VRA

math celebration

Annabelle has been struggling with math this year. She’s quite good at math but seems to have lost her confidence. She’s had a few rough tests and felt defeated. She had in her head that she just wasn’t good at it.

Her teacher has been so supportive. She has encouraged her and given her a bit of extra help. I received a text from Annabelle’s teacher this evening saying she had just finished grading tests and Annabelle had received a 94%. That A was a triumph for our girl and we wanted to make sure we celebrated it.

Annabelle was at dance and Gwyneth and I came up with the idea to have a little root beer toast waiting for her when she arrived home.

When I shared the news this girl was over the moon!!
I think we were all pretty happy for this girl!
Yessss!
I love these little goof balls!

surgery consultation

Another day, another consultation for Gwyneth….I say that flippantly and do not wish to diminish this girls’ torment. This has been a long, painful journey for her. 
Today’s appointment was a success yet the description of the procedure was startling.  The surgeon explained a possible surgery and it is not a small one. The tumor has embedded itself in Gwneth’s muscle which contains a lot of risk. There could be nerve damage and they will have to remove a portion of muscle which could cause long term mobility issues. The rehabilitation would be long and grueling. The risks were sobering. 
After much deliberation and consultation we have decided to go with cryoablation. The doctors have been notified of our decision and now we wait for the schedulers to contact us and reserve the date. 
Annabelle joined us for the appointment today (it was across town and I couldn’t get back to pick her up from school in time). She was very supportive and Gwyneth was happy to have her with us!
We scurried back to our ‘hood just in time for their school holiday performance. There were lots of nerves before taking the stage. I enjoyed the show and thought did a wonderful job!
Gwyneth’s class played a few songs on the violin – I’m not sure what they were doing here, but it was all in unison and super cute.
She rocked it!
Time for the choir portion of the concert. 
Love that my gals were standing together. 
Love these two!
And their buddy Kierra!
After the concert there were lots of cookies and the kids each received an ornament to take home. I made all 101 of these last week. Everyone seemed pretty excited about them!

fall festival

We hosted a booth at the girls’ school Fall Festival again this year. Painters could make little pumpkin magnets at our station. I had a staff member join us so we wouldn’t be tied to the booth all night and explore with the girls. It turned out pretty well, but there is always room for improvements. The magnets were not as big of a hit as the pumpkin dishes were last year so I have to come up with a new, better idea next year. Luckily we already have several ideas for these suckers…because we have quite a few leftover. 
B and I also got signed up to work a few of the other booths over the course of the night.
Annabelle worked this booth with a friend too. 
And the girls played! They had a great time with their friends. We gave them a lot of freedom to explore and have fun on their own. It’s always great to see them with their pals. 
Annabelle soaked her teacher! Ha!

annabelle’s school pictures

We got school pictures back and Annabelle’s are awesome. Braces and long hair and looking so very grown up. Gwyneth hated hers so she’s going to get retakes next month. I didn’t think they were bad, but she wasn’t happy with them so retakes it is. 
6th grade, in just a blink of an eye

health fair and mamma mia

Our family volunteered at the 9Health Fair and we had to be there bright and early. B left the house at 4:30 and the girls and I left around 6:30. B provided breakfast for all the volunteers and worked the check out table. I was tasked with form checking. 
Annabelle was a greeter at the front door. 
Gwyneth ran the kids table
These kids did a great job. I was really proud of them. 
It was a cold, early morning and as soon as we got home G jammed up. 
After a restful afternoon we went to the Arvada Center to see Mamma Mia. The girls are hooked on these movies right now. They loved the show! 

vra photo shoot

I was asked to do a photo shoot at the girls’ school for some upcoming marketing materials. They are redoing their website and brochures and asked me to take the pictures. I felt pretty honored because I really do love taking pictures. It is one of my absolute favorite hobbies and although I’m still pretty insecure about my abilities I love it and I get really excited when people ask me for pictures. 
I took tons of pictures and won’t share many of them because they are of other people’s kids. I did manage to embarrass my children in front of their friends so I feel the day was a success. 

1st day of 5th and 6th grade

And just like that, summer is over. 
Locker combinations have been mastered. Lunches packed. Let the new school year begin. 
Gwyneth had a rough night. She was so very, very excited and just could not fall asleep. She finally dozed off around 1 am. She hopped right out of bed when her alarm went off; all smiles and ready to tackle 5th grade. 
Annabelle didn’t seem the least bit phased for the first day of school. She was relaxed and excited…except about math. She’s a little worried about math, which is weird to me, because she’s really good at it. Once she gets in their and starts learning her stuff I think her heart will be ease…even with algebra. 
After a full school day, we had to divide and conquer. Gwyneth went straight to dance for 2 hours of poms and ballet while Annabelle went to volleyball practice and then to dance for an hour of tap. We all met up at home and everyone collapsed on to the couch. The girls had nothing but wonderful things to say about their school teacher, dance teachers, friends, etc, etc etc. This is going to be a great year!

last day of 4th and 5th grade

Summer is here!
Today was the last day of 5th grade for Annabelle and 4th grade for Gwyneth. They both had a fabulous year, but were pretty excited for summer vacation. They have grand plans for doing….absolutely nothing! That’s what they said anyway. They want to lay on the couch and watch movies and play with legos. HA! We’ll see how long that lasts…
They invited their friend Kierra over for a sleep over. They stated up super late…we finally asked them to please, please, please go to sleep after 2 a.m. I think it was their perfect kick off for summer!

movie and water balloon fight

I had so much fun last week sneaking out to the movies with my friends that I did it again today. AMC has a $5 Tuesday offer, so we took advantage and saw Life of the Party. I was joined by my friend, Connie, and it was a such a wonderful excursion in the middle of the day. The movie was ridiculous and funny and had several laugh out loud moments. It was a perfect break in the middle of a hectic day. 
Gwyneth’s class earned a water balloon fight and I was looking forward to watching that madness. I ran home to get a few work messages sent and then went over to the school….just in time to miss the water balloon fight. I was 4 minutes late and the balloons were already gone. They had several hundred balloons and made their way through them very quickly. I was bummed to miss the fight, but still had a good laugh watching them splash around in the buckets of water. They were soaked!
Best class shot I could get: 
Let the photo bombs begin: 
Gwyneth was so fortunate to be in a class with some really great kids this year and made some wonderful friendships.

awards

This feels like a braggy post, but I just want to record this moment and how proud I am of my amazing daughters. 
I nearly missed the award ceremony this morning, because I had work to do and I wasn’t even sure what it was all about. I thought it was for awards from the fun run. My girls had a blast at the run but didn’t set any records for laps or fundraising and didn’t seem all that excited for me to attend. 
That morning I decided with only a few days left of school I wanted to soak it all in and I was going to attend that awards ceremony anyway. I am sure glad I did!
The very first award given that morning was for values and it was the “Heroism” award. Gwyneth was so surprised (and embarrased) when her name was called. She won for doing brave things! Reading to her peers when it’s not always easy for her, standing up for for anyone she sees being picked one, being kind and honest when that’s not always the easiest choice. 
I could have not been more proud of that girl! She has a heart of gold and she is brave even (especially) when it’s hard. 

Each student in the school earns an award. Some earn mulitiple awards. Each and every one of them  knows on this day that they have a talent and they are special. The sap in me loved it and I had to choke back tears watching these kids so proudly receive their awards and cheer for each other.

The girls’ friend Kierra won an award for best speller and I wanted to snap this photo for her mom who couldn’t be there.

Gwyneth won “Top Performer” in her class! They don’t do honor roll in 4th grade, but she had the best performance of all the kiddos in her grade for the entire year across all subjects. This was an amazing accomplishment for a little lady who has to overcome so many challenges in her studies and never stops working her tail off!

Annabelle won two awards –  the 4Q honor roll award and Top Performer for her class! She was the only student in 5th grade to maintain a 4.0 the entire year. She is very driven and positive enforcement goes a long way with her. Her teacher challenged her this year and got her very best. So proud of her. Annabelle makes it all look easy so we don’t always give her enough credit for her hard work. Today was a wonderful reminder this young ladies intelligence, strength, drive, focus and success. So very, very proud of her.

Receiving the 4Q honor roll awards
I’m so proud of these little ladies. They worked hard this year and have grown so much! 
Annabelle and her teacher. Love them both. We couldn’t have hoped for better!