Graduation Day Photo Shoot

The night of Hannah’s SK Grad Hannah we had fun with a little photo shoot.  So grown up!

We started off serious but pretty quickly the silliness set in!

Mommy, what happened to your head??

My SK Grad ready for Grade 1!

My SK Grad

My amazing little girl graduated from Senior Kindergarten on Wednesday!! 

Processing in to their graduation. 

Graduation Poem (And to help with the words….’I am a graduate, yes it’s true!  I am a graduate ooo-ooo-ooo!  A tiny little paper is what I’ll get.  So you ought to be proud, cause I’m a graduate!!)

It seems like just yesterday that this sweet baby was placed in my arms in China and now she’s a SK grad!!  When Mrs. Creighton called her name she positively beamed as she walked across to collect her diploma.

In Hannah’s school all of the kindergarten classes are made up of 50% Junior Kindergarten children and 50% Senior Kindergarten children and they go to school full days, 5 days a week.  Hannah’s school also keeps the children with the same teachers for 2 years so Hannah was blessed to be with Mrs. Creighton (l – teacher) and Ms. Hails (r - TA) for both years.  I cannot express how much I appreciate and love these ladies who have played such a huge part of Hannah’s life for the past 2 years!  I helped in her class 1 morning every 3 weeks so we got to know one another well too and it was great to see Hannah in the environment she spent so much time in.  She went in able to count to about 20 (skipping a few ) and knew how to write her name and some letters but that was about it.  She now knows how to count to 100 (can’t write all the numbers…yet), do math in a variety of ways (10 square, tallies, number lines, etc.), print with confidence her upper and lower case alphabet, read small books and more!  She has even started experimenting with writing by sounding out words and does very well!  (Yes, proud Mamma here!!)

They sang and signed this beautiful song too.  Love it!

And, like any good grad, a celebratory dance broke out!  (LOL!  It’s easy to see why I put shorts on Hannah under her dresses.) 

Hannah had a number of good friends in her class but these 3 were inseparable!

and knew how to have a silly time together!

Hannah was excited to have Grandma and Grandpa attend her graduation.

Sharon and Toni, Thank you for all you taught Hannah!  Things like reading and writing yet also about things that cannot be measured.  She is a more confident, caring, aware little girl who has learned so much from you about how to be a productive, involved little girl in her class.  What you’ve taught her are things that she will take with her forever and I cannot express my appreciation to you enough!

Hannah, Mommy could not be more proud or pleased with you!  You are the light of my life and I have enjoyed walking through kindergarten with you and all the new things you have learned and taught me!  I’m excited to see what you will learn next year and the new adventures that God has for you!

It was a big decision but I truly believe the right one for us as I have chosen to move Hannah to a new school in September.  She has loved her time in her current school but I have decided to open up a new world to her and send her to a French Immersion school in our area.  Not only will she have the opportunity to learn a new language but I believe it will be a good decision in many ways.  Thankfully it is still in our district so she will continue to go to Ange’s after school, she will just continue her education in French.  In Canada, having a second language will be helpful later in life and I feel now it will be a good challenge and she will flourish in her new school just as she did at this one!

Congratulations my little SK Grad!  Mommy is so proud and loves you SOOO much!!!!!

Father’s Day 2015

Father’s Day was a wonderful day from start to finish!  Hannah and I shared a rare, quiet Sunday morning at home as our service didn’t start until 11:00am.  (We normally attend the 9:00am service)  What a treat to start our day quietly together!
Our first stop when we got to church was to find Papa and give him his Father’s Day gifts.  He was on BBQ duty and wearing the adorable apron Hannah made for him when she was just 2.  I love that Papa still wears this special apron!
Hannah has a current love for balloons as in the past few weeks she’s learned not only how to blow them up but how to tie them too.  Because of this, Papa and Grandpa were treated to special Hannah-made balloon ice cream cones and bobble heads.    Happy Father’s Day Papa!

Our church hosted their annual Father’s Day Car Show and BBQ as an outreach to our city.  In spite of the forecast of rain, it was a beautiful sunny day and many came to show their cars.  There are often about 300 cars, motorcycles and other vehicles on display.  The church hosts a breakfast for those showing their cars as well as they hear a guest speaker who is brought in for the day.  What a great way to introduce new people to the Lord!
I always find it fun to see what they’re displaying inside the building too!
After church Hannah and I enjoyed lunch and a quick look at a few cars.
After lunch we headed home to do some final prep on things we were taking for dinner and headed to Mom and Dad’s.  First priority for the kids – swimming!!  Rebecca even made it into the pool
quite possibly not by her own choice!
You’ll note that my camera was firmly strapped to my wrist each time I was around the water so that I didn’t meet the same fate as Bec! 
My nephews thought they could take down my brother.  Ummm…nope!
We enjoyed a delicious BBQ dinner together as a family.   What a treat it was that Dave and Trish’s oldest 3 children were able to be there!  It’s often hard to get everyone together with their busy schedules.  Two of my younger nephews were unable to attend and they were missed but it was great to celebrate with those who could be there!
Hannah was introduced to neat Styrofoam gliders a few weeks ago when we met Payton and Gage.  We picked up a number of them for her to share with family on Father’s Day and they were definitely a hit!
Happy Father’s Day Grandpa!
Love you Dad!
Hannah and I are so blessed by the men in our family!  We love you!!  xoxo

Piano Recital 2015

Last week I hosted a piano recital for my students and it was wonderful!  In the past I have always shared the recital with a great friend but unfortunately this year it didn’t work out.  When I first found out I would be on my own I briefly considered cancelling it as I only have 5 students but just as quickly knew that they would shine and I wanted to offer them the opportunity to share their music with family and friends!  I’m so glad I went forward with it!

Hannah was there to play for me and she was also a big help in preparing for the recital by helping Mom and I!  Thanks Hannah!

She played Twinkle, Twinkle once again and then we played our duet.  What a special moment it is to play piano with my girl!!

My students!  They all played so well!

Two of my students are good friends of Hannah’s.  It was fun to see the 3 of them running around together playing after the recital.

Kaitlyn has been my student for almost 10 years and her playing has progressed to a level where I have taken her as far as I can.  In September she’ll be moving to Hannah’s Nana for lessons and I look forward to hearing how she progresses!  It has been such a treat teaching you Kaitlyn!!

Here are a couple of Kaitlyn’s pieces from the recital.  Beautiful playing!!

One of my co-workers is an amazing baker and she made these cookies for me.  They tasted as great as they look!!

I created little covers for the water bottles and the kids thought it was neat to see their names on the bottles!  It was a fun little surprise for them!

I am so thankful these girls and the pleasure of teaching them to play the piano.  The one evening I teach each week Hannah enjoys time with Grandma and Grandpa.  Another wonderful year of teaching and I’m looking forward to September as a whole new curriculum has been introduced!

My Sweet Twirler’s First Baton Recital!

As a child I twirled baton for about 8 years and this year Hannah chose to follow in Mommy’s footsteps and twirl too. 

Tonight was her first baton recital!  My sweet little Olaf.

As she and her teammates walked onto the gym floor I was overwhelmed with awe once again that I am the Mommy of this most amazing little girl!  Tears immediately sprang to my eyes just at the sight of her.  I hope I never, ever lose these ‘pinch me’ moments!!

Hannah was excited and yet  a little nervous too which is understandable!  I enjoyed watching her (through my tears of joy) and had to giggle as I saw her directing her friends little bits throughout the routine.  Yes, she is her mother’s daughter!!

The girls also did a cute little pom routine.

Way to go Hannah!!!

Hannah was blessed to have wonderful coaches this year who taught her so much!  Coach Jackie:

Coach Jamie

Grandma and Grandpa were able to come out and support their littlest twirler too.  Oh the memories the recital brought back for all of us!  (Uncle Dave I believe stayed as far away as possible as he still has nightmares about the years of torture he endured attending my competitions week after week and listening to march music ad nausium) )

Mommy is so proud of you Hannah!  It was such a treat watching you twirl this year and I will be excited to see what you choose to do in the fall.  She hasn’t quite decided between gymnastics and baton but right now it appears gymnastics is winning out.  Time will tell.

We Partied Until We Could Party No More!

Birthdays are a time of celebration in our home, even for Mommy.  I love any reason to celebrate with my girl, especially when it means extra time with her, family and friends!

Friday night we started the weekend by inviting my SIL, niece and nephew over for a dinner of hot dogs, salad and chips (yes – we’re fancy like that!) followed by a trip to a local frozen yogurt store.

Sunday morning I woke to the sweetest little voice saying, ‘Happy Birthday Mommy!!’  My little love had been working on her gifts for weeks and Saturday while I was outside working on the lawn and gardens she hid her gifts of love around the house. 

Each gift had a balloon hidden with it too.   I’m not sure if it was more fun opening the gifts or watching Hannah chase the balloons she asked me to blow up over and over again.

Hannah also created a sweet breakfast for us to share. 

After church we went to Nana and Papa’s for our weekly Sunday lunch that we always look forward to.  It was a time of celebration there too. 

Gifts were shared including these beautiful flowers!  Papa bought roses for me and this sweet bouquet for Hannah.  Her flowers reminded me of the bouquets I bought myself each month as I waited for her referral!

Sunday evening I chose to spend a quiet evening at home with my little love and complete the birthday celebrations the next day. 

It’s been our tradition for years that Mom and Dad take Hannah and I to our favourite Chinese food buffet for my birthday.  Always so good and I always eat too much…except it’s okay because birthday’s come but once a year!

Hannah and Grandpa with their loving faces

and then Hannah’s ‘GRANDPA don’t tease me face!’

It was an absolutely perfect birthday weekend shared with the love of my life, family and friends.  I am truly blessed beyond measure!!

And….in case you don’t believe that we partied until we could party no more, this is how Hannah arrived home each evening last weekend!  We could be talking until we drove into the garage and by the time I got back to get her out of the car just moments after dropping our stuff in the house, this is what I found each night!

Pure (snoring) sweetness!