Moving on to Middle School

It's so hard to believe it, but my baby is no longer in elementary school.  Where did the time go? 

I can remember crying after putting her on the bus for kindergarten.  It seems like it was just a year ago.

 Swift Creek Middle...here she comes!

 Here she is with the sign we made to put on the side of the road so she could see it on the way to school. 

 With her proud Daddy!

 Proud family!

 Our beautiful middle schooler.

 With her awesome teacher.

With her class.

Happy 10th Birthday Elise!!!

 Elise wanted a sundae slumber party to celebrate her 10th!  She invited her closest friends and we took them to the Y to swim, had pizza, sundaes of course, watched a movie, and then crashed.  For goodie bags, we got ice cream bowls and put strawberry bath salts w/ a new poof.  Then I typed up a little poem I found on Pinterest, put in a straw, strawberry candy, and spoon and voila!  A strawberry sundae bath bowl. 

I found these moustache straws & thought they were fun! 

 As the girls arrived, I had them sign a pillowcase for Elise to keep to remember her special slumber party. 

Here are the girls posing in their towels.  I think they had just as much fun in the locker room as they did swimming!  It took 20 minutes to get them out because they were having a ball using the hair dryers.

 Sundae w/ candles!

 Movie time!

 Here's Elise w/ 'Big as Your Head' pancakes a la Dad.

And here's Elise's softball helmet decorated for her birthday. She had a playoff game that night and Danny thought of the idea.  Sadly, the umpires said we had to wash it off.  I think she was a little bummed.  She was all smiles at the end of the night though when they WON!!!!  We brought cupcakes for the team to celebrate her birthday and everyone sang to her.  It was one of the happiest and loudest Happy Birthday songs I've ever heard!  What an awesome way to end a birthday :0)!

Hey Batta Batta Batta

Anabelle & Elise decided to play softball this year and thankfully they could be on the same team!  They've learned so much over the past few months.  There's a lot to learn about the sport when it's your first year and most of the other kids have played before.  They seem to understand how the game works now and they've really improved on their throwing & catching.  Hitting is still difficult because this is the first year the girls pitch, so they can be wild!  It also doesn't help when the umpires make bad calls.  The girls get confused on what is good and what isn't.  They're learning though :0).

Here's a picture of the Dow twins!  Everyone on the team thought they were twins until recently...haha. 

 

Their banner.

 Their best cheerleader.  Well...at least on this day.  Most days she's off riding her scooter or playing on the playground.  Who can blame her?  The games can be long for a 7 year old :0).

 Elise up to bat.  Will she swing?  Most of this season she's gotten walked, but we're waiting for that big hit!  We know she's got it in her!!

 Anabelle on 2nd and Elise on 3rd.  They've gotten really good at stealing bases!

 The Cardinals & their coaches.  The 3rd one from the left likes to call Anabelle 'Ana-B'. 

Anabelle at short stop. Notice the striped socks...haha.

 

Anabelle as catcher.  This was her one and only time doing it.  She said it hurt her knees and she had to move too fast.  Sounds about right :0).

They say they want to play fall ball.  We'll see if that's still the case at the end of the summer.  Until then, play ball!!!

Fine Arts Festival

Each year Chesterfield County has a Fine Arts festival celebrating the art program in the schools.  The art teachers select artwork to represent their schools and this year all of my girls were chosen to have a piece on exhibit!  I was SO proud of them!

Here is Anabelle's aboriginal stitchery which is a map of our house & yard.  Notice the pond and zipline?

 Here is Elise's candlestick.  She said she thought it was horrible after she painted it, but after firing it, she was pleased with the colors!

 Here is Sadie's 3D paper art.  She was excited to tell us all about the process of making it.

BOB Competition

Anabelle competed in the BOB competition last week and her team won 2nd place in her school!  BOB is short for Battle of the Books and to enter the competition, the kids have to read at least 10 books from a selected list and pass comprehension tests on them.  Then they're placed on teams that compete with each other based on their knowledge of the books.  The books aren't easy reads either!  We're extremely proud of Anabelle for working so hard for over 6 months to read the books and prepare for this event.  We were all so happy that her team won 2nd!  They called their team The Mystery Meatloafs.  My creative girl made a paper meatloaf to set on their table and fork pins for everyone to wear :0).  She's the one sitting at the yellow table on the left. 

The Big Apple!!

 Highlights of our trip to New York City!  We had a blast!!!

We stayed in Times Square...big lights, insane crowds, and LOTS of honking.  Our hotel view was of  3 illuminated digital billboards. If you left even the smallest crack of curtain open, blue neon would blink all night long.

On the first day, we explored all of the big stores near the hotel.  Hershey World, M& M World, & Toys R Us.  They even rode the Ferris Wheel.

Day two...exploring Grand Central Station (one of my favorite places), St Patrick's Cathedral, American Girl Doll Store (soooo boring), FAO Schwartz, and Dylan's Candy Bar. 

Recognize this?

 We had three meals consisting of pizza.  Rays was by far the best.  I don't think I could ever eat Domino's again.

 Central Park!  It was so amazing, we went twice :0)! On the second trip, we spent the entire day there. We saw the castle, Shakespeare's Garden, lots of playgrounds, the lake, & the fountain.  I wanted to rent a row boat, but they only allowed 4 people. It was still my favorite day.

 Love the bridges

 

 The girls were thrilled to find lots of boulders there.  Danny had fun, too :0).  I was more worried about a sprained ankle.

 

 

 Night life...cupcakes in Bryant park and the Empire State Building!

 

Last day,  9/11 Memorial, walk to Staten Island Ferry, walk to Brooklyn Bridge, walk to Chinatown, walk to Little Italy.  Then...CRASH. 

 Chinatown!  Anabelle wasn't so sure of the chickens.

 Little Italy.  I think I see an extra bulge in my mid-section.

 The 9/11 Memorial.  Very moving~

 The tree that survived and blooms to this day.

 Staten Island Ferry

 A glimpse of Lady Liberty

CRASH!  What a trip!  We feel so blessed to have been able to take our family to such an amazing place.  I can't wait to go back!