Happy Thanksgiving 2016!

Yesterday was Thanksgiving and it was a lovely day!  We started the morning by watching a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, then we met the Ratcliff Family at Saguaro National Monument for a nice walk.  We celebrated with our family at Grandma and Grandpa's and then over at Steve and Viv's.

We have much to be thankful for.

It was a different Thanksgiving holiday without Grandma Barbara around.  But we were glad that Grandpa Pop came and ate.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Catch-Up Post: Homework

There have recently been many news articles about how this (our!) generation of parents think their children should not be assigned homework (or, worse yet, just refuse to do what is assigned!).  Well, as an educator and as a parent, I'm here to tell you that homework is important, meaningful, something we will continue to do.

I wanted to share that our kindergartener, at the age of 5, completed this book report.  We did it together and it was amazing!  We read Elmer, she answered the questions about it with me assisting with spelling, and she made this cute elephant pumpkin!

She was proud and we enjoyed doing it together.

Catch-Up Post: Halloween

We had a blast on Halloween this year!  Shyla was Little Red Riding Hood, Harper was a Ladybug, and I was a cup of coffee!

The girls had a parade at their school that both Stevie and I were able to attend, followed by snacks and goodies.

We spent the evening by visiting our amazing neighbors' house (Karen & Brian), then enjoyed the cul-de-sac potluck at Grandma and Grandpa's, and then trick-or-treating at 49ers Country Club.

Wine Tasting Excursion

Yesterday was a fun day!  Stevie and I spent the day with our friends Becky and Andy, along with Becky's parents, down in Elgin, AZ for wine tasting.  It was fun and tasty and a great start to the holidays!
Becky and I have been friends since high school, we lived together in college, and we were both in each other's weddings.  It was a great opportunity to relax and laugh together.
Meanwhile, the girls spent the afternoon (after school) with Grandma, preparing for Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Blog Revival!

To say that life has been busy is a total understatement.  Between work, busy schedules, and trying to cherish every moment with these girls that are growing way too quickly, there hasn't seemed to be a lot of time to maintain the blog.

However, it is important.  It is important to me and it's important to the girls both now and in the future.

So, I'm back!  The family journal will continue after a 4 month break!