Annie's Card "For My Family"

Her own idea, her own words, ... her own writing. "Mamma, please tell me how to write this, ..."

Leia's & Annie's First Claymation Movie

Here's an example of a time when a show was a springboard for something exciting! The girls were watching Sid the Science Kid, and the kids of the show made a claymation movie about dinosaurs. The girls just HAD to try it! Here is the result!

Leia's First Library Chapter Book of Her Own Choice: Socks

Annie: Always Proud of Her Art from School!!!

Our New Car: the "Bunny Gumption"

We finally made our purchase: a Nissan Versa in Espresso Black, ... 37.4 mpg (at my best), more rear room for the girls than the Jeep, and cost, fully loaded, with trade-in: $15,600. My only issue? The color. Actually, I LOVE the color, but not on a dusty road. And the interior color, ... cracker crumbs are light brown, not charcoal grey! BUT taking this color meant saving 2k. Worth it? Probably. As for Leia and colors, she was thrilled with the pink lights! ; ) And in regards to the name, well, our Jeep was the "Teddy Gumption" ... so seeing the girls' love for Ollie and Annie's eternal love for bunnies, the "Bunny Gumption" sounded just right!

Leia's First Reconciliation

What a special day!!! Leia Rose: forgiven for all of her sins! She truly is the "light of the world" as a result! Leia has been preparing for this all year, and we started really early on learning the "Act of Contrition." [Actually, they had them learn a "new" version, but Leia worked very hard on the time-tested one that both Oma and I had to learn (and still say), so of course, the priest let her say any one she chose, ... so it was "Oh my God, I am heartly sorry, ..." as it always has been.] Leia confided in me that she hoped she'd "get" Father Nick. Can you believe, she DID! Did she understand that it wasn't Father Nick at all? ... but was Jesus acting through him? Maybe. ; ) When we first got there, Leia found her friend Morgan and they took a special picture. Then she put on her special candle pin and began saying decades of the special rosewood Rosary that the girls gave me for Valentines Day and looking at the special packet prepared for the children on this special day. After a short Penance Service, it was time for the children's first confession. They allowed me to walk Leia Rose back to the special little room where Father Nick sat. I said as much of a Rosary as I could while she was in there. (And I'll admit, Leia told me exactly what she would say. So I expect that Jesus heard, "Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. This is my first confession. My sins are, ... I cut Morgan's hair. I disobeyed my mother and father, I showed disrespect to my mother and father, I pushed and hit my sister, and I lied." After Jesus gave Leia absolution through Father Nick, I even caught a shot of Leia right as she exited. We walked happily back to our pew and Leia colored her candle pin and proudly pinned it on the banner. There are a few things Leia said today that are especially notable. Leia was so excited to confess her sins to Jesus, ... she wasn't even nervous. After her first Reconciliation, Leia said, "You know, Mamma, Mrs. Breerwood said that, after Confession, we might feel a little bit different, and I DO! I DO feel different!" But the ultimate proof of joy was Leia Rose skipping down the aisle to leave and saying, "This is the best I've EVER felt in church!"

The Girls First Color By Number: Outside

Experiencing Immaculata Pre-Chocolate Day

How often is a kid told, "Okay, here's a bag for your candy, ... now take ALL YOU WANT!!!" Even I stood there with my mouth open for the 3rd grade's "Chocolate Day" at Immaculata. The second grade was invited, of course, ... and I came with Annie to catch a glimpse of our future. Mrs. Garcia is amazing with this project that turns the 3rd grade classroom into Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, ... complete with a chocolate science area, a good-egg-bad-egg eggdacator, a gum station, and a Wonkavator. Even Alexis' mom, Maureen, was an Oompa Loompa! Willy Wonka himself even met the kids at the gate! I can't WAIT until next year, ... as long as I don't have to coordinate the whole thing. Ha!

Second Grade Reading = A-R Tests

Created to get students to read more through competition, second grade reading at Immaculata means lots of A-R tests. "Accelerated Reader (AR) is a daily progress monitoring software assessment in wide use by primary and secondary schools for monitoring the practice of reading." It took us a term or two in order to understand this program, but basically, the kids read an A-R book at home and then come back in to take a test on it via computer. It's our life daily these days. The problem with the program is, the child gets the same amount of points for a grade level book that's 20 pages as they do for a grade level book that is 200 pages. This has caused some headaches for some children, ... but for us it just means lots of Magic Schoolbus and Nature Upclose books.

Annie's Valentine Tea

Today Annie shared a very special Valentines Day Tea with me at Mountain Sun Montessori where she got to practice the all-important "grace and courtesy" taught at her school. : ) Annie then surprised Mamma with this SPECTACULAR "bunny bowl" (can you see the bunny she carved into the front of the pottery?) that she made HERSELF! ... as well as a very special heart necklace featuring her "pinky print"! What WONDERFUL gifts! (And I should say here, ... I don't know what it is about Montessori schools, but they always seem to plan the most amazing gifts for the children to create for their parents! Thanks Mountain Sun & Artgarden for giving me such memories from my girls!)

Valentines Day Performance: "Sisters"

Remembering the sweet Valentines Day when Leia was two when she sang "The Love Bug Will Get You" to her Daddy, ... we thought it would be really fun to put on a performance for Daddy this Valentines Day! This year we chose "Sisters" (ironically from the movie "White Christmas"). It is a PERFECT song for the girls. We practiced it for weeks, ... and the girls did SO well memorizing the motions and using their little prop (a valentine fan). It was a wonderful show!

Leia's 2nd Grade Valentine Party featuring BINGO!

Happy Valentines Day 2011

The girls are laughing because Mamma FINALLY found the right size (and very fluffy and firm) pillows for the girls Kitty and Bunny pillowcase from Great Grandma Betty! Lots of fun treats here, ... and even some Tinker Bell tennis shoes!

Annie-Only Activities

I am blessed this year to have a glorious 2 1/2 hours each weekday where Annie and I can share lunch and after-lunch together. We've done SO many things during this time: gone on hikes, put together an ABC book, done art projects, ... but today Annie wanted to play "soccer." This involved dropping down on her knees to catch the "soccer" ball each time. Her knees told the tale.

Leia's 2nd Grade Valentine Box: A Work of Sister Art

A testament to how wonderful a big sister Leia Rose is, ... she let Annie decorate the entire back of her Valentine box to take to school! (And in the top picture, you can see Annie's choice of valentines for her school, too: "Happy Bunny" valentines. Um, ... what I didn't know was that "Happy Bunny" always throws insults, ... so we had to cut the insults off all of the cards before sending them to her class. At least she got to make her own origami envelopes!)

Annie's Beloved "Seep"

Just a little bit of backstory, ... a special homemade present from Grandma after Annie was born, this blanket has been Annie's love for as long as she can remember, continually inspiring Annie to suck her thumb and fall asleep quickly. Grandma spent hours crosstitching the entire alphabet, Annie's birthday, birthweight, length, and "Grandma Loves You!" right into this special blanket. The name came because we used to ask newborn Annie, "Would you like to go to sleep?" Well, she DID want to go to sleep, ... and because this special blanket was always in her bed, she thought we were asking her if she wanted to go to her blanket. When Annie learned to talk, she said her beloved blanket's special name as well as she could, and the name stuck: "seep."

Fun Family Time

Pete's Dragon

The girls and I have been having a blast watching Pete's Dragon these days! Here I was trying to capture their faces as they laughed at their favorite "joke" in the movie. Elliot the dragon is trying to convince Pete to let him go into Passamaquoddy, Maine and started making different parts of his body invisible, ... until he took off his arms, legs, and head and, therefore, looked like a great big pear. The girls LOVE that part!!! And I absolutely adore the story and the music, ... so wonderful to share such nostalgia with my sweet girls!

The World According to Annie

On the way home from school, Annie asked if she could take some pictures while she was still holding Ollie. What I found on the camera later was a beautiful rendition of her backseat world.