Weekend Highlights

Some highlights of Dan's graduation weekend:

Saturday was Dartmouth Medical School Class Day. Dan's program is a part of Dartmouth College and also part of the Medical School so he participated in both the medical school and college events.

Forming a corridor for the faculty to walk down on Class Day:


Dan is hooded by the Dartmouth Medical School:

(He then returned the hood so that he could be hooded again during the Graduation ceremony the following day)

Celebrating after Class Day:


Enjoying ice cream and Daddy at the Class Day luncheon:


Sunday was Graduation. We were happy to have better weather...overcast, but not raining.

PhD graduates lined by Wentworth Hall, waiting to proceed onto the Green:


Pre-ceremony:




Dan getting hooded, shown on the jumbo tron:


Recessional with the girls:

Congratulations!

Congratulations!
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Congratulations Dr. Dan!
We are so proud and happy about your graduation.

Lots of pics on Flickr if you want to see more!

Congratulations, Sadie!

Sadie finished Pre-K today. She had a wonderful year in Miss Wanda's class where she learned so much. Sadie can now read, add, subtract, name and identify all the continents, name and identify all the planets (including dwarf planet Pluto!) and lots more. She has thrived in the structure and self-direction of Montessori. We are so happy she will be part of Miss SallyAnn's wonderful kindergarten next fall.

The children ended the year with a wonderful performance of songs. Sadie's class were butterflies!

Father's Day Coffee

I love Dad
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Sadie's school does a Father's Day Coffee several weeks before Father's Day so they can celebrate before the end of the year. Sadie and Dan had a great time together.

The picture says, "I love my daddy because he helped us find our Easter baskets and he drove us to Nana's house." We think Sadie made both this painting and the Mother's Day painting back before Mother's Day, which was why Easter was on her mind.
Yes, she is wearing the same dress she wore to the Mother's Day Tea. She wanted to wear the same thing so it would be "fair".

Exhausting

Tired
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Last weekend, Helena fell asleep on the couch while she and Sadie were watching a story video together. I understand why she is tired! It has been a busy few weeks as we've been celebrating Dan's defense and upcoming graduation.

Mermaid Princess

Mermaid Princess
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Sadie asked the face-painter to make her into a "Mermaid Princess" today at Grace's birthday party. The woman did an amazing job. Sadie was delighted with the results and agreed to wash her face tonight only after I took pictures to record how great she looked.

Dan, Ph.D.

Congratulations! We are so proud of our wonderful husband/father, who successfully defended today and is now Dr. Dan.

Loving the Sunshine

The girls have been having a great time with all the nice weather lately. They both love to be outside so it's terrific to have a stretch of sunny days. On Sunday, Sadie played outside for hours with the baby pool and all sorts of cups, buckets, etc.

In the afternoon, we decided to head over to the small playground at the CCBA. Sadie brought her scooter.


Her sister wanted to try the helmet too:


Nellie was determined to go up the slide:






Sadie climbed:

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Happy 60th Birthday, Grandma!
We love you so much!


You are such a great grandma and mom.
Lots of love on your special day!
Love,
Ann, Dan, Sadie and Nellie

Garden Girl

Sadie planted her own little garden in a small bed behind the house. She is really proud of the flowers and herbs she chose.


She also planted a very pretty pot of pansies for the deck.


She happily waters all the plants for us!

Mother's Day Tea

This past Thursday, Sadie's school hosted the mothers for a wonderful Mother's Day Tea.


The children sang to us and then we returned to the classrooms for pastries and presents.




("I love my mom because she is so nice to me." Left to right, Sadie holding Helena, Mommy, Grandma)

Thanks for making me feel so special, Sadie! I love you!

22 Months Old

22 Months
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Happy 22 month birthday, sweet Nellie! Just two more months until you are two years old. You are full of excitement and cuteness and bring us all so much happiness! You love to run and climb and talk and try to do everything your sister does.

We love you so much.

Quotable Helena

Just a few of the many things that Helena has said so far today:

"Sadie, a-peek-up, happy!" (upon picking Sadie up at school)

"Crackahs, milk, Mommy deed-it!" (when I gave her a snack)

"Daddy lab. Blue car." (observing Dan's car is not in the driveway)

"Candy peese! Uh huh! Mmmmm! (trying to get a Hershey kiss from the counter)

Trike-A-Thon

Biking
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Sadie's school will be holding a Trike-A-Thon for St. Judes Children's Hospital on May 17th.

Her fund-raising goal to help "sick kids feel better" is $100, through $10 gifts, and she's already at $30!

To donate, visit her page!

Thank you!

Funny Face

Silly Helena
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Helena in some funny glasses!

The best part of these is that she puts them on and then says, "I'm toot!", which means, "I'm cute".

Dance Baby Dance!

Dance Baby Dance!
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

This is one of Nellie's favorite games these days.

It was in the 80s today, following snow all day Wednesday. New England is strange. Sadie was so excited to be able to wear a summer dress and we were excited to be able to put Nell into something short and sleeveless so we could see her cute pudgy legs and arms!

Dan Zanes and Local Friends

This past weekend, we went to see Dan Zanes and Local Friends perform their annual benefit for The Friendly Kitchen in Concord. Laura, Isaac and Naomi traveled down with us and we met up with Beth and her boys there. This is such a fun concert and it's a treat to get to see Dan Zanes playing at Dan's high school for a good cause.

Gardening In Action

Gardening
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

They are pretty funny in action, our girls!
Here's more "gardening" from the other day.

Sister Art Time

time together
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Nellie yearns to use all of Sadie's art supplies. Sadie was nice enough to share some with her so they could draw together. They are really playing nicely together lately, especially now that Nellie is talking a lot and communicating better with Sadie.

Our favorite recent Helena quote:
"I'm messin'!" (meaning, I'm making a mess!)

Ready to Help

helpers
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Sadie and Helena are ready and eager to help in the garden this year, thanks to some kid-sized rakes and shovels Sadie begged me to buy at the supermarket.

They had fun digging after school on Thursday when it was warm and lovely. We woke up today to snow on the ground! Crazy New England spring...

Happy birthday, Nana!

Happy 60th birthday, Nana!
We love you very much and we had fun celebrating with you on Easter!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Happy
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Happy birthday to the best Daddy around!
We love you so much and we always have fun with you. We hope you have a great day and a wonderful year.
We're so lucky to have you.
Love and kisses,
Sadie and Helena

70 degrees?!!

sweet
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

It hit 70 degrees yesterday which is super warm for us this time of year. In fact, all week has been sunny and mild. Unfortunately, next week is forecast to be a little cooler and more overcast/rainy, but it still seems like the worst of winter is behind us.

We had to take advantage and get outside as much as possible, so we had a picnic lunch, played at the playground and then played in the yard later in the day.



(Nellie definitely inherited the curly hair!)

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Our little leprechauns send you their love on St. Patrick's Day!

Enjoying The Rain

Sadie has always loved rainy days and especially stomping in puddles with her rainboots. She got a new pair of rainboots last week and was very pleased when it rained this weekend so she could wear them. Helena also got a "new" pair of rainboots, ladybug boots that were Sadie's when she was small.

Sadie quickly taught Helena how to stomp and they had a great time in Hanover looking for places where they could splash.

(Thanks Nana for passing along this cute pic from your visit!)

Girls

Sadie drew these girls this morning. I love this picture! Sadie says that the last girl in the row is a baby, which is why she doesn't have any legs (?). I am mostly posting this picture for Grandpa and Grandma, as I think it will remind me them of a girl they know who used to love drawing girls, in rows just like this!

More! More!

Swing!
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Nellie has been talking up a storm lately. She is getting new words everyday, starting to combine words and her pronunciation is getting clearer. Her adorable "mees", which meant "please", just changed to "peas". Happily, "thank you" still remains "tinkoo".

Other cute ones:
bahsi = paci, pacifier
raysenay: raisins
muttin: muffin
Melmo: Elmo
yoyo: yogurt

A hint of spring!

A hint of spring!
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

We had two beautiful days of sunshine and 40+ temperatures this weekend and the girls were so excited to get outside.

Sadie was delighted to get back on her bike and Nellie loved Sadie's old trike. We biked around the parking lot across the street for a while and played in the backyard too. It's a little muddy back there, but the swingset is still great to play on.