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Give Away @ Like a warm cup of coffee
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Thursday, October 1, 2009
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Elle turns 3!
Hard to believe that three years ago Saturday, we held the member that completed our family, for the first time. What a joy and delight she has been to the other 4 of us! This was her first birthday party ever and she absolutely LOVED it. Here are some pictures of the fun she had...
When we were getting ready for the party, I found her in the dining room laying down on the table. I was afraid she was going to be tired and grumpy for the party, but she snapped out of it and was in a great mood.
Here are a bunch of pictures of the sweet birthday girl:
Monday, September 21, 2009
Ballet Folklorico
Lately,during the evenings when we walk out into our frontyard, DJ has been noticing the Ballet Folklorico dancers in the plaza practicing. It finally dawned on me that I should maybe check and see if she was old enough to participate. So I made contact and found out she was plenty old enough. We began going to practice last week and Elle also couldn't sit still during practice either. She would stand up and do the dances too and was doing them pretty well. So the instructor said both of them should dance.
So there was a big festival in Ajo today for the International Day of Peace, which is the event they've been practicing for. When Norma, the coordinator, told me she wanted the girls to walk in the parade and dance already, I thought she was crazy. But I went ahead and let them do it. To my surprise, they were awesome! I couldn't believe how well they did. It was so much fun and I can't wait until their next performance- at the State fair in November.
Here are some pictures of their first performance.
Walking in the parade with a good friend (who I used to babysit before I had my own girls about 7 years ago!):
Waiting for the performance time, playing with friends:
Getting tired of waiting... hot and tired:
Our house is right by the plaza (the town square), which is why DJ saw and heard the dancers practicing in the evenings. Ours' is the third house in, cream colored, behind the palm tree:
Let the dancing begin:
DJ preparing for the next dance:
I couldn't have been any more proud. The girls danced after only a short time of practice in front of probably 300 people! It was also a lot of fun watching my parents' and Caleb's reactions to the girls. Afterwards, we all went over to The Ranch House for dinner with my parents. It was a fun day.
So there was a big festival in Ajo today for the International Day of Peace, which is the event they've been practicing for. When Norma, the coordinator, told me she wanted the girls to walk in the parade and dance already, I thought she was crazy. But I went ahead and let them do it. To my surprise, they were awesome! I couldn't believe how well they did. It was so much fun and I can't wait until their next performance- at the State fair in November.
Here are some pictures of their first performance.
Walking in the parade with a good friend (who I used to babysit before I had my own girls about 7 years ago!):
Waiting for the performance time, playing with friends:
Getting tired of waiting... hot and tired:
Our house is right by the plaza (the town square), which is why DJ saw and heard the dancers practicing in the evenings. Ours' is the third house in, cream colored, behind the palm tree:
Let the dancing begin:
DJ preparing for the next dance:
I couldn't have been any more proud. The girls danced after only a short time of practice in front of probably 300 people! It was also a lot of fun watching my parents' and Caleb's reactions to the girls. Afterwards, we all went over to The Ranch House for dinner with my parents. It was a fun day.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Big Update on Us
We had a very nice summer filled with swim lessons, swim team and even a trip to Michigan. Bry swam on the swim team and learned a lot about self discipline and improving his strokes. DJ learned to swim this summer and Elle only wants to be in the water if she has a firm grip on a trusted parent. We enjoyed the water so much in these 110+ degree temps!
It's still very much summer as far as weather goes, but our school year is in full swing. We began on August 10 and the kids are learning all kinds of new and exciting things. It is so amazingly fun to watch them learn new things and enjoy learning. Our curriculum's slogan is "The Way You Wish You Were Taught- Guaranteed". That's a lofty claim, but I would agree with them.
Bryant continues to thrive in Science, Math and reading. He also does well in grammar and writing but doesn't enjoy them as much. He has been studying the noteworthy life of William Wilberborce and got to watch the movie "Amazing Grace" as a compliment to his studies. He says he wants to be a scientist when he grows up and I can understand why. He even reads his science books in his spare time. For part of his History, we are reading "Moccasin Trail" together and he is reading "Freedom Train" by himself. He has already finished "Sing Down the Moon" and "Thomas Alva Edison". Sonlight curriculum is excellent at putting great character building books into the hands of young children. I love that. I also am excited that Bry enjoys reading so much. He is so much fun and has such a great sense of humor. Hard to believe he's already 9 1/2!
DJ began Kindergarten this year. She has learned about the how the earth revolves around the sun as well as the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. She is learning about seasons, days of the week and months of the year. In Math, she is adding and beginning to learn about telling time. We are reading "The Boxcar Children" together and she reads small readers with sentences like, "Pat bats" and "The cat sat" by herself. She is learning blending sounds such as "Sh", "Sp", "Dr", etc. She is a quick learner and loves anything that is creative and colorful (much like herself).
Elle does a lot of listening. I have a feeling she'll be shortly behind DJ because she mimics us a lot. She is by far the most unpredictable of our 3. She is shy and she is bold. She is serious and she is silly. She is tender and she can be mean. She keeps me guessing continually. She is quite a little girl with a big personality. She is doing well with potty training and is rewarded with stickers each time she goes on the toilet. When she fills up her sheet, she gets to pick out of the prize box. She loves this and it keeps her returning to the potty and keeps Mommy happy.
As for us, Cal is working a lot and even in the high temps, he really loves his job. Jaime still works for her mom one night a week and hopes to have a busy photography season in the Fall. Overall, sometimes we're too busy to see straight but we are blessed beyond measure and we are thankful.
Jaime and the kids recently spend several days at the Grand Canyon, visiting good friends and enjoying the cooler weather. On our way home, we went fishing with the grandparents which was a lot of fun and included many laughs. Here are some pictures from our trip:
We rode the shuttle out to the West Rim with some good friends:
Fishing at Kiabab Lake with Momo and Papa:
It's still very much summer as far as weather goes, but our school year is in full swing. We began on August 10 and the kids are learning all kinds of new and exciting things. It is so amazingly fun to watch them learn new things and enjoy learning. Our curriculum's slogan is "The Way You Wish You Were Taught- Guaranteed". That's a lofty claim, but I would agree with them.
Bryant continues to thrive in Science, Math and reading. He also does well in grammar and writing but doesn't enjoy them as much. He has been studying the noteworthy life of William Wilberborce and got to watch the movie "Amazing Grace" as a compliment to his studies. He says he wants to be a scientist when he grows up and I can understand why. He even reads his science books in his spare time. For part of his History, we are reading "Moccasin Trail" together and he is reading "Freedom Train" by himself. He has already finished "Sing Down the Moon" and "Thomas Alva Edison". Sonlight curriculum is excellent at putting great character building books into the hands of young children. I love that. I also am excited that Bry enjoys reading so much. He is so much fun and has such a great sense of humor. Hard to believe he's already 9 1/2!
DJ began Kindergarten this year. She has learned about the how the earth revolves around the sun as well as the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. She is learning about seasons, days of the week and months of the year. In Math, she is adding and beginning to learn about telling time. We are reading "The Boxcar Children" together and she reads small readers with sentences like, "Pat bats" and "The cat sat" by herself. She is learning blending sounds such as "Sh", "Sp", "Dr", etc. She is a quick learner and loves anything that is creative and colorful (much like herself).
Elle does a lot of listening. I have a feeling she'll be shortly behind DJ because she mimics us a lot. She is by far the most unpredictable of our 3. She is shy and she is bold. She is serious and she is silly. She is tender and she can be mean. She keeps me guessing continually. She is quite a little girl with a big personality. She is doing well with potty training and is rewarded with stickers each time she goes on the toilet. When she fills up her sheet, she gets to pick out of the prize box. She loves this and it keeps her returning to the potty and keeps Mommy happy.
As for us, Cal is working a lot and even in the high temps, he really loves his job. Jaime still works for her mom one night a week and hopes to have a busy photography season in the Fall. Overall, sometimes we're too busy to see straight but we are blessed beyond measure and we are thankful.
Jaime and the kids recently spend several days at the Grand Canyon, visiting good friends and enjoying the cooler weather. On our way home, we went fishing with the grandparents which was a lot of fun and included many laughs. Here are some pictures from our trip:
We rode the shuttle out to the West Rim with some good friends:
Fishing at Kiabab Lake with Momo and Papa:
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