Kindergarten Graduation

It is official. My kids are growing up. I don't like it.
Yesterday was kindergarten graduation. Since the girls are in different classes, we had two graduations. Here are some pics from the big day.















Saige was so somber during the whole thing. I couldn't get her to even smile for a picture. This is my favorite one because her hat is falling off and she kept leaning over more and more to keep it on.

























One thing I want to mention about Saige...there are 4 Kindergarten classes (100 kids total) and they gave out two reading awards for Kindergarten. Saige got one and we are so proud of her. She truly enjoys reading and her teacher says that her nose is always in a book.

4th quarter awards

Both the girls received awards for the 4th quarter in school.
Madisen got the good behavior award and Saige got the Citizenship award.

Funny story about the good behavior award. One day a few weeks ago I got a call from Madi saying that she was sick and needed to be picked up. So, I drove out to school and picked her up. By the time I got there she was crying pretty hard and said that her stomach hurt. I got her to the car and on the drive home I learned the story about why she was 'sick'.

Our school focuses a lot on behavior-especially in the kindergarten classes. All of the classes have color charts that show each kid's behavior for the day and then at the end of the week, they are sent home to the parents for a signature. Everyday the girls come home with a report of who got their chart changed and what they did to deserve it.

Well, Madi was sick because for the first time all year she got her chart changed to yellow (a warning). She was being too loud and the substitute teacher made her change her chart. It upset her SO much that she had to come home sick from school. She said, "are you mad"?
I laughed my head off and told her that I was NOT mad. I was actually relieved to find out that she is normal! She is so afraid of breaking the rules at school. There have been several times that other kids are bothering her and I have told her to punch them and she would never do it because she does not want to get in trouble. I have assured both she and Saige several times that I will never be mad at them for sticking up for themselves or for each other.

Swim Team

We signed the girls up for the swim team at their school this year. It is way more intense than we planned on. During the first practice I thought they might die from exhaustion. They just kept telling them to swim laps and it made me so tired just watching them. They aren't loving it yet-especially after their first meet. They didn't place so well and it upset them (Madi especially). She cried and cried because she was last and it broke my heart. The only reason we want them to do it is to learn all of the strokes. It makes me nervous to have our pool and I would feel much better about it knowing that they are excellent swimmers. So, we will continue to work through the issues. In the meantime, don't they look so cute in their swim caps?




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Brain-dead bird

So, we have a bird that likes to visit us. He comes to the same window literally 50 times a day and pecks on it as hard as he can. It is loud. For some crazy reason he wants to get in to this nut house. Maybe he thinks this is the Psyc ward and he wants to come in for help.
It is driving me absolutely crazy. If we don't "take care of him" soon, I will be the one that my family is taking to the nut house!

Helpers

Just one of the many jobs I have turned over to the kids!

Violin Recital

Madi and Saige had their Violin Recital last week. They did such a good job and worked really hard on their songs. I am so thankful that Grandma Remund was here to help them practice and get ready for it-im not really feeling up to fighting with them during practice time these days. I also want to say how much I LOVE their teacher Elvira. She is so patient with them and I love how she explains things to them. I hope they will stick with it because they have come so far since we started two years ago.