"Being a family means you are part of something wonderful. It means you will love and be loved for the rest of your life. No matter what." ~Author Unknown



Sunday, January 29, 2017

November

I love the in between weather of early November.  The wardrobe choices are all so cute, and there’s no bulky outerwear to cover it up.  This girl is made for fall attire.

IMG_0166

IMG_0181

IMG_9544

IMG_9565

IMG_9684IMG_9786

IMG_9850IMG_9852IMG_9855

IMG_9933

IMG_9999

The sun is just coming up these days when I wake Sof up.  She loves to run to my bathroom and see what the sky looks like.  If it’s pretty she yells, “Mama, give me your phone!”. Then she’ll snap a picture.

IMG_0013 

The pictures aren’t great, but I love that she notices and appreciates a good sunrise.

I gave her a new coloring book for her birthday, and she really took to it.  I was so proud of her for finishing this picture.  It’s hard for an adult to stick with something that long, let alone a kid!

IMG_0005

Sof had a pajama day at school, and you would think it was the literal best day of her life.  She had her pajamas sitting out for days before so as not to risk her favorite ones being dirty when the day came!

IMG_0017

Lexi left her high school cheer team to go back to the gym this month.  As I mentioned before, she quickly got asked to fill in on Sof’s team, which put them both on the same schedule.  Heavenly.  However, Lexi is obviously at a higher skill level than Sof.  Therefore, she goes to a training team once a week that Sof doesn’t go to.  When Sof is in cheer without Lexi, Lexi and I always go to Starbucks.  So when Sof realized there was a practice Lexi was going to without her, she begged me to take her on a Starbucks date!  I wasn’t sure she would last the whole 2 hours, but she did pretty good.  She was totally happy as long as her cookie lasted, and after that she only asked a few times “how much longer”:)  

IMG_0179

Sof had her first competition(before Lexi joined).  This is a great team.  Despite the age differences, the girls all get along really nicely.  Plus, I love the parents!

IMG_9863IMG_9864

IMG_9957

Lastly for this month, I have to admit, this is the second year in a row that I decorated for Christmas the week before Thanksgiving.  I love the look of the house when the decorations are up, and when a free day presents itself I can’t resist taking advantage.  Even if it is a little early! 

IMG_9939

Sof wanted to put the manger up.  When she called me over to see it, this is what I found!  Did you know there were Littlest Pet Shop animals at the stable?  LOL, who knew?

IMG_9940

Thursday, January 5, 2017

Second Grade

Sof is having a fantastic year in second grade.  She loves the non-fiction focus in reading and writing, and of course loves all her teachers.  I love that her teacher takes so many pictures and posts them for us see.  I love catching a glimpse of my girl at work.

IMG_3473IMG_3474

IMG_3487IMG_3488IMG_3489

IMG_3499IMG_3500IMG_3501IMG_3502

IMG_3503IMG_3504IMG_3505IMG_3506

I always donate a book to the classroom on the girls’ birthdays.  I wrap it all up, and they don’t know what title it is until they get to school and open it.  This year it was “Ada Twist, Scientist”!  I couldn’t resist this book!  It’s message is that girls can be scientists too, and asking questions is all you need to do to start being a scientist!  To top it off, Ada is a second grader!

IMG_3507IMG_3508

One of the non-fiction studies they did was on owls.  Sof was totally into this.  She worked several days at home printing out pictures of owls and looking up facts.  Then she made it into a book.  Mrs. Giles let her share it with the whole class!

IMG_3509IMG_3510IMG_3511IMG_3512

IMG_3515IMG_3516IMG_3518IMG_3519IMG_3520IMG_3521IMG_3522IMG_3523IMG_3524IMG_3525IMG_3526IMG_3529IMG_3530IMG_3531

The whole class looks forward to Thursdays when we Skype with the Grace Care girls in Sri Lanka.  We’ve run into lots of issues.  We’ve had sessions that wouldn’t connect, miscommunication about time, technology issues on both sides, and one session where we had no sound and had to use a white board to communicate.  Still, the children are so patient and willing to try.  I just love it!

IMG_3479IMG_3480     IMG_3492IMG_3493

IMG_3513IMG_3514

IMG_3527IMG_3528

I would never have these pictures if it weren’t for Sof’s teacher.  I’m so thankful she takes these!