What we have been up to

March has been a busy month!  Today the kids wanted to have a tea party so they had a tea party at snack time with some popcorn.  It is nice that it doesn't take much to make them happy.  

 A couple of weeks ago Anna spent the afternoon with me on the bus.  Our marketing department was shooting a commercial and Anna got to be in it.  Coming to a TV near you soon (if you are near us)!  When I get the final version I will see if I can upload it.  

 Last weekend Matt set up the tent in the backyard for the kids to play in during spring break.  The first day it was up we let the boys "rest" in it.  This is the closest they got to sleeping.  Mason closed his eyes and Olivier hid toward the bottom of his sleeping bag.  Never a dull moment!  :-)

Anna's writing award!

Last week we met with Anna's teachers for a parent conference and they had nothing but great news to share about Anna.  They also had a surprising question to ask, but more about that later!  

The mentioned to us that Anna would be getting a writing award for a story she wrote.  There is a writing test that is given, and although the kindergartens aren't reviewed at the district level like the other grades, they still have them reviewed at the school and scored to see how well the students are doing.  They were given 45 minutes (one session) to write about how to do something.  She choose to write about how to do a cartwheel.  It is very cute story that she describes how to do a cartwheel, but the pictures and though/word bubbles really made the story complete.  We should get it by the end of the school year so I can share but the drawings are of a person going through the various stages of a cartwheel and the words start along the lines of "here we go" and move on to the "uh oh" to the "whoa" to the "whew" (I can't remember the exact words she used but it was along those lines).  The scores range from a 1 to 4 and she got a 3.5.  

She got her award but I didn't get a decent photo of her.  They turned out blurry for some reason.  Boo!  Here is the "best" one.  

 And in the hallway near her classroom, there is a bird nest in the awning.  A lot of the kids made signs asking their fellow students to be quiet for the baby birds.  Here is Anna's.

 And a look at the nest.

 Now, for the question her teachers wanted to ask us!  Anna has well exceeded her English requirements for kindergarten and is needing a challenge.  Thankfully she is at an amazing school to do just that!  They asked if we would be willing to move Anna to the Spanish as the primary language group.  We said yes but wanted to check with Anna.  Although she was nervous the first day, it has gone amazingly well.  There is a lot more Spanish going on in the house which is exciting!

These are from two nights of homework she has had this week.  All in Spanish and she has figured it out and was able to tell me what the words were in English tonight.  Very proud of her!

Gus' 2nd Birthday Party

Today we celebrated this little guy turning two!  Can't believe how fast all the kids are growing up!  

Haircuts!

Today all three kids got haircuts; actually, I should say all four because Matt cut his hair as well!  :-)  The boys were in dire need and it has been a very, very long time since Anna has gotten one.  Here are some before (from a week or two ago) and after photos.  

Mason:

Olivier (who wanted his hair like Matt's):

Anna (about three inches off):

Dear Mr. Mayfield

Anna wrote a sweet note to her school principal and he wrote back. :-) What a great school!