Anna Graduates (again!)

Anna has already graduated from Cosmology School but went back to Instructor School so she could teach as well. She graduated from that last week and we loved getting to be there for it. When they called Anna's name everyone clapped and we all cheered extra loud. Right after the crowd got quiet, Ella yells "GO ANNA!" It was so sweet and got lots of awes and laughs. 

Y'all see this really LONG big black curtain behind us? It was set up in the lobby area and is where the graduates stayed before going in the main room. Well, towards the end of the 2 hour graduation McKenna was getting a little wiggly so I took the girls in the lobby to run around. McKenna decides to run through the curtains while grabbing a hold of one. The whole thing comes down! I ran to try and get up under it and so did a few other families in the lobby. I had to put one part back together that completely came undone. Classic Kenna move.

Happy Graduation Anna! Now not only can you cut my hair but you can teach me a few things too! Way to be a CUT above Anna. (bahahaha!)

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Popsicle Stick Puzzles

Ben and Sassy had THE cutest birthday party last weekend. The theme was "we stick together." You know, cause their twins? How cute is that?! Kristen had so many cute details that she will share with y'all soon! (once she gets internet hooked up in her NEW HOUSE!)

I stuck with the stick them for their gifts and made some popsicle stick puzzles. I bought some colored and jumbo popsicle sticks from hobby lobby. I printed off three different pictures that I personalized with my silhouette. I put some packing tape over the top of each picture just to protect it a little bit. 

Once I figured out how many sticks long the picture was I taped them together from the back.

I painted the back of each picture with a layer of mod podge and then stuck it on the sticks. Once they were dry I peeled the tape off the back.

I then took an x-acto knife and cut between each popsicle stick.

McKenna found a new love at the party.

She was cracking me up with the pixy stixs. Every time I looked up she was throwing back another one. She would clog them up so fast with her spit so she would just keep getting more and then checking out which ones weren't clogged. 

Love that kid.

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Memorial Day

First off, just want to say a very late thank you to all of the men and women who have served this country.  We are so thankful for the chance to honor and remember them on memorial day.  

And secondly, this is the latest post in the world.  It has been crazy over here.  whew.  So we are going to go back in the iphoto archives to bring you this exciting post.  (not really exciting, but I just want it documented so I dont forget).

We all went to my in laws lakehouse for the weekend and jeff's sister and family got to come down from colorado to join us.  It was just so much fun and we loved every minute with them.

We fished, swam, tubed, cooked, napped, ran, and lived it up on the water. Such a fun weekend.





We celebrated a few bdays while we were there and ate way too much delicious cake.




On sat night, my parents had tickets to the taylor swift concert that they graciously shared with avery and her friends (and mine!) and we sang our hearts out at the Red tour.  Loved our lives.  Those five- seven year old girls could not contain their excitement and we have since listened to nothing besides tswift.

Overall, it was just amazing weekend.
I will see if I can get something current up here soon...

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Last Day of School

The twins last day of school was a few weeks ago.  We could not wait to even half way start summer but it was definitely a bitter sweet day knowing we would never go back to their school.  We have absolutely loved their school here and I wish so badly that they could go to kindergarten there.  The teachers have been amazing and the director is awesome.  We have treasured our time here so much.
and avery got a little excited for the pictures...


(blurry.  I KNOW.  I have got to figure that out.)


I mean, what?
We totally copied allisons brilliant teacher gift.  It is just the coolest thing ever.

We did both "Brown Bear Brown Bear" and "From Head to Toe" by Eric Carle.  The head to toe book has individual spaces for kids faces and that was fun to divide up and give kids a page.  It also shows the kids that they "can do it".  We are so thankful for the teachers who showed my kids that they have strengths they didnt even know about- and always encourage them to try.  That idea that they can do anything they put their mind to.  I really liked the idea behind it.
 Overall, mine was a little ghetto, and head sizes werent always right on track, but we were excited to give it to them.
Since their summer started we have been filling our days with popsicles

packing,


and partying.
More on that partying later.
TGIF!

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Speech

Ella has been going to speech therapy for a couple months now and I am so impressed with her improvement. We had her tested over a year ago because we could tell she was behind on her speech and very difficult for others to understand her. Her results were on the low side of average. This was about a month before her tonsil and adenoid surgery so we all decided to see if her speech improved after that. After her tonsils and adenoids were removed she still seemed to be a little behind everyone in her class and I could tell it was holding her back. She knew she couldn't say sounds like everyone else so she just didn't say them at all. Sometimes she would tell me she couldn't answer because she couldn't say it right. We went back to speech and after another evaluation, it showed that she was much more behind than the first evaluation a year before. Since the middle of April we have been going to speech therapy once a week.

I am not in the room with Ella during speech but McKenna and I sit in a very tiny observation room so we can watch. So far it has been going great but I might have to pull a few new tricks out of my purse to keep McKenna occupied. The games that Ella plays in speech are so fun and creative. She enjoys going so much. One of Ella's main issues is where she puts her tongue. When she makes the S sound she sticks her tongue out. She is being taught to hide her tongue behind her teeth when she says anything with the S sound. They play a game called Silly Soup to help practice hiding her tongue. It is cards with different pictures of all things that start with S. You take turns turning cards over and saying the word. You then put it in a pretend soup bowl. We decided to recreate our own game of Silly Soup at home. Of course we added the word Sparkle to our Silly Soup. 

We took plastic kid bowls and painted them with mod podge. Then we covered them with glitter. Once it dried we repeated the process one more time and then sealed it with just mod podge. 

I made all the game pieces using images from my silhouette. 

Ella doesn't always want lessons from teacher mom so this game has been so great for us.

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Just some things I don't want to forget

These really arent all that lately, but I just dont want to forget some of these little (and big) moments.  We pulled out the roller blades and everyone in the neighborhood joined us.  It was so much fun even if we didnt really even move.  We celebrated our friend mandi's bday and the resident kids ran around holding hands the entire night.  It was magical.  We all stayed out and talked and laughed outside.  It was just so nice being together before we move.  I am going to miss them so much.  We also went to the carnival in the mall parking lot and it was a blast.  And Avery had her dance recital and my brother Michael and my parents and in laws came to see her.  It was so much fun watching her and I think she loved it.  I am going to miss so much about this place.  Oh, and ben found a gecko that was practically on his last leg, but ben could put him on his shoulder and that was a thrill.
We are off to see the Avett Brother concert this weekend with friends and I am just so excited.  I love just love them.
Hope yall have a great weekend!

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Shop at Home

We are so excited to be featured on the website Shopathome.com

We got to talk a little about ourselves and it was just crazy that they wanted to hear about us.  Anyway- go check us out.  Its a great site with tons of coupons and different ways to, you guessed it, shop at home.

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Hilltop Camps

This was quite a few weeks ago, but I just want to always remember our amazing neighbors and how much fun we have with them.  They are always up for anything-anytime and always excited for each other when we have good news.  They are just amazing people and I will miss them so much.

We went to Beavers Bend again this year, as I hope we will do every year from now on, and it did not disappoint.  It is just a gorgeous place with tons to do and we love going up there.  It is also pretty close and we love being able to be there in a couple of hours.

Mary and Ryan picked a place really close to a creek that kept the kids entertained for hours.  It was just a little creek that had some fallen trees and extra space, but it was heaven.

They also have a great playground and natural spring to swim in.  It is freeeezing, so I opted out, but everyone else swam.



and the auto focus on my camera doesnt work and I am having a hard time figuring out the manual :/  SO, no, its not time to get glasses, its the pictures.













Here's to Hilltop Camps 2013!

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