Annie's Ballet Recital

Annie had her Zoom ballet recital a couple of weeks ago. She is at a new ballet school this year and she loves it. She got to try tap and jazz this year, too. Zoom recitals are not the same as the real stage but she made the best of it and danced beautifully for her family.

Piano Recital!

Annie and Jacob had their piano recital over Zoom. They did well and we enjoyed celebrating them!

Last Day of School: 2019-2020 Edition

The kids worked really hard this winter and spring to finish up our schoolwork a few weeks early, so we could take some fun trips in May. We finished the schoolwork but the trips are postponed for now. So we're moving on to our morning basket/summer school plans and saving the trips for later. I'm really proud of the skills and knowledge they gained this year. They're doing great in math, Sophie has become an amazing reader, Nora knows all her letter sounds and is starting real reading lessons, and Annie and Jacob have made big improvements in spelling. We read lots of books, did lots of science experiments, started learning Latin, and continued to love history. It is always amazing to me how doing our lessons day in and day out leads to so much cumulative learning by the end of the school year! Congratulations on finishing up your 3rd grade, 1st grade, and 4K years!

She's NINE

My baby girl is NINE. We celebrated Annie's birthday last week with a family breakfast, a strawberry cake with cream cheese icing and an "A" made out of sprinkles, and dinner at Olive Garden after dance class. She had a great day and we loved celebrating with her! At nine, Annie is thoughtful, always thinking, almost always talking, loves to read, and loves school. She is a delight to be around and we are blessed to have her as our daughter!

Look Alikes

When people ask who Thomas looks like, I say, "the boy version of Annie." What do you think?

Last Day of School

We had a great year of school! I love having my kids home with me and being their teacher.

Sophie: finished kindergarten

Nora: finished preschool

Annie: finished second grade

Jacob: finished second grade

Trying out my new portrait lens...

I'm trying to learn how to use the new lenses I got for Christmas. Here are some of the better shots I took at the botanical gardens recently. Obviously there is lots of room for improvement. Jacob loves to ham it up for the camera. Annie's freckles are out with the sun. And Sophie and Nora have gotten to be such big girls! One bonus snap of babycakes, too.

One Big Party

With a new baby this year, I just didn't feel up to hosting multiple birthday parties. I convinced the kids it would be really fun to have one big blowout birthday party and they totally went for it. ;) They were actually very excited to celebrate all their birthdays together. I made dozens of cupcakes, invited all the friends they wanted, and rented an inflatable obstacle course. This party was easy for me and so much fun for all the kids!