First Days of School

Aurora's First Day of First Grade!  Mrs. Andrea Jackson is her teacher

 Allegra's first day of Learn N Play Preschool!  Ms. Keitha and Ms. Diana are her teachers

 

Looking glamorous before her big entrance

New First Day tradition: The Giant Cookie

I put Sabrina to work as my human swiffer.  There are no free rides at our house!

She is struggling with the time adjustment.  This was at 5:00.

Fancy Nancy Week

This was by far the highlight of the summer--Fancy Nancy Week!!!!!!  Most of the week was spent preparing for the party.  But we did fit a few more fancy things in.  Monday was manners day.  On the kitchen table, I put a teacup full of slips of papers with the 25 Manners Every Kid Should Know and we read one or two at every meal during the week.  We also played "The Manners Game" where at the start of a meal each person is given three skittles.  If you see someone using bad manners (like talking with mouth full or elbows on the table), you can take one of their skittles.  Wow, it worked like a charm and Allegra wanted to play for every meal (more likely because she has a sugar addiction like her parents!).

Saturday we had our own Ooh La La Beauty Spa Day.  We started off giving our dolls and ponies a much needed spa treatment.  Some of those ponies had not seen a sponge in 25 years!

Then it was the girls' turn to be pampered with banana and honey facials (compliments of Fancy Nancy) and cucumber eyes in Mommy's Princess bubble bath.  They also got a special hair conditioner treatment.

Pedicures and foot massages would have been included, but we ran out of time when the play room didn't get cleaned up.  Even Fancy Nancy has to clean her room!

While reading Fancy Nancy for the hundredth time this week, I was reminded why I LOVE LOVE LOVE this book!  Here's why:

• Nancy decorates her room herself, from what she has available.  Her mom does not order it out of Pottery Barn.
• She uses fancy words, not just kid words.  All kids can have a large vocabulary--we just have to make it available.
• No one in her family is fancy (I feel like her very un-fancy mom).
• It's the little things in life that make it exciting--lace-trimmed socks, frilly toothpicks, and sprinkles!
• She takes the initiative and teaches a class for her family on how to be fancy. ( I totally would have done that when I was little!)
• Her family goes along with it and goes out fancy in public! What a loving family!
• Nancy has impeccable manners--merci!
• When Nancy slips and drops the parfaits, her parents don't buy her more, they go home and make their own.  Even frugal can be fancy.
• "All I say back is 'I love you" because there isn't a fancy--or better--way of saying that." 

'Nuff said.


Books we read:
Nancy Clancy, super sleuth (Aurora loved it so much, she read it in one sitting!)
Come to tea! : fun tea party themes, recipes, crafts, games, etiquette, and more 
Fancy Nancy : tea parties 
Fancy Nancy: Tea for Two 
Fancy Nancy : bonjour, butterfly  (great one about the importance of families)
Table manners : the edifying story of two friends whose discovery of good manners promises them a glorious future  
Fancy Nancy and the mermaid ballet (another great one about friendship and making the best of things that don't go your way)
Fancy Nancy and the fabulous fashion boutique (about earning money and doing kind things for your sister)
Fancy Nancy : Ooh la la! It's beauty day 
Fancy Nancy's Favorite Fancy Words
Fancy Nancy: Aspiring Artist 
Tea For Ruby (LOVE--different author (Sarah The Duchess of York Ferguson), same artist--about manners and grandmas!)
 

The Big Unveiling

We went to the huge open house of the new Allen High School football stadium.  Actually, that should read "we went to the open house of the HUGE new Allen High School football stadium."  Oh, and I should say that it cost $60 million, because no article about the stadium is allowed to be published without that bit of information.  Did I say the stadium is huge?

A Fancy Nancy Soiree

 Since we are always in California for the girls' birthdays I decided that for Fancy Nancy week we would host a Fancy Nancy tea party for our friends.  I was so excited, I might have gotten a little carried away.

 For a gathering activity, we decorated butterfly placemats with stickers, glitter, and sequins . . . so fancy!

 At the Ooh La La Beauty Spa, we adorned ourselves with rings and necklaces, made Fruit Jewel necklaces, added a little sparkle to our faces, and a little perfume--Voila!

!

 We had a Fashion Show Fantastique!

 

 The food was Divine!  Peanut Butter and Jelly Swirls, Fruit Kabobs with Jewels, Chocolate covered Strawberries, Petits Fours, Pink Lemonade and Chocolate Milk

We read Fancy Nancy and the Mermaid Ballet

We practiced our grace doing the Tea Cup Walk

 Even Sabrina wanted to show that she was Fancy!

 Everyone took home a Parting Purse containing Glittering Lip Gloss, a Pen d'Plume, a Royal Ring Pop and Fancy Nancy paper dolls.  I do have to say that it was a Splendiferous Soiree!

Feast Upon the Word

Allen Library has a cool program where they will dedicate a book to your baby.  Here is Sabrina with her book and she thinks it is quite tasty!

Dinosaur Week

This is another week that just flopped.  I tried to hint to my friend with the membership that we should go to the Science Museum but it didn't work and I just couldn't bring myself to pay full price.  I considered just getting my own membership since it is the equivalent to going twice but then I thought of all my friends who have memberships who said they would take me and so I opted out.  I should have just done it.  Oh, well.

We did make these cute paper plate dinos.  I did freeze a bunch of plastic dinos in a huge ice cube that the girls had to squirt with water guns and spoons to rescue (thank you Pinterest) but Mark was in charge and of course, didn't take a picture.  The girls really had fun though.  We watched a couple Reading Rainbows about dinosaurs and the Disney version "Dinosaurs" (totally not worth it).

We did make Dinosaur Food
2 cups crushed bones (sugar)
1 stick fat (margarine)
1/2 c. swamp water (milk)
3 c. dried weeds (quick cook oats)
1/2 c. dirt (cocoa)
1/2 c. squashed bugs (peanut butter)

Combine crushed bones, fat, and swamp water in a saucepan.  Bring to a rolling boil and boil for one minute.  Remove from heat.  Add dirt, squashed bugs, and dried weeds. Mix well.  Drop dinosaur food by teaspoonfuls onto wax paper.  Allow to cool.

Books we read:
Cam Jansen and the mystery of the dinosaur bones
Detective Dinosaur : lost and found 
Dinorella : a prehistoric fairy tale 
Too many dinosaurs 
Dinosaurs eye to eye : zoom in on the world's most incredible dinosaurs 
I'm sure I saw a dinosaur 
Dinosaur 
Harry and the dinosaurs at the museum 
Going Hollywood : a dinosaur's dream 
Saturday night at the dinosaur stomp 
How do dinosaurs go to school?
How to raise a dinosaur

Olympics Week

Olympics are big in my house and I mean BIG!  I love the culture, the patriotism, the stories.  Mark likes the sports, sports, and more sports.  We were in California for the Opening Ceremonies at Mark's parents' house when Mark told his mom that it is a tradition in my family to eat the food of the host country the night of the opening ceremonies.  This was news to me!  I guess we did eat falafel one time during Athens and we might have had orange chicken during Beijing but I had totally forgotten.  So much for tradition!  So we made it official and ate Bangers and Mash and Trifle.  I had no idea what Bangers and Mash were but in my attempt to find something English the that was edible, I came across what is really sausage and mashed potatoes.  That was doable.  And wouldn't you know it, the grocery store actually had bangers!  And they were good!  Totally greasy but not bad at all!  And trifle is always a big favorite so that was a welcome addition.

We came home for the second week of the Olympics so it was back to our weekly theme which of course was "Olympics."  For FHE talked about the origins of the Olympics and looked at Greece and London on a map.

We had our own torch relay.  Mark was not amused.

Passing the torch

Allegra was supposed to light the cauldron on the TV but Mark didn't find it fast enough.

Lemon Pudding Torches for FHE treat

We ate Olympic Ring Bagels for breakfast

Our Olympic events included:
Track (across the backyard)
Javelin (with a pool noodle)
Discus (with a frisbee)
Long Jump
Cycling (around the driveway)
no pictures were taken of the above events because it was just too hot!

Equestrian

Archery (with straws)--Allegra was so excited to put on her Brave dress!

and of course, Gymnastics (on the "balance" ironing board)

We had our own medal ceremony just before the real closing ceremonies.

The podium (notice the rings we made on Tuesday)

singing the National Anthem

Olympic Ring pizza (kind of hard to see)

I think the girls really had a fun time and were sad when the Olympics were over.  Good thing we get to do it again in two years, but I'm a little nervous about RUSSIAN food!

Books we read:
The 2012 London Olympics
Geronimo and the gold medal mystery
Olympics 
The Mud Flat Olympics 
Sprints, hurdles, and other track events 
Swifter, higher, stronger : a photographic history of the Summer Olympics