Awards Assembly

This morning Mr. H and I attended the last school assembly for the year to see Hannah receive an award.
The first awards assembly is for TK-2nd Grade, so we saw Claire's class walk in.  She spotted us and waved, and then was so proud to show us her 100 Mile Club Award that she got.

 The first award Hannah received was for Academic Excellence for the Year!

She is so studious and she works so very hard.  She really strives in school and we are so proud of her.

 Later her teacher called the names of students in her class who achieved the AR (Advanced Reading) Award for reaching each of their AR goals every month of the whole school year.

 She got a medal that said 'Readers Are Leaders', and a coupon to Legoland.

 Claire was so cute cheering her big sister on from the audience.
After the assembly Mr. H left for work, and I signed in at the office to help in both girls classes for the last time this year.

 Claire and Hannah's classes are right nextdoor to each other.  I thought it was so cute that when I got down the hall to get to Hannah's class, I saw Claire's class walking right past Hannah's and my girls were talking across the way to each other about the assembly.  Warmed my heart to see.  Sometimes I'll admit that I am a bit reluctant to give up my time while the girls are in school to help.  But then I get to see things like that and I'm always so very glad that I am able to be in their rooms and to get to see them amongst their peers.

 This week a lot of fun stuff has been going on in both classes for the girls.  Homework is done, and it's time for fun.  Today Hannah got to bring in a stuffed animal so she chose her new fox that she earned from her Daisy Cookie Sales.  She also got a nice backpack from cookie sales this year that she was very excited about.  She's been switching her backpack every other day between her pink one, and her girl scout one.  

 When it was time for recess Hannah was SO excited to grab her yearbook and a pen and ask her friends to sign it.
So so cute.
They all just signed their names.
I wonder when they start writing messages.  You know, the ones where you can't wait to see what people wrote to you, or what certain boys might have written in your book.  Oh boy.  Wonder how long before that happens.  

Once she went to recess, I left her class and went nextdoor to Claire's.

 Claire is always sooooo happy to see me when I walk in.
Today she gave me multiple hugs.

She has grown so much since starting Transitional Kindergarten!
She's so excited for Kinder next year.

And we are ALL SO excited for SUMMMMMEEERRRRR!!!!!

Hannah Bridged and Became a Brownie

Last weekend Hannah's Daisy Scout Troop had their Bridging Ceremony.

One of the troop Moms read a poem, and then each of the girls crossed over the bridge to meet their Mom on the other side.  The Moms removed their Daisy tunics, and helped them put on their new Brownie vests.

 And so they became Brownies. :)

 They each got a bridging badge for their new Brownie uniform.

 The leader passed out Brownie necklaces for each girl, along with a slew of patches for completion of Daisies, and beginning of Brownies that she had stapled onto a ribbon necklace.

 Then they received their Bridging to Brownies certificates.

 And a framed collage with pictures from different meetings and events and parties that the girls attended this last school year.

 They also got Brownie troop jackets to put extra badges on.

 And then they recited The Girl Scout Promise.

Claire was a good sport.

It's hard for her to not get to do all the fun stuff that Hannah has in her troop.

We are trying to find her a Daisy Troop to be a part of next year as she starts Kinder.

After the ceremony the girls were free to swim.

 The Dads bbq'd hamburgers and hot dogs, and we all brought several side dishes.
The girls also got to eat cupcakes with Daisy Flowers on them.  
And Brownies too. ;)

It was a really fun day for Hannah.
And she is thrilled that we are hosting the first official Brownie Meeting at our new house in just a few weeks and then having a pool party.
She also has two new friends joining her troop then too.  One from our old neighborhood and one from her first grade class.  She can't wait.
I sure hope I can find a troop as great as this one has been for Claire!

Goodbye Emeraldport

Our last week in our old house my friend Amber came over one night and took a few pictures of us.
Much of our house was already packed and put into boxes.
But I wanted a few pictures of us, in the rooms that held so many of our memories.
She did a great job and when we saw the pictures for the first time it was after we had officially moved out and handed over the keys, so these pictures meant even more to me.  Thank you Amber, you were great at making my girls giggle, and at capturing us just being us.

 Looking at these I can't help but feel a little bit sad.
I will miss a lot of things about our old house.
I already miss all of our great friends in the neighborhood.
It seems silly because we are not far away at all, but it just seems different now too.
We haven't had much time to hang out in front at our new house yet.  I'm sure when we do we will meet more neighborhood kids, and feel right at home once again.

The morning we had to turn in our keys to the new owner we drove the girls over to see the house all empty and to say goodbye one last time.

 They were shocked at how empty it was.
And Hannah said that with everything gone the garage looked huge.

 We said goodbye to the measuring wall where Mr. Hass has recorded their heights since they were old enough to walk.

 And goodbye to their room that was first a nursery, and then later their shared bedroom.

 Goodbye to the dining room where we shared so many meals, and so many laughs.

 And goodbye to my red kitchen.  Where I learned how to cook and where I made my first pot roast and hosted many of my first holidays.

 Goodbye to our backyard which we enjoyed so thoroughly.  I can still see baby Claire sleeping in the swing that hung from the patio, and toddler Hannah running around the backyard chasing Abbey and talking a mile a minute.

 Goodbye front porch, where we spent so many afternoons watching the girls ride bikes, scooter, and play with the neighborhood kids.

Goodbye to the first home we owned as husband and wife.
Goodbye to the home we started in as a family of two, and walked away from as a family of four.
So many good memories.
Goodbye Emeraldport.

Pool Pics... Before & Afters

The first day we had the keys we couldn't wait to start making some changes in the backyard!!!

We love to be outdoors, and with as much as we knew we would be enjoying the pool area, we couldn't wait to rip out a lot of the sago palms and shrub bushes that were growing out of control and blocking the view of the pool.

These are two pics I took with my phone during our home inspection before the house was officially ours.

The sago to the right of the spa was so big that you couldn't even walk around it.

And the one at the front/shallow side of the pool was so big that when you first stepped out the back door, you could hardly even see the pool.

 The first day we had the keys,the girls were of course DYING to get in the pool.
We had been so busy working inside, and knew that we weren't going to get much more done with their nonstop "When can we swim?  Now can we swim?  When can we swim?"  So we told them it's going to be cold, but if you want to go ahead.  And they went right ahead and jumped in.

 Since we had to be out there watching them, Mr. H went right ahead and started to trim back some of the sagos.

 This one touched the side of that retaining wall and you couldn't walk past it.

 This is the view stepping outside the house.  See how much those trees blocked the pool?!?!

 The very next day our gardeners from our old house came to do this house for the first time, and we asked if they could get the sagos out.  He said no problem.

 As soon as those first two went down I was SO happy.  I LOVE how that opened up the whole area.

 Poor Juan though, that was tough work!!!

 What a difference!!!  And if you scroll up through a couple pics you can kind of see some of the tall shrubs that were overgrown along both sides of the kitchen window.  (You can see them pretty good in the very first pic of this post.)  I wish I had more before pics of that, but it was nice to see those gone too.

 The shrubs that remain are actually nice because they hide all of the pool equipment.

 The girls have been so excited about the pool.
Hannah is always out there cleaning it.  And Claire likes to dip her mermaids in it.  ;)

 Last Friday night we went to The Islands for dinner, and when we got back the girls got to check out the pool lights for the first time.  They were giddy.  Of course as luck would have it, the next night the spa light burned out.  Mr. H did a little research on that and hopefully we get it fixed soon.

 Saturday we picked out some gardenia bushes and Mr. H planted those underneath the kitchen window where those tall ugly shrubs used to be.  I can't wait until they are blooming and I can smell gardenia flowers from my kitchen!

 Saturday we worked inside and out all day getting things spruced up to host our very first BBQ/Swim party for Mother's Day.

 We hung our new outdoor clock from Lowe's.

The blue solar lights around the yard were a fun purchase at Home Depot.  They had lots of colors and at night they look so pretty!

 The bbq/fireplace island is another thing we were SO excited about when we first saw the house!  We can't wait to cook out here all summer.  The fridge is already stocked with waters, sodas and beer to enjoy poolside.  And we just picked up that outdoor trashcan to the left of the fireplace at Sam's Club.  

We can't wait to paint it too.  You can see a sample of the color we are going to use.  The blue tiles have pops of that color throughout and we can't wait to see how it turns out!  I'd also love to get a red umbrella and some fun red patio furniture for in front of the fireplace.  And a couple of barstools for the bar.

 See the pool equipment hidden nicely back here?

There's also a huge Toughshed back here that's wonderful for storage.  And the girls trampoline that they bought from the little girl who used to live here.

And a before pic of the gate on the side of the house.  I didn't get a before pic before Mr. H started to paint it, but the left side is what it all looked like before.  He spray painted it oil rubbed bronze and it looks much better than it did before.


I'll end this with a few pics from Mother's Day...

Mr. H cannonballed into the pool and splashed everybody in the spa with cold water.  Hee Hee.

It was such a fun day.  My Mom was here.  And her Mom was here.  And other moms were here.  We broke in the bbq.  It was perfect.