Student of the Month

Isabelle was chosen as Student of the Month for March in her class! Each classroom has a student each month who is recognized for outstanding effort, behavior and characteristics. Isabelle has actually been student of the month every year except for fourth grade. In fourth grade, her teacher made sure to pick students who had never been student of the month before.

Shane, Parker and I were able to attend the breakfast with Isabelle. We enjoyed doughnuts and chicken minis from Chick-fil-A. While we were there, Isabelle's teacher (Mrs. Gagliardi) let us know what a great student Isabelle is and how glad she is to have her in her class. She is the teacher who wrote this about Isabelle when she selected her:

This was displayed in the hallway in front of the school cafeteria, along with this photo:

The morning of the breakfast

I would also like to announce that Isabelle is on the Honor Roll again for the 2nd quarter of the 2013-2014 school year!

We are very proud of our Isabelle and her hard work!

Isabelle Turns 11

Isabelle is 11!! We celebrated with two friends the day before her birthday. Emma and Erika joined us for Chipotle and ice cream cake. Erika got to spend the night. I'm told they were "only" up until 3:00! On top of that, it was the night that Daylight Savings Time began, so we "lost" an hour of sleep.

Seems I only got one photo of her during this celebration. She received a Target gift card from Emma which was used to buy a pair of jeggings and a pair of boots, and an AppStore gift card from Erika which she used to get music for her iPod.

On her actual birthday, March 9, we had family over for lunch, cake and ice cream. Again, I failed to get many photos!

"Caffeine Cake" by Grandma Barb

Izzy and Aunt Christy

Isabelle received money, a half-body puppet (which she named Rachel), an iTunes card and the movie, Tuck Everlasting (she had just finished reading the book). From us she received tickets to the upcoming Katy Perry concert.

Grandma Barb!

Our 11 year old!

With most of her birthday money, Isabelle bought a North Face jacket that she has really been wanting.

Rachel & Isabelle

Isabelle's Christmas Puppet Performance

Back in January, Isabelle's puppet ministry team performed a holiday show called Christmas in Black and White. Isabelle has been practicing with the puppet team since September, preparing for this show. They took the show on the road to the Grove City Christian Childcare Center and to a local retirement home.

There was a narrator who told the story of Christmas and what certain things symbolize (Christmas tree, candy cane, wreath, for example) and there were penguins and puppets who danced and sang songs throughout the story. In this first video, Isabelle held the "white" sign.

In this video, Isabelle is the girl with an orange face and yellow hair.

Wacky Hair Day

Seth had a Mohawk for Wacky Hair Day at school!

Parker's 3-Year Photos

Parker wasn't too cooperative with his photos this time. But after a few minutes of crying and changing studios, two guys got Parker to play with them and a football and captured some smiles.

At Parker's 3-year checkup, he was 33" tall (in the 80th percentile) and weighed 37 pounds (in the 90th percentile). He's reached all the important milestones!

Parker's Big Boy Bed

Parker is now in his "Big Boy Bed"! He never tried to climb out of his crib, so when he was 3 years and 3 months old, we figured it was finally time to transition to a "new" bed. We took the front rail off his crib and put a smaller guard rail on so he can get in and out of bed by himself. He has done really well with it! He gets in his bed at night with no problem and stays there throughout the night.

Seth Turns 8!

Seth turned 8 on January 4th! We had both sets of grandparents over plus Cathy's family. We all had a good time! Somehow I didn't get many photos...

Seth's homemade ice cream cake, by request

Seth also had a birthday party with his friends the following weekend. It was held at Elite Mind & Body Gymnastics where Seth took a few classes and Isabelle still takes gymnastics classes. Seth and his friends had the whole gym to themselves! We provided the decorations and food and we all had a really good time.

Hannah L., Willa, Joey, Josh, Caleb

Treats time

Time to open presents

Isabelle brought her friend, Emma, along.

Did I mention parents could play too??

Shane attempting to pull up and over the bar (he didn't make it)

Me balancing pretty well on the beam

Parker and I had fun bouncing on the trampoline

Happy Birthday, Seth!