Basketball Season 2014-Claire

This is Claire's first year doing basketball and I have to say we were all impressed with her "go get 'em" spirit.  The girl runs fast, works hard, and plays aggressively!

We weren't surprised when she earned the "Hustle" award in her third week of playing!!  So, so proud of this girl!!

First Day | Back to School 2013

It is that time of year, time to head back to school!!  To say the girls were excited would be quite an understatement.  We felt like we had successfully "done" summer (hopefully some updates on that coming soon) and the last few weeks were pretty lazy... just like summer days should be!  But, as the teacher assignments came in and the school supplies started showing up at Target, the conversation turned to excitement over which friends would be in their classes, what would be different about this year and last year, and the little things about school that they have missed over the summer.

Thankfully, I have two incredible girls that truly LOVE to learn and enjoy school!

Hannah is starting third grade.  She is looking forward to learning to write in cursive, go on several field trips, and to having the same teacher that she did last year!  She has set some personal goals for herself of getting straight A's all year and finishing all of her Math Facts by the end of the first quarter... With this being her 4th year at the same school, she feels pretty confident in knowing the routine and expectations.  In her words, this is going to be a great year!

Claire is starting first grade.  She is looking forward to being at school all day and all the fun things that come along with that... two recesses, eating lunch at school, recess with the second graders!  She doesn't quite understand what all she will be expected to do in the classroom, but is eager to learn, and I have a feeling she will enjoy all of the first grade work as much as her sister did!  I am kind of nervous for her about the adjustment of being at school for 7 hours, but she has always been fairly easy at adapting and going with the flow.  Once we get back on a good bedtime schedule, I think the longer day will be awesome for her!

Having two kids in school ALL DAY will be an adjustment for me as well.  I am so used to picking Claire up from school mid-day and having her around as my lunch buddy or to bug me in the afternoon about when we would be picking up her sister.  While I know many parents (myself included) count down the days until they will be able to have chunk of time to themselves, it is also a transition to a completely different season of life and in some ways is bittersweet.

I will update on the first day/week of school soon, Happy FIRST DAY to all!

Claire's Last Day of Kindergarten

 Kindergarten is over.  First Grade here we come!!

Claire and her BFF Julia

A great friend this year, Madilyn

And a final photo with her teacher, Mrs. Jennings

Claire, we are so, so proud of how much you have learned and grown in Kindergarten.  We are so excited for the coming years of school!  You are a sweet, bright, and imaginative girl who follows the rules and you are a good friend.  Congratulations on a great year!!

Future Timberwolves

On the last day of school everyone lines up with their signs and cheers on the sixth graders as they walk through the blow-up timber wolf and symbolically onto seventh grade.  It is really emotional because many of the sixth graders are wiping away tears as they leave the school they have known for the past 7 years.  

My oldest will not be a 6th grader for 4 years, but it was still neat to see the little walk they do and I had the girls stand in front of the timber wolf to get a picture.  

Schooooooooooools OUT for SUMMER!!

For me, this is my absolute FAVORITE time of the year... I LOVE summer!   Fewer obligations, fewer responsibilities, pool time, usually a trip or two... I love having the girls home!

Even so, the last day/week of school can bring on a few tears... only from me mind you... and a bit of a nostalgia and the fear that my kids are growing up way too fast!

Here we have the first day of school and then the last day of school:

Hannah: First day of second grade... (No teeth!)

 Hannah: Last day of second grade

Claire: First day of Kindergarten

Claire: Last day of Kindergarten

Claire's Kindergarten Awards

Kindergarten is winding down, and it is such a bittersweet feeling as a parent.  I LOVE that my kids are growing and changing, yet it is sad to say good-bye to certain seasons of life.  

Claire worked very hard this year!  She has grown academically by leaps and bounds.  She has become a reader and writer, learned how to write all of her numbers, and count to 100+. She earned a "sustained mastery" rating on all the categories they grade in Kindergarten... and we are so proud of her!

Kindergartners at our school can earn four awards.  

1. ABC award: Write, read, and recognize all ABC's

2. 123 award: Write and recognize to 30 and count to 100

3. Spelling Bee award: Know how to read and spell correctly their 35 sight words

4. Principal's Reading Award: Read a (certain level) book to the principal.

Claire earned all four awards, and was recognized in a ceremony with the principal...

They sang a few songs...

And took a few pictures with their family and teacher :-)

 Nanny and Poppy were able to come and see Claire's ceremony...

We were sad that Daddy was out of town and couldn't celebrate, but so so proud of Claire and excited to be moving up to the big First Grade!!

Valentine Love

Happy Valentine's Day from the Frank family!  

Valentine's Day is a fun holiday for me, I really like holidays that don't take a whole lot of preparation in order to be fun and special.  Most years we call in a Me & Ed's heart shaped pizza and enjoy some candy and call it a day.  We didn't do that this year... it was a pretty crazy day.  Muffins with Mom, two class parties, and three hours of dance pretty much wore me out even for picking up a pizza and we decided to use a Groupon to a restaurant near to the girl's dance studio that was thankfully not busy at all.  

This year, the kids wanted to do their own Valentine cards... so I didn't come up with anything to crafty or over the top.  Hannah chose some Phineas and Ferb treats and Claire chose some gummy bracelets... Target choices: easy peasy.

I do have a tradition of taking a Valentine's day photo of the girls.  This year I was a bit lazy and almost decided against it.  There is something about a tradition though, it's hard to think about the future and know that there will be a gap if I don't do it again this year.  We went out for a little mini-session - I might try to share a few more from that later on.  

But for your viewing enjoyment, here are the previous four years worth of photos...

{2009}

{2010}

{2011}

{2012}

Open House and Day 100

The last week has brought us to two milestones in school... Open House & the 100th Day!

Open House:
I remember open house normally being held in the spring, so I am not entirely sure why they held it in January this year... maybe as an end of the semester check-in for the parents?  Regardless, it was fun to go in and see what the girls have been up to at school, and extra special for John to pop in and say hi to their teachers and to see what they are up to and where they are spending their time.  (I am at the school daily, so it isn't as much of a mystery to me.)

• Claire: Claire's classroom was DECKED OUT!  Wintry-themed projects galore, lots of samples of her writing, several things to see: cubby, art room, library area, etc.  Claire was SO excited to spot all of the work that was hers, and show us her cubby and all the special things about her classroom.  I did my best to get a photo whenever we found something with her name on it :0)  Claire is excelling in Kindergarten and really getting the hang of reading, writing, spelling, and her counting/number recognition.  I am so proud of how much she has matured just since the beginning of the school year and can't wait to see where she will be in a few short months!

• Hannah: We went to Hannah's classroom next and again were not disappointed with the projects and work covering the walls and on the desks.  Hannah's teacher had printed out a 'scavenger hunt' checklist for the kids to take the parents on, and Hannah took her list very seriously by showing us all around the class and each and every assignment she was supposed to.  Hannah even had to race me on a multiplication math facts sheet!  We were so busy on our hunt that my photo taking really died in Hannah's class, but I did get the photo on the left of her alliteration sentence using the first letter of her name.  I thought it was really cute!  Han is doing so well in school and we are so very proud of her drive to go above and beyond what is expected of her.  We are also thankful for a teacher that recognizes her potential and pushes her to continually improve.

100th Day: February 4, 2013
• The photo on the right is of Hannah dressed like she is 100 to celebrate the 100th Day of School.  It was a little tough to come up with something for this, but we did the best we could with a cardigan, glasses, necklace, and a bun in her hair!  I can't believe we are over halfway through the school year already... it honestly has gone by SO fast!  

Premiere Bridal Fashion Show | Gaga Chic

This was a fun event for the girls and a few of their friends...

Actually, Claire was the one asked by a local children's boutique, Gaga Chic, to participate in the Premiere Bridal fashion show featuring their clothing.  Once we went in for our fitting, Hannah was also given the opportunity to be involved in the day! The event was held at the Convention Center and there were several hundred people watching each of two shows that day!

Both of their dresses were beautiful ivory gowns and they had their hair done to include some vintage hair pieces... so fun!

I personally LOVED Claire's hairpiece... so pretty!

Claire, doing a 'pose' on the runway... yes it is her...even if you can barely see her, lol

And Hannah is doing a twirl here, again barely visible, but she is doing a great job!

Who knows if they will ever have this opportunity again, but they had a blast getting all dressed up for a fun Fashion Show!!

Snow Day!!

We were hoping for a lot of snow for the day snow trip we were planning over Christmas vacation.  Last year we stayed at a cabin in Shaver for three days and the was absolutely NO SNOW... it was a major bummer!  So, when we had a nice storm the week before our planned trip, I was pretty excited!

Chains were required at the top of the four lane (for future reference) and we John and Brian did what we thought was a great job putting them on in just a few minutes.  There was even a 'mountain man' walking by with his dogs that looked at their handiwork and approved.  Off we went!

We found a spot to get out and look at the view when John saw that one of the chains was gone... what?!?!

How do you lose one chain and not even hear it?  Needless to say, we did just fine on the snow with just the one chain, however for sanity I wouldn't suggest it to anyone.

Off again we went to look for an acceptable snow play area... my criteria: not too busy, but not too deserted either, and a safe distance from the lake.

We found a good spot and were ready to go!  We had four snow toys between the six of us, so we shared and paired up with the girls, there was even a good area where we made our own little sled run.

After awhile, we stopped for a lunch break and headed down the road a little more towards Huntington Lake (sp?).  We found another area to play, but it seemed so much more chilly!  We didn't last in that area long, the snow was so cold when going down the sled run that it burned your face and both girls ended up in tears.  It was even too powdery to make any sort of acceptable snowman so we decided to call it a day, head home, and warm up our toes :)

Because of the crazy burning snow in the face, the girls say they don't like going to the snow now.  I know I can change their minds, however one snow trip per year is generally my limit.  While I think it is super beautiful and even fun to play in once in awhile, it is still frozen and tough to move in - not exactly something I would want to live in forever.  So, changing their minds might have to wait until next year!

We had an Elf, he was rarely on a shelf...

This was the third year that our family has had the pleasure of having an elf come for the month of December.  Each year is a different elf, each elf does things differently, I'm not into the creepy "elf is watching you" stuff so we just don't do it that way.

This year, our elf was named Zeke and he was always being silly...

1. Showed up on Red (our stuffed reindeer) with a note explaining who he was.
2. The girls had written him a note back and left him some cookies, so he was caught making a mess of the cookies.
3. Drew in white-board marker on some photos... glasses, mustaches, etc.
4. Caught hanging outside the window, must have locked himself out

5. Read a story to some Barbies (Barbies not pictured)

6. Switched our stockings for underwear

7. Toilet papered the Christmas tree

8. Caught hanging from some furniture

9. Wrote a message in M&Ms

10. Locked himself in Toby's crate

11. Fishing in the potty with a candy cane, turned the water blue

12. Hiding in a cabinet, wearing glow bracelets

13. Completed a homework page, did it wrong but wrote 100% on the top
14. Brought a family movie for everyone to enjoy
15. Made a flour angel
16. Hid inside a glass in the cabinet

17. Hanging out with friends
18. Hanging upside down on our Christmas banner (Made by A Hint of Whimsy!!)
19.Took a bath (or just made a bed) out of marshmallows
20. Hid in the tree

And then see below for the last few days... 

This year was fun and really took minimal effort aside from picking up a few treats and small gifts which were totally optional.  The girls enjoyed just finding him every morning.  On the last day, along with the Barbies, he left a note explaining the real reason for Christmas.  He said he hoped they had fun, but reminded them to focus on Jesus and remember that we celebrate with gifts because the wise men brought gifts when Jesus was born.

This was our first elf that did something every day, the previous ones came just a few times throughout the month.  Each time we have an elf the girls discuss at great length that not everyone gets one and they never know what to expect... so it has been a fun tradition that can change each year.

**Most ideas for elf placement were found though searching Pintrest, or modified from an idea found there.  Although I would love to claim credit, most nights I scrambled to remember to place the elf**