My big girl turns 6

Claudia is now 6 years old!  How time flies.  For her birthday, we took her out to Chuck E. Cheese's, which was fun for all of us.  About a week before her birthday she lost her first tooth.  She lost it at school, so it was extra cool to be able to brag to her friends.  She had been working on that one for a long time, well before we moved.  She is so happy at her new house and school.  All the ticks she had in Seattle have gone away.  She was sucking on the sleeves of her cardigans/sweatshirts and making some repetitive noises like throat clearing.  The poor girl had a stressful time seeing the fires at Alta Lake in July (she's still very paranoid about our house burning down), starting Kindergarten in September, her Dad moving away in November, and then moving in with her Aunt & Uncle in January before her move to Connecticut, which she didn't totally understand.  That's a lot of changes in a short period of time for a little girl.  Now that we're all together in one place with some stability, she is so much happier.  Her new school is in one of the best school districts in Connecticut, and I hear it gets very competitive as they get older, but they make a point to keep Kindergarten age-appropriate and let them play and socialize a lot.  After the rigorous curriculum in Seattle, it's a sigh of relief to not have to push the reading and writing so much.  Although she does love to read, and she even got her first library card recently.

Teagan just amazes me with her interest in learning.  I'm not even trying, but she is counting, asking me to tell her the letters in words, and "reading" books to herself.  She almost has her colors down, everything but green & orange, which she mixes up.  We have a suspicion that she might be a lefty.  Only time will tell, but she definitely kicks a ball left and wants to swing a bat or golf club left.  She loves to sing and dance, so I've been taking her to this weekly music class at the library.  Her favorite is to skip/gallop around and also turn in circles with her arms out.  She's more physically adventurous than Claudia was at this age, so she can climb ladders, go on the big swings, and go down the tall slide at the playground.  The girls are sharing a bedroom and it's working out pretty well.  Initially we tried to get them to go to bed at the same time (failure!) but now we just put Claudia down first and Teagan later, and it works out fine.

As for Glen & I, we're still settling into our new house and seem to have an endless list of "needs" for the house.  We made a couple big purchases, like some beds, a lawn mower, and a BBQ, but every day there is another $20 item, which adds up quickly.  We weren't able to move anything perishable or liquid, so lots of small toiletries and kitchen pantry items had to be replaced.  And just the addition of extra rooms and a yard makes our wish list grow.  We decided to forgo furnishing the living room and dining room, so for now, those rooms will be empty.  Although, we did complete our wish of having an electrician put overhead lighting fixtures in all our bedrooms and closets.  It's finally spring here, so Glen golfed his first round at a local course, and I have been able to explore many kid-friendly destinations with the girls.  We're also getting to socialize a bit with our new neighbors, as are the kids!  We live on the most perfect street because every other house seems to have kids in the age 2-8 range and everyone is so welcoming to us.  Claudia has fit in with the other kids at school quickly and has already been to two fun birthday parties, one at a trampoline center and one ice skating.

Last snow of 2015 (on the first official day of spring):

Trampoline fun.  Teagan just followed Claudia around and couldn't quit get the hang of jumping.  They were both exhausted after 20 minutes.

Last box we unpacked?

First time ice skating.  She did eventually go around without the walker, but holding my hand.

There is is!  The first lost tooth.

Some Easter fun.

Helping mommy do the dishes.

Lowe's Build & Grow. 

As we were spending all our money, the girls got to hammer together a little planter box.

Officer Claudia enforcing all her rules with a whistle.

Chuck E. Cheese's.  The mouse was Teagan's favorite part.  Claudia tolerated him long enough so she could grab some prize tickets.  They both enjoyed dancing along though.