Kindergarten graduation

Our little girl is growing up!  Emmy graduated from Kindergarten back in June.  I can't believe all the wonderful things she has learned in her first year of school.  It has been a great experience for her.  We couldn't have asked for better Kindergarten teachers.  She learned academics, like reading and math.  They also had specialists who taught martial arts, visual arts, theatre arts, science and technology, piano, singing, and sports.   

 

 

Oh, how we love Miss Tere and Miss Colleen!

Below is a picture of Emmy on her first and last day of Kindergarten.  The visible changes are minor, but all the growth within her is just amazing.  Most importantly, she is so kind, caring and thoughtful.  I sure love being the mama to this little girl!

Pennsylvania Summer Vacation

We had an amazing time on our summer vacation.  Dave and Cheryl were so kind to have Gib, Emmy and Gabby for 23 days and Baby David and me for 10 days.  We relaxed and spent quality time with family, doing lots of different things.  The cousins had a great time spending time together.  It was fun to see the big kids care for the younger kids.  They were so good at making them feel special.  My kids left knowing how much they are loved!

 1. We had Sleep-overs.

 2. Celebrated Emmy's birthday and Gabby's half-birthday.  Grace is a fantastic party-planner.  She was so thoughtful and creative in organizing a perfect party for the girls.  Taylor pleased us with her artistic talent by making a "pin-the-bow-on-Hello-Kitty" poster.  They all helped Cheryl decorate for the party while we were out with the girls.  It was a fun surprise!

 3. Ate lots of good food, including our favorite all-you-can-eat pizza and wings at Adams in Curwensville.  Grace converted me to the Heaven sauce on wings!

4. Watched the parade and fireworks show and rode rides at the Clearfield County fair.  Hands down- the best firework show I've seen.

 

5.  Played at Erwin Park.  Thanks to Taylor, even baby Gib got to cool off by getting his feet wet.

 6. Jumped off First Bridge.  Here, I saw the BIGGEST spider I have ever seen outside of zoo or aquarium cages.  Gib was in the water waiting for Emmy to jump from the third step to him.  He said, "You have got to see the biggest spider I've ever seen, right by Emmy's foot!"  Emmy hopped up to the fourth step and jumped into the water so Gib could protect her from the spider.

 It was quite comical to watch Nick and Avery jump from the bridge.  Taylor showed them up and was the first to step off the top of the bridge.  Go girl-power!

 7. Played and worked in the yard.  The boys lit two bonfires in the backyard.  There was a small explosion when some gasoline ignited in the fire, lifting the large pile of wood and rattling all the windows in the house with its boom.

 



Gib and Dave built a deck on the side of the house.  It looks amazing but, disappointingly, I didn't take a photo. 

 

Overall, a great vacation!  We are so fortunate to have such wonderful family.



Microbiology for Kindergarteners

I've missed posting about so many significant events I thought I would start with where we are currently and fill in the rest, later.  Emmy enjoyed having her Dad come to Kindergarten and teach her class about microbiology and the importance of hand washing.  Each child divided a petri dish into equal halves.  They touched the side labeled "A" with their fingers then washed their hands.  Then they touched the side labeled "B" with clean fingers.  Gib incubated the plates at work for a few days and brought them back to kindergarten so the kids could see the results of their experiment.  It was a great example of the importance of hand washing.  The results were sensory, both sight and smell.  The kids were disgusted by the smell of the organisms.  Can't say I blame them, Pseudomonas and E. coli are super stinky!