Free Museum Day!

Target stores sponsor a free Saturday at the Japanese/American Museum in L.A. once a month. I met up with my sister, Erin and her family on May 14th for a day filled with crafts and animals. They have different themes each month and this one was all about animals. The kids made cards, masks, puppets, ate snacks as well as get to pet dogs that were awaiting adoption and pet reptiles. Ella loved those stinky little reptiles (she may be a zoo keeper when she grows up)! There was also a balloon lady making fun shaped balloons for the kids. We may have to come back next month!

Hawaiian Dancers

They had some dancers teaching the girls some Hawaiian dance moves. Kaitlyn and her friend Emma are both dancers so they loved this.

Hawaiian Luau

The same day as the school assembly, May 13th, the school put on a Luau themed carnival. The kids each bought "passports" with their own money to spend on some games and activities. They had a blast going through a large blow up bounce house. I love to see how well our kids have adjusted to all the moves we have had and that they are able to make friends where ever we are.

School Assembly

They sure do recognize and praise the students at Oak Mesa Elementary! Kaitlyn and Ella received awards for completing Study Island material that helps prepare for state testing. Ella also got an award for serving as her class representative for student council. Way to go girls!

Western University Dental Dinner

On May 6th, James and I went to the year end dental dinner for Western University at Coco Palms restaurant in Pomona. We got all dressed up and had a nice dinner. The restaurant was beautiful. It was fun to go on a date!

Kaitlyn's Dance Performance

Kaitlyn had a ballet performance that was part of a celebration of local artists in the city of La Verne on April 30th. She and one other girl from her class performed a dance that they are working on for their June recital. I took some pictures of the actual performance, but they didn't turn out well, luckily we have it on video. These pictures are right outside before her dance.

She was even more excited that a lady was giving free starter lessons to learn how to knit, so both Kaitlyn and Ella spent the rest of the day with the yarn and needles knitting away. The lady was kind enough to let us borrow the needles for as long as we wanted. Ella was so engrossed in knitting during the other dance numbers that when I leaned over to tell her that Kaitlyn was next, she said, "no, she just went." She hadn't even been paying attention and thought that the previous dance had been Kaitlyn up on stage!

Flower Surprise!

So last week I was surprised to see a bouquet of flowers on the table all arranged in a nice vase. My first thought was that James must have thought that that weekend was Mother's Day (which it wasn't) and then I thought, Wow, how much did those cost! But alas, after finding James studying away in the bedroom, he told me that he had gotten them for free! He had gone to a lunch meeting at school and they had these arrangements on all the tables and was able to take one home! Way to go, they are so beautiful and really cheered up my day!

The prettiest and ugliest egg winners!

Ella and Kaitlyn insisted on me taking pictures of their favorite egg that they colored. Kaitlyn's won for the prettiest, and Ella's won for the ugliest. They were reluctant to part with their handiwork and finally decided to eat them.