Christmas Hokey Pokey

Corinne's Christmas Program

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family we can't be with today!  I have been so busy with school that I haven't been able to upload photos to the blog, but I'm hoping to catch up soon.  We are all doing well and very thankful for a great year.  We went to visit family in Oregon and Colorado in July and visited with Grandpa Hopkins at the beach in October.  My girls are blessed to have such wonderful family in their lives.  

End of Summer Pics

Corinne's 1st Day

Girls are all in school as of today!  Corinne has moved up to Alaina's old class "Chipmunks". There will be more learning this year, letters, writing, etc.  She will have the same teachers Alaina had last year, Ms. Bri and Ms. Amanda.  I think this is going to be a great year for Corinne.  She loves making friends at school and she is super excited to check out the dress up selection in the Chipmunk room!

1st Day of Kindergarten

   Alaina made it to her first day of kindergarten!  She has been so excited to ride the bus and I'm so glad we made the choice to let her.  A little girl from our bus stop who is also a kindergartener sat with Alaina so I felt good that she had a friend with her to ride to school.  I had wanted her to sit in the very front but once she got on the bus she wanted to sit in the back.  Olivia had to stop her and put her in this seat about three rows back.  They can't sit together because kindergarteners are supposed to sit in the front and older kids in the back.  I'm ok with that though because then Alaina gets to sit with kids her own age and she can make friends. 

   After the bus left Corinne and I drove to the school so we could see Alaina's new classroom.  Her teacher is brand new to the school this year, but the teacher assistant has been at the school since it opened and everyone loves her.  I really hope Alaina has a good year and that this class is a good fit for her.  She is going to a separate kindergarten for kids with learning disabilities or delays.  I think she is better there for the start of the year because Alaina doesn't have a lot of functional speech yet, although she's made a lot of improvements over the past year with her fabulous speech therapist.  She may spend time in the regular kindergarten at some point during the year if everyone thinks that would benefit her.

    I'm sure going to be anxious waiting for Alaina to come off the bus this afternoon!  I hope she has a great day!

    

1st Day of 3rd Grade

Corinne

Because she wants everyone to see her pretty braids...

Ridin' in Style

Last Day of Preschool

Today is the last day of preschool for Alaina and Corinne.  Corinne will be back next year, but this is the official end for Alaina because she is off to kindergarten at the end of July.  They have grown so much over the past year!

Girl Scouts-Outdoor Skills

   I spent the weekend at Outdoor Skills training camp with my Girl Scout co-leader so that we can begin taking our Brownies on camping trips.  It was so much fun!!!  

I started my own fire...

And sat around the campfire roasting smores...I'm on the far right...

    We learned all kinds of awesome stuff like how to cook with a Dutch oven over a fire and even how to make a box oven which is a thick cardboard box wrapped in duct tape.  You put a tray of coals in the bottom and it will maintain heat just like a regular oven.

   Next weekend is our family camping trip with all our Brownies and their families to end our first year together.

It will be our first time camping with my girls so it should be busy, but a great time for all.

I'll come back with pictures!

Mmm...Watermelon

First watermelon of the year...

Alaina's 5th Birthday

First Day of Spring Break

...And Alaina took it upon herself to freshen up her manicure...it's gorgeous Alaina...just please tell Mommy next time BEFORE you start painting... 

Happy St. Patty's!

Y Pool

Girl Scout Sewing Badge

       Olivia and her fellow Brownies completed their sewing badge this morning.  My wonderful co-leader Martha had relatives who are amazing seamstresses come in and help the girls.  I think I might even be able to operate a sewing machine after today's lesson!

I'm a Firetruck

Thank you March!

High of 72 today and we are going to enjoy it...

Homework

Teddy Bear Tea

Our church hosted a Teddy Bear Tea this morning.  The girls dressed up and attended with Corinne's buddy Carly.  Everyone was supposed to bring their favorite doll or stuffed animal.  Olivia didn't get to go because she had Saturday school to make up for one of the snow days.  Lots of fun though for the little girls!

Snow Days

The kids were out of school practically all week due to snow.  They only went on Monday.  Olivia was supposed to have a make up day today, but they cancelled that too!  Because we don't have make up days at my school we are required to do make up assignments instead.  My super nice public speaking teacher assigned two papers that are due next week.  I would've much rather sat through an hour long lecture.  Oh well. 

We played in the snow the first day and the girls were pretty much done with it after that...We did have fun though!  We did finish the snowman with the carrot nose, hat, etc.  Can't find the pictures now though so you'll just have to imagine...