May (pre-school graduation)

 This is the first time Genevieve drew something and then told us what it was!

"This Mama! This Papa! Walking! Outside!"

Watercolor painting, in peace. Sigh.

 Juni started makin how own games and even writing out the rules.

This was pin the tail on the cat.

No taking the mask off!

Place the tail on the kitty!

If you can't get it on write, that's ok, just get it on the paper!

 No taking apart the puzzle!

No putting water on the puzzle!

No pushing each other!

This was a game where you chose a color, moved the ballerina character to the color you picked, then made the silliest face you could think of. Then, when it was the next person's turn, they also would pick a color to move the ballerina too and then make the silliest face they could think of. It was a SUPER fun game!

 One day while I was at work Juni asked to make cookies with me when I got home, so we did! :)

 Genevieve approved!

 Last regular day of pre-school before graduation.

So proud and so excited.

 I should have inserted the pic of her on her first day next to this one. She is obviously much more comfortable now!! Teacher Carla and Teacher Eileen were so great with her! They provided so much care and support to help her transition into a school environment. She made friends so quickly and found little girls with as much spunk and determination as she has. This strong-minded girl is going to do great in Kindergarten!

 I saw this sad face regularly, because she couldn't go into school too!

 Graduation balloons and candy from Grandma Candy and Grandpa Billy!

Delivered just for her!!

She felt SO special!! ...and wanted to take the balloons every place we went!

I went to pick out a single flower to give her at graduation and left the flower shop with these puppies. How could I resist?! :)

 All ready for Juni's graduation!

 My nervous girl could hardly sit in that chair with so many people watching her.

She really did so great!

I know how nervous she was feeling!

 With her diploma!

So much happier not under the spotlight of strangers :)

 Shocked face seeing her puppies for the first time!

 Genevieve already enjoying the post-graduation snacks!

 So proud of our girl!

 At the graduation each pre-schooler took turns going up on a platform and using a microphone to read a little story they had written. Juni got half way through hers and then didn't want to say anymore in front of everyone. This vet hospital is close by pre-school and many days we would park near it and the girls would play on this dog statue after class before loading up into the car.

So, on her last day, we went down to the doggy and then recorded her speech in full atop the dog, in true Juni fashion! :) Her speech said, "My name is Juniper. I am 5 years old. I will go to Paden Elementary School. I like to eat squishy bacon. I like to play on the slide. And when I grow up I want to be a zookeeper!"

I guess at graduation practice she told teach Carla she hadn't decided what she wants to be when she grows up so she couldn't tell everyone. She just doesn't know yet! So after graduation we talked about how for now she doesn't have to decide for sure but she can just think about what things she likes and what she might want to do. My little serious girl. She decided zookeeper would be best because then she could take care of the animals and feed them.

Papa had a couple of really busy work days right around pre-school, so Juni's celebration dinner was Saturday night at LaVal's pizza. Then, there was an ice cream truck outside (a rare site) so we got them ice cream to eat at home. Here they are, at the top of their little slide in our backyard. Juni got Tweety and Genevieve Bugs Bunny, known to them as a chick and a bunny.

May has just a couple of days left, and I didn't the Mother's Day cherry picking photos off of Zach's phone, but after going so long without doing this, I figured if I was in the mood to get it done, I should just get it done!

We are ready for a fun filled summer of days at the park and beach and zoo.

I'm so excited for Juni to start at Paden. After an open house they had on Wednesday night, as we were walking out of the building she stomped her foot and said, "It isn't fair; why can't I just start kindergarten now!" I'm sad this is my last time at home with both of them, but these girls are growing up, and I am so excited for all that is to come!!

April (Juniper turns 5!)

 My little snail whisperer. We did some shuffling around and took our trusty entertainment center outside to sell and moved in a cube display that we got from some friends. Juni started finding snails on our fence and letting them live in the entertainment stand. When I told our landlords we had sold it, they said, "Oh, no! The snail motel is gone!" Juni then took to putting them in a half barrel in the backyard. She has quite the collection and checks on them and plays with them daily.

 I have her pre-school pictures in now and need to share them, but I'll probably just bring them back to Nebraska on our next visit, rather than trying to ship them all.

 Sister Love

 more Sister Love!

 Her nut-free, per rules, and dairy-free and egg-free, per little friend's allergies

birthday cupcakes for pre-school!

Fancy butterfly papers with pink and purple icing and candy flowers and butterflies on top!

She had so much fun working on these and was super excited to share them with all of her school friends!

 cupcakes for the party!

She chose raspberry lemon flavor this year.

The raspberry filling I made turned out way better than I expected!

It was an olive oil cake and then I used meyer lemons from the front yard to flavor them.

The cake part wasn't my favorite, but Juni LOVED it and everyone else seemed to enjoy it too!

 My sweet little Rainbow Unicorn Birthday Girl

She was jealous when Genevieve got to wear a fancy birthday hat for her own birthday, but we told Juni she could have one on her birthday, so she was excited for that. Then, she decided to make her own! And turn it into a unicorn horn! Love, love, love!!!

 Her little friends: Juniper, Jasmine, Juliette, Scarlett, Colin

 Sissy at the "little" table with Billy who is her age, and Myla, Colin's little sister who is 6 months younger than her.... but I didn't get a picture of them.... whoops! :/

 Pin the horn on the unicorn!

 Colin is the winner!

 I took more clear photos of the cake, but I don't know where they are?

I got the idea of using the ice cream cone from Pinterest, but thought of pulling apart all the Twizzlers for the hair and Juni thought it was a fun idea!! The cake pan left less definition than I wanted, and then when I let Juniper pick the color and she chose light yellow, it looked interesting!! :) Most importantly, she loved the way it looked and tasted and was so excited for it all!

My mom tried 20? times to get a clear shot. At the end of a birthday party day, this is the best we could get!

 Juniper's giant balloon bundle. That unicorn balloon was as big as her and just might be the coolest balloon I have ever seen!

 Opening her new rock collection box, rock tumbler, and geode kit from Mama and Papa and Genevieve on her actual birthday.

 In her birthday dress from Grandma! With the little yard animals she got the girls!

 5 years old!!

Her energy level has spiked even more and she wants to be running and going all of the time.

She pretty much lives in the backyard with her snails and her new bike and the little slide I got them on the second-hand site for free.

She draws us pictures all day long, enjoys picking out her and her sister's clothes for the day, loves copying words from the things around her onto paper, and likes to sing and dance, as long as nobody is really watching.

She could eat a pound of squishy bacon all by herself, still loves noodles and sausage and apples and watermelon. After cherry picking she loves ALL things cherry! And has been going crazy over the apricot jam I made. When Zach and I go for the little runs together she always wants apricot jam toast to eat in the stroller along the way.

Her emotions are SO strong as she transitions into an even bigger little human. When getting disciplined she's come up with some creative things to say that she knows will be hurtful, but she has so much love in her heart, often not even five seconds later she will say, still in an angry tone, "You loving-Mama-you!" :) :) :) I have to try so hard not to laugh, because for Juni, that just offends her and does NOT break the tension. We try to have lots of extra love and help her when she wants it. WE are all learning and growing each day together. I'm so thankful for this girl. 

 strawberries everywhere :)

 One last cupcake to sing happy birthday with!

 One of the things she got in the box from Uncle Nels and family was astronaut ice cream. She had never had it before and didn't fully understand what it was. So, she got out the ice cream cones out of the cupboard and asked if she could have her ice cream! Too cute! Of course we still made an ice cream cone for her! So fun!

 Crackin' geodes!

 Laurel, Ray, and Billy gave her this cute kit to make a Fairy Garden!

It even came with little beans and wheatgrass seeds to plant and watch them sprout in the garden!

 So. Cute!

 She's in love.

 The expressions of beef jerkey! Ha!

 This is almost the "scared" face!

 SO excited to watch Papa put her new bike together. We took her to Toys R Us on her birthday so see all the bikes, then we had it shipped to us, so she knew it was coming and got to pick it out, but to see it in her own backyard was SO cool!!

 Princess Juniper-Elsa :)

Can you see that beauty shining from the inside-out?

 Modeling her new Ariel swimsuit Mama bought from an online co-op.

 Next month she'll start posing for the camera, but this month, she still isn't so sure!

...I don't know why her pants are unbuttoned. She must have gone potty and then I didn't fasten them back up. Oh well. She'd still cute as cute can be!

 I love this one so much. This is my Genevieve. I'm sad so many of you don't really know her and since she hides from the camera,  it is so hard to capture her, but, THIS is my girl!

 Whenever she shows her real smile, she is always in motion.

Beauty just oozing out for all to see!

 What? she's just in her swimsuit, with the bow from my box of shoes on her head, playing with my little dollhouse. This is 2.

 Juni has been wanting to plan all kinds of parties. This day she wanted to plan a little surprise party for Papa when he got home from work. Papa still had SO much work to do, but there was no way he could crush that spirit!! So, we had a little party at her table in the back yard, all prepared by her, before Papa got back to work.

 Her drive to build continues. She drew up a construction plan with markers and then wanted Pops to help her use Mike's scraps of wood from the backyard to build it. She helped where she could and directed Papa where each and every piece went!

 Sister Love.

 Enjoying the pillow Juniper got from Uncle Nels. She always wants to use it and Juni often says she can't, so she was really enjoying her time with the pillow!!

I bought some sidewalk chalk paint on super sale at Target to use with these painting mitts I had actually gotten for Juni 2 years ago and never used because I didn't have a good way to use them. This was perfect!! You can see some of the prints on the ground next by the lounge chair behind them.