Grades, Girl Scouts, and Goofiness

 Here is Jade's very impressive report card.  She is in a great little school.  Technically, we are homeschooling, since the "school" hours are not enough to qualify as a private school.  This means that she goes to school M-W from 8 until noon, Th 8 until 2:30, and no school on Friday.  This leaves us time for extra activities like art classes, swimming lessons, hiking, or just not being in school!! Jade's class has only 8 students, so they get a lot done in those few hours, and we have time to do homework, reading, and extra math practice in the early afternoon!  It's pretty great!  Amaris got a place in the third grade class at the same school, so she and Jade will both be there next year!

Amaris earned her "Snack" badge in Brownies.  She created three types of snacks...the first was a "restaurant snack" and she chose Nachos...yum!

Next, she created a "slurp snack"...she chose a berry/banana smoothie!

Amelia thoroughly approved of this snack!

...and so did Jade!

My personal favorite was her "pack a protein snack"...she chose to make honey toasted almonds.  They were made with some cinnamon, vanilla, and honey.  Very toasty and delicious.  Perfect for taking on hikes!

Krispy Kreme Donut Shop gives kids a free donut for every "A" on their report card!

Alexandra works at an Italian Restaurant in Lakewood.  We surprised her by ALL coming in for dinner (her boss gave her the rest of the night off) to celebrate her high school graduation AND AA degree!  She did the Running Start program at TCC so she was able to earn her AA while finishing high school--pretty sweet!  Lorne and Morgan and their 2 boys came too late for the picture, but all the siblings and kids were there!  You can see Amaris doing what she does best--chasing and caring for babies!

Here is Lorne's son, Gideon, getting a ride from Auntie Jade as we walked to the library.

The girls planted beans--they're coming up!  We need to put some strings up for them to climb on.

I LOVE this picture, even though the quality is not great....the heart of it is so sweet.  We had the three 3-year-old grands over for a sleepover, and Amaris got them rounded up in their jammies for story time before bed.  She is reading Curious George to them.

SHE WISHES this was her kitten, but we have allergies that keep us from getting cats.  This little cutie belongs to a friend, and Amaris spent most of her time at the friend's house playing with him.



This is just a sampling of the random pictures that I find left on my phone for me by Jade....she likes to surprise me!  Haha!

Spring and almost summer!

The Friday before Easter Sunday is Good Friday--it's the day that Jesus died, and is rather a solemn day, but hot crossed buns are so delicious, it's hard to be too serious when eating them!

 The girls did such an amazing job on yard work this day.  Both of them worked so hard, and while Jade is very reliable, hard working, thorough, and focused, Amaris...well, let's say Amaris tends to get distracted when given a task.  This day, however, she was determined to do a good job and I was blown away!  I wish I had taken pictures.  I gave her a very weedy section underneath an arbor, and she weeded alright--then proceeded to sweep the walkway, clean up all the debris she'd weeded, and even cleared the next section without being told or reminded to stay on task!  I was very proud, and they enjoyed their well-earned milkshakes!

 Can you tell that this purple plaid vest is a favorite of Jade's?  This picture was taken outside the University Place Library.  We went to stock up on good reading material, taking Gwenna along with us, then they all wanted to climb up on the big duck sculpture!

 Amaris wanted to borrow my phone to do a photo shoot down in her room...she obviously talked Jade into taking the pictures so she could be in them!  She and Gwenna have a lot of fun together.

 May first!  May Day!  I was sick that day, and so disappointed, because we traditionally make flower baskets, sneak them on our neighbors' door knobs, knock loudly, then run away and hide, watching as they come to the door to find their surprise and look around for who might have left such a lovely gift!  I remember doing this as a child, and feeling like I might wet my pants with excitement and suspense!  Jade and Amaris made their own May baskets, even though I was in bed--they brought me one, and managed to "May Day" one neighbor!  Way to carry on, girls!

 Amaris is doing well in swimming lessons...she has advanced from Guppy to Minnow.

 Keeping her face in the water has been a challenge, but she's doing better!

 We drove down to Portland for Blair's graduation from Multnomah University...Oh Happy Day!!

 Amaris has the most amazing ideas...it's hot outside...hot enough for juice bars....why do we always lie in the grass?  Why not right on the sidewalk?  Let's try it!  Gwenna will follow whatever Amaris suggests!

 One of life's simple pleasures--the sprinkler!

 Jade never wants a ride herself, but is ALWAYS willing to give wagon rides...and she makes sure they are luxurious, with lots of pillows and blankets.

 This is our 3rd season attending Tacoma City Ballet's Storybook Ballet.  The kids come dressed up as any storybook character, and at the end, the dancers invite them all onto the stage to dance with them--such fun!

 Jade got down with a monkey from Babar's Wedding!

 Watching Beuaty and the Beast with Caleb--it was his first time, so he was covering his ears, just in case...he wanted a girl on each side.

 After 3 days on a little Seattle get-away, Lonnie and I returned in time to take the girls out to dinner at the Italian restaurant that CJ and Xandra both work at.

 Jade's first session as a "Shark"...in just a few short months, she's advanced from Guppy to Minnow to Fish to Flying Fish to Shark, which is the highest class--after she graduates from Shark, she will be ready for swim team!

 Jade made a beautiful little fairy house out of things from the garden--lovely!

 Amaris enjoying some early morning bubble blowing.  Notice the trailer.  Tori and Rhodri, while looking for a house to buy, are saving money by living in a trailer on our patio.  That means Amaris gets to play with Gwenna and Amelia before school each day!  When she was out on this morning, I was struck by her PJs!! look how short they are!  I remember those same PJs dragging over her feet when she first started spending the night with us in 2011...she's growing so fast!

 Jade's field day on her last day of school.  She is one competitive girl!

 Baseball bat relay.

 Water balloon toss.

 Well, the Sprayground was turned on, so how could she NOT run through it??!

 This is Jade's project!  She thought about how to build it, leveled some existing brick patio, then built the walls up for a beautiful brick fire pit!!

 Here it is finished and full of fire!  We had a great hot dog and s'mores feast!

 This picture was just taken tonight before bedtime--Amaris is a wonderful Auntie--she is careful and watchful and gentle.