Best Christmas Present Ever!

The best Christmas present for me was being able to see Ellie and Claire perform in the Christmas show at church. This was the first year they both had speaking roles, right out in front! I didn't attend very many rehearsals this year, so boy was I surprised to see the show. I'm so proud of them both for being committed to the roles, learning their lines, and throwing themselves into the characters. Way to go girls!

Pretty School Pictures

Happy Halloween!

We had a great time at the Pumpkin Bash! So fortunate to have enjoyed it with our good friends E and M this year!

Halloween is always a challenge with food allergies. Claire didn't have much left after we removed all her allergens. Oh well... plenty of lollipops to last a few weeks though!

"My favorite part of Halloween was the haunted house! There was this passage thing that led you in a circle and got all confused."
-- Claire

"My favorite part of Halloween was getting to play all the games and going in the Labyrinth." -- Ellie

Techno Nerd

Ellie got word today she got cast in the annual holiday play at our church!

She will be playing the role of "Natalie" who is a "techno nerd".

Sundays just got a lot busier, with rehearsals all afternoon.

She is really excited about getting out of the chorus and onto the stage.

Congratulations Ellie, we are so proud of you!

Blog Carnival

Claire's blog is featured in a monthly blog carnival! Now for some reason, they have her listed as not homeschooled... and I'm not sure how that happened... cause here she sits doing her history lesson at the kitchen table... but I'm sure it will be corrected shortly. So go check out Claire's blog and all the other kids, too! Such talented children.

Her blog is featured in the September 2009 issue, and is called "iYuki".

First Day of School Pics!

Ellie is a 5th Grader

First Day of 3rd Grade

Swimming Lessons

Claire showing off her certificate of completion. She made it to level 3!

This was the first year we did swimming lessons at Splash and the girls had a great time. Claire said these were her favorite swimming lessons and she loved her teachers.

Lessons at Splash, and "free swim" after lessons, sure made for a relaxing summer by the pool!

We Rock!

The girls have been working hard all week getting ready for their big performance tomorrow night in Brea! They've been practicing songs from High School Musical, Camp Rock and Beauty and the Beast the Musical.

Today was really special cause the girls got their costumes and props ... and it was Sabrina's birthday! Sabrina's been doing such a great job teaching the girls their choreography and getting them ready to put on a big production.

Happy Birthday Sabrina :-)

More pictures tomorrow after the show!

YMCA Spring Cheer!

Lindsay and Claire

Cheer trophy!

Claire had so much fun spending her Saturdays at YMCA Cheer practice!

Claire, America's Next Top Reader!

Claire finished reading and reporting on six books. As her reward, she got to walk the red carpet, an invitation to the end-of-the-year party, and the fun t-shirt and sunglasses you see her wearing. They always do such a nice job at this library!

Claire's 2nd Grade Art Projects

I'm not very artistic, so I really appreciate the direction given in the K12 art curriculum. Here is a sampling of some of Claire's art projects for 2nd grade.

This one was done w/ crayon and watercolor. The boats are cutouts from construction paper. I believe Claire was learning about horizon lines and reflection.

This one Claire had a lot of fun doing. This was part of a study of architecture. The buildings and road are cut out of construction paper. The black squares, circles, lines, etc are made from black ink on found objects from around the house. The antenna were made using the side of a piece of cardboard.

Self portrait made out of construction paper. Claire HAD to have the blue hair :)

This started as a large watercolor project. After the watercolor page was done, she traced the sleeping cat over the watercolor, and then cut it out. We both like how this one turned out.

Happy Birthday Nana!

One whole minute of Ellie singing goodness just for Nana.  

Happy Birthday!!!!  

Ellie singing at her school talent show ... aka... why I need a new camera!

Here is the first minute of Ellie singing at the "upper grader" talent show today.  It was such a cold day and I was really worried about her singing in the cold, but she did great!  

As you can see, I really need a camera that can ZOOM!  

The people sitting around me let me know that I missed out on a real show cause Claire was behind me smiling at Ellie and giving her lots of positive encouragement and "thumbs up" throughout the entire song.  

Ellie, you did a great job and we are so proud!

Happy 10th Birthday Ellie!

Ellie had a very specific list of everything she wanted to do on her birthday.

The first thing on her list? Pancake breakfast!

Then, after dropping Claire off at cheer practice, we went to Vons to pick up some California Rolls for lunch.
Ellie's favorite!

Ellie's birthday included performing at church in the show "Praise Rocks". Here they are, dressed as, um, rocks.

After the show, Grandma and Grandpa took us out to eat at Ellie's favorite, Red Robin.
It's her favorite because there are
a) hamburgers
b) french fries
c) they come to your table and sing HAPPY BIRTHDAY! really loud.

Ellie wanted to help make her cake. Here is the chocolate cake she helped to mix and frost.

Happy Birthday sweetie!

Fourth Grade Open House

Ellie at the Reflections display holding the photo she submitted.

Second place in photography!!!

For open house the kids were assigned to complete a 3 dimensional display about something they learned. Most of the kids chose pioneer themes or the gold rush. Ellie decided to create a model of a blue whale using paper mache. She did a great job!!!

Ellie and her teacher, Mr. Mangold

Whittier Earth Day Event!

We just love Earth Day in Whittier! I think this is our 4th year in a row attending this event.

Star Eco Station was there with reptiles. They were educating attendees about what happens to animals that are smuggled into our country illegally. If you haven't been to Star Eco Station yet, I highly recommend it!

Decorate a flowerpot!

Claire and Ellie got to plant California poppies.

President Obama and learning about smog.

We took a great bus tour of the local water reclamation center and are looking forward to going back for a walking tour in June.

Happy Easter!

Reagan Library

Beautiful Spring day at the Reagan Library.

Claire was especially excited to see the MAGNA CARTA which was on display. She has been learning about its significance in her history class. There was a docent right by the display case and she asked him so many questions! Who would have thought a 794 year old piece of paper could bring such joy to a 7 year old.

Ellie singing at church!

What I can buy for $3.00

Yep ... you read that right... $3.00. This is what you can do by using coupons and combining promotions. It's a good week at Vons.