Secret Messenger

Kayla has been meeting weekly with a writing and math enrichment tutor.
Mrs. K is fabulous and it's amazing what she has accomplished with Kayla.
I see her math weekly, but have not seen the writing because they have been working on a secret writing project for 6 weeks.
Kayla has been begging us to check the mail for the past few days.
On Wednesday, we received the below letter in the mail.
It came in an envelope with "urgent matter" written on the envelope and "from an accredited children's organization"
We read the letter with Kayla giggling and jumping up and down in the background.
Mrs. K told me yesterday that Kayla wrote this letter all by herself. The game was that Kayla would be writing as if she were someone writing on behalf of Kayla.
Mrs. K has been teaching her thought organization, persuasive writing skills and best of all she had Kayla using a thesaurus. She is teaching her how to make ordinary sentences sound more "WOW".
We were so excited for Kayla's accomplishment! Although, this letter is from a "secret messenger" not Kayla. ;)
You can click on the letter to see a bigger version.

Preschool

Collin started preschool today and he loved it.
His teacher is one of the sweetest women I have ever met.
She called this evening to tell us some things that she saw
Collin doing that made her proud and then she got on the phone
with Collin to tell him how much she missed him already and how
great he did today.
It was a very special first day. We had a special dinner to celebrate
and picked up some Pirate Cupcakes for dessert.

Audition

The economy has affected pretty much everything in this country, including commercial production. Kayla's audtion calls pretty much came to a screeching halt for a while.
So I was very excited when we got an audition call today.
SOOOOO Kayla will be auditioning for the role of a serial killer's 7 year old sister.
Funniest part of it... Collin is jealous.

JuneBug kitty

JuneBug is quickly turning in to a CAT. Her fuzzy white hair has turned in to sleek, soft creamy hair. Her little white face has changed in to a darker face with racoon markings around her eyes, which thankfully, have remained a brilliant blue.


Just so pretty


Hanging out with her buddies


Lounging in a lap

Juicer Fun

Mmmmmm.... Carrot Raisin muffins made from the pulp after juicing carrots.

Here is the recipe: http://www.sunmaid.com/en/recipes/recipe/Carrot_Raisin_Muffins.html

Why I love age 7

Of course I love my kids at every age and stage, but there are always those years kids seem particularly cute or sweet.
I really loved my newborn Collin and I really enjoyed two year old Kayla.
My next favorite age for Kayla is 7. This has been such a fun year with her and this morning just tops it off.

We still have our little girl who wants to be cuddled and read to and wants nothing more than to hang out with her Mom and Dad.
Yet she is also all about being a "big girl" and loves getting her nails done, talking about rock stars and helping out with Collin.
She gets excited about the book series she is in to, has her special TV show with Dad and loves girls' days.

I've had a horrible time falling asleep the past few days and last night was no exception. So when the kids woke up at 7:30 I was exhausted and asked them to let me lay there a little longer. When I finally came out at 8:00 Kayla had already made them their breakfasts and let the dogs out. She was so pleased to take on Mom duties. I love age 7!!!

A year gone by

I can't believe how fast a year flys by.
As we get ready for our annual family photos I decided to go through last year's pictures for fun. I find that my favorite pictures from a shoot are always different after time passes. It's the moments that become the most important and not how everyone's hair looked or if a shirt is tucked in or pulled out.
Here are some of my favorite caught moments from last years shoots.

The kids











The family