Accomplishments!

The kids had their last swim lesson yesterday. They did a few minutes in the water and then they had a party and got their certificates. They were so proud of themselves! Alex passed Parent/Tot with flying colors...he is so ready for the next class. He has no problem putting his face under water and going into deeper territory...I have to stay with him every second! Aurora will probably need to do Sea Horses again. She would not put her face under water and would not do a lot of the floating things. But all that matters to me is that she had fun! I have no problem putting her back in the same class. Alex cannot advance to the next class until he is three in October, so I'll probably sign them up for January (this is an indoor aquatics center).

Alex also put on his first concert for us:

At the Car Wash...

This weekend Aurora decided she wanted to wash Daddy's car. She loves his car and insists that it will be hers when she is old enough to drive. She even asks him to just go driving or off-roading in it and they'll take off and do their thing.

Anyway she bugged us over and over again until we told her she could wash it! I've never seen someone so excited to do this before! Alex was ready to pitch in too. They worked diligently, scrubbing the whole car with their little sponges and were quite proud of themselves when it was done!

Band-aids for Money Management

So Aurora LOVES band-aids. She is addicted to them and thinks she needs them for every little tiny scratch! This can get expensive! At one point she was getting up to five a day and putting them on. So I implemented a new rule; no band-aids unless you are bleeding! This did not make Aurora happy. She begged and begged for band-aids all of the time.

During this time we have also been learning about money. The difference between the coins, how much they are, etc. So I came up with a bright idea - if you are bleeding, a band-aid is free. If you aren't, each one costs 10 cents.

She was pretty gung-ho about this for a while, and happily gave me a dime (or two nickels, or a quarter and get change back) each time she wanted one. Until her change started running low...then we had the following conversation:

Me: I see you have two new band-aids on; you owe me 20 cents

Aurora: Ok let me get it

:Goes to bedroom and returns:

Aurora: I'm almost out of money, you are going to take all of my money!

Me: You are going to take all of my band-aids! They are not free to me; they cost me money too.

Aurora: Ohhhh....ok

And since then she has taken it easy on the band-aids. She's also figuring how to get a better deal. Today she said to me, "Mom, instead of using your band-aids I am going to save my money and buy my own box. I'll get a lot more and can do whatever I want with them."

Ice Age!

Two weeks ago we took Alex to his first movie at the movie theater!! Alex loves the Ice Age movies, and every time the preview for the third one came on TV, he would freeze and not move for the whole preview. So we took advantage of the three day weeked for Independance Day and headed to the theater. Alex got such a kick out of it! It was his first time eating popcorn too, which he LOVED. He sat in a booster seat with his soda and popcorn and just loved it! It was especially helpful that the movie had dinosaurs in it, one of his basic loves. He hardly made a peep for the whole movie. We had a great time!

Room Redos!

We decided it was time for a change! Both kids are older, and Alex has far better interests than the moon and stars theme we did for his nursery! It was also time to make the dreaded switch from crib to bed. Aurora is no longer a pink and purple girl (I'm not sure she ever was) and was ready for a new bed. So we set about redecorating their rooms!

For Alex, I decided to do a transporation theme because he is so into cars, trucks, airplanes, and 'choo choo trains'. To save money, we decided to give him his sister's twin bed. I picked out the bedding first and then matched everything with it. I found some great deals on accessories and such! We finally setup the bed on Friday and I was so nervous! I don't like the idea of them being able to wander the house at night! But he has done great! Slept great every night and has not gotten out of bed once. Here are the before and after pictures of his room:

Alex BEFORE

Alex BEFORE
Alex AFTER Alex AFTER

Alex AFTER

Alex AFTER

Aurora decided she wanted to do a space theme. She has been into science and astronomy, just like her daddy, for a long time. She even has her own telescope and will be attending the White Sands Star Party in September. She also wanted a bunk bed. We settled on a bunk over futon so she could lounge when she wanted too. Daddy also got her a remote control moon that lights up in the cycles. The wall decor is still incomplete, as he is working on mapping out the entire sky in her room! Here are the before and after:

Aurora BEFORE

Aurora BEFORE

Aurora AFTER

Aurora AFTER

Aurora AFTER

4th of July

On the 4th of July, we had a blast! (No pun intended). We just had a small BBQ with my parents and did fireworks. In the past, both kids have been a little unsure about the fireworks, but this year they were all into it! Alex loved the poppers, throwing them down as hard as he could and then cheering when they popped. Aurora loved the party poppers and then playing with the streamers afterwards. We had great food and a great time. Here are pictures: