House of Zinn: Is an update possible at this point?

How do you update over 4 months later? Four months in a child's life is pages of updating at least. Obviously I will only remember a tiny fraction of the stuff that happened, things that were said, cuteness that ensued. But here goes....

Elsie is fully potty trained! It took no time at all. She doesn't even need pull ups at bedtime or when leaving the house. She has an occasional accident but those are few and far between. She has been a mother's perfect dream at potty training. She's even off the little potty and onto the big potty with the seat on top.
Annabelle is loving school. She has never had a problem, never been in trouble or even given a warning. We've got nothing but high praises from the teachers. At parent/teacher conferences she was called a role model. We were told she was so advanced they had to remove part of the regular kindergarten testing and add a new portion. We're so proud of her!

As far as talking goes, Elsie says it all (nearly.) There is no way possible I could even count the words she says...and haven't been able to for a long time. She speaks in small broken sentences. "Watch Diego, me." "Annabelle come, me." "Trains, no get. Tracks" (She has had a fear of trains ever since I took her right next to one coming toward us. So we've repeatedly told her they can't get her. They have to stay on the tracks.) She's also able to tattle on Annabelle saying "Annabelle hit!" Which comes in handy when trying to figure out what's going on in a fight. It's not so one sided anymore! People are constantly asking her age when they hear her talk, thinking she is much older. Smart cookie she is!
Speaking of smart cookie, Annabelle is reading beyond a kindergarten level. They send home books from school to read at home and they are so simple to her, they are boring. Sometimes I forget how well she can read until she yells out something she read on a sign in the car. "Keep Right....what does that mean?" She can even read stories to her sister which they both enjoy.

Other things that have gone on....Annabelle is in tap and loving it. She does a good job with it. She is also in Daisy Scouts and adores this. She can't wait to go each meeting.

Elsie will be going back to story time on Monday when the winter sessions begin. It will be interesting to see how well she does sitting still. :)

Annabelle's first day of tap

Of course we went to Lakeside on Labor Day weekend. It was a lot of fun since Elsie is older and able to run around and play on the playgrounds, throw rocks in the lake, and chow down on donuts and ice cream. The whole weekend I felt so lucky to have this tradition with them and the rest of our family.

Family pic at Lakeside

Girls being cute at Lakeside

The girls had a great Halloween...dressing in several costumes each. Annabelle was the Statue of Liberty, a witch, and a fairy princess. Elsie was a cowgirl, a chicken, and a unicorn. We went to our neighborhood trick or treat, a nursing home trick or treat, Boo at the Zoo, and had our annual Halloween party. Annabelle also had a school party and her Daisy Scouts party. So the many costumes paid off. Who doesn't love dressing up?

Trick or Treat

Thanksgiving went great. Great food. Great family time. Not much else to say.

Christmas was great. It also had great family time and great food. The girls got entirely too many presents, but I guess they're only young once. They're best present of all is a wooden playhouse in our backyard. My parents got it for them. My dad is still working on building it but it is up and already fun for them to mess in. When warm weather comes, they're never going to leave it!

Christmas Eve

Cookies for Santa

We always spend New Years in so the girls and I did a couple crafts and we had a good meal and that was that!

Happy New Year!!

So I think that covers most of the big events that have happened since last posting. My intention is to update much more frequently...perhaps sometimes even more than once a day. I just wanted to post little tidbits of our daily lives and the crazy stuff they come up with!

Here's a few more pictures I can't NOT share. Love them too much!