Our life with Twins: school theme days

And you thought I was done updating the blog. Nope. We have a lot to catch up on and so so many pictures and some video to share.

First off, Nana(Jenny's mom) had knee replacement surgery on May 6th. The doc replaced her left knee with a new go go gadget Stryker knee. Surgery went well, but her recovery is slow going due to what we think is a reaction to the anesthesia. She has had a really hard time sleeping, is anxious, has had some depression, and has lost a little over 25 pounds. Her PT therapists thinks that she will be able to use a cane instead of a walker within a couple of weeks. We've been socializing her a lot lately and she is slowly feeling better.

Second, Papa and Nana celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on the 25th of May. We have rescheduled our celebration as a family until the 22nd of this month due to Mom's health and recovery. They asked that we keep it to a family affair, so we are all going to enjoy a 5-7 course dinner at a very nice steak house. And we get to get all dressed up for the event. So worth it to celebrate and honor two of the most important people in our lives.

Also, Henry and Emma both performed in their very first school talent show! Emma and one of her BFFs were little comedians and told jokes. Henry sang "Home" by Philip Philips. They did a fantastic job and we are so very proud of them. I was a teary mess, but cheered them on while taking photos of all of the performers. They both already have plans for their auditions next year!

The last two weeks of school were jam packed with events. Theme days and dress up days. Fun filled, for sure. On the 28th of May, Jason and I set up and ran Science and Art Day for the 1st through 3rd grade classes, around 125 kids. The kids enjoyed tables that featured homemade lava lamps, recreating a water tornado, a drawing robot, super powerful magnets, a claw robot, drinking straw airplanes, watching experiments fail and then watching those same experiments succeed after a longer wait time due to the chemical change, and huge giant glycerin bubbles that were over 4 feet tall. We also took along some Moon Boots, but did not have an adult to supervise, so we could not let the kids try them out. Maybe next year. Art activities consisted of a table where they could make their own homemade play dough, tissue paper stain glass windows, bead necklaces or bracelets, recycled jewelry out of old t-shirts and water bottles, water colors, and face painting. We were also set to do the melted crayon on canvas/heavy paper, but again did not have enough adults to supervise. We had a small crowd of kiddos that did not get to do everything and were a little upset, but all in all, everyone had a great time! Jason and I already have plans for next year's event and will change up a few things too.

Our theme/dress up days were-Super Hero Day, 60's-70's Day, 80's Day, 50's Sock Hop Day, and PBS Pajama Day/Kona Ice Day. The kids and I dressed up for all of them. I only skipped PJ Day because I was already whipped out and thought that wearing PJs on a day that I had to get things done was not a good combo and my Summer PJs need an update. We also had our End of the Year party for the 1st grade classes that I guess I kind of ended up helping organize and run.

The last day of school was an early release day/awards day/graduation day. And the last week of school this mommy only got about maybe 18 hours of sleep. The last day of school was the 31st and I was up until 2 am that morning finishing the memory books. And we arrived at school early to finish the other prep work for the awards ceremonies.

We are very proud and happy to say that we now have two 2nd Graders in our house. They both worked so hard the entire year.

Henry overcame some big obstacles with the help of his amazing teacher, Ms. Julie. She was a great help and a great source of support for him when he struggled with learning due to his dyslexia. Daddy helped him with a few techniques that he(Daddy) used as a kid and still uses now and I learned new ways of teaching him things. He loves all things math and science, robotics, puzzles, and sports. He is go, go, go, all of the time. He is our early riser:)

Emma is our little reader. She is enjoying short chapter books and is quickly going through books and / or reading several at one time. And she loves art! She too had an amazing teacher this year. Ms. Jessica was a joy to work with and learn from. Emma loved being in her class and received loads of encouragement from Ms. Jessica in her art work and writing stories and in her ever growing love of reading. Emma loves Junie B. Jones and Judy Moody books, Barbie, My Little
Pony, and drawing and painting. She's our sleeper and is loving the chance to sleep in:)

The kids have been studying/learning about nursery rhymes the last two weeks. Today not only was early release, the last day of school before Spring Break, but it was also the Literature Festival at school. The kindergarten and first grade classes dressed as their favorite nursery rhyme character and both K classes recited their rhymes for their class and the parents. Emma chose the Three Little Kittens and Henry chose the Queen of Hearts. I finished Henry's on Wednesday and mustered up the energy last night to do Emma's. I've been down with the flu this week, so Daddy has been pulling double duty. And we thought that he would be continuing his extra duties today at the festival. Wednesday and most of yesterday, I felt horrible and was in bed most of the day. So Jason moved around his schedule at work and worked from home yesterday and today. I joined the three of them this morning for the festival, but I kept my distance. I'm so glad that both of us were able to go and the kids were pleasantly surprised that I was able to come.

Three Little Kittens

King of Hearts(from The Queen of Hearts)

Nursery Rhyme parade.

Emma and Ms. Laura:)

Henry and Mrs. Alana:)

The King of Hearts waving to his court.

My little kitten was being goofy.

Emma girl reciting her nursery rhyme-Three Little Kittens. She did a GREAT job!

My King of Hearts reciting-The Queen of Hearts. He also did a GREAT job!

The lower grades had a Literature Festival today and had a lot of time period appropriate games for the kids to play. All of the games were named after a nursery rhyme. It was a lot of fun and we had wonderful weather and lots of room to run around.