Slacking...

Alright, so we've been lazy. Between the move and midterms at school, it seems like activities such as updating the blog get pushed to the back burner. Finally, after emails and calls from family (mostly grandmas!), we are back on task.

On Friday night, we drove out to Bodega Bay, and went camping with some friends from school and church. The girls and daddy watched the movie "Madagascar" in the tent. Mom cooked up a whole chicken with red potatoes for dinner, and a raspberry and peach cobbler for dessert (She is getting really good at using those dutch oven pots that we got for camping!). In the morning, we drove down the the beach and went crabbing off the rocks. We didn't catch anything from the ocean, but some nice fishermen threw us a couple of big crabs for the kids to look at.

When we got home in the afternoon, we all decided the weather was perfect for raking the leaves. We had a lot of fun. The girls had fun jumping in the leaves and tossing them over their heads. It was nice to finally have a fun moment without the pressures of school.

The New School

We are just thrilled with the girl's new school. They are attending Dixie Elementary and every day I ask myself why I didn't move them earlier. They are coming home happy (although hungry) every day and they are really learning.

Hannah is in half day Kindergarten now. They do the neatest thing in the school, the children go until noon and then four or five kids who are on about the same learning plane stay for about an hour and a half in the afternoon for more individual learning time. I think it is an excellent answer for educating Kindergarteners. There is so much that is expected by the end of Kindergarten these days but they are still little kids so I think the one extended day with individualized attention is the best answer!!! I am thrill with Hannah's teacher and the kids are much more under control and there is a real emphasis on developmentally appropriate teaching.

Carolyn is also doing extremely well. She is finally getting challenged--really challenged at school. She is learning to put some effort in as things have always come pretty easily for her. She is in an advanced reading class with a bunch of kids from all the different first grade classes--they have harder spelling words and read a variety of difficult books. It is really good for her. She missed 10 on her first spelling test (out of 20) because she had never had to review words before but she reviewed for the next test and got them all right!!! Her teacher is kind and sweet. It is a thrill to see her excited about learning again.

The school also has a wonderful library that each of the girls get to go to every week and they have music and movement (which is just simple dance with music) and art. They also have a little orchestra starting in second grade (or third) I think. It really is a much better circumstance for the girls. Every one is happier--especially mom.