June 2019

Even though school is out we always manage to pack a LOT into the month of June.  It is by far our busiest summer month.  Thankfully we had about a week off in between each of our big events.

Our first big activity was VBS.  Our overall theme this year was Search and Rescue.  The girls loved every minute and had so much fun.  I volunteered in the preschool music room again (I think this was year 6) and we had a blast too.  Here's just a few pictures from the week.

Our Sunday School class spent a Saturday morning volunteering at Feed My Starving Children.  We packed boxes of bagged food for children in various countries.  It was lots of fun and we loved that our kids could come help as well.  It's definitely something we'll do again.

We like to occasionally take the girls out for a fun breakfast.  Our favorite place to go is the little donut shop down the street.  They owners are super nice and they always decorate their donuts with the cutest designs.

Our next crazy busy week was music camp.  This week is packed full of non-stop action.  In 4 days the kids learn and perform an entire musical. They spend the mornings learning the songs and then get to do special interest classes in the afternoon.  The cast spends many extra hours learning all their lines.  Then the week ends with a performance for parents and friends.  We always have so much fun....but it is tiring.  In addition to helping as a leader, I also taught an interest class.  I did Black Light Rhythm, which was basically using various instruments and doing rhythm activities in dark....everything glowed.  Hannah has been waiting forever to be old enough to audition for a drama part.  It was a lot of extra time, but she loved it and can't wait to do it again.  Just a few pictures of all the fun.

It's been a few years since our church did a big patriotic program so they decided to do one last weekend. We combined orchestras with another local church and I think we had about 45 people total just playing instruments. We also had a good size choir and the small children't ensemble join us for one song too.  Both girls sang and Nathan and I played.  It was lots of fun and we played some pretty songs.

May 2019

This was another whirlwind month.  May is always crazy and almost as busy as December.

We started off with the girls piano recital.  Abigail was excited to play this year and not just listen.  😁They both did really well....all the students did.  Then later that weekend the kid's choir performed their spring musical.  It's always amazing to see what the kids can pull off.  Both Hannah and Abigail had a small solo and Abigail's dance class performed too.

The music teacher at our school worked to get a grant and brought in a really cool program called Day of Drums.  Each grade level went to the gym for 45 minutes during the day to drum.  Each child got their own djembe drum to use.  The guy leading them did an awesome job and all the students were so excited.  I was subbing that day so I got to sneak in a watch (and take a few pics).

I helped at both girls end of year parties, but didn't take any pictures.  It is REALLY nice to be out of school already.  We started a week earlier in August so we could be done before Memorial Day.  Both girls had a wonderful year and had fabulous teachers.  We couldn't have asked for more!!  Check out how much they've grown since the beginning of the year.

We spent Memorial Day with my family and had a blast as usual. The girls couldn't WAIT to get in the pool.  Hannah jumped right in and swam around like a little fish.  Abigail had to do a little practice to remember what she was doing.  But by the end she was able to swim the entire length of the pool.  They will be spending lots of time in the water this summer!

November 2018

Hannah participated in a piano competition at the beginning of the month.  This was a unique contest in that everyone who entered in her division played the exact same piece.  Hannah worked really hard, learned a lot, and ended up winning 4th place.  So proud of all her hard work.

I also got to go on another field trip with Hannah's class.  There is a retired electric train car in the middle of downtown Plano.  They give tours of the car and there is a small museum behind it as well.  3rd grade has been studying life in early America so it fit in with their curriculum nicely.  This train car and museum are located at a park our family has visited several times, but we've never gone inside.  It was fun to get the tour and kids also got to picnic lunch and play at the park for a few minutes.  It was a really fun field trip!

One of the girls good friends from school got a part in a play at a local theater.  The play was Phantom Toll Booth which was one of Nathan's favorite books as a kid so he joined us for the show. It was so fun to see sweet Ava perform.  She did a great job and clearly LOVES the stage.

LOVE having the entire week of Thanksgiving off of school.  We typically stay in town, but we always try to squeeze in some family fun.  Monday we went to the Heard Museum.  Daddy technically still have to work (from home) that day, but we was able take a break a join us.  Dinosaurs Live was the featured exhibit.  It was chilly outside, but sunny.  We had lots of fun!

Friday we headed to the Perot Museum.  We went back in January and only saw about half the exhibits.  It did not disappoint we had lots of fun!  I think our favorite parts were the human body and the engineering section.

At the end of the summer Nathan and I had the privilege of praying with both girls as they put their trust in Jesus!!  When children make this decision our church has them go through a little class and then meet with the children's minister to make sure they fully understand the decision they have made.  Once those things are done you can then get baptized.  It was such and awesome morning watching BOTH Hannah and Abigail proclaim their faith in front of the church.  And I LOVE LOVE that they got to do it together!  I posted the videos to FB so I'll just share a few photos here. (photo credit Jack Hess)

July 2018

We continued our 4th of July tradition by attending the Plano Lions Club parade.  Can't beat arriving 10 minutes early and not fighting traffic to leave. 😁

I found these ADORABLE dresses at my favorite consignment store.  They aren't made by the same company but I thought they matched really well.  So I insisted my mom take pictures.  😋

Another 4th of July tradition....staying up late to watch the fireworks from a nearby parking lot (again no crowd or need to arrive early).  Since we had to stay up late we watched a family movie, this year was 1982 Annie.  The girls LOVED it.

Speaking of traditions....we started a new one this year:  Christmas in July.  Summer in TX is HOT and we all love Christmas so why not squeeze in some extra fun.  In reality we wanted an excuse to make gingerbread cookies again when we weren't so busy.  In true "go big or go home" fashion we dressed in holiday colors, listened to Christmas music, and wore Santa hats.  We had so much fun and the cookies were yummy!!

We took a trip up to Arkansas to visit Daddy's family.  The girls always love hanging out with Paw Paw.  Their favorite part is playing with all his beanie babies.  And we always appreciate Tommy letting us stay with him.  This year his blueberry bush was blooming so the girls got to pick (and eat) blueberries right off the bush. FUN!  And we got to take some home too. 

One of the local school districts got out really late this year, so it pushed some church activities back later in the summer.  Music camp is usually in June, but this year it was in July. Our theme this year was Danny and the Shacks.  We learned all about Daniel and his friends and how they trusted God.  Abigail was super excited to be an official participant this year and not just my helper.

We ended the month by checking out one of the museums that is part of our membership.  This museum was in Ft Worth about an hour away.  They had lots of neat hands-on exhibits.  It was a fun day.

May 2018

The month of May is always CRAZY busy and this year was no different.  I can't believe another school year is almost over.  It seems like just yesterday we were getting ready to start school.  I am however excited about summer and getting to spend more time with my girls!

The month started off with a bang with 3 events in the same week.  The kindergarten classes at school did a performance for all the parents entitled "Going On a Bear Hunt."  It was so cute and they all did a great job.  Our music teacher is awesome and I know she worked really hard on getting the kids ready for this.  I didn't get any great pictures, but I promise Abigail is up there in the middle.  😁

The next day we got to hear Hannah play at her piano recital.  She did awesome as did the rest of the kids.  Hannah truly loves to perform and doesn't seem to get nervous before playing like I always did.  Abigail is counting the days until she gets to start lessons....mid June....so very soon!

Then that Sunday the kids choir at church did their spring musical.  This year it was called Let's Rock and taught the kids about how we all have to work together as the body of Christ.  No one job or talent is the most important.  Hannah sang another solo and Abigail's class this semester was black light puppets.  They performed a song too.  Abigail is the orange puppet in the front between the skeleton and green one.  Hannah picked a drawing class this time and loved it.

Every grade at our school gets to go on two field trips each year.  One is to the Outdoor Learning Center which ties into the science curriculum.  They have nature trails and lots of indoor rescue animals.  It's a neat place.  Both of Hannah's field trips ended up being in May this year and I was able to go on both...yeah!  I am a little sad that Hannah only wanted to sit with me on the bus on the way back to school on both trip and with a friend on the way there.  Guess that means she's growing up...sniff!!  Their other field trip was to the Sci Tech Discovery Center.  They had lots of cool hands on exhibits. We were there about a little over an hour and then we headed to a nearby park for a picnic and some playtime.  It was a state testing day for older kids at school so it was really nice to be gone almost all day. It was a really fun day!! Here's few pictures from both trips.

I volunteered at Field Day by myself this year.  Abigail was super excited to be an official participant this year and not just my assistant. 😁  Everyone had lots of fun despite the heat and humidity.  Let's just say I had to come home and take another shower when I was finished.....yuck!!

We finished out the year with the end of year party.  Kindergarten had a summer theme with a popsicle craft and then they got to eat real popsicles for their treat too.  2nd grade went super easy and had ice cream sundaes and then played on the playground. 

Even though both girls LOVE school they are ready for more play time and a relaxed schedule.  We have several things planned so we'll stay busy this summer.  I did my substitute renewal training last week so I'm all set to work again next year.  I really enjoyed being back in the classroom but with the flexibility to do volunteer things as a parent too.