Parent Conference and Perfect Attendance

Last week was parent conferences at the school. The morning of our conferences we asked the girls if there was anything they wanted to tell us about school before we found out anything from their teachers. LOL. Hannah confessed to being worried about her grade in Math and that the teacher might tell us that she talks too much. And sure enough, when we met with Hannah's teacher, while she still has an excellent grade in Math, it has room to improve, but the teacher did say she was rather "chatty". LOL. Her report card showed 4 A's (Advanced) and 1 P (Proficient). So far she's having a great 5th grade school year and is doing rather nicely in her 5th/6th grade combination class.

This morning, was our school's perfect attendance assembly and once again, both our girls were recognized. In the intermediate grades they raffle off a $50 gift card as well as two $25 gift cards for EACH grade level, 4th-6th grade. Hannah won a $25.00 gift card and she chose it for Game Stop! It was nice to have both our girls be recognized and actually win something (Rachel won another bike!) because it's sometimes a challenge to get to school on time...everyday. Living five miles from the school and dealing with the stop and go freeway and sometimes congested side streets can pose a bit of a challenge everyday, cutting it really close a time or two. So it was nice that our efforts were rewarded! LOL.

Class Performance

Because the girls attend a school with an emphasis on visual and performing arts, every school year, their class is required to put on some sort of performance. For the last few years, several classes have come together to put on one huge show.

This year, fifteen classes participated, performing eleven different numbers. Some of the classes combined.

The dress rehearsal and performance for the rest of the school not in the performance was this morning. And this evening was the performance for parents and families was this evening. The place was packed and no doubt there had to have been over 600 people in the audience.

Steven was off today because we had the girls' parent/teacher conferences this afternoon, and because I needed to take some pictures of Hannah's class for our yearbook page, he came with me and watched the performance this morning as well as this evening.

There were classes that did African Folk Dances, a class that did The Charleston, a class that did a movement piece with a parachute, a movement piece to the theme music of Pirates of the Caribbean, and a few others. Hannah's class was the final act in the performance. Her class did a movement piece to Europe's "The Final Countdown".They did an amazing job!!! Even better this evening! Hannah alway loves being a part of performances like this, but still refuses to try out for any of the big productions our school offers. At the end of their piece this evening, she had a huge smile on her face, one we don't usually get to see as she has such a reserved personality.

These performances are always so good. So much time and energy and thought goes into them. Nothing makes a Mama prouder than to see one of her kids performing. Next Up: Rachel's Christmas performance next month! That outta be cute too!

Bates Nut Farm

This time every year, I like to go to the nearby pumpkin patch and enjoy the fall colors and the pumpkins and take advantage of getting some nice backdrops for pictures of the girls. This year, we ventured to a new pumpkin patch, Bates Nut Farm.It was a fun outing as we made it into a girls trip, going with our friend Paula, and Amy and her daughter, Bethany. The pumpkin patch is about an hour away, but when you have a car load of girls and their Mama's the drive made for a good time of conversation, and lots of giggles from the way back of the van.

Once we arrived to the Pumpkin Patch, we meandered by the many craft booths and into the couple of stores they had. Surprisingly, that took well over an hour and by then the girls were complaining they were hungry. So it was back to the car for our picnic lunches we'd packed. We decided rather than cart our stuff and try to find a picnic table, we set up right outside the car for the girls while the Mom's ate lunch sitting in the car. After lunch, we made our way to the enormous patch of pumpkins! They had all sorts of sizes and shapes and colors. By then, the sun started to make it's presence and made for some pretty pictures of my own pumpkins in the midst of the pumpkins. The sun only stayed out for that patch of time we were exploring the pumpkins and then it became cloudy and overcast once again. One of the things I really liked about this farm was that it offered packages. For $8.75, the girls got to take a tractor pulled hay ride, explore the straw maze, and bring home a nice size pumpkin! The girls enjoyed the hay ride and had a blast in the straw maze!Going to Bates Nut Farm was a fun adventure! We had a great day with our friends and it was nice to feel like we got away if only for the day!

Walk-A-Thon

The girls' school held a Walk-A-Thon yesterday in attempts to raise money for the school. We're hoping this event proves to be a big enough success that we won't have to do any other fundraisers through the year. Time will tell as the pledges and monies will now start pouring in.

The 5th and 6th graders walked the same track, the lower field of our playground. With music playing loudly, and concession booths spread about the grounds, balloons, and parents misting the walkers with squirt bottles, it was a very festive event and a lot of fun was had by all. Hannah walked a total of ten laps, injuring her ankle on the last lap, thanks to a gopher hole. But despite the twisted ankle on the last lap around, she said she had a fun time and enjoyed walking with her friends. Gramma stopped by the school to show support for her girlies and when the event was done, she took them home with her and gave them cool showers and cold water and fresh clothes, while I had clean up work to do. THANKS MOM!!! I appreciated that SO MUCH!Thank You Papa and Gramma and Papa Steve for your pledges for our Walk-A-Thon!!!

New Uniform

Hannah's new Tae Kwon Do uniform finally came in last week after months and months of being out of stock. Here she is sporting her new white uniform with her new belt, with her first and last name embroidered on it.

Hannah, 4th degree, junior black belt.

Hannah's School Picture

5th Grade ~ 2010/2011