Happy Summer 2011!!
We have been very busy since my last post back in February! We had a snowy Winter with about 5 snow days from school. With all the snow days added on at the end of the year we just got out of school last Wed. But it was a good Winter for skiing! Spring took a long time to come to New England and when it came Winter decided to come back and say hello. After that Summer came and then Fall decided to come and say hello. We had a chilly start to Summer and had a couple fires in our wood stove just this month but I think Summer is finally here to stay.
I have posted some random pictures from Spring Break/Easter up to some recent pictures.
Our Spring Break this year started out with Easter. Mom and Dad came to visit and we headed down to my aunt and uncles house in MA for the day. It is always so great to be there with family. My cousins were there and my cousin, Brooke's kids. The picture above is of Emily, Callie, Brady and Cameron. Brady and Cameron are Brook's kids. We are missing Emma as she was taking a nap.
While Mom and Dad were here we did a lot of day trips. One day we drove to the coast on our way to Portsmouth. We walked along the beach. The photo above is the best of three pictures I took. Some people were not being cooperative but I still love this picture!!!
Dad and Emily walking on the beach in Rye, NH.
As most of you know, Callie started playing the trumpet this year. Here she is with some of the kids at her school that participated in a Spring Recital. Callie did three solos. It was a great evening!!!
Here is Emily with two of her friends from school, Alyssa and Sierra. This was taken at
Camp Mi-Te-Na. The 7Th graders all go on a three day/two night camping trip. The weather wasn't the best but she had a great time. Todd went as well as a chaperon but had a group of boys he stayed with. I thought it was great because he was there and could watch Emily do all sorts of great things with her friends but he wasn't with her all the time so she had a lot of time with just her friends. If I had gone I would have been with her the whole time. There were SO many stories from both Emily and Todd when they returned!!!! Todd is already talking about when he will go with Callie so I think he had fun too!
At the end of May Emily and I did a walk for Cystic Fibrosis. We raised $390.00 between the two of us. We walked in honor of a little girl named, Hannah. I have had the pleasure of working with Hannah the last two years in preschool. Hannah has CF and doing very well. Her mom believes we will find a cure in her lifetime. Wouldn't that be awesome!!!! It has been wonderful knowing Hannah and her wonderful family!! Pictured above is a picture of me with Hannah and two wonderful ladies I work with, Carmen and Hope.
This is a picture of Emily with Carmen and Hope's daughters who walked as well. Callie wanted to walk but was in the middle of Spring Soccer season and had a game that morning.
Here is a picture of Emily and some of her friends. This was taken at the Music Awards Night at her school.
Here is Callie standing in front of her ladybug art at the annual Art Show at her school. She did an awesome job on this piece and I was able to order a mug with the picture on it.
The same night as the Art Show there was a hot dog dinner and concert. During the dinner kids could play their instruments in the courtyard while people ate. Callie did a duet with her friend, Alicia, pictured above. I have posted a video of the duet below. Don't these two girls look so much alike???
This picture was taken by a friend of mine during the concert part of the evening. This is Callie doing her solo during the Jazz portion of the night. The video of this is posted below as well.
I had the pleasure of helping out this year during Callie's Jaguar Jamboree. It is their version of Fun Day or Field Day. It was a hot day and this picture was taken when we were all eating lunch. A fun day was had by all!!!!
Callie had an awesome Soccer season this Spring. She was selected for the All Star Team. This picture was taken after the All Star game with some of her team mates she has known since we moved here 7 years ago. They have all grown so quickly!
Callie participated in a reading program through our local minor league baseball team, The Fisher Cats. After she read five books she sent the paperwork in and won us tickets to a game. It was a fun night at the ballpark and a wonderful way to start off our Summer Vacation.
Just yesterday, Brooke, Brady, Cameron and Emma came for a visit!! It was so great to see them and the kids were wonderful to be around. Emily and Callie were so good with them!!! They all get along so well! So nice to see them together playing and hanging out. We had a nice lunch on the deck and some swimming. This beautiful picture above is Emma!!! What a great baby she is!! Always smiling and she is such a snuggler!!
Here is Cameron and Emily hanging out by the pool. Cameron has such a great sense of humor!!
Here is Brady floating around in the pool. I think I have a picture of him on this tube every year!! What a smile!!!Both Emily and Callie had wonderful years at school this year. It went by so fast. It was Emily's first year in middle school and she loved it!!! She made high honors three out of the four quarters and made honor roll one quarter!!! Callie got straight A's almost every quarter! They both participated in Gateway again this year and in band. Callie added chorus half way through the year. Emily decided to try out to play the piccolo next year. The band teacher would only take one piccolo player so Emily had to try out as well as 5 other girls. Emily got it!!! She is so excited about band for next year which is such an improvement from the beginning of last year when she just wasn't sure she wanted to continue. She was able to bring a school piccolo home to practice all Summer.
On a sad note, we lost an amazing woman just about a week ago. My grandmother, Mama Rachel, (aka Memaw, Rachel Ann, The Big R!) passed away. She was such a wonderful Grandmother to me. She left me with so many great memories of my childhood and as an adult. The time she flew out to California to see me and my new baby and the time she flew to NH to surprise me for my 40Th birthday are priceless!!! This is a woman that hated to fly on a plane!!! I can still hear her laughing. She had such a contagious laugh that could be heard all around her. Knowing she is in heaven now with my uncle David and my cousin Noah makes me smile. I miss her terribly but will always have her memories!!!
