"Baby Tessa"

My good friend Stacy had her little baby girl "Tessa".... Me and the girls went to see them.... She is so adorable! I couldn't believe how much hair she had. The girls had allot of fun holding her and playing with her. I was so excited to go visit and hold precious little Tessa! Stacy, she is so cute and I wish you all the best. You'll be the best Mommy ever!!!!! I look forward to the next time we can come.

Maddison's updates........

I thought I should take a minute and post about Maddison and how well she is doing in school, at home and in her everyday life.. Maddison is getting so big and so smart! With her 2 years of pre-school and being in Kindergarten this year she has just grown with her personality, independence, math, spelling, reading, writing, and art. Her drive is amazing, she wants to learn everyday and is always eagar to do more! Maddison is 5 going on 6 in July. She is so excited to start 1st grade and go all day, she says!! She started to read her leveled library books every night and doing awesome. She is sounding out all the letters so well. Her handwriting is improving everytime she writes! We practice at home everyday her letters, uppercase and lowecase.

They have begun the "Healthy Me" unit at school. They have read several books about keeping healthy: Healthy Me, Kicking, Running, Stretching, and Go to sleep. Maddison was amazed to learn that the heart is a muscle and our brain is soft, grey and wrinkled. Maddison had a homework project for the week and she got a sticker everyday she did an excersise... She enjoyed doing the chart and returning it back to school.

Maddison is learning allot in the Math units that Kindergarten teaches. Her Teacher Mrs. Buzzell is an amazing women. I love her structure and teaching methods. Maddison has picked up so well on Math. They do allot of sequencing numerals, Math Matching, counting objects, weighing, and many more fun activities! Maddison also practices all of these at home! She loves to learn and I love to teach her when she is home.... Maddison had such a fun time with this project. Baby Chocolate is a moose from Maine. Each child got to take Baby Chocolate home for the night and take care of him/her. We learned all about the Moose, we did some research and got allot of great information. Maddison wrote her letter on how she took care of Baby Chocolate and also what they did together! They also got a Moose coloring project, Maddison did a great job! Each child gets a turn with the Moose, so it'll be exciting to see all the letters and what each did.

Maddison is doing a project at school currently, so when I get it completed I'll take a photo and post it. They are able to be future architects using toothpicks and gumdrops. She is enjoying creating different designs out the of basic shapes they have learned and have been discussing. Maddison is such a great kid. I love her so much and so proud of her and her accomplishments! I look forward to watching her grow and learn, and know she'll do so well in life with her drive and motivation. Both my girls teach me so much everyday..... I don't take one day for granted, it's such a blessing to have them in my life.

Kassidee updates........

I just wanted to write about Kassidee and how well she doing! I can't believe how grown up she is, she is such a cutie pie! Kassidee is 8, going on 9 in July. Currently in 3rd grade and can't wait for the 4th grade she say's..... Every night we do some homework in each category: Spelling is one of her favorite's. There is 18 different spelling activites which a few examples that she does for her words are, Writing a story, fraction spelling, alphabetical order, word search, definition spelling. She also has vacabulary words each night she has to study for, test every Friday! Another one of Kassidee's favorite subjects is ART.... Everyday I am just amazed on what I see from her! Below, you'll see her polar bear she drew. I think it's great and you can totally see in her this is a passion of hers!

Kassidee is learning her times tables. There is a multiplication competition going on among the five 3rd grade classes and times tables will be taught out of order in 3 groups. They're working on the 4 sets of time tables in the first group right now which are the 0, 2, 5, & 10's. Kassidee has passed all the groups so far. They have these practice tests as you see below that they're timed on. Kassidee can do her's under a minute! WOW, she's good. We practice a few minutes a night to help her solidify the math facts in her memory. Kassidee is also working on "word problems" they can be tricky little guys, but there's strategies that can help to make understanding and solving them much easier!! Kassidee has done much better now with the tools given.

Her teacher did a DRA reading test with Kassidee on a level 34. Her word call is high and she has greatly improved with her fluency and expression!! I was amazed and so pleased. It's a pleasure to listen to her read!! Every night she reads at least 20 minutes out loud, and obviously all the reading she's been doing has made a big difference..Her handwriting has always been her strong point, she has been learning cursive and is doing very well, I have scanned her letters below so you can see a little of her work, she does cursive everyday for fun and also for her homework! She loves cursive and is always telling me, Mom look at my story in cursive!

Kassidee has just grown so much in everything she does and will continue to grow as life continue's on. I am so very proud of her and what she's accomplished so far in her life. She will do great things in her life - and I look forward in watching her every step of the way :) I love you Kassidee always and forever...

I LOVE THIS ...... A Tribute to all those wonderful "Mothers"

MOTHERS

Real Mothers don't eat quiche;

they don't have time to make it.

Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils

are probably in the sandbox.

Real Mothers often have sticky floors,

filthy ovens and happy kids.

Real Mothers know that dried

play dough doesn't come out of carpets.

Real Mothers don't want to know

what the vacuum just sucked up.

Real Mothers sometimes ask 'Whyme?'

and get their answer when a little voice says,

'Because I love you best.

'Real Mothers know that a child's growth

is not measured by height or years or grade...

It is marked by the progression of Mommy to Mom to Mother...

The Images of Mother

4 YEARS OF AGE - My Mommy can do anything!

8 YEARS OF AGE - My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot!

12 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother doesn't really know quite everything.

14 YEARS OF AGE - Naturally, Mother doesn't know that, either.

16 YEARS OF AGE - Mother? She'shopelessly old-fashioned.

18 YEARS OF AGE - That old woman? She's way out of date!

25 YEARS OF AGE - Well, she might knowa little bit about it!

35 YEARS OF AGE - Before we decide, let'sget Mom's opinion.

45 YEARS OF AGE - Wonder what Mom would havethought about it?

65 YEARS OF AGE - Wish I could talk it overwith Mom.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair.The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the door way to her heart, the place where love resides. The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole, but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives,the passion that she shows, and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!

Donations Needed :)

My dear and loving Cousins Gareth and Heather Partridge are in need of getting their adopted baby girl home. I told them I would try to do everything I could to help. This is such an amazing process and to see how far they've come is just respectable.. I hope for the best and pray that they will get their baby girl home soon.

Please see their letter below:

We are looking for donations to help us bring our baby home from Ethiopia she lives in so much poverty were there is little food, medical treatment and schooling , that her life would be a safer place here in the US not to mention that she would have education, food, clothes, medical treatment and A Loving Family. We have done it all on our own, no loans or grants. Why do we need the help now? We are almost at the end of this amazing journey, and the time to go pick up this beautiful baby has come faster than expected. We are very grateful that the time is now, we are just not as prepared with the travel arrangements. So we are asking for donations to help bring our baby home. Every child deserves a chance and we want to be the family to raise, teach, and watch this baby grow! Thank you for all your support.

We have an account set up until February 20th at Zions Bank #026540054. Thank you so much for all your help. If you should have any questions or want to help you can also call me 435.313.1637.

God Bless
Krischelle

Happy Birthday Girls~

Saturday we had a birthday dinner and party for Kodi and Kellsie. Kodi's birthday was in December and Kellsie's is in January. So while they both are here for their 2 weeks off track we celebrate both. We had a great time! Thanks to Nanni that made a wonderful dinner that we all thought was delicious! They had Hanna Montana cupcakes with rings so each of girls got one. They were so silly, putting the frosting on their faces. It was fun to hang out and let all the kids play together ..... Hope you girls had a great birthday. I love you with all my heart!

Girls just wanna have fun...............

My two nieces Kodi and Kellsie are up from Salt Lake visiting for 2 weeks while they're off track. We always cherish the quality time we get when they do come. We had a slumber party Friday night at my house. We all had so much hanging out. We scrapbooked, watched movies, played games, went to the park, played tennis, the Wii, but the best part was just acting silly with each other! They are growing up so fast and both have the cutest personalities. They tell us all about what they're learning in school, how they're doing in dance and other fun activities! I love to hear them talk and tell me all the fun things they are doing now and what they want in the future :) They are awesome girls and I so proud of them. I am and always will be honored to be their Auntee' Shell....