some flowers in the yard and asked me to put them in her hair:

At the picnic, with a balloon heart/flower/wand thing:

They sang some cute songs:

And then they sang this:

And then I cried.

I don't know what it is about this song. It reminds me of my childhood. It reminds me of my parents and our good family friends Lori and Ron. And seeing my child sing it, in a class at a school where I student taught with teachers I care for very much.

MY kid is old enough to be in preschool.

MY kid is up there.

Mae was thrilled. Loved it:

Way to go, Olive! We're proud of all the progress you made in preschool this year and all the cool things you learned.