The girl has been in love with “Rigadoon” since the first time she heard it. She almost cried when her teacher picked it for her recital piece! Today was the day, and she was terrific!

She’s come a log way!

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Sunshine and color abound!

It’s really unbelievable that this crazy guy is 2!

I can’t believe how quickly time goes by. We went out for a hike today to celebrate the birthday!

This dog loves his girl! Can you see his smile?

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We had a great morning enjoying the promise of spring!!

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We have read 300 books!

1. Kenny and the Little Kickers
2. Smudge’s Grumpy Day
3. The Trash Planet
4. Big Black Bear
5. Curious George and the Rocket
6. Things that Go
7. Barnyard Dance
8. Alexander and the Wind-up Mouse
9. But Not the Hippopotamus
10. Little Buddy
11. Let’s Dance, Little Pookie
12. Many-colored Blessings
13. We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
14. Step Gently Out
15. Big Brown Bear
16. Hot Hippo
17. Thump Quack Moo
18. Cookie’s Week
19. The Trash Planet
20. Dandelion
21. Giggle, Giggle, Quack
22. My Friend is Sad
23. The Gas We Pass
24. Dolphins
25. There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Fly Guy
26. Fifteen Animals
27. Corduroy’s Party
28. Pooh’s Honey Adventure
29. What is that? Said the Cat
30. Find My Friends
31. Library Lion
32. Stars
33. I Love You, Stinky Face
34. Alphabet Rescue
35. Hedgie Loves to Read
36. Fireman Small
37. A is for Angry
38. Giraffes
39. Deer at the Brook
40. Dinosaur Time
41. God’s Quiet Things
42. Corduroy’s Day
43. Corduroy Goes to the Doctor
44. Everyone Poops
45. Mirabelle and the Bouncy Red Ball
46. The Going to Bed Book
47. My Friend, Rabbit
48. Somewhere in the Ocean
49. A Color of His Own
50. Danny and the Dinosaur
51. Finders Keepers
52. When I was Young in the Mountains
53. Fox and Hound: That’s What Friends are For
54. All Aboard! A True Story
55. Diary of a Worm
56. Jamberry
57. Jesse Bear, What Will you Wear?
58. Snow on Snow on Snow
59. The Bravest Dog Ever: The True Story of Balto
60. Red Hat
61. Boot and Shoe
62. Dog in Boots
63. It’s Duffy Time
64. A Weekend with Wendell
65. Lilly’s Big Day
66. A Cache of Jewels
67. Oh!
68. Don’t Eat the Teacher!
69. A Friend for All Seasons
70. Spot Goes to the Beach
71. Owls: Whoo are They?
72. Snowsong Whistling
73. My Little Polar Bear
74. Old Bear
75. Fox on the Ice
76. Red Hat
77. Dog in Boots
78. Boot and Shoe
79. Billy Bunny’s 1,2,3
80. From Head to Toe
81. The Mitten
82. The Carrot Seed
83. Little Hoot
84. The Hat
85. To Market to Market
86. Let’s Go Thomas
87. Magic School Bus: Inside the Human Body
88. Harold and the Purple Crayon
89. Harold’s Fairy Tale
90. Harold’s Trip to the Sky
91. Giggle, Giggle, Quack
92. Oh!
93. Don’t Eat the Teacher!
94. A Friend for All Seasons
95. All in a Day
96. When I was Small
97. I Know a Shy Fellow Who Swallowed a Cello
98. Bats on the Beach
99. Bubba the Cowboy Prince
100. All the World

The girl loves books! She’s starting to read, but I think she likes listening to mommy read too much to really show us what she can do. We love reading to her, so when we heard about the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program at our library, we signed up.

We don’t have a lot if time…we started the week after Thanksgiving, and I guess we need to be done before August. We keep a log of the book titles and turn them in at the library when we reach 100 books.
I thought I would also keep a record here! Here are the first 200!!

1. Who is it?
2. Red Knit Cap Girl
3. Trouble on the Tracks
4. Everybody Poops
5. Who is it?
6. The Giant Seed
7. Good Night World
8. Merry Christmas, Merry Crow
9. I am Invited to a Party
10. Max Cleans Up
11. What Star is This?
12. Wemberly Worried
13. Owl Babies
14. If You Take a Mouse to School
15. Merry Christmas to You, Blue Kangaroo
16. Good Night, World
17. Little Pea
18. Little Hoot
19. Little Oink
20. Big Red Barn
21. If You Take a Mouse to School
22. The Life of a Butterfly
23. Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin
24. Bear’s New Friend
25. Owl Moon
26. Max’s Christmas
27. The Giant Seed
28. Merry Christmas, Merry Crow
29. The Paperboy
30. Chickens aren’t the Only Ones
31. The Velveteen Rabbit
32. Snow Bunny Tales (Max and Ruby)
33. Olivia Builds a Snow Lady
34. Time to Sleep
35. How to Hide a Crocodile
36. Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
37. Owen
38. The Birds of Bethlehem
39. Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse
40. All in a Day
41. Quick as a Cricket
42. The Twelve Days of Christmas
43. Blueberries for Sal
44. Inch by Inch
45. The Snowy Day
46. An Egg is an Egg
47. The Little Mouse, The Red-Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear
48. The Christmas Party
49. There’s a bird on Your Head
50. Otis
51. One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
52. Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
53. My Friend Rabbit
54. Charley Harper’s 1, 2, 3
55. Dogs
56. The Legend of the Poinsettia
57. Sheila Rae the Brave
58. I Aint Gonna Paint No More
59. Sheep in a Shop
60. I Love You So Much
61. Sadie and the Snowman
62. Charlie Needs a Cloak
63. Ox Cart Man
64. Oliver
65. No Fighting! No Biting!
66. The Night Before Christmas
67. Most-of-the-time Maxie
68. The Wonder Book of Counting Rhymes
69. Oscar Otter
70. Timothy Tiger
71. Johnny Lion’s Rubber Boots
72. The Hat
73. Me and My Flying Machine
74. The Night Before Christmas
75. The Night Before the First Christmas
76. The Paperboy
77. When I was Small
78. Bats at the Beach
79. Otis
80. All the World
81. Listen, Listen
82. Bear Stays Up for Christmas
83. Hush!
84. The Quiet Book
85. Edward the Emu
86. I Know a Shy Fellow Who Swallowed a Cello
87. First the Egg
88. Birds
89. Barnyard Dance
90. Quiet Loud
91. May I Bring a Friend?
92. Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus
93. Antarctica
94. Bear Feels Sick
95. Perry Penguin: A Tale of a Brave Family
96. Bath Time for Biscuit
97. Butterflies
98. Press Here
99. An Egg is Quiet
100. The Stray Dog

1. Merry Christmas, Merry Crow
2. The Giant Seed
3. Good Night World
4. Mr. Wuffles
5. A Long Way Away
6. The Boy and the Airplane
7. Apples A to Z
8. Happy Birthday Hamster
9. Heron and Turtle
10. Archie
11. The 3 Little Dassies
12. Scuba Bunnies
13. The Fox in the Dark
14. Mermaid Dance
15. When I Grow Up
16. Hug Time
17. Mirabelle and the Bouncy Red Ball
18. The Going to Bed Book
19. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
20. My Friend Rabbit
21. Tikki Tikki Tembo
22. All You Need for a Snowman
23. Stuck
24. Lola at the Library
25. The Cowboy and the Black-eyed Pea
26. The Runaway Bunny
27. Cookie’s Week
28. The Night Before Kindergarten
29. What Star is this?
30. George and Martha: Back in Town
31. Meet Big Bird’s Orchestra
32. All the World
33. From Head to Toe
34. The Mitten
35. Oscar Otter’s Colors
36. Forest Bright, Forest Night
37. Duck’s Truck
38. I Love My New Toy
39. Madeline Says Merci
40. Big Red Barn
41. Are you My Mother?
42. Billy Bunny’s 1, 2, 3
43. The Snowy Day
44. When Grandma Came
45. Pancakes for Breakfast
46. Where is the Green Sheep?
47. The Farmyard Cat
48. The Birds of Bethlehem
49. Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What do you see?
50. Owl Moon
51. Charlie Needs a Cloak
52. Archie
53. Happy Birthday Hamster
54. Weslandia
55. Wump World
56. The Paperboy
57. God Loves You
58. Curious George: The Perfect Carrot
59. Little Bunny Kung Fu
60. Caillou Puts away His Toys
61. Spiders
62. If You Give a Moose a Muffin
63. Pretend You’re a Cat
64. On the Night You Were Born
65. Mountains of Fire
66. Caps for Sale
67. Dreams
68. Tractor
69. Big Red Barn
70. Forest Bright, Forest Night
71. Bears
72. Sea Creatures
73. Duck’s Truck
74. The Best Friends
75. One, Two, Three
76. The Carrot Seed
77. Caillou Good Night
78. Dogs
79. The Monster at the End of This Book
80. Little Hoot
81. Little Raccoon Catches a Cold
82. Freckleface Strawberry
83. Truck
84. My Truck is Stuck
85. The Day the Sheep Showed Up
86. The Boy and the Airplane
87. The Fox in the Dark
88. Happy Birthday Hamster
89. One Fine Day
90. Mirabelle and the Bouncy Red Ball
91. The Going to Bed Book
92. My Friend Rabbit
93. Clark the Shark
94. I’m Not Ready!
95. White Snow, Bright Snow
96. Goldie Locks Has Chicken Pox
97. Sheep in a Jeep
98. The Stray Dog
99. Click, Clack, Moo Cows that Type
100. Chrysanthemum

We will definitely post later about our favorite books!

Recently, I had the privilege of visiting a student in Nicaragua.

While I was learning about agriculture and soil conservation…

“I think it’s right here”

Guess what the girl’s mom had to do when she returned from her trip…

…yep, search for the marble…

Not fun!

It did make the “science book”

stick mommy, wearing gloves, digging for poop with a pink straw

We never found the marble…

The girl was honored to be the flower girl in the wedding of a good friend yesterday! It was such a beautiful wedding in an amazing grove of bur oaks! She was very excited about her job, and took it as seriously as any 4 year old would!

Well, almost! The rehearsal was a lot of fun. She loved running around in the trees playing “hide and seek”. She also loved throwing dandelion petals to practice!

After the rehearsal the girl and her mom went back to the hotel for a fun sleep-over! She had a chocolate treat (shhh…it was really made of dates and cocoa powder), wore her Lightning McQueen pjs, and watched Cars 2! Kachow!

We slept late the next morning, and took our time getting ready.

The wedding was on a farm/vineyard. It was really hard to not run and play before the wedding! So many trees to hide behind, so much room to run…

The girl enjoyed the typewriters that were used as the guest book. (Best idea ever!!!!)

The ride to the ceremony via tractor and wagon was almost too much! Don’t worry, she didn’t drive!

Somehow we managed to keep the dress clean until the wedding started.

She escaped down the isle as the parents were being seated to bring me a bouquet of sticks and dandelions. It was really cute…I wish I had a photo of it! We got her back in place and she did a terrific job spreading petals down the isle!

After the wedding, we didn’t worry as much about grass stains, as you can see…

Happy Birthday Silly Puppy!!!

We hope you had a good day with your girl!

Is that stick big enough?

I’m not sure…

We’re really glad that you’re our puppy!