Squawking Squatters

Each spring a Robin comes back to this nest on our patio. I'm glad and amazed that our dog and two kids don't scare them away so we can watch them grow. 

Last Day of School 2015

I can't believe these goofy girls have finished another year of school! 

And that we are now done with the Beehive (kindgergarten)!

Attempt at a "normal" smile for Mama

I'll definitely take this one home!

Chillin' with a popsicle

"I don't want it to end!"...Or maybe it was "I don't want anymore pictures!"

My big girl finished with first grade!

Always ready to learn even on the last day!

2015 Kindergarten Olympics

Kindergarten Olympics--a much anticipated Catlin Gabel spring event--was a success! Kaleia Rush enjoyed each of her events, ending the day with a celebratory popsicle. During the opening ceremonies and after, Kaleia proudly waved her flag of hearts and stars, and symbols of her entire family, including dogs Trudy and Otis.

Kaleia excelled at balancing. 

She was a confident jumper.

Kaleia loved the hurdles--just like her grandpa! Also like her grandpa, her tongue was visible during every event.

Catching and Throwing on the other hand were quite a challenge. A generous 4-grade judge made some accommodations for her and her partner allowing the games to continue.

No one quite understood the dress-up relay. 

Finally, Kaleia made one lap around the track right as the whistle blew.

It was a perfect day with kindergarten friends,

with undivided attention from her parents, and a gold medal!

Lower School Spirit Week 2015

Spirit Week by Magnolia

Spirit Week is a week where you dress up in clothes you wouldn’t usually go to school wearing. Spirit week is the last week of school. It’s run by the 5th graders. 

Monday was Pajama Day. I wore my favorite nightie. Kaleia kept thinking I wasn’t dressed for the day because I was in pajamas and I usually am in clothes. Mama didn't get a picture of this day.

Tuesday was hero day. I dressed up as Jesus. It was very hard to get on because Mama kept changing her ways of making it stay on and switched the blue robe thing, etc, and I kept having to put it on and it fell off, and once I had to go the bathroom.

Wednesday was Wacky Wednesday. I wore a purple shirt and yellow/orange/red zig-zagged shorts and a white tank top over the purple shirt. Kaleia kept thinking that you took off your clothes and whacked people with your clothes. 

Thursday was Spirit Day. Spirit Day is when you wear lots of Catlin Gabel colors and stuff. I wore blue shorts and blue underwear, mostly white socks, and a tie-dyed white and blue Catlin Gabel shirt.

Friday there isn't any dress up because it is graduation day for the 5th graders and they are the ones planning Spirit Week. The 5th graders need to wear nice clothes. So we just will wear normal clothes for the last day of school.

Food Museum: Goats

The Catlin Gabel first grade class spends the spring studying food for their science and social studies units--farm to table style. In groups, they choose a type of food of interest (fruits, vegetables, bread, meat, dairy) to research. They conduct interviews while on fields trips to a local grocery store and a farmer's market. Parents come to class and teach each group how to make a food from their category: dried fruit, jam, pickled veggies, loaves of bread, jerky, yogurt, and ice cream. Then groups create a "Food Museum" with activities and informational posters. 

This was one of my favorites from this year: "chickens and things you make them in to." 

Originally, Magnolia choose dairy, but then she wanted to specialize in goat products. Her teacher allowed Maggie to branch off from her group to create her own food museum--I love that about our school! Now, this girl is now passionate about goats. 

She worked hard during work time and some of her free time on her exhibit, agonizing each evening, worried she'd wouldn't finish before the parent viewing event. Magnolia, and her teacher, were incredibly proud that she pulled it off. When I got to the event, as she showed me her museum, I realized why she had been worried, and was overwhelmed with pride myself.

She didn't just create the one required information poster or activity. Magnolia had made three informational posters,

an Interactive "Fun Fact" board, 

AND a goat game to test your new knowledge!

She really knew her stuff!

Some things I learned about goats from her exhibit:

• Goats have rectangular pupils to help them see in the dark
• Goats discovered coffee beans
• Goats are picky eaters
• Each breed of dairy goat gives a different flavored milk

Blake + Rachel

Blake and Rachel, we wish you many, many years!

This weekend we returned to Bellingham and Camp Firwood to celebrate with some of our closest friends. Blake was instrumental in getting Brian and me together and stood by our side in *both* of our weddings. Since then, he has been a constant friend -- the only non-family member to stay in all of our houses, including Beijing. We are just getting to know Rachel, but our family has already grown fond of her.

Brian was excited to give a toast to his friend. 

The quote of the night: "talked him off the monastic ledge"

I enjoyed catching up with dear friends throughout the entire weekend. 

The girls played and danced and got a first glimpse at the special place where their parents' relationship began. 

Word of the week: Consider-it

Consider-it (noun): a substance made by removing water or other diluting agent

"Apple puree consider-it, apple juice consider-it, natural strawberry flavor, strawberry consider-it, citrus pectin, lemon juice consider-it..." 

-- Magnolia (7), reading the nutrition information, a current favorite past-time 

Kaleia "Logic" - Reason to Want to Die

Magnolia (7): No one wants to die. 

Kaleia (5): I used to want to die. 

Me: Why did you want to die? 

K: I wanted a new family.

Me: You wanted a new family? You didn’t like your family?

K: No, I just wanted to see what it was like to have a different one. 

Me: You know you don’t get a new family when you die. 

K: Yeah, but I would get to meet lots of new people in heaven. 

Me: True…but you know you can meet lots of new people here too. 

K: Yeah.

Incriminating Digital Evidence

We received an email from Kaleia's kindergarten teacher alerting us to the fact that Kaleia had her camera at school today. I thought it might have been unintentionally left in her backpack after our weekend trip. When I talked to Kaleia, she convinced me that she didn't bring it to school on purpose and that she didn't know it was in there. I totally believed her until I downloaded the pictures and found these...

This last one must have been her friend the photographer for the above photoshoot. Little stinkers.

Fairy Visit

Kaleia, as half-fairy, attends fairy school in the middle of the night and is our resident expert on fairy life and the wishes of the queen fairy. In this interview, Kaleia introduces us to a fairy she has caught. 

P.S. Forgive the low quality of the video -- and length! I just couldn't cut any material! The technical difficulties with this video roadblocked my blogging the last few months, but now we should be rolling again.