A Day to Remember

My little Alexa turned 7 last week. Sooo hard to believe! I posted about that previously, but wanted to share some birthday celebration pictures with you.

On her actual birthday, the children and I went to see The Tale of Despereaux at our local theater. They offer previously released movies all summer long, a couple mornings a week for free! Such a fun treat! Alexa enjoyed the movie and Evan sat through the whole thing! Yay! We went to Red Robin for lunch (Alexa's pick) and Alexa got a special birthday sundae free! She loved it and we all had a good time. After dinner in the evening, we all got to enjoy a special cake that Taylor made for her.

A few days later Alexa celebrated her birthday with her friends. We had a backyard carnival! I had always wanted to do one of these, but wasn't sure how I'd accomplish it. Well, since Taylor and her friends, and Skylar and one of her friends were able to help, I knew we could make it fun. The children made loot bags when they came in, while they waited for their friends to arrive. Then we headed, all together, to the carnival. There were games like Feed Freddie the Frog, and a ring toss game,a Mystery Box game where you feel what's inside and have to guess (that was a favorite), Tower Tumble (a block knock down game), a "spritzer slide" (another fave, especially since it was a hot day), face painting (actually arm painting), and amagic show featuring John the Magnificent (known to Alexa as Daddy), She was his biggest fan! Then the children moved on to the piniata and cupcake cones! Before everyone left, Alexa opened her gifts and thanked everyone for sharing in her special day.

She was so happy with this party that she wants a carnival party next year. I'm game if she is, but she has a whole year ahead of her to decide.

Happy Birthday, Alexa

Special thanks to Lilly, Maddy, Marie, and my own daughters, Taylor and Skylar, who so graciously helped us make this a special day for Alexa. Could not have had this party without you girls!

A Birthday Wish

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CRAIG!

We love and miss you!

Hope your birthday was wonderful!

Love,

John, Tina, Taylor, Skylar, Alexa and Evan

Happy Birthday, Alexa!!!!

My little Lexi turned 7 today. Wow....my little princess is growing up. She is such a sweet, sweet little girl. She has an awesome sense of humor and can be witty beyond her years. Her little giggle is so contagious. Alexa is compassionate and kind. She loves it when I read her stories. Alexa is a fan of Taylor, a friend to Skylar and a playbuddy and awesome babysitter for Evan. She is in the birth order position I was in.....3rd child born, second youngest, and reminds me a lot of myself at times. She's very close to me and can be a bit of a worrier.....I was too. Her reading is progressing well, and she is so excited about that! She has an amazing imagination.

My dear sweet girl, you are a blessing to this family and I'm so proud to call you my daughter. Happy 7th birthday, Lexi!

Love,

Mom

*Just a quick sidenote to say thanks for all the thoughtful gifts and cards that Alexa received for her birthday. She is very appreciative and loves you all!

Some Ramblings

John and Skylar have been battling some sort of virus for a couple of weeks now. Last night it started on me. It feels pretty awful, but I'll survive. I'm just really hoping that the other kids don't get it, especially Evan. Sore throats are really rough on him. But once I get sick, it's so hard to avoid everyone else getting it. Hopefully this is shortlived, because I've got a lot of work to do around here, and with summer practically here, I was hoping to accomplish a lot!

Right now I'm planning Alexa's 7th birthday party, which we are hoping to make a backyard carnival. It should be a lot of fun. She is inviting her whole co-op, plus a few other friends. She's excited and so am I, but there's a lot of work involved, though we are trying to keep it kind of simple. I need to get moving on the invitations, at the very least.

In July, we are going out of town a couple of times.....back to PA for some family events, with some other fun things planned, too. I have a feeling it's going to be another busy summer that is here and gone before we know it, just like last year. That's why I really don't have time to be sick right now. :-)

Memorial Day

Let's remember what this holiday is really about. We all need to take a moment, as we fire up our grills or head to the beach, to just pause, and think and say a little prayer for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let your perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Amen.

Some moving pictures can be found here.

TTFN
~Tina

Watch Out For This One

She's one tough girl! ;-) Skylar has earned her advanced orange belt in her Kenpo Karate class! She loves karate and we are so proud of her dedication, hard work and enthusiasum. Congratulations, Sky!

TTFN
~Tina

Geography Studies

All the talk over at the 4real forums lately has got me thinking. I had so many plans to teach the girls about the different continents of the world, especially focusing on the people and how life is for children living in those areas of the world. I didn't get nearly as far as I thought. I was frustrated with myself, for not living up to my own expectations. I'm trying to remember that sometimes things don't happen like we plan. So, I've decided to just continue these studies into next year.

But as I look over this past year, I think it might help me to feel a little more accomplished if I post as much as I can about what we DID do. I had posted a few times on what we were doing this past Autumn. This is a continuation of that:

We started with Africa. The girls did the map on the right, first, highlighting the borders and the waters of Africa. The map on the left has Morocco colored in, to show that this was a country that we were studying, since we couldn't study every African country.

The girls also colored a close up map of Morocco (on the right, below), and glued that along with the country's flag and discription to a page for their notebooks.
And using this book below....
they drew a picture of an animal that lives in Africa. The drawings are simplistic and somewhat "cartoonish", but still fun and turned out well.The craft for Morocco was these Khamsas. They had fun making these. The girls have fun making anything "artsy".

(Skylar's is above and Alexa's below)
And of course we read many, many stories about Africa......fiction and nonfiction. A couple of the books we used are pictured below.
The girls really enjoy learning about people of other countries and how they live, especially the children. The stories and the hands on activities are their favorite parts. Social studies and geography have become one of their favorite subjects. Mine, too. :-)

TTFN

~Tina