Violet's Preschool Awards Ceremony

Sweet Violet finished her first year of Preschool. She received the "Most Helpful" award in her class, for always being so attentive to her classmates. Which may be a euphemism for being nosey. She comes by it honestly.

Her award:

The class cutting the graduation cake for the "grads" (see Daphne trying to get in on that cake action?):

Violet with her first teachers, Erica Moran (Teacher Erica) and Samantha Twitchell (Ms. Bubbles):

End of the year cards Violet gave to her classmates. Very, very last minute, so she didn't get to write her own name. Thank you for making me feel like I NEEDED to make these, Pinterest.

Solar Eclipse

We had fun with our eclipse viewer, putting the eclipse on our cheeks and hands.

Dinner

Ah, we're having a rough time. We're so cramped in our little apartment, and all of our options seem bad, or are out of our price range. But we are where we are and we're grateful to have what we have. So tonight we had dinner in the "yard." Sure we have to make sure the girls don't run into traffic, but you can't beat the weather or location. Erik took today and tomorrow off work, and we're using the time to figure out next steps.
Also, Daphne had an eye appointment this morning, and Violet got her shots. So it's been a rough day all around, haha. But this weather is just gorgeous, so we're enjoying all of the outdoors that we have!

Lunch

I used to take pictures of Violet's meals when she was about Daphne's age. I haven't done that with Daphne yet, so this ones's for you, DD. Avocado, blackberries, steamed carrots, 1/2 a veggie burger, and a lone piece of arugula. As for Violet, I wish I would have taken a pic of her lunch. She had a veggie burger patty with light cheese and avocado, but rejected her steamed carrots in favor of a "mommy salad": spring mix, pistachios, and cranberries. And she ate the whole thing.

Daphne is One!

Wow, what a weekend. Our Luau was rained out of the park, so at the last minute we had to scramble to find an indoor space for sweet Daphne's one year celebration. We rented a room at the local mall, then slogged all of our Hawaiian gear through an absolute deluge to make a party.

But in the end, darling Daphne turned one after all. We made the best of a strange situation and celebrated our baby girl. Not quite walking yet, she was still the life of the party.

Mommy made a cake:

Nandhi helped a lot:

We had plenty of food:

Daddy was on birthday girl duty:

We played some fun games:

Daphne chose her fate:

Mommy showed her all of the offerings:

She chose pink sticky notes and a calculator:

Sissy helped sing and play games:

Daphne likes to... shake things!

Party outfit:

It's my party and, well, you know.

Mommy made cupcakes (pineapple whip filling with banana creme topping):

Festive decor for the cupcakes:

Daphne's year in review:

Dress up

Violet has such an imagination. She is great at entertaining herself and Daphne, though it can be very messy. One if her favorite pastimes is dress up as the photo suggests. She gathers an outfit and gets herself together then comes and proudly shows me her new look. I think she was pretending to be a teacher, or possibly a mommy, here. Lovely lively child! She is so full of play, she is so messy, and she is a delight.

New iPhones!

Erik and I bought iPhones today- thank you honey! I'm so excited to have a phone that works, I'm blogging about it! From my iPhone!