Kindergarten Photos

Here is Isabelle's Kindergarten photo and her class photo. She looks like a kindergartner doesn't she?

Here is the class photo, half the kids have their eyes closed, including Isabelle. I asked Issy if it was bright out when they took it and she said, "Oh yeah!" It's pretty clear that it was, I wonder why they didn't move them in the shade? Oh well it's still nice to have a class photo!

Lil Ballerina

This morning Calista and I had our first Mommy and Me dance class together. She was a little shy at first, but quickly warmed up and eagerly participated in all the activities. I love that we get to do this together! Miss Wendy is her teacher and was also Isabelle's teacher at this age. We love Miss Wendy! I loved watching Calista's face during the class, you could totally tell she was having a great time. At the end of each class the girls sit in their Mommy's lap and we sing You Are My Sunshine. I cried of course. Time sure is flying. When Isabelle was this little and we did this class together, I was pregnant with Calista. Days like today make me cherish every second I have with my little girls!

Please excuse my crummy cell phone pic. I forgot to bring a camera, between the excitement of the class and getting Isabelle off to school. Here is Calista and Miss Wendy. Can you tell she loved it?

Milestones!

Today Isabelle was trying to tie a shoe and she was so close, I showed her a couple of times and she got it! I said, "Isabelle, you picked that up fast." She said, "Yeah I did!" She was so proud of herself!

A side story, a few weeks ago, Isabelle came home from school talking about Sketcher shoes and how cool they were and all the girls in class had them. Everyday she talked about these shoes she wanted. I started to pay attention to the girls shoes as they lined up each day and when I volunteered in her class and sure enough, half the girls in class have them. Freddie and I debated on if we should get the shoes for her. We didn't want to just go out and buy her the shoes cause everyone else had them. So today we caved and bought the shoes for her, It was a special occasion, right?

She was more than happy to show me how to tie her shoes while I took photos.

One Happy Girl!

(Just incase anyone was wondering, Isabelle has earned $9 this week with her new job, and I am all caught up on the laundry for the first time in forever. Isabelle is thrilled with her new job and so am I, although I may be broke in a month at this rate!)

Big Girl Bed

Last night Calista slept the entire night in her new (to her) big girl bed! No more cribs for the Gallardo's. (For now at least.) She climbed in, we read a book, sang some songs and said our prayers and she quickly went to sleep. Not a peep out of her all night. This morning she woke up and played in her room before calling me. It was so sweet to hear her playing in her room happy as a clam in the monitor.

She is getting big so fast! Tomorrow she starts her very first Mommy and Me Ballet class. I am looking forward to having this special time with just her, like I did with Isabelle at this age. We went to the studio this week to sign up and buy her first pair of ballet shoes, she beamed the entire time. She is going to love it! Isabelle will be starting music lessons this month. So stay tuned and bare with me, as it is taking me a bit longer than usual to update the blog with our new busy schedule!

Laundry Just Got A Little Easier...

Recently Isabelle started helping me fold towels when I was folding the laundry. She loves having a job and I enjoy the help.

A few weeks ago, I started saving all the towels for her and paying her a $1.00 if she would fold an entire basket of towels. She loves earning money!

The other day we were at the store and she found a toy she wanted that was $30 and she asked me how many clothes she would have to fold to earn $30. I told her she would have to fold and put away 30 baskets of laundry to earn $30.

This morning I was piling all the clean clothes onto the couch to fold them and got distracted, when I came back she had folded all the clothes, (not just the towels) and piled them into the baskets and asked me if she could put them away... um yeah! I don't care that they aren't folded perfectly. I like that she enjoys doing it and I like that she is learning the value of money, plus it's a big help!

Thanks Issy! I am so proud of you!

Videos

Calista loves our leapster fridge toy that sings the ABC's so I had to video her singing along, it's just to cute!

Isabelle has been doing great with her sight words at school, every couple days she comes home with what we call a 5x book. A book with her sight words that she has to read 5x's and then we sign it and send it back. In this video she recognizes her sight words, and then the pictures help her with the big words.

Her sight words this month are

A

An

See

I

Here

Is

She

He

And

The

We

We also have a game called Mean Mouse, that both our girls love. We play it so much Calista is starting to understand it. (Memorization) All her sight words are on cards and go in a bag along with a card that says mean mouse and has a picture of a mouse on it. Each player takes a turn and pulls a card and if they can read it, they get to keep it. If not, it goes back in the bag. If a player gets the mean mouse card, all his or her cards go back in the bag. The object of the game is to get all the cards out of the bag and only the mean mouse is left in the bag. I will work on getting a video of us playing that soon. Isabelle learned her sight words fast with that game. She can recognize her words in books and in the store, it's great.

Camping: Lake Tahoe

Over Labor Day weekend we went camping in Lake Tahoe with a couple other families. We got into Tahoe in time for dinner on Friday night and started to set up camp. Our campsites were awesome, they backed right up to the forest. Not only did we have lots of privacy but the kids had a great time exploring!

On Saturday morning the guys made us all a yummy breakfast and we packed up to spend the day on the beach.

Calista enjoyed the sand but was to lazy to go get water when she needed it, she would sit there and reach for the water, it made me laugh!

Our view from the beach by the marina.

After a full day in the sun, we headed back to our campsite, for dinner and dirt!

Colin and Jack

The girls, Calista, Abby, Claire and Issy

The Adamson's

The Krengel's

Calista carried puppy everywhere, he was so gross by the end of our trip,

I tried hard to hide him, but she wouldn't have it.

After another yummy breakfast on our last morning, we rented tandom bike attachments and took the kids on a bike ride. The kids loved it!

Here are some photos I took along the bike trail.

A-dor-a-ble

These girls are the definition of adorable.

Don't believe me?

Look it up in the dictionary and see for yourself!

Student Of The Month!

I know I know, I have some blog catching up to do, we've been busy!! But I couldn't resist sharing this right away!

We got a phone call on Tuesday from the principal of Isabelle's school.... She was chosen to be Student Of The Month! We were so excited! I had just spent the day in her class and spent all lunch recess getting to know her teacher and she never once told me. The next day I told Mrs. Gravet we got a special message and she grinned!

This morning Mrs. Westermann the principal of the school gave Isabelle her award and gift during class. Freddie and I both got to be there. It was such a treat to be in her class together and hear the reason why she was picked to be the first student of the month.

Here is what Mrs. Gravert Said:

This month's award goes to a student who is very caring. Isabelle is our student of the month because she is kind, helpful, follows directions and uses kind words. Isabelle uses her best manners and is always cooperative. She likes to help her classmates when they are having difficulty and she explains things in a nice and pleasant way. Isabelle is a great role model for all of us.

Here is Mrs.Westermann talking to Isabelle about how special this award is.

Reading Mrs. Gravert's letter to the class.

Posing for a picture.

Close up of her award.

(That's her school picture, they just took those last week, they are fast!)