Annie’s Last Day of 2nd Grade!

June 15th – it came so fast! I can’t really believe that Annie is finished with second grade already! She has had a fabulous year this year! She told me last week that she loved school and her favorite subjects were reading and math!  Mrs. Hansen has been a dynamic teacher for Annie! She has encouraged her to do more in her academics…not just settle…but to be self-motivated and “always learning!” 

Annie has accomplished reading dozens of chapter books this year, some of her favorites being: “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane,” “The Tale of Despereaux” and “Because of Winn Dixie.” She was involved in an advanced reading group called, “Read-About” where she worked on, and presented, her research papers this year in front of her class. Topics included: the “Duck-Billed Platypus” and “Red Blood Cells.”

Annie is excited about summer vacation…but has already told me that she wants to know her multiplication facts by the time she gets back to school in the fall!  Definitely a good goal to have!

Mrs. Hansen and Annie the last day of second grade.

Mommy brought Nathan and Panda Express lunch to Annie at Field Day on her last day at school. We sat with our friends, Hailey and Lee Iver.

Mt. Angel Abbey

June 12th – Part Two

After hiking Silver Creek Falls we were on our way home. The sky was clear and as we stopped at a stop sign ready to make our turn toward Salem Ammon said, “What if we go to Mt. Angel and go up to the Abbey.” So we did.  As we approached the abbey on the hill we drove by…stopping at each of the “Stations of the Cross” and talked about what the pictures represented and the important sacrifice Christ made for us.

The view from the top of the mountain was breathtaking. Looking to the north we could clearly pick out Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens and Mt Rainier.   

A truly amazing end to our wonderful day as a family!

Silver Creek Falls

June 12th – Part One

The first really beautiful day of the year we decided to go for a hike as a family! We packed some lunch and headed out to Silver Creek Falls!  This was going to be Annie and Nathan’s first “real” hike.  The 2.5 mile loop was ahead and they were excited to stretch their legs!

The day couldn’t have been more perfect! The South Falls was gorgeous and as we hiked down the trail behind the falls the wind was blowing enough that the mist sprayed us as we ran through. The kids laughed and giggled…thinking it was extremely funny that we were behind a waterfall and getting wet!

  

I have to say, the kids did great!  Going uphill on the way back was a little bit difficult and we had to take a few more stops along the way…but really our kids were troopers and we promised there would be more hikes to come during the summer ahead!!!

S’MORE FUN with the Farris/Fenske Families

Totally spontaneous evening together began with dinner and ended with a beautiful evening roasting marshmallows in the backyard. By the way…check out the size of these marshmallows! They are HUGE!!! Thanks Grandpa and Grandma Pearson!  We had a blast. The kids had fun too.

Mmmmm….nothing much better than a S’more!  Totally makes me want to go camping! I have to say the kids were a riot! Nathan and Annie were posing like crazy for pictures. Garrett was having fun doing pirate faces and the funny face Micah is making below is his “fire” face.

 

Fun with friends

I love time with friends. We went to the Knowles home for a game night where Ammon and I played a new game “Ticket to Ride – Europe edition.” We had great fun with Tony and Rachel just hanging out, talking, and competing for the "longest train and most destinations.”  

However, I have to say the kids had a blast too.  We brought their bikes out to the Knowles country home and all the kids took turns flying down the hill, up and over a leaf pile (made into a primitive jump).  They played and played and played!

Nathan, Josh, Annie and Isaac

We look forward to many more of these fun days ahead!

Sportin’ a new style!

School is out and mom has relented to the “Fohawk.” 

Nathan really has been asking for the fohawk for several weeks now.  I know it’s just hair…but the conservative side of me just couldn’t let go. I had to process. So I processed…and then the weekend after school was out…Daddy made the fohawk a reality.

When I asked Nathan where he got the idea he told me, “Mom it’s just so cool. I look like a rock star!” So that was my clue that he got the idea from our Rock Band game.  At some point while he was rockin’ out to “The Eye of the Tiger” he decided the cartoon rocker on the game was the amazing “look” he was wanted.

Time has gone by…I chuckle. It really is kind of cute!

PS. Annie has taken to “rockin” out too. I am just extremely thankful there are no requests for dyed hair, ripped jeans or piercings at this time.

Nathan’s End of Pre-school Program

Friday, May 28th

I was so proud of Nathan at his program!  He stood and faced the audience, sang all his songs, even did some of the motions.  He also was chosen to lead everyone in the “Pledge of Allegiance.” 

Pre-school has been so good for Nathan!  He had great teachers! Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Rose have been such a perfect fit. They really helped Nathan “come out of his shell” this year. So quiet and shy at the beginning of the year.  However, by the end of the year Nathan was still quiet; but more confident and interactive with his classmates.

The program his class put on was combination of a lot of fun songs they learned throughout the year. Nathan said his favorite songs were “Gray Squirrel” and the “Snowman song.”

It’s hard to believe my baby is going to start Kindergarten next fall!