Summer Fun

 It has been a busy summer around here between art camp, swimming lessons, and so much other activities.

 But we got a lot of outside play done.  We had an indoor breakfast picnic while watching The Good Dinosaur.

 LOTS of swinging!

 Many trips to the library.

And vacation Bible school at church.  Our friend Braylon joined us for VBS.

It has been a good summer so far.  A few more weeks to get some more fun packed in!

Bug Hunt

 The Monday after school was out the local university's arboretum had a program for children.  It was called a Big Bug Hunt.

 When we got there the kids were able to make "stick bugs"  They were given a stick and some pipe cleaners and they used the pipe cleaners to make legs for the stick and that was the bug that they were able to take home.

 However, on our bug hunt each child was given a magnifying glass and we were sent on our way around the trails.

 To search on the ground...

 In the bushes...

 In the flowers...

 And all around to find big bugs,

 little bugs,

 any bugs at all.

 In addition to bugs we also found a turtle at the edge of the pond.

 We also found a family of ducks in the pond.

The kids loved exploring nature.

Grace's Last Day

On June 10th Grace successfully finished her kindergarten year.  She ended with great grades in each subject, but being a reading teacher I am most focused on her reading.  She ended above grade level in English and even higher in Spanish!

Here is one picture that I was able to get of Grace's class as they celebrated July 4th early.

This has been a fantastic year.  Grace has learned so much academically but even more so she has grown as a person and learned a lot of social lessons.  And these two ladies are the ones that helped us through it all.

Mrs. Correa was Grace's Spanish teacher (she had her for half a day they worked on Science, Social Studies and Reading.)

Mrs. Blosser was Grace's English teacher (She had her for half a day they worked on Math, and Reading.)

 At the end of the year, Grace was awarded the Awesome Artist award.  For creativity and artistic expression.  This is perfect for the girl who leaving kindergarten has decided that she wants to grow up to be an art teacher at Smithland Elementary school when she grows up.

Good bye Kindergarten!

Hello First Grade!

Glen's Last Day

At the end of preschool the kids have a celebratory march up the hill to the picnic pavilion and there they get presents and snack.

 This is only Glen's last day of 3 year old preschool, he still has one more year in this program, however he got to march.

 His teacher Mrs. Combs gave him his presents.

He was a very happy boy.  I am so glad that Mamaw was able to also attend and get these wonderful pictures.

Here is to my 4 year old preschooler!

South River Falls Hike

 Before school let out, we took a Saturday to go hiking.  We usually have a hike that we do, but we decided to try a new hike out.  The South River Falls hike.  We hiked till the kids were done.  We did not get to the end, but it was fun what we did.

 It is just more of a reason for us to go again and finish the hike and see the full falls.

 Along the way we saw lots of millipedes.  We were counting how many live and how many dead ones that we saw.  It was very entertaining for the kids.

 My sweet little tree huggers!

 I hope to see many more hikes and camping trips in our future.

Mother's Day 2016

The Kindergarten classes at Grace's school had a special Mother's Day Tea.  I was able to attend.  Grace sang a few Spanish songs with her classmates, and she even had a solo!  Then after all groups sang, the kids went to sit with their mothers and have cupcakes, fruit, and tea.  

 It was a fun way to celebrate the little girl who made me a mother.

 On Mother's day we went hiking.  We hiked up Mole Hill which is an extinct volcano.

 Glen did not go with us, but Grace, Matt, Amy, Austin, Adam, Carol, and Mom had a great time.

 We even got a picture of all of the ladies that went on the hike (yes, Lacy was one of those ladies).

It was a great Mother's Day!

Spring Break

 In April we decided to take a short trip during spring break to see some of our friends in Reston.  Vitaly and Violetta had invited us to their house, now that they had some extra space in their new house.  So we decided to go up and see them and see the sights in northern Virginia.

 They have a great place.  The kids loved all of their stairs that are in their house (Grace later told me that she wished that they were her parents so that she could live in the house with all of the stairs).  Grace helped makes supper, while Glen played with his blocks and colored on paper.

 First we went to Great Falls National Park.  It was a short walk to see these wonderful falls.

 And there were lots of rocks to climb on.

 Everyone one was very happy.

 We spent the night with our wonderful hosts.

 And the next day we went to the Air and Space Museum in Dullas.

 There is so much to see, there is so much to read.  We did not have enough time there, but it was fun to go.

 Glen got to see a real rocket (he has been a bit obsessed about rockets recently)

 They liked looking at the displays.

 It was a very fun family trip.  And my little rocket man was tuckered out and ready to go home.