My star student!

Abby is a great student in the classroom, and a great friend on the playground!

Her teachers give out "rainbow" achievement stickers to outstanding kids on days when they do something that stands out! On this day Abby got a sticker for being the only student in class to write her sentence (one they make up and write on their own) correctly without any gramatical errors!

 Working on her weekly homework assignments

 Her writing and reading has come a LONG way in just the first half of the year! 

She is fantastic at sounding out words and attempting most all of them on her own when it comes to reading and writing. There are still kids in her class who are behind the curve, and have their parents write the sentences out, so they can trace over them :) We are so proud of her!

Fun with new friends!

A few weeks back I treated the kids to an afternoon at the local Kids Museum, and ice cream!

We took their friend Carter along too, giving his mom who was sick at the time a bit of a break! TONS of smiles!!

Front tooth!!!

Abby is SO proud of the teeth she is loosing!!

She is a bit behind her peers in quantity lost, but that is A-OK!!! That just means her adult teeth are protected that much longer!!

A few weeks ago eating cereal.....her front top tooth fell out!

Yes that HUGE gap is from one tooth! Our kids have great spacing!!

Santa Cruz FUN

Yesterday we made our first trek to Santa Cruz!!

Its only 45 minutes north on Hwy 1, so its very doable!

The rides were all open for the season and the sun was shining bright!

Long Distance Techy Love

Sometimes you just don't get to see the people you love in person enough!!

So we sent electronic blowing kisses to Aunt Sarah!!! And she sent one back!!

Let's SWIM!!

We started Maddy in swim lessons two weeks ago at our local gym.

She is stubborn and since we left our wonderful pool in Virginia, hasn't had the pool exposure that Abby did to learn to swim on her own.
Did I  mention she's stubborn???!!!!! Just trying to get her face in the water is a chore!!

But she loves the lessons......just a bit of a chatty-cathy!!! No surprise!

My Maddy

I forgot to mention......while I was working the golf tournament a few weeks ago, Amy gratiously came to stay with us Mon, Tues, Wed that week so I could be at the tournament 12 hours a day!!

She facilitated getting the girls to and from school, making lunches and more!!

THANK YOU AMY!!!!!!!

 The week prior to Amy coming, we dog sat Jackson for a week.......funniest moment caught on camera!! He decided he suddenly liked Maddy a LOT......and crawled on top of her to show her just how much!!!!

 Maddy is becoming quite the computer whiz! She loves working on her preschool programs on ABCMouse.com! Great learning tools. She has mastered the mouse and computer!!

LOVE her spunk!!

Student of the Month

Abby is our shining star student!

Aside from teaching herself to read FANTASTICALLY so far this year in Kindergarten.....

She just got Student of the Month for January!!!!

In her words.....you get student of the month "because you are kind, listen to the teacher, and do all of your homework"!! She's on the right path!!

 

(Posing next to her photo--top!)

WHOLE 30--Body Cleanse

In case you missed it....Mike and I have been doing a "WHOLE 30" diet/cleanse the last month!

Our last day is this Tuesday February 25th.....YAY!!!!!!

We jumped on the bandwagon of a few neighbors doing it, and gave it a go!

WHOLE 30= No added sugars, no alcohol, no grains, no dairy!!

It has been a challenge, but a good one, and a great way to curb our eating habits!

There are no limitations on food quantity, just to limit certain fruits and increase others items such as particular fruits, veggie and meat intake. Here are a few photos from our experience!

We are 2 days away from THE END......and we can't wait to have a glass of wine and a Girl Scout Cookie!!!!! 

Once this is done we will be eating mostly "Paleo" (minimal to no grains, low to no dairy, and no added sugars or processed foods) going forward......with a cheat meal/day here and there for our sanity!!

 Breakfasts: mostly eggs!! Avocado and sauteed spinach

 Lunches: Salads, and chicken patties, nuts, etc

 Dinners: Lots of meats and veggies; Above: Avocado Lime shredded chicken

Below: Chicken breast stuffed with spinach and artichoke hearts, wrapped with prosciutto

AT&T ProAm Tournament

So early February I was part of the organizing committee at Abby's elementary school for their biggest PTA fundraiser of the year. We provide 315 volunteers to work 5 hour shifts at 3 golf courses including Pebble Beach, and in turn get a good chunk of cash for the school to fund the specialty teachers pay annually. 

It was a labor intensive task to be part of this, but fun and for a good cause!

Plus it was my first time ever out on a golf course :)

Our volunteers were in charge of driving a golf cart around to do trash pickup along the course everyday!

As a bonus I saw a few celebrities on my last day!! Here are some of the gorgeous photos from the sunny days!

 Above: Peyton Manning (in rear)

Above: Crazy brown pants.....Kid Rock!