Helping Verb Chant 1

Through her grammar book, Amelya has been learning the basic stuff: nouns, pronouns, verbs and adjectives. To help her remember the linking and helping verbs, the book teaches a chant. Through our repetition of the chant, Norah has picked it up, as has Molly. The other morning, they came into my bedroom to "perform" it for me. This morning, I asked them for an encore performance and recorded it for your viewing pleasure!

What are they saying??
am (clap)
is (clap)
are, was, were (clap)
be, being, been (clap, clap)
have, has, had (clap)
do, does, did (clap)
shall, will, should, would, may, might, must (clap, clap)
can, could!!

The 1st video (the best, of course) is having trouble loading, so, this is the 2nd best.

Quick Get-Away

Literally spur-of-the-moment, we decided to take off to Great Wolf Lodge at the Wisconsin Dells. Decided on a Friday, booked it, and left two days later! How's that for spontaneity!?! The girls didn't know where we were going until we arrived. I packed while they slept. They were so excited. Upon arrival, our reserved room style wasn't available, so they gave us a free upgrade. The extra space and separate bedroom were so nice, we decided to stay an extra day!

Valentines Day Tea Party 2010

Our annual Valentine's Day tea party was a success! The girls enjoyed their treats, although I forgot all about banana sushi this year! Bummer!!

Amelya's 7th Birthday Party - Case of the Missing Jewels!

We celebrated Amelya's 7th birthday this year; we can hardly believe it! She has grown so much since and continues to make us proud every day!

She loves Nancy Drew, so this year, without her knowing, we planned a mystery birthday party for her. The colors were hot pink and black. We delivered invitation scrolls to her guests telling them the "Duchess" wanted to invite them to a tea during which the "family jewels" would be given to Amelya. BUT, the jewels had been stolen! When they arrived at "Fox Manor," they had tea and treats while the Duchess explained the process.

Hidden throughout the house were riddles with numeric clues hidden in each one. The riddles told them where to look for their next clue. They had to use magnifying glasses to find the numbers in the riddles, then use a decoder sheet to determine what the numbers would "spell." One clue required them to pop a bunch of black balloons while another required the use of a special pen which revealed a hidden message. The girl who popped a balloon full of confetti won a prize, as well as the girl who found a Hershey's Kiss in her cupcake. In the end, the girls figured out that the Butler had stolen the jewels, so they attacked Sean and recovered the jewels.

They all seemed to have a lot of fun.

Amelya received lots of nice gifts from the girls, as well as from our family. She received a fancy new "7-year-old" outfit from Grammy & Grampy, original Nancy Drew books from Grandma and Uncle Mark, and a new pair of skates that have been a HUGE hit! Our little girl had a great birthday!

Norah this Morning

Norah this morning!! She "needs to dance!"

Amelya's Ballet Class

Amelya's final ballet class at the YMCA was this evening. The instructor read The Nutcracker to the girls, and then they tried to copy her movements to the many songs of the ballet. They all had a good time!

New Pictures