I asked Jolie to go clean the playroom the other day & she came back & reported that she'd made her own bed. She did a great job. She really is growing up. She was not as eager to help with the playroom :) I took pictures of her bed. Here is her hardwork:
Jolie & Sarah have been playing beauty shop lately. They take turns being the customer & the "hair cutter." They've been busy giving pretend haircuts & makeovers (aka: painting each other's faces as Jolie would say :) It is SO much fun to listen to them interact & pretend together. Jolie has an amazing imagination & I'm so glad she is training Sarah. Here is Jolie the stylist & Sarah the customer:
The day after Sarah's party we mixed up some more sidewalk paint for Sarah's enjoyment. Here she is painting her feet. We went directly to the bathtub!
It's hard to believe, but today is Sarah's 2nd birthday! We celebrated with some sweet friends this morning & had a great time. I made some homemade sidewalk paint & it was hit! The birthday girl really liked it :) Here are some pictures for your enjoyment:
The girls started another year of Mother's Day Out today. They were so excited & had a great day. Sarah was sacked out on her mat when I went to pick them up. Here are our first day of "school" pictures:
Sarah loves her birthday suit. I'm having a hard time keeping clothes on this little girl. She is such a little wild woman! Here she is in her birthday suit + a diaper (which she takes off regularly).
If you know anything about my potty woes with Jolie you know that she waited until she was almost 38 months before she used the potty for the very first time! So needless to say, when Sarah started taking off her own clothes & diaper & sitting on the potty & actually tee teeing last week I could NOT believe my eyes! She has used the pottty at least once (usually more) all by herself with little to no assistance from me for an entire week. Sometimes I don't even know it is happening until she's finished & runs in saying, "I tee tee, Mommy, I tee tee!" Did I mention she hasn't even had her 2nd birthday yet? I'm not pushing her since she seems to have herself on a pretty good potty plan. Who knows what will happen, but I'm in total denial that she could possibly be potty training herself! She uses both the big & little potty, but here she is in action on the little potty:
Such a big girl!
One of Jolie's favorite things to do right now is draw. All the random paper around the house is driving Todd crazy :) I think she is actually pretty good. It's hard for me to throw her creations in the trash, but if I don't the paper might start pushing us out of the house SO I decided to start photographing some my favorites. Here are a couple recent drawings. She helped me label them so you know what everything is:
I thought this picture was too cute not to share. I love my girls. The big one & the little one.
I promise not to bore you with any more hula hooping videos after this one, but I just had to share that Jolie has found her rhythm and is dominating with her hula hoop. Here she is in action in her swim suit & in the sprinkler!
Sarah accomplished all of the following before noon today!
We love the Spence family! I'm keeping Hannah & Chloe tonight while their parents host an event for girls in our youth group. Hannah was demonstrating that she can pick up Jolie & I caught a really cute pic. Can you tell they are good friends?
There was a hula hoop contest at Callaway Gardens & Jolie was desperate to participate, but was unable because she cannot hula hoop. So a week or so ago we purchased a hula hoop & she has been practicing her heart out. She has improved SO much. Here she is showing off her new skill:
We did some painting earlier this week during one our rainy afternoons. Sarah LOVED painting & painted herself as well as the paper :)
We had a very special treat the day after we returned from vacation - Josie & Caleb came to visit! They came & spent 24 whole hours at our house. It was so fun to see them! The girls had a great time together & Todd & Caleb enjoyed watching baseball together. I loved hanging out with Rachel! We wish we could kidnap them & bring them back to town, but I guess we'll let them continue to follow the call of God & let their daddy finish seminary. Here are the girls are snuggled in bed (notice Jolie's new room!):
We've had a super fun week with my side of the family. Both Jolie & Sarah took part in day camp each day from 9am-3pm so it's been the ultimate vacation for me & Todd. We are headed back home in the morning. Here is a little glimpse of the fun we've had. They had a bbq & live music on Saturday night & Jolie put on quite the performance...enjoy!
We had met some little girls in the pool earlier in the day & their mom said, "Jolie, I saw you dancing. Do you take lessons?" To which she responded, "No, I made it up all by myself."
We are headed out early in the morning to vacation with my side of the family. My parents, sister, brother & their spouses will all be there! We are looking so forward to spending a whole week away with family. The girls will be traveling in their "American" dresses as Jolie calls them :) I'll post pics when we return! 
Jolie had a successful week of swimming lessons last week. I'm excited to report she is swimming! We went swimming today with some friends & she practiced her new skills. She refused to wear her goggles today & therefore refused to put her face in the water. She does even better when she puts her face down. She is doing great & her confidence in the water is growing! I was SO much more comfortable with her in the pool than I have ever been which is good since Sarah demands 100% of my attention in the water :)
Sarah tried out floaties for the first time. She is NOT scared of the water! She was running off the side into my arms. Fun, but frightening :) Here is her new look...
