What a difference a year makes.

Today was the last day of 2nd and 4th grades for my girls.

Lindsay was very excited, but Kera was feeling kind of bittersweet about the whole thing. Lindsay didn't really enjoy school this year, but Kera loved it.

It's kind of amazing to me how truly different my children are from each other. Another thing that amazes me is how much they have both changed and grown during the past school year.

First day of school, Sept 2011

Last day of school, June 2012

They have both very obviously grown a ton in height. Look at how much closer Lindsay's head is to the door window now than last year! And then of course, their hair is way longer. I think it's kinda funny that Kera is wearing the same sweatshirt on both days. But in addition to the growth you can see, I think they have broth grown in other ways too. 

First day of 4th grade 2011

Lindsay had a full year, not only did she make a huge jump academically (not just her, it's typical of 4th grade here) but she has learned a lot about how to deal with social situations that she hadn't encountered before. Thinks like how gossip spreads like wildfire, how to resolve friend conflicts, how to deal with difficulties with authorities, developing respect for others and the importance of honesty. She also learned some fun things like the benefit to saving your allowance (She bought herself an android tablet fairly recently), how to play the recorder and how to ride a bike w/ shifting gears. It's been a very full year for her and I'm sure she's ready for a relaxing summer.

First day of 2nd grade 2011

 Kera had a pretty full year as well. This was the year she really fell in love with reading. Trips to the library last summer were almost torturous for her because she wanted to read chapter books, but everything seemed too hard or not interesting. I have a feeling this summer will be different because she's reading chapter books like a champ and has discovered what kind of books she likes. Her spelling has improved by leaps and bounds thanks to extra work she did each week with another 2nd grade teacher. And she's adding and subtracting 3-digit numbers! Besides academics, Kera also learned this year about asserting herself and a little more how to deal with friend troubles. And of course I can't forget that this was the year she learned how to play the piano! She loved nearly every minute of school this year, and her teacher said some awfully nice things about her as well the other day. I teared up a little today when saying goodbye to her. 

Kera and her 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Holden

I can't believe another school year is over and that now I have kids in 3rd and 5th grade! They are growing up entirely too quickly. I'm definitely going to enjoy my summer of hanging out with my little girls while they are still little.

Ten

Ten years ago today, this beautiful little girl came into our lives...

She was inquisitive and alert from the very beginning, and we fell in love with her at first sight.

I find it really hard to believe that this little bundle has grown

 into this weird girl....  

She's still as inquisitive and alert as ever, and beautiful too. And we love her even more today than we did on that day ten years ago when she was born. Lindsay has grown into a fun, unique, smart, loving and adventurous girl. I am so grateful that God put her in our family and made her just the way she is. I can't imagine our family without her.

Happy Birthday Lindsay Lou, I love you so much!

Field Trip to Moon-Randolph Homestead

I had the opportunity to accompany Lindsay's class on a field trip today. Despite her expression in the picture below, I think she actually liked having me there.

She was dealing w/ some tiredness and allergy stuff and was basically kinda whiney, thus the pout. Anyway, back to the field trip. We went to a cool place called the Moon-Randolph Homestead. It's basically a little piece of history right outside of "town".  It was originally a homestead and working farm/ranch of the Moon and Randolph families, but now it's owned by the city and offers visiting hours and private tours. There are all sorts of original buildings, including the original homestead cabin, and all sorts of equipment, etc. 

It was pretty cool walking around the homestead and learning how life was for the original homesteaders.

I loved all the worn, old wood that the buildings are made of and the weathered metal tools.

There were critters everywhere including bugs (like these yucky red ants), birds, chickens and foxes. We didn't see the foxes but were shown (from a distance) where one of their dens was...up on a rise overlooking the chicken coop!

The kids were pretty interested in most all of it. It probably helped that they had a "scavenger hunt" worksheet they had to find answers to from their teacher.

Back when all parts of the homestead were functioning, there were chickens, cows, an apple orchard, a coal mine, lots of various veggies and a milk shed where they turned milk into butter, cream, etc. I guess they would drive this small cart thing around Missoula and sell these items to families in the neighborhoods. 

It was a beautiful day for walking around and exploring.

Seeing the homestead reminded me of all those "Little House on the Prairie" books I read as a child and how I use to think the life of a pioneer sounded so cool. 

Parts of it still sound cool to me (I'd love to have chickens!) but I'm also extremely grateful to live in this day and age of electricity, running water, etc!

There were all sorts of "treasure" there, it was pretty cool.

And for spending the majority of the day with a bunch of fourth graders, that part went pretty well too. I just love being able to volunteer like that.

What I Did on Mother's Day

I'm going to let you in on a little secret, Mother's don't really ever get the day off, especially not on the day specified on the calendar to celebrate us. But, if you're a mom you knew that already, didn't you? Let's face it, Mother's are on the job 24/7. Yes, I said 24 hours a day, seven days a week, because even when we are sleeping we could be called on at any moment by our "charges, clients, customers, etc." I guess I may have had some time off, when Erik and I go on vacation just the two of us, but even then I'm not exactly "off". Even if my body is relaxing and I'm not doing anything kid-related, I'll still be worrying or thinking about my girls.

But you know what? I'm totally not complaining. I absolutely love my "job" and my two beautiful, smart daughters. I'm extremely grateful God gave them both to Erik and I. Not having to work outside the home makes it that much sweeter. Lindsay and Kera are completely worth all the blood, sweat and tears I've shed being their mother. Even if it means helping them with school projects.

School projects....I didn't even like them back when I was the student, but here I am, on my 2nd and 3rd round of dioramas, posters, reports, stories and other special assignments. This past Sunday, yes Mother's Day, was actually spent helping Lindsay finish her last book report (Amen!) of the school year, which she chose to make as a diorama. I knew in advance we'd be doing it, so we've been gathering "supplies" for a week or so. Toy tiger from the toy bin. Check. Two lego guys from a friend at church. Check. Empty shoe box from my stash. Check.

When it came down making it, it only actually took us an hour or so. Yay! And both Lindsay and I think it's her best one yet. (Because we all know she'll probably have more next year.)

Here's her project:

The two characters are suspended from a cliff on a raft and there is a tiger trying to get them from the cliff. I can't remember what book it was, but she liked it whatever it was.

If you look ever so closely you'll realize it's actually a leopard, that the girl is Princess Leia and the guy is wearing a space suit. We weren't going for perfection here, just resemblance. :)

Another Sneak Peak

Lindsay wanted to be a Pirate this year.

I attempted to make her a costume, but after two trips to shop for secondhand clothes were thwarted, I threw in the towel and we hit the big ol' Halloween store for the first time ever.

I refuse to spend more than $20 on a costume, so was pleased to find a cute one for right around that. Bonus was Lindsay liked it!

We supplemented with some things at home and a $1 foam sword from Target.

She loves it. I don't know though, not too scary of a pirate, more of a cute one in my opinion!

Lindsay's Crazy Canyon Hike

While doing our Crazy Canyon hike, Lindsay and I thought it would be fun if she wrote a blog from her perspective about the hike. This entry is all hers: she picked out the photos and told me what to type.

This was the first pretty flower we saw on the hike. We saw a lot of them. I think it's a Blue Beardtongue.

In this picture there are blue lupine and some yellow daisy type flowers. We saw a lot of lupine, they were everywhere.

This is an orange Indian paintbrush that I saw when we were on the hike. I think it looks pretty.

These are Bitterroot flowers. We either saw them at the top or in the middle of the hike, I can't remember. My mom couldn't tell me how happy she was when she saw these. She thinks they are the prettiest flowers on earth. You only have one chance to see them for the whole year and then they are gone and they only grow in specific areas, so to see them bloom is lucky.

These were pretty white flowers that we saw along the way. They are very small. 

This was the first pretty view we saw, almost to the top. It shows East Missoula. When you see this on the hike it means you are really close to the top.

This is me and my mom standing near the top. It's really sunny at the top and not as pretty as the middle of the hike. But it has the prettiest view of Missoula. I had fun hiking this with my Mom.

This is Alvin. I'm not sure where the other 2 chipmunks are. My mom didn't know Alvin was big on hiking.

We saw a Mountain Lady's Slipper. I think it looks like a princess slipper that Cinderella wore. We had two pictures of them but this was the best.

I thought the hike was fun. It was the first and best hike my Mom ever went on. She likes it because it has pretty flowers and it has beautiful views. It is seven miles long, only we thought we lost the way of the trail but we didn't, so we actually went almost 7.5 miles. Mom saw two people she'd met before, one she use to work with at Taco Johns and one we use to go to church with. I thought this hike was really long and my feet hurt because I was only wearing crocs. I thought I was going to die at the end because I was so tired and hot and my feet hurt. So I started kicking a pine cone to keep me busy and happy all the way home. It made me tired but kept me from whining. We ate lunch at the top with sandwiches made with 2 pieces of bread, but the bread was really dry. My reward for doing good on the hike and not whining too much was that we got ice cream at Dairy Queen. I got a blizzard that was Oreo flavored. It was delicious! And it was my first blizzard I ever ate. And that was my hike. I would like to do it again soon.

Crazy Canyon to Mt. Sentinel

Lindsay and I hiked my favorite hike today.

I hadn't been up there in years.

It was excellent timing because the wildflowers were a'bloomin'.

Lindsay enjoyed trying to identify all the flowers we encountered.

There were some, however, that once I saw them towards the top of the mountain, I didn't need a flower identification card for.

Bitterroots, without a doubt.

They were all over the place.

It was awesome.

Totally made the hike, for me at least!

The view was pretty good, too.

And the company. Lindsay was a trooper! Seven miles in all and she only got sort of whiny at the end when she'd reached the point of exhaustion. I was super proud of her!