Sophie is Seven!

Sophie turned seven last month! We had a family breakfast, opened gifts, played with friends, and had dinner and cake with Nana, Honey, and Poppa. Sophie is so much fun to celebrate! She is sweet and spunky and all her siblings adore her. Everyone wants to be her best friend. This year she has fallen in love with horses and books. She reads all the time and we love to see it. Happy seventh birthday, baby girl!

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!

Sophie's 6th Birthday!

We also celebrated Sophie's birthday recently. She was so excited to turn SIX! She wanted a real purse and a puppy dog cake. We celebrated with a family breakfast, the splash pad with friends, and dinner at her favorite Mexican place. Sophie is growing up so fast. Her big blue eyes are so expressive. She has gotten taller these past few months. Sophie is doing a great job learning to read and had a wonderful kindergarten year. She plays well with all her siblings--she's an excellent middle child. She loves her Wellie Wisher dolls, and baby dolls, too. She is also quite the little artist and loves to create. I'm excited to see what lies ahead for this sweet girl!

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!

Jacob and Sophie's birthday party!

This year Jacob requested a Star Wars party and Sophie wanted a horse party (but not My Little Pony). So I booked the pavilion at the splash pad, ordered pizza, and made cupcakes with Star Wars and horses toppers. We had a blast celebrating their birthdays! And it was an easy party for Mama. ;)