End of the School Year

 We kicked off May with Dan's and my 19th anniversary!  We didn't do anything special that evening since it was mid-week, and we had planned a getaway the following weekend. We'd asked Dan's parents to babysit on Friday and my parents to babysit on Saturday. We would return in time to celebrate our nephew, Benjamin's, high school graduation on Mother's Day Sunday. However, all our plans had to be cancelled when Emma came down with a virus and high fever that Friday night. Her fever lasted all weekend long, poor kid. It was sad, but we were very glad we found out she was sick before we went away! My parents did babysit for us a couple of weekends later, which we appreciated!

While we were at home that weekend, Hallie and Emma enjoyed making Mother's Day gifts of essential oils for me, my mom, and Dan's mom. They each chose special scents for us and added the ingredients to colorful roller bottles. 

Emma looks impressed with Hallie's skill!  Both the girls did a great job!

On Mother's Day, they gave me this "treasure box" with my essential oils and a lovely handmade bracelet.

Emma made this beautiful rabbit pinch pot in art class for me. She pinched the clay with her fingers to form it all by herself. It looks so real!

Hallie made this artistic card for me.

"I love my mom because she makes cookies. She takes me places."

And Emma wrote these sweet words for me.

Dan helped the girls make breakfast in bed on Mother's Day (blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes!) and surprised me with the latest Spider-Man movie.

After breakfast, Emma and I spent hours at urgent care, just to make sure her fever wasn't the result of an infection. It wasn't, thankfully!

Emma recovered from her virus 24 hours before her field trip day! Her class visited the Norfolk Zoo, which was tons of fun.

Posing on the giant snake statue

Finding some bamboo to climb

More climbing with friends

And even more climbing in the "wild animal cage" with her entire class.

The sign says "WARNING: Dangerous Animal Inside. Human: Homo Sapiens. Wild and unpredictable. Prone to erratic behavior and mood swings. Extremely cranky. Easily agitated. CAUTION: Keep fingers and limbs away. Given an inch - will take a mile." Haha!

A picture of fun friends

The most memorable moment of the field trip for most of the kids was when the smaller giraffe in this photo started peeing ... and the larger giraffe behind it DRANK THE PEE! No, I didn't catch it on video or in a photo. I was too busy gagging and saying "What is going ON here? Avert your innocent eyes! No, I don't know why it would drink someone else's pee. That's DISGUSTING!!" 

Anyway, the very next day, Hallie's class had a field trip to Bergey's Farm. Since we'd gone recently when Meera and Steve came to visit, we knew just what to look forward to.

We rode the hayride as a class. 

And quickly found Hallie's favorite baby bunnies to snuggle with!

They also had cages with kittens that day!

We walked around the farm, visiting sheep, goats, alpacas, and pigs.

Swinging with a friend

We had a fun day!

A week before school ended, Hallie had her Kindergarten Graduation ceremony

Waving at her fans as she walked down the aisle.

She was part of a small group who led the class in reciting Psalm 23.

We're proud of our sweet girl and how much she's learned and grown this year! She's officially a 1st grader!

Hallie and her teacher, Mrs. Boyce

StoneBridge School had one last spirit day and pep rally, and Dan and the girls were triplets in their matching shirts.

And finally, it was the last day of school and end of the year parties.

Mrs. Fox had a "Red, White, and Blue" party and presented each student with a character award, a list of qualities that their classmates noticed about them, and a photo album of their 3rd grade year.

She gave Emma the award for "Creativity."

Mrs. Boyce had a luau party for her class, and presented each student with a character award, also.

Hallie received the "Observant" award.

The girls will miss their teachers and classmates, but summer camp starts soon, and they'll have a great time with friends, activities, and field trips!

Special School Days

 Emma and Hallie both had special school days in April. When their classes finish a novel, they have an event to celebrate. Emma's 3rd grade class read "Sebastian Bach, the Boy from Thuringia" and participated in "Bach Tea Day."  It was a formal tea with fancy clothes, food, and teas, and the students were graded on using their best manners and dancing the Minuet with each other. 

Emma looked beautiful, but she was not super excited about this fancy event. I can only imagine how the boys were feeling. Heh!

The food was delicious!

The gentlemen in the class escorted the young ladies to their seats.

We enjoyed a fancy tea with our girl 

Mrs. Fox, Emma's 3rd grade teacher. I was her room mom this year, and helped her coordinate the parties and special days.

And the moment most of the students were dreading - dancing the Minuet with someone from the opposite sex. It was adorable.

After their big day, the 3rd graders performed in the lower school Spring Concert that night. 

Hallie's Kindergarten class finished reading "Little House in the Big Woods," and celebrated with "Pioneer Day". We dressed up in pioneer costumes and the kids spent the day going to different activity and craft stations.  They made bread and butter, sewed, punched tin, embossed leather, washed and hung laundry, painted a fence, and learned about hunting and natural medicines.

My little pioneer girl

Dan got to dance a country dance with Hallie

I helped the kids at the laundry and fence painting station, and watched Hallie do a couple of other activities.

All the Kindergarten pioneers!

Steve and Meera's Visit!

 My brother, Steve, and his daughter, Meera, spent some of their Spring Break with us in Virginia! Meera (age 7) falls right between Emma and Hallie's ages, and they're like three peas in a pod when they get together. We missed Steve's wife, Sheila, and their son, Rowan, but the two of them were able to spend time with Sheila's parents that week.  

These girls were inseparable for 5 days straight!

Steve and Meera arrived on Emma's 9th birthday! Since Meera's 7th birthday was earlier that week, we had a joint party for the two of them.

One of Emma's gifts was this fort-building kit. Put it together, throw some sheets or blankets over it, and voila! Somehow the girls all squeezed in there to play.

Emma also received a Magic Mixie, that revealed a special stuffed animal after she completed the magic spell.

Emma and Hallie loved having sleepovers with Meera!

Meera requested that we go to a farm again during her visit, so we introduced her and Steve to Bergey's Farm in Chesapeake.

The spring babies were so cute, and we had a blast! 

There were rather large piglets who ran to cuddle with whomever sat down in their pen with them.

Meera making some new friends.

Hallie and Meera were in heaven holding these tiny fluffy bunnies. We went back several times to hold them again before we left.

Emma loved the baby goats the best. She was really good at catching and holding them.

Hallie was the only one young enough to have a pony ride this time.

We took a wagon ride around the farm before we left.

A photo of the adults playing Quirkle. We spent half our time at my parents' house and half our time at our house. I took time off from work during their visit, but Dan worked each weekday and joined us at night.

Just before Steve and Meera flew back to Boston, we celebrated Easter Sunday with them. After church, we drove to Dan's brother, Tim's, house for a big lunch and an Easter egg hunt.

It was a pretty day to play outside, and Meera jumped right into the fun with the Jester cousins.

The kids holding up their bags of loot from the Easter egg hunt

Half the eggs had money and half had candy inside. I'm not sure which one Meera was more excited about.

We watched "Hop" that night and had our last sleepover. The girls dressed as Easter bunnies and were singing "I Want Candy!" (one of the songs from "Hop")

Before Steve and Meera flew home, the girls had most of the day to play, jump on our trampoline, and dye Easter eggs together. We always love our time with Steve and his family, and we can't wait to see them again!