Izzy turns 8!

 This weekend my Izzy turned 8!  I can't believe how time has flown so fast.  Part of me longs for the little girl who was always at my side.  Yet I enjoy seeing her grow into the daughter she is today.  On her official birthday, she was a bit under the weather (GI bug).  My food lover only wanted the cake, no frosting.  That speaks volumes of how bad she felt this day.

Things about Izzy I want to remember from this past year:

1.  You are in 2nd grade.  You love school especially mathematics.  Reading however continues to be a struggle.  With a formal dyslexia diagnosis and supports from your amazing school, I hope to see you soar over the next year.  It has been rough going through the evaluations to come to this diagnosis.  But you have been a trooper and kept a smile even when the testing was tough for you.  It is helpful to be reminded that your mother bears your same traits.

2.  You are a social butterfly.  I continually run into people outside who know you and say hi.  I receive emails and test messages from parents saying how kind you are to them.  You made a get well card for one of your closer friend's mother after she needed her pacemaker replaced.  That was very touching for her.  I hear the same things at your parent teacher conferences.

3.  You love FOOD.  You want to be a chef when you grow up.  You are more and more interested in helping out in the kitchen.  You are becoming more comfortable with your knife skills though making your mother very nervous.

4.  You are right brain dominant.  This year you were in your first theatre group and thrived.  Your drawings are amazing and continue to improve.  Its no wonder why you received so many birthday gifts that were drawing inspired.  You also have a beautiful voice.  I love to listen to it when you are unaware of me listening.  Voice lessons may come in handy if theatre is your path.

5.  You are still not sports inclined.  To include more physical activity over the winter, you (reluctantly) joined a basketball group.  I know that was tough for you bring tears to your and my eyes.  But you stuck with it being 1 of 2 girls in the group.  Our spring attempt at sports seems to be going much better... T-ball.  You have thrown out most runners to 1st base and have nailed a few line drives to shortstop.  I know you are enjoying this as you said to me after the first practice, "T-ball fits me".  Music to your mother's ears.

6.  You are the best big sitter to Micah & Victoria.  This comes at a price but great life lessons.  I constantly see you give up something that you really want for them.  When I acknowledge how selfless that was, you carry the biggest smile.

 A rainbow inspired birthday cake.  This was so much fun to make knowing there was a surprise inside.

 We spent a part of the afternoon at my friend Kerry's house.  She always spoils them.  The face masks to decorate were no exception.

Poor Eric was tackled by Izzy & Micah.  They were all in rare form.

 My supergirl!  We have now entered the realm of superhero's as Micah loves Batman, Spiderman, Ironman, etc.  Learning about the superhero girls has also been fun.  Izzy's favorites are Wonder Woman and Poison Ivy.

 We stumbled onto the series "The Land of Stories".  Because Izzy struggles to read these type of books, I read them to her.  These books are 500+ pages which can take awhile to get through.  It also makes for checking them from the library challenging.  We either pay a fine as we'll be late in returning them or return them as we are unable to renew them (someone else has requested the book).  To solve that problem, this was my present to Izzy.

Ready for the beach or another plane trip!

Hippity, Hoppity, Happy Easter

 What better way to celebrate Easter than to have an Easter themed tea party.  After picking three friends each to invite, focus turned to the days activities.  We set a table full of Easter treats.

 These two were my creations.  Above - carrot cake.  Below - chocolate jelly roll complete with bunnies.  John and I were split on which one was more delicious.

 John went all out with fun shaped sandwiches including bunnies, flowers and butterflies.  He even created a fruit basket out of a watermelon.

Victoria and one of her BFFs, Cora.  These two were inseparable at the party.

 A tea party wouldn't be a tea party without a tea set.  Each of the party attendants decorated their own cup and saucer to take home.  After decorating them, they were glazed in order to be fully functional.

 Our finished tea set.  Seeing each of our personalities in the cups was fun.  Can you guess who's cup is who's?

Ta Da!

 Easter egg dying.

Holding up our favorite masterpieces.

What would an Easter party be without an Easter egg hunt.  Rather than picking up any egg, the kids had to find those with their names on them.  This made for a fun hunt to watch.

February School Vacation - Great Wold Lodge

 For February School Vacation we stayed local heading to Great Wolf Lodge with Oma & Opa!  None of us have ever visited one so this was new territory.  Unfortunately we ALL were sick during this week thanks to daycare germs.  The illness simply rotated between a combination of us every 2 days or so.  Thankfully that meant that others were feeling better when others were not making daily adventures a different group each time.

 Micah and Oma's favorite water activity was the Crooked Creek.  The current was not super strong which meant inner tubes needed a bit of self propulsion.

 Another favorite was shooting the water cannons at each other.

Micah and Victoria posing outside in front of the Howlin' Tornado.  This is a super-fast ride in a raft built for four.  Opa, John, Izzy & I brave this thrill ride!  We all thought the raft was going to flip as we shot up the sides of the tunnel walls!  Izzy, John & I returned at night to ride this in darkness while the tunnel was lite up in various colors.

Other rides included water slides on double inner tubes, a river raft ride and (Opa's favorite!) Wolf Tail - a launch pad ride where the floor drops out from underneath you.

 Outside of water rides, other activities included bowling, miniature golf, arcade games & rides, spa time and a ropes course.

Howlers Peak Ropes Course - There were 2 levels.  Izzy ventured to the top while Micah & Victoria took their try on the smaller structure. 

Happy Valentine's Day

We are ready for Valentine's Day fun at school! 

 Izzy has wanted for awhile to eat at a fancy restaurant.  However, I have informed her that she needs to practice etiquette before we go.  This prompted John to make plans for a fancy dinner for Valentine's Day.  None of us were prepared for how elaborate this fancy dinner would be....

Welcome to "Chez Izzy"!  John created an 8 course meal for us including horderves in the parlor, sorbet to cleanse our palate between courses, white & red 'wine' and a sweets / dessert plate.  Everyone dresses up including John.  He actually owns this red tuxedo.  Unbeknownst to him, Izzy had made a bowtie out of bubble wrap that day for fun.  She had no idea how useful it would be to complete his ensemble.

 Micah sporting his tie... his version of dressing up.

 Of course Victoria knew how to dress up!

Valentine's Day Fun

 Valentine's Day is a time to get our creative on!  We came up with another way to use John's pompom maker - heart shaped pompoms.  These pompoms were transformed into cupid hearts for Izzy to hand out to her friends at school.

Putting together Micah & Victoria's valentine's for school.

Izzy wanted a heart shaped braid after flipping through a new braid & bun book.  Not too bad for my first attempt.

Heart shaped school snacks for the munchkins.

Micah and Victoria's school asked that we send valentine's in their lunch bags for the week before valentine's day.  Their teachers read them out loud and then made a collage out of them for all to see / read.