School Reading Night...

Last night we went to Kristina's literacy night at her school...there were only about 12 families that came but it was nice that the school tries to have events like that to help a encourage kids to read more... It was hosted by the school music teacher and a 4th grade teacher...We had a scavenger hunt where the kids had to go around and find things in the gym that started with letters a-z...Kristina ended up getting about 20 I think, so almost all the letters of the alaphebet...she did a great job...We also played two other games, a bee one and a scrabble type game with small squares with letters on them..I put the words together and she told me what they were...she was able to sound out many of them and is beg
inning to learn how to read now!! Next was story time and then all the kids got to pick out a free book to take home..the girls did a great job so I let them play on the playground a few min before going home.. We also got lots of compliments on their dresses...all the teachers loved them...
Last night was the first night all week that Sophia slept pretty good through the night...she has been all out of sorts with a cough and it was def. disturbing her sleep...today she woke up pretty happy which was a nice change from the crabby patty that she has been every morning :-) We went on a walk with our friend Roxanne and then we stopped at Aldi to pick up some stuff for some homemade pizzas...I went in for 2 things and ended up spending $30.00 but at least I got some stuff that I needed...I let Sophia walk next to me and she put everything in the cart..she did a fantastic job at the store...I was impressed since the store has been more challenging with her lately...Tomorrow I will be gone all day in the city working at the "clothes closet" with a group of my friends..People can come and fill up two bags for $2.00 and all of the money goes back to the community...There are alot of nice and clothes, many items still have the tags on them!!
Sunday will be the girls first day at our new church and I hope they enjoy it...change can be hard even if its good change and even I feel like its hard to adjust..I think some of my small group friends feel like I "jumped ship on them"...and it does make me feel bad and sad but I need to follow what I feel God wants for me and that is to grow in him, even it means leaving certain things or people behind...And I think my real friends will understand this....I hope :-)

My little minnie...

The books they picked out at literacy night...

Kristina is getting more girly these days :-)

Random Pics from the weekend..

Anniversary Dinner :-)

One of Nina's new outfits..she likes dresses now so we got her some for the winter..She also got a purple one...

Sophia's New Outfits....

The toy room after getting rid of 6 bags of stuff!!

I love this tree we saw on our walk a few weeks ago...

A Day off school....

Kristina had a day off school today so we just spent the day hanging out...We made cookies this morning and the girls enjoyed watching movies and staying in their jammies until the afternoon...there was lots of chaos going on but I still managed to get some much needed household things done like washing all the bedding...Sophia has refused to let us wash her pink kitty Custard and he was starting to get rather stinky so today was the day I snuck him in the washing machine :-) He came out smelling and looking great!
We had teacher conferences at 3pm and Kristina is doing great....Her teacher said she is a wonderful student and has already shown improvement in her learning...she tested in the top 75% of the nation on a test they gave her and we were very proud..only one other student in her class tested high as well...Afterwards we decided to take them out to celebrate and Nina wanted pizza...so we went to Giordanos but it actually wasnt very good and the girls didnt eat that much...but we were still happy to be out as family even though it didnt go as smoothly as we would have hoped :-)

Premade cookies were a special treat....

Another busy weekend...

The last few days have just flown by....Its Sunday evening and I am exhausted and looking forward to spending the rest of the evening just relaxing....We started our weekend off with the girls getting their treats from the farmers market and getting some incense from this lady who makes them and soaps as well...I love to have our house smell good so I always seem to be picking up candles, incense and air freshner sprays...I got a maple pumpkin spray at Target this week and I love it...It reminds me that fall is on the way and is very relaxing...We ran some more errands and then the girls went to Dan's parents for the afternoon...Dan and I went to play tennis for an hour and then he installed a new ceiling fan in the kitchen which ended up taking much longer than expected...he spent the rest of the day and evening doing that so I made hair bows..I have been trying lots of styles and colors and have really been enjoying making them...I always have my eye out for fun new ribbons...Today we had church for4 hours and then home for cleaning, misc household stuff and homework...My busy weekend finally caught up with me and I have a feeling I will be in bed soon...The temps were beautiful all weekend and I finally got to wear a sweatshirt which felt great after being in the 90's so much over the last month..although I heard this week it is going to be got again :-( Hoping for cooler temps and a mellow week :-)

The first bow style I have tried..Ill post the new one soon!

Sophia loves to paint.....

Exhausted :-)

Nina loves her star...

Nina gets to pick out a book at school library every Friday...

Fall is here & Smith Fest...

Life has been very busy around here....Kristina started school last month and has really been enjoying it so far...Sophia has missed her terribly while Kristina is at school and is still adjusting to the change...Sophia and I have been staying busy by walking 2 miles everyday with our friend and running lots of errands..it def. helps pass the time now....

Tonight we went to Smith Fest at Kristina's school...they had a ton of food vendors, jumping castles and face painting...the girls do not like jumping castles AT ALL and after coaxing them 3 times, they finally agreed to get their hands painted...they have never had their face painted but they have already decided that they do not like it :-) They enjoyed some smoothies from one of their favorate vendors who is usually at the farmers market...they sell these little mini donuts and smoothies and the girls enjoy getting them on Sat. morn for a treat...They were excited to see them at school tonight...we walked around a bit and we bought some Smencils...They are pencils that smell delicious, Kristina picked one that smells like watermelon..they smell good enough to eat, but we are hoping it makes homework time a little more fun...:-) We also picked up some baked treats from the PTA table..it started to get pretty crowded so we ended up leaving after about an hour but it was nice to get the girls out for a bit this evening for something fun!

Getting ready for Smith Fest....

Enjoying some strawberry smoothies...

Having fun getting her hand painted...

Kristina's teacher Mrs. Brauer painted her hand...she got a blue heart...

Sophia got a moon and stars painted on her hands...