Isabel the Photographer

Isabel turned 9 on Thursday!

She has expressed an interest in both photography and photo editing recently.

So...

for her birthday Ryan and I bought her

her very own camera.

She has been busy today taking pictures of the

Turtle Tots

and then editing the photos to share with all of you!

Here are today's pictures:



Stay tuned for more pictures by Isabel soon!

About Green Eggs & Ham

One of the things I'm working on with

James as he prepares for Kindergarten this fall

is his reading skills.

Each day I get him to do some silent solo reading

as well as group reading or reading out loud to me or a friend.

Dane really seems to like this practice and loves to be read to.

He really enjoys practicing to read himself as well!

Last week when James was away-

Dane took over as official reader!

His book of choice was

"Green Eggs & Ham"

by Dr. Seuss

He didn't know the words so he said the phrase

"About green eggs and ham..."

for every page.

Jordyn certainly didn't seem to mind!

It was absolutely adorable.

Spotlight on Jordyn

I've grown quite the collection of pictures

of Jordyn with some of her priceless expressions.

Today I thought I'd share some of my recent favorites!

Enjoy!

She is SUCH a peach.

Meet Ashlynn

Last month my neighbor approached me hoping that I had 

a position for an infant available-

as she had a granddaughter 

that she would love to have across the street.

At the time I thought there was another baby that was going to be joining us 

so I had to sadly tell her that I didn't have another infant position available.

As it turned out,

the parents of the other infant were able to make arrangements for him
to be watched by his aunt-

so I contacted my neighbor right away to let her know that I had an available spot.

Thankfully-

they were still interested 

and on 

 Monday, July 18th

we got our newest addition to the

Turtle Tots.

MEET ASHLYNN

Ashlynn is 3 months old

which makes her the perfect playmate for 

Miss Jordyn!!

So far Ashlynn has been a very serene little lady!

I love working on getting her to smile and giggle!

I'm so glad Ashlynn was able to join us!

~Alana Turns 1~

 

Miss Alana

was born on 

July 12, 2010...

which means last Tuesday was 

HER BIRTHDAY!!!! 

So on Wednesday I gathered all the turtle tots for a party to celebrate her big day!

We all wanted to do something special for her so 

Dane & Drake

helped me make her birthday 

CUPCAKES!!

My girls helped me with the frosting and I think they turned out great!

We brought the tray out to the big girl and proceeded to sing 

"Happy Birthday"

At first Alana seemed confused...

"Are these cupcakes...for me!?!"

Eventually she realized how yummy frosting is.

The cake...not so much!

We had a wonderful day celebrating 

Alana's birthday!!

It won't be long until she's walking!

Dane & Drake's Park Adventure

Last Friday I got to spend the entire day with two of my favorite buddies!

also known as:

{names spelled with Alphabet tater tots}

With no other kids in my care-

we decided to hit up a local park 

for a picnic and playtime!

Here are some of the shots I was able to get of the boys...

Swinging!

Having Fun!

 {"Smile Drakie!"  "NO" :)}

 {That's better}

 {action shot...mid-run}

{Dane would smile...it was just harder to get him to look at the camera!}


We had a great time at the park!
Hopefully we'll get to make another trip sometime soon!

You've Got a Friend In Me

We all need a friend sometimes.

For Drake,

a friend is someone with a shoulder to lean on hop on 

to reach mulberries.

Dane is also a great friend to others!

He is great at sharing!

For Drake,

 a friend is someone that keeps him from going under.

For Jordyn,

a friend is someone to cuddle with.

For Alana,

A friend is someone that never leaves your side!

For me-
a friend is someone that makes me smile.
I'm lucky to have all of these friends in my life that do so daily!