February already! How did that happen?
Even if no one else noticed our quiet start to 2014, I know all the grandparents would like see some new pictures up here. I can't exactly count these as "new," but here are a bunch of photos that I have meant to be more timely in posting...
This is Rebekah at the end of her Pee Wee Bible Quiz season. I remember when Alyssa was in Pee Wee and I would chase little toddler Rebekah around at the quiz meets trying to keep her quiet in the hallways while the quizzing was going on. It doesn't even seem possible that Rebekah has now completed three years of her own quizzing! I am so thankful for their teachers and all the time the girls have spent learning the Bible in their years of Bible Quiz, it's a wonderful program!
Super Hero dress up day at gymnastics. Can you guess who her favorite super hero is?
Winter weather in all of it's cold glory has pretty much been the story of our lives here since mid-December. We have not had a shortage of the white stuff this year.
At the annual Trim the Tree party at the Rep.
Family picture night at A Christmas Carol. All the great pictures Dave took this evening really deserve a post of their own. I hope to get to it soon. Alyssa is so completely in her element when she's performing at the Rep, she absolutely loves it.
A few pictures of our house under construction, these were all taken back in early December...
The area that used to be a small kitchenette and bathroom.
The framing for Alyssa's new room.
Future bathroom and the pipes in the floor underneath it.
Now that the upstairs is pretty well put together again, I hardly remember the days when this is what it looked like :-)
Dave working hard. He had just finished putting in a bunch of insulation, that's why he has the mask on. If you've never worked with fiberglass insulation before, it's pretty nasty stuff that you would not want to breathe in.
This is probably one of the last photos taken with that door in place. We closed up the exit since we rarely used it anyway.
About a week after the photos above were taken, and after a lot of hard work hanging drywall by my Uncle Ray and Uncle Ted this is what the same area looked like:
The top left is a sitting room area and there will be a desk that runs along the length of the back wall. The top right and bottom left are views of Alyssa's room, the middle is right at the top of the steps. The bottom right is the area I just mentioned above where there used to be a door. Uncle Ted and Uncle Ray also did an awesome job of painting this whole space seen above. I can't wait to share those photos next!
Christmas craft day, or basteltag, in Rebekah's classroom. She was so proud of this little skier she made. She gave it to Dave for Christmas telling him that it was him on some blue glitter skis.
Emma's classroom Christmas party was the same day and was less about crafts and more about filling the kids with a crazy amount of sweets and singing silly songs in front of the class.
The Kingdom Kid's Choir Christmas Musical, We Three Spies...
Rebekah loved all the songs and dance moves for this musical! She had a little cameo two-line speaking part as "Kid #1." So proud of this once very quiet little munchkin.
Emma played the role of Ms. King. Ms. King was a fun, sassy and excessively fancy character, that honestly was a bit of a stretch for Emma to pull off. To quote Ms. King, "I feel a song coming on..."
I was very happy and excited for her. Emma has tried out for a drama role in Kingdom Kid's Choir for every musical from 1st grade to 5th, and she has often ended up with a singing solo, but she had never been cast in drama before this play. In the end, she put her own little Emma twist on the character and I thought she did it perfectly.
Getting to ride across the stage on a bike that she is much too big for may very well have been her favorite part.
Post show, celebratory photos with friends.
For the first time ever, we didn't put up a Christmas tree this year. There just wasn't any space for one with all the remodeling. I think I took photos of the girls in front of any public Christmas tree we could find to make up for the lack of one in our home.
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas season and a sweet start to 2014! I hope to be back with a January photo re-cap later this week!
In the meantime, please allow Emma to recommend a fun site. Start with episode 1, if you like. Emma showed me this website last night {as things usually go, we may be the very last people to know about it, and it may not be anything new to you}. She had fun following the directions and seeing what would happen next and she thought her cousins might like it too :-)
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Monday, February 10, 2014
Monday, July 1, 2013
Home Stretch of the School Year (Photos 144-151)
Photo 144 of 365, taken May 6th:
This photo is from Monday of Teacher Appreciation Week at school. Typically each day is themed, so on Monday the kids each bring in one flower to be assembled into a bouquet, or a piece of fruit for a fruit basket, and each day throughout the week the teachers are honored in a different way. It's a lot of fun to see the teachers getting their treats. We are very thankful for them and their hard work with all their students!
Hermle Visit:
Near the end of the school year we had a local German company at both of our schools for a tour and presentation. Hermle Machines is based in Germany, but they have their North American headquarters nearby, and we were very happy they were excited to come see the things going on in our schools. They make very technical and precise pieces of machinery and tools. The visit was not only a chance for the company to see the cool education our kids are receiving, but also an opportunity for the kids to see the very practical application of how they can use their German language skills in a future career.
Photo 145 of 365, taken May 21st:
Dave and I got to take the tour with the company representatives. In this photo, one of the German guys was very happy to see kids conversing in the classroom in his native language. He also commented how the school seemed very much like the schools he grew up going to in Germany, which would be expected and is certainly a goal of the curriculum, it's just nice to hear a native German say that.
After the school tour, Hermle gave our 5th graders a presentation about the kind of work they do. Had she been there, this cute piggy would have been Emma's favorite part of their presentation.
And her least favorite part of the presentation...when the pig is pictured as canned meat.
Photo 146 of 365, taken May 21st:
This is Alyssa's year end band concert. She sits way in the back, so you can't see her here, but she was super excited about this concert because they played a couple of popular songs like "Gangnam Style" and "Forget You". She had a small horn solo in Dynamite.
Kinderfest:
Photo 147 of 365, taken May 24th:
The huge parade around the schoolyard. The kids look forward to Kinderfest all Spring!!
I had watched Rebekah march all the way around the playground, trying to get her attention, but she never saw me until the kids were asked to sit down before being dismissed to play games. Here she is when she finally spotted me in the crowd.
Photo 148 of 365, taken May 24th:
All of the Mount Mary Art Projects were "on parade" at Kinderfest, they looked great! This is the art sculpture Emma worked on with a few friends. They named it King Bob.
Photo 149 of 365, taken May 24th:
Rebekah with King Noah. They did not have to create a royal character of any sort, it just happens that both girls were in a group that decided that their sculpture was a king. I should have taken better pics of all the characters. There were some very cool ones including Mickey Mouse and Darth Vader.
Rebekah playing a bean bag game. This was the first Kinderfest I can remember where coats were necessary. It was a beautiful, sunny day, just a little windy and chilly.
Photo 150 of 365, taken May 24th:
This is some of the girls artwork before the hallways were cleared for Summer. Rebekah's is on the top, Die Wiese means "The Meadow." I was in the class helping with this project and her teacher and I walked around the room writing the words in block letters for the kids and they had to draw things they would see in a meadow to fill up the page. Emma's artwork is a watercolor exercise they did inspired by Monet's artwork.
Photo 151 of 365, taken May 25th:
We started the Memorial Day weekend at church with a Boys and Girls Missionary Challenge Fun Day. The kids could choose to jump rope, hula hoop, dribble a basketball etc. They collected pledges for the number of minutes they participated in these activities and the money went to BGMC and Convoy of Hope. Emma was at gymnastics practice, but Alyssa and Rebekah had a great time.
Slowly but surely, I'll make it to summer!
This photo is from Monday of Teacher Appreciation Week at school. Typically each day is themed, so on Monday the kids each bring in one flower to be assembled into a bouquet, or a piece of fruit for a fruit basket, and each day throughout the week the teachers are honored in a different way. It's a lot of fun to see the teachers getting their treats. We are very thankful for them and their hard work with all their students!
Hermle Visit:
Near the end of the school year we had a local German company at both of our schools for a tour and presentation. Hermle Machines is based in Germany, but they have their North American headquarters nearby, and we were very happy they were excited to come see the things going on in our schools. They make very technical and precise pieces of machinery and tools. The visit was not only a chance for the company to see the cool education our kids are receiving, but also an opportunity for the kids to see the very practical application of how they can use their German language skills in a future career.
Photo 145 of 365, taken May 21st:
Dave and I got to take the tour with the company representatives. In this photo, one of the German guys was very happy to see kids conversing in the classroom in his native language. He also commented how the school seemed very much like the schools he grew up going to in Germany, which would be expected and is certainly a goal of the curriculum, it's just nice to hear a native German say that.
After the school tour, Hermle gave our 5th graders a presentation about the kind of work they do. Had she been there, this cute piggy would have been Emma's favorite part of their presentation.
And her least favorite part of the presentation...when the pig is pictured as canned meat.
Photo 146 of 365, taken May 21st:
This is Alyssa's year end band concert. She sits way in the back, so you can't see her here, but she was super excited about this concert because they played a couple of popular songs like "Gangnam Style" and "Forget You". She had a small horn solo in Dynamite.
Kinderfest:
Photo 147 of 365, taken May 24th:
The huge parade around the schoolyard. The kids look forward to Kinderfest all Spring!!
I had watched Rebekah march all the way around the playground, trying to get her attention, but she never saw me until the kids were asked to sit down before being dismissed to play games. Here she is when she finally spotted me in the crowd.
Photo 148 of 365, taken May 24th:
All of the Mount Mary Art Projects were "on parade" at Kinderfest, they looked great! This is the art sculpture Emma worked on with a few friends. They named it King Bob.
Photo 149 of 365, taken May 24th:
Rebekah with King Noah. They did not have to create a royal character of any sort, it just happens that both girls were in a group that decided that their sculpture was a king. I should have taken better pics of all the characters. There were some very cool ones including Mickey Mouse and Darth Vader.
Rebekah playing a bean bag game. This was the first Kinderfest I can remember where coats were necessary. It was a beautiful, sunny day, just a little windy and chilly.
Photo 150 of 365, taken May 24th:
This is some of the girls artwork before the hallways were cleared for Summer. Rebekah's is on the top, Die Wiese means "The Meadow." I was in the class helping with this project and her teacher and I walked around the room writing the words in block letters for the kids and they had to draw things they would see in a meadow to fill up the page. Emma's artwork is a watercolor exercise they did inspired by Monet's artwork.
Photo 151 of 365, taken May 25th:
We started the Memorial Day weekend at church with a Boys and Girls Missionary Challenge Fun Day. The kids could choose to jump rope, hula hoop, dribble a basketball etc. They collected pledges for the number of minutes they participated in these activities and the money went to BGMC and Convoy of Hope. Emma was at gymnastics practice, but Alyssa and Rebekah had a great time.
Slowly but surely, I'll make it to summer!
Thursday, April 18, 2013
It Pays to be Good
Photo 104 of 365, taken April 18th:
Alyssa's school has a code of conduct award every so often. Their code of conduct is essentially a set of school rules and when teachers "catch" students being good or doing something that directly follows the code of conduct the teachers can then write out a slip explaining what that student did well. Every once in a while, the school office draws a random slip from these code of conduct cards and that child earns a prize. One time she won a school shirt in this same way. This time, she won a free pizza meal at Rocky Rococo's. While I am very thankful that Alyssa behaves well for the sake of that being the right thing to do, it is always nice to be rewarded for doing well. I could tell she was excited about it. She loves structure and the sensibility that comes with rules, now if only some pizza and soda was enough incentive to get her to clean her room...
Rebekah enjoyed her dinner at Rocky Rococo's too.
Alyssa's school has a code of conduct award every so often. Their code of conduct is essentially a set of school rules and when teachers "catch" students being good or doing something that directly follows the code of conduct the teachers can then write out a slip explaining what that student did well. Every once in a while, the school office draws a random slip from these code of conduct cards and that child earns a prize. One time she won a school shirt in this same way. This time, she won a free pizza meal at Rocky Rococo's. While I am very thankful that Alyssa behaves well for the sake of that being the right thing to do, it is always nice to be rewarded for doing well. I could tell she was excited about it. She loves structure and the sensibility that comes with rules, now if only some pizza and soda was enough incentive to get her to clean her room...
Rebekah enjoyed her dinner at Rocky Rococo's too.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Festival of Nations
One night last week, Alyssa's school held their annual Festival of Nations. I forgot to bring a camera, and did not even have my cell phone on me, so I missed getting a picture of her spring time haiku in Japan, and I completely missed even seeing the homemade board game she made as we walked through South America {it was just one of those nights}. We did manage to stop and get face painting done.
Photo 69 of 365, taken March 7th:
The girls loved the way their face paint looked, but if you ask Rebekah, she'll tell you it was awfully sticky. She was equal parts sad and excited to wash it off, and I was scrubbing flecks of that blue paint out of the bath tub for two days afterwards. I'm not sure where it was coming from after the initial time I washed it out...it just kept magically re-appearing.
Photo 69 of 365, taken March 7th:
The girls loved the way their face paint looked, but if you ask Rebekah, she'll tell you it was awfully sticky. She was equal parts sad and excited to wash it off, and I was scrubbing flecks of that blue paint out of the bath tub for two days afterwards. I'm not sure where it was coming from after the initial time I washed it out...it just kept magically re-appearing.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
7th Grade Writing
Photo 53 of 365, taken February 28th:
Today when I turned the corner by Alyssa's school to meet her where we always pick her up, I could see her happily waving something in the air. She jumped in the car already telling the story of the 7th grade writing contest before she even closed the door behind her. Her English teacher finished evaluating all of her students' writing submissions and Alyssa was so excited to win first place. She had to write about the advantages of year round schooling and explain why it is a decision her school {or any other school} should consider.
Today when I turned the corner by Alyssa's school to meet her where we always pick her up, I could see her happily waving something in the air. She jumped in the car already telling the story of the 7th grade writing contest before she even closed the door behind her. Her English teacher finished evaluating all of her students' writing submissions and Alyssa was so excited to win first place. She had to write about the advantages of year round schooling and explain why it is a decision her school {or any other school} should consider.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Fasching Party!
I mentioned a very exciting Fasching party last week in Emma's class. They {loudly} sang festive songs and played two hilarious games ~ Emma could not even believe she was at school. She kept looking over at me, I think trying to get my approval that it was okay to be this wild at school.
After singing, the first game the kids played was a eating contest, here is a short video clip:
Everyone was having so much fun watching and cheering each other on!
The second game began with a pile of Winter clothes and a wrapped chocolate bar.
The kids were split into groups and each student had a turn to roll a die. The die kept going around the circle and each time a student rolled a 6 they had to frantically put on all the winter gear and try to unwrap the chocolate bar. This wasn't easy because of the big mittens they were wearing.
Once they were finally successful in getting the bar unwrapped, everytime a 6 was rolled it became time for the lucky child who just rolled the 6 to eat as much chocolate as they could. I have never seen such a loud, excited group of kids before ~ the prinicpal had to stop by the room with a friendly reminder to quiet down.
This is what it looked like outside during our crazy celebration to welcome Spring. Almost without fail, there is a snowstorm every year on the day we have Fasching. I am beginning to think that Winter isn't scared of us at all!!
Thursday, February 7, 2013
To Scare the Winter Away
Every year the girls' school has a small festival called Fasching. The way we have always celebrated is by the kids making masks of springtime animals {the 4th and 5th graders sometimes choose to make scarier animals not neccesarily associated with Spring} followed by marching through the hallways all dressed up in disguise as birds, butterflies, bees etc. singing German songs. The practice has been described to the girls as a way to scare the winter away and usher in spring. As I googled information about Fasching, I found out that it is a traditional German, pre-lent festival that sounds a lot like Mardi Gras to me, although I have never once heard it compared to that at school. Today was the day to make Fasching masks in Emma's class.
Emma's classmate has a mom who has to be one of the craftiest, most creative people I know and she created some example masks for the students to follow. Barb's animal example looked a lot like a mix between a racoon and a lion, and her human mask example looked like a scary old lady. Barb is German and a lot of the materials she prepares for classroom activities come right from German traditions her family did when she was a child. I'm not sure if that is where these ideas came from, but her masks were so neat!
Emma's scary mask! While I was wondering what kind of animal she had made, Barb was so proud of how Emma's mask turned out, telling her it was such good use of the supplies and was exactly what she had in mind as she put the materials together. Okay! I guess I will leave mask making to the true visionaries.
Emma and Sydney showing off their creations. Sydney opted to follow the old lady mask example.
Photo 35 of 365, taken February 7th:
Emma and Lauryn {who made a sweet kitten mask :-)}
It was a very WINTER day outside as we worked in a warm classroom making masks to scare the Winter away. I sometimes wish it worked like that ~ when we get sick of all the snow, we put on some funny looking disguises, sing a few songs and poof! it all disappears, the grass turns green again and the flowers bloom.
A picture of Rebekeah, our sweet little Hawkeye Bee from Fasching last year. Rumor has it this parade in February 2012 was the last official Fasching parade at our school, classroom celebrations only from now on...
Emma's classmate has a mom who has to be one of the craftiest, most creative people I know and she created some example masks for the students to follow. Barb's animal example looked a lot like a mix between a racoon and a lion, and her human mask example looked like a scary old lady. Barb is German and a lot of the materials she prepares for classroom activities come right from German traditions her family did when she was a child. I'm not sure if that is where these ideas came from, but her masks were so neat!
Emma's scary mask! While I was wondering what kind of animal she had made, Barb was so proud of how Emma's mask turned out, telling her it was such good use of the supplies and was exactly what she had in mind as she put the materials together. Okay! I guess I will leave mask making to the true visionaries.
Emma and Sydney showing off their creations. Sydney opted to follow the old lady mask example.
Photo 35 of 365, taken February 7th:
Emma and Lauryn {who made a sweet kitten mask :-)}
It was a very WINTER day outside as we worked in a warm classroom making masks to scare the Winter away. I sometimes wish it worked like that ~ when we get sick of all the snow, we put on some funny looking disguises, sing a few songs and poof! it all disappears, the grass turns green again and the flowers bloom.
A picture of Rebekeah, our sweet little Hawkeye Bee from Fasching last year. Rumor has it this parade in February 2012 was the last official Fasching parade at our school, classroom celebrations only from now on...
Friday, February 1, 2013
Art Project ~ It Takes a Village
Rebekah's class is working on an art project to donate to the German Immersion Foundation auction coming up in April. One of the mom's in class researched and found this cool project that we all agreed was something our kids would love doing and it wouldn't be too difficult to create something auction worthy from this neat idea.
Each student in the class was able to build and decorate their own house from colored construction paper {or card stock}, trying to make everything as detailed and colorful as possible, and eventually we will collage all the buildings into our little Room 28 village. I love the idea of community the project inspires and the kids were really excited to do it!
The project started with a table full of construction paper shapes that the kids could use to build. I cut all of these out and as I worked on them I just hoped that the less than perfect lines I was cutting would only add to the child-like quality of the buildings.
Sharing oil pastels as they decorate their houses.
Rebekah showing one of the houses she made.
Photo 32 of 365, taken February 1st:
A great group of first graders, very proud of their work! I loved the project and hope that the big collage comes out as cute as the individual pieces. I will definitely post a photo of the final product {although it will probably be close to April by the time I get it all together}.
Each student in the class was able to build and decorate their own house from colored construction paper {or card stock}, trying to make everything as detailed and colorful as possible, and eventually we will collage all the buildings into our little Room 28 village. I love the idea of community the project inspires and the kids were really excited to do it!
The project started with a table full of construction paper shapes that the kids could use to build. I cut all of these out and as I worked on them I just hoped that the less than perfect lines I was cutting would only add to the child-like quality of the buildings.
Sharing oil pastels as they decorate their houses.
Rebekah showing one of the houses she made.
Photo 32 of 365, taken February 1st:
A great group of first graders, very proud of their work! I loved the project and hope that the big collage comes out as cute as the individual pieces. I will definitely post a photo of the final product {although it will probably be close to April by the time I get it all together}.
Monday, January 14, 2013
January 11th ~ Pictures 11 through 13
January 11th, aside from being our niece's birthday, was also a very full day! I took lots of pictures that day, and since I am at least a little behind pace in my attempt to have 365 pictures from 2013, I thought I would double up, or even use several {my next post will draw a couple pics from Jan. 11th as well} photos from the same day...
Picture 11 of 365, taken January 11th.
Rebekah's class made paper bag puppets, she was so excited to show me the one she made of herself. They were supposed to be making animals.
Picture 12 of 365, also taken January 11th.
She did eventually get around to making an animal ~ a frog. I made a pig while I visited her classroom, they were super easy, cute and colorful.
Picture 13 of 365, taken January 11th.
These shirts and other items with the "Get a Grip" slogan have just recently shown up at our gym's pro shop, although I think I have seen them at meets and in magazines for about a year now, but Alyssa is sure the company got the idea from the leo design that she drew and submitted back in July 2011. She knew it was going take off :-)
Picture 11 of 365, taken January 11th.
Rebekah's class made paper bag puppets, she was so excited to show me the one she made of herself. They were supposed to be making animals.
Picture 12 of 365, also taken January 11th.
She did eventually get around to making an animal ~ a frog. I made a pig while I visited her classroom, they were super easy, cute and colorful.
Picture 13 of 365, taken January 11th.
These shirts and other items with the "Get a Grip" slogan have just recently shown up at our gym's pro shop, although I think I have seen them at meets and in magazines for about a year now, but Alyssa is sure the company got the idea from the leo design that she drew and submitted back in July 2011. She knew it was going take off :-)
Friday, December 7, 2012
Der Nikolaus Kommt
Every 6th of December St. Nick comes and leaves goodies for the girls.
An early morning investigation of the treats left in their boots.
Does St. Nick visit your house, and if so, what does he bring? At home he left the girls clementines, ice cream cone shaped marshmallows, chocolates and advent calendars {yes, we were late getting started on our chocolate filled ones this year}. At school he brings games to each class and other things their teachers would like for them to have in the classroom. He also reads a special poem to each classroom telling them what good children and students they have been this year.
Rebekah taking a big stretch after their Nikolaus assembly. It must have been exhausting watching all those presents being handed out :-)
Emma and her friend Willow on the other hand, were fascinated by it, or at least by something on the ceiling...with these two who knows what it was that caught their eye.
I know I recommend this book about St. Nicholas just about every year around this same time, but it's still one our family's favorite books. It's feeling a little more like Christmas everyday and I love it!
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Back to the Drawing Board
Two full weeks into the school year and I think we are getting back into the swing of a more predictable schedule. The girls love their new teachers and have been enjoying school. Our evenings have been full of gymnastics practices, singing lessons, auditions and homework. Busy, but a good kind of busy. I feel like everything happens so quickly at the beginning of a new school year ~ no real significant transition between laid back summer days and the much longer (though somehow I still never seem to accomplish everything I need to get done) school days.
A quick run down of the last couple of weeks:
Alyssa has an ensemble role in The Milwaukee Repertory Theater's A Christmas Carol, and she just had her first costume fitting last week.
In it's 37th season, this is the second longest running A Christmas Carol in the country. Alyssa is excited to be a part of it!
I couldn't believe we hadn't been inside The Pabst before her audition process earlier this summer, it's a really neat old place. These chandeliers line the window/wall area where Emma and Rebekah sat to do homework while we waited for Alyssa to come out of her fitting.
This is the first year that Rebekah has real homework, other than nightly reading. She loves having work just like the big girls. I'll be curious to compare these assignments to other work that she will be doing in just a few weeks, and then again to the assignments later in the year. 1st grade is a pretty big jump, lots of new learning each week!!
A few of the cute folders that the girls decorated with stickers we got on vacation and the Bible Quiz questions that have been keeping Rebekah very busy.
Coming out of her first singing lesson of the school year, so excited to show her teacher her Jamie Grace t-shirt from the concert G&G took her to this summer. Alyssa and her teacher, Ms. Alissa worked very hard on Jamie's song, Hold Me, and it's now one of Alyssa's favorites!
How Rebekah keeps busy during singing ~ being a monkey and dancing in the hallway as Alyssa sings. The day I picked her up from school in the monkey bar pic, she had this skirt on inside out. It's what our girls call a tutu skirt, with one fluffy mesh layer and a more solid pink silky layer for coverage. She came walking out of the pick up line with the pink part on the outside and the puffy tutu part completely covered up. She looked like a silly weeble wobble. Taking care of clothing adjustments independently, just another back-to-school change she is getting used to.
Another thing we are trying to get used to again ~ sometimes eating dinner on the run. You won't catch the girls' complaining, they love pizza :-)
Emma had her first {and only} meet of the fall on Sunday. She was so happy that her friend Halle could come see her compete. Everytime I watch them together I wish we could do it more often! Then, when my parents arrived at the meet and Chloe was with them, Emma just lit up. Chloe's parents and my parents are good friends and Emma just loves Chloe. There was likely many other things Chloe could have chosen to do on a Sunday afternoon other than drive the over four hours round trip to see Emma's meet, and Emma was beyond excited she was there!! All little girls should be as blessed as Emma to have a sweet teenager to look up to and one who takes an interest in them and is as amazing to them as Chloe is with all our girls.
The meet itself was good, I thought all of Emma's routines were nice, she did however, score a little lower than what is usual for her. One of my occassional frustrations with the sport {and something I need to develop a thicker skin about and just get over} is that certain teams seem to do more favorably in some competitions and with the great subjectivity of the scoring process it doesn't always feel like everyone is on a level playing field. The meet did serve it's purpose though, Emma got her "move up" score and can now celebrate that compulsory gymnastics routines are in her rear view mirror. Hooray for Optionals, which is a different level of competition where the gymnasts get to work and perform more to their specific strengths rather than perform the same exact routine as everyone else.
A quick run down of the last couple of weeks:
Alyssa has an ensemble role in The Milwaukee Repertory Theater's A Christmas Carol, and she just had her first costume fitting last week.
In it's 37th season, this is the second longest running A Christmas Carol in the country. Alyssa is excited to be a part of it!
I couldn't believe we hadn't been inside The Pabst before her audition process earlier this summer, it's a really neat old place. These chandeliers line the window/wall area where Emma and Rebekah sat to do homework while we waited for Alyssa to come out of her fitting.
This is the first year that Rebekah has real homework, other than nightly reading. She loves having work just like the big girls. I'll be curious to compare these assignments to other work that she will be doing in just a few weeks, and then again to the assignments later in the year. 1st grade is a pretty big jump, lots of new learning each week!!
A few of the cute folders that the girls decorated with stickers we got on vacation and the Bible Quiz questions that have been keeping Rebekah very busy.
Coming out of her first singing lesson of the school year, so excited to show her teacher her Jamie Grace t-shirt from the concert G&G took her to this summer. Alyssa and her teacher, Ms. Alissa worked very hard on Jamie's song, Hold Me, and it's now one of Alyssa's favorites!
How Rebekah keeps busy during singing ~ being a monkey and dancing in the hallway as Alyssa sings. The day I picked her up from school in the monkey bar pic, she had this skirt on inside out. It's what our girls call a tutu skirt, with one fluffy mesh layer and a more solid pink silky layer for coverage. She came walking out of the pick up line with the pink part on the outside and the puffy tutu part completely covered up. She looked like a silly weeble wobble. Taking care of clothing adjustments independently, just another back-to-school change she is getting used to.
Another thing we are trying to get used to again ~ sometimes eating dinner on the run. You won't catch the girls' complaining, they love pizza :-)
Emma had her first {and only} meet of the fall on Sunday. She was so happy that her friend Halle could come see her compete. Everytime I watch them together I wish we could do it more often! Then, when my parents arrived at the meet and Chloe was with them, Emma just lit up. Chloe's parents and my parents are good friends and Emma just loves Chloe. There was likely many other things Chloe could have chosen to do on a Sunday afternoon other than drive the over four hours round trip to see Emma's meet, and Emma was beyond excited she was there!! All little girls should be as blessed as Emma to have a sweet teenager to look up to and one who takes an interest in them and is as amazing to them as Chloe is with all our girls.
The meet itself was good, I thought all of Emma's routines were nice, she did however, score a little lower than what is usual for her. One of my occassional frustrations with the sport {and something I need to develop a thicker skin about and just get over} is that certain teams seem to do more favorably in some competitions and with the great subjectivity of the scoring process it doesn't always feel like everyone is on a level playing field. The meet did serve it's purpose though, Emma got her "move up" score and can now celebrate that compulsory gymnastics routines are in her rear view mirror. Hooray for Optionals, which is a different level of competition where the gymnasts get to work and perform more to their specific strengths rather than perform the same exact routine as everyone else.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
As Sweet As Can Be
I wanted to post a couple of my favorite memories from the school year before I forgot or they got lost in the shuffle of summer photos.
Rebekah had one of the nicest teachers this year, and she just loved every single thing about Kindergarten! Right after Mother's Day, her teacher planned a Muffins for Moms day, which I had heard about other schools doing something similar, but none of our girls had ever had one before, so it was a new experience for us. It was a super special day.
Rebekah was so excited about Muffins for Moms, and leading up to the day, talked about it constantly. When all the moms arrived, each of the kids led their moms to their seat and showed them around the room. She was really proud to show me everything, and she seemed so much more independent than she does at home.
The kids sang a few songs as an entire group, then as smaller groups they each had a special song that they had picked out to perform. Rebekah's special song that she chose was singing the ABCs while they signed the letters. She's signing here with her left hand, showing a little bit of her left dominance. She writes and does most artistic things with her right hand, but tends to eat, cut with scissors, and play sports as a lefty. Just a fun, little known fact about her :-).
Her improvement with handwriting throughout this school year just amazes me. She was so proud to show me her journal. This page is from their rainforest unit. Using the words that I do know as context clues, I believe her writing here translates to: "The rainforest is near the equator. It is always hot and rains everyday."
Another thing about Rebekah's teacher that I appreciated so much was how often she integrated art lessons. And not just little projects, but actually teaching the kids about the artists themselves and what influenced their work. At the time of Muffins for Moms, they were learning about Monet, and we got to create our own Monet inspired artwork together.
Our water lilies.
It was such a sweet afternoon and kind of unique since I had never been offered the opportunity to do this with the older girls. By the time your 3rd in line, it's not too often that you get to experience something for the first time, so it was cool that she had a little something that was all her own.
Alyssa had a great first year in middle school. Going in, we didn't know what to expect from middle school, except that it would be different, and it was! But it was different in a {mostly} good way. She enjoyed the new freedom that came with not having to walk around school as an entire class everytime she left the classroom, and I think she learned a lot of responsibilty that came with that independence.
In the Spring, Alyssa was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society. Here she is at the induction ceremony pictured with two of her BFFs and her principal. She also served as a peer mediator (which I find amusing because everything is so cut and dry with Alyssa. Behavior is either in accordance to the rules or it's not, and she sees very little middle ground so I can only imagine how some of her mediations unfolded. The good, and what I am sure was often rather blunt advice she offered to her peers in conflict, oh to be a fly on the wall in that room.) and she was also given a President's Award for Educational Excellence that is signed by President Obama.
Alyssa once said this funny thing about President Obama; it was a couple of years ago and as we were driving one afternoon, out of nowhere and with a great deal of seriousness she said, "You know, I don't think President Barack Obama even knows I exist." Since not many of us are well acquainted with the President it struck me as cute that she would take offense to his lack of interest in getting to know her. The signature on her certificate was simply an electronic one, which Alyssa herself pointed out to me, but she said it in a way that she envisioned him sitting as his desk pouring over the names on each certificate. Such a sweetheart!
Rebekah had one of the nicest teachers this year, and she just loved every single thing about Kindergarten! Right after Mother's Day, her teacher planned a Muffins for Moms day, which I had heard about other schools doing something similar, but none of our girls had ever had one before, so it was a new experience for us. It was a super special day.
Rebekah was so excited about Muffins for Moms, and leading up to the day, talked about it constantly. When all the moms arrived, each of the kids led their moms to their seat and showed them around the room. She was really proud to show me everything, and she seemed so much more independent than she does at home.
The kids sang a few songs as an entire group, then as smaller groups they each had a special song that they had picked out to perform. Rebekah's special song that she chose was singing the ABCs while they signed the letters. She's signing here with her left hand, showing a little bit of her left dominance. She writes and does most artistic things with her right hand, but tends to eat, cut with scissors, and play sports as a lefty. Just a fun, little known fact about her :-).
Her improvement with handwriting throughout this school year just amazes me. She was so proud to show me her journal. This page is from their rainforest unit. Using the words that I do know as context clues, I believe her writing here translates to: "The rainforest is near the equator. It is always hot and rains everyday."
Another thing about Rebekah's teacher that I appreciated so much was how often she integrated art lessons. And not just little projects, but actually teaching the kids about the artists themselves and what influenced their work. At the time of Muffins for Moms, they were learning about Monet, and we got to create our own Monet inspired artwork together.
Our water lilies.
It was such a sweet afternoon and kind of unique since I had never been offered the opportunity to do this with the older girls. By the time your 3rd in line, it's not too often that you get to experience something for the first time, so it was cool that she had a little something that was all her own.
Alyssa had a great first year in middle school. Going in, we didn't know what to expect from middle school, except that it would be different, and it was! But it was different in a {mostly} good way. She enjoyed the new freedom that came with not having to walk around school as an entire class everytime she left the classroom, and I think she learned a lot of responsibilty that came with that independence.
In the Spring, Alyssa was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society. Here she is at the induction ceremony pictured with two of her BFFs and her principal. She also served as a peer mediator (which I find amusing because everything is so cut and dry with Alyssa. Behavior is either in accordance to the rules or it's not, and she sees very little middle ground so I can only imagine how some of her mediations unfolded. The good, and what I am sure was often rather blunt advice she offered to her peers in conflict, oh to be a fly on the wall in that room.) and she was also given a President's Award for Educational Excellence that is signed by President Obama.
Alyssa once said this funny thing about President Obama; it was a couple of years ago and as we were driving one afternoon, out of nowhere and with a great deal of seriousness she said, "You know, I don't think President Barack Obama even knows I exist." Since not many of us are well acquainted with the President it struck me as cute that she would take offense to his lack of interest in getting to know her. The signature on her certificate was simply an electronic one, which Alyssa herself pointed out to me, but she said it in a way that she envisioned him sitting as his desk pouring over the names on each certificate. Such a sweetheart!
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