We're DONE!

Yesterday marked the last day of school for the girls!  They are SOOOO (can not emphasize that enough) excited to be done!!  I guess, if I were to be truly honest, I'm pretty excited too.  It has definitely been a year of challenges, no one expected to have to do school in my bedroom!  But, I think we all met each challenge head-on and found a way to make the best out of a not-so-easy situation!  

The girls had a GREAT year and each of them grew by leaps and bounds in different ways. Yesterday we had Ms. Nason, Hannah's kindergarten teacher come and do our portfolio review. Bascially, she comes and looks over all the things we did all year and determines whether or not the girls made adequate progress.  Then, she writes a letter to that affect and it gets sent to the school department for their files...that's it.  She was SO impressed with how much the girls learned this year.  She was especially impressed with Hannah's progress.  Now, remember, she had Hannah in kindergarten last year, which was not necessarily an easy year for her...she did well, but if you know Hannah, you know they faced some issues.  So, the first thing Ms. Nason asked to see was Hannah's handwriting (she struggled with it last year).  Her jaw dropped!! Hannah has the most beautiful cursive handwriting, especially when you consider the fact that she's only in first grade!  Ms. Nason spent some time congratulating the girls on a job well done and told them they graduated to the next grade...the girls' faces were priceless!

All of Ms. Nason's positive comments and the fact that she was so impressed with what we accomplished really made us ALL feel good!

So now, we have a 2nd grader and a 5th grader in our house!  Hard to believe!!  And, for those that may be curious, and even for those who could care less, we ARE homeschooling again next year.  We have just seen far too many improvements academically and emotionally in both of the girls to stop now!  We are definitely looking forward to the summer and the list of fun activities the girls came up with, but we are also looking forward to next year and the possibilities that are ahead with a mom who is not flat on her back!!!

I do just want to take a moment and thank those of you who have been SO amazingly supportive of our decision to homeschool, you know who you are!  If it wasn't for your constant support, I don't think we would have made it through this year with the progress and success we had...especially when you consider all of the obstacles we encountered.  I am truly grateful for your prayers and support, it meant/means the world to me!!!

Mother's Day

Well, I got a special Mother's Day treat.  I got to sing with my girls!!

I was quite amazed...the last time Kaitlyn was asked to sing, she said 'NO'.  Which shocked us all...she usually LOVES to sing.  We didn't want to make her do something, at the same time trying to teach her that she's right, you shouldn't sing in church, if you don't want to, it's about honoring God.  So, we were asked to sing yet again.  This time Kaitlyn said, 'YES' and Hannah said, 'NO WAY.'  Well, once Kaitlyn and I started practicing, Hannah changed her mind.  That was fine with me..but, not only did she change her mind, she wanted a solo!!  I again, was shocked!  The girls did a GREAT job!  I was very proud!!  Here is the video of our song:

The Tuesday after Mother's Day our favorite sitter came over so Jeff and I could go out to dinner and a movie.  It was the first time I had been away from my kids since February!!  That is a LONG time and I really needed the time out!!  It was also nice to go out and see and 'adult' movie...the last movie I had seen in the theatre was BOLT!  Yeah, time for a grown-up movie.  So, we went to see 'Star Trek.'  What a GREAT movie!!  It was definitely a nice night out with my best friend!  So, all in all, not a bad Mother's Day!

The Drama Queen's Debut!

Kaitlyn's performance in 'Linus and Lucy' -- I think she liked the fist part, don't you!  :)

Kaitlyn's performance in 'There's No Such Thing As Monsters' -- her first time as the 'little' sister!

The Drama Queen...

Kaitlyn spent her weeks at the Master's Academy of Fine Arts learning the art of drama.  She was in a class that focused on scenes and monolgues.  She had a fabulous time! Her big end-of-the-year thing was a night of theater when all of the drama classes got to perform the things they had been working on.  Kaitlyn was in 2 different scenes.  In the first, she played Lucy, from peanuts, in 'Lucy and Linus'.  In the second, she played the 'little sister' (she's never been the little sister before :) ) in 'There's No Such Thing As Monsters'.  She did a great job in both performances.  I am working on getting the videos up so you can see them.  I do have some pictures to show, though.  The best part was Kaitlyn won an award at her cast party.  Not best actress or best supporting actress, no, she won the MOST AMAZING COME-BACK PERFORMANCE AFTER DRESS REHEARSAL award!  Apparently, she could not remember any of her lines the night of dress rehearsal and her director was VERY worried.  But, once she stepped out onto the stage, she delivered her lines flawlessly...well, close enough, she was really nervous!  Enjoy the pictures!  I promise, the video will be up soon!