I believe the 2nd trimester of school ended sometime in late February. I forgot to mention how well the kids did on their report cards again. Axel got his straight A's with 2 A+'s and 1 or 2 A-'s. I can't remember now, but the biggest accomplishment was him getting the citizenship and achievement awards. All of his teachers recognized at how hard he has been working. It was quite an accomplishment as this year has been the toughest for him in regards to getting along with all of his teachers.
Phoenix doesn't get letter grades, but she did get kudos for being a wonderful student to have in the classroom. Her teachers recognized her hard effort and work. To do a little bragging about her, because I am actually blown away by her work in KINDERGARTEN, I have to include some examples of her exemplary work! The first is a spelling test. She regularly does well. This is one of her 100%, but I am most impressed with the "neatness".
An art project "for fun". I don't think I could do this in Kinder.
Another example of a weekly Mr. Fix it Test.
An example of a comprehension test she does each week.
An example of a writing assignment that she does each week. I don't remember when I learned to give 3 reasons or to start the paragraph repeating the question. But again, look at that handwriting! It is so beautiful! I am so very proud of her effort and her love for school. It is icing on the cake that she is doing well in addition to learning to love to learn.
So this is a picture of Rubix. It doesn't look clear. I cheaped out and bought just one pose, but the worst thing about it is how fussy the print turned out. So now it just looks like another crappy picture. I called and complained, but I haven't heard a response. Now they are just sitting in my kitchen doing nothing! I feel like I even wasted the 26 bucks I spent on the one pose! Argh!
The kids were on Spring break with Keith this past week. They had such fun times with Daddy. They went to the track, the pool, out to eat a couple of times, had play dates with friends and went to Axel's 10 year check up and then the longest dentist appointment ever! Axel weighed in at 54 lbs and 11 oz which is still less than the 5th percentile, but almost a 4 lb increase since last year. He grew 2 inches this year which puts him at 4 feet and 4.25 inches which bumps him up to the 19th percentile! If he continues on this trend of about a 4%ile jump per year he might be in the 50th %ile by the time he graduates high school! Only the Lord knows, but I can be wishful!
So this dentist appointment was so long because all 3 kids transitioned to a pediatric dentist. They all had their cleaning at the same time. Phoenix got x-rays which showed 5 cavities! She then had the luxury of getting 2 filled after her cleaning. Axel then had an extra tooth pulled that was in the way of an adult tooth that came in last year and then had his second cavity filled. They ended up being there for over 3.5 hours! Luckily they were all on their best behavior and cooperated very well.
They tried to give Phoenix the dog to help calm her, but then took the dog away when they realized the "Barbie" movie was plenty to keep her distracted. Rubix was entertained by a Car movie and Axel went without.
I forgot that Axel and Phoenix also got to visit Daddy's new work. The big move happened this week so he went to go check on the lab and to see if his team of workers made it in to the new building. He also went and checked on the EMI chamber which is still in the process of getting built.
Our favorite tree was in bloom so we took advantage of climbing on it and getting a few pictures in front of it. Keith really liked the pictures we got of the family just before Rubix was born.
It was a little sunny and bright out, but the purple tree is still beautiful!
Here is the official 10 year old. Double digits!
He had a super fun day of spending it with his friends. He went to Selena's birthday party and they sang to him and Selena again. Sulin, Selena's mom, put Axel's name on the cake again. She is so sweet to include Axel. He was the only boy at the party, but he had a blast. Apparently, a few of the girls painted his face with frosting and it was a big hit. He then went over to Kristin's house for the rest of the day and we picked him up just before bed time. I was a little sad to only spend breakfast with him again, but since this was the second year in a row that I didn't get to spend his actual birthday together I was a little more prepared.
We finally had a single nice day of Spring last weekend where it was a beautiful sunny day. We spent most of the day outside including time at the park. Phoenix taught Rubix how to swing on his stomach. He loved it.
We have finally decided to start doing some basic home repairs. We have visited Home Depot and Lowe's in this undertaking. The kids absolutely love going and running around. We have our wild child who doesn't listen and then we have our little follower and then we have our cautious level headed one. Can you guess who is who?
Yep, if you guessed Phoenix is the wild child and Rubix is the follower and Axel is my level headed one you are correct. I actually made Daddy "take them home" when we went to Lowe's last week because they were misbehaving so much. Phoenix is really going to try my patience and help me learn how to grow as a person and a parent.
I will leave you with this cute picture of our determined fire cracker. We are solo for the next 2 weeks as Keith is now in Japan. We have lots of fun things planned, but hopefully will have some nice down time as well.
Thanks for reading. I probably won't post again until after Easter once Keith is back in town.
