Tons to catch up on, so I'll dive right in...starting with Tessa.
Tessa is NINE.
9.
Impossible as it seems, by baby girl is 9 years old.
Tessa was NOT supposed to have a real Birthday party this year. At the beginning of April she was warned by her daddy that if she missed ONE more assignment in the next 4 weeks she would not be having a party.
She missed 4.
So we told her she could invite 1 friend to come bowling with the family on her Birthday.
Then we decided that was a little harsh, and said 3 friends.
And then (when she just couldn't decide on only 3 friends) we said 6 friends.
Mommy and Daddy are suckers.
5 friends came, and Asher bowled with them. After we came back to the house for pizza, presents, cake and ice cream. Then we made a craft (hairbows) while watching a movie (Ramona) until after 9pm. So much for no Birthday party.
(@ the bowling alley: Bella, Gabby, Tessa, Serena, Rowan, Nicole)
(opening presents - her "big" gift from mom and dad was a camera)
(ready to blow out the candles!)
(Tessa, Serena and Rowan, blowing bubbles from their favor buckets on the front porch)
3rd grade is over. The year was filled with ups and downs. Tessa tests incredibly high in every area - off the charts in Math, reading comprehension and vocabulary - she made it to the final level of bothe the Math Bowl and the Spelling Bee - yet she had consistently mediocre grades in language arts and math in school. Most of that boils down to her not getting work done and/or turned in. We had some issues this year with her lying - telling us her homework was done when it wasn't, not turning things in...
She also "forgot" to bring home assignments that needed to be worked on several times. Daddy and I are really hoping all those problems have been solved and that next year we won't deal with those things again. It's hard to explain to her that it doesn't matter how SMART she is if she's LAZY. "Easily distracted" isn't an excuse we can continue to use as she grows up. Hopefully we'll see more focus as she gets older.
The wonderful thing is that she continues to enjoy school and is passionate about learning. She reads constantly and is always asking smart questions. It's easy to see that she's brilliant...she just needs to be more consistent at working hard!
Over all, 3rd grade was a winner. We loved her teacher and Tessa had a really fun year.
(crazy hair and accessories day - she had a fake tattoo on one arm, which she loved!)
Girl Scouts and Spring Soccer are over, as well. Tessa Bridged this year from Brownie to Junior, which means next year she will be wearing the traditional green uniform instead of the brown. For some reason that makes me feel like she is very grown up. As usual, I'm not sure how much I like her being very grown up!
Soccer this year was great - we had an awesome team with two really great coaches. The best part is that Tessa met two new friends that live right here in our neighborhood that she can play with all Summer! Score!
We are all SO HAPPY that Summer is finally here and Tessa is home with is again!...even if it took an extra long time to feel like Summer (temperature wise) yet! Now that it's finally warm enough, we are spending so much time at the pool that we have to have weekly baking soda and deep conditioning treatments on Tessa's hair! She doesn't really enjoy them, but suffers through it since Aunt Becki says this is what it will take to keep her length and Tessa loves her long hair.
(even enough to wear curlers to bed! learning young that "pain is beauty", lol)
It seems like tons of other fun stuff happens every day in the Summer. We are lucky to have a neighborhood full of kids around Tessa and Asher's age, and they play outside from sunup to sundown. It's wonderful.
(a lemonade stand on the corner - Jaron, Spencer, Stockton, Asher, Sidney and Tessa)
This Summer Tessa will be going to two Girl Scout camps again. Troop Camp, which I will go to, too, is only for 3 days. The camp she's going to with Serena (without me!) is a whole week this year. 6 nights away from home. I honestly don't have any idea if mom and dad will survive it, but Tessa sure is excited! I hope she has as much fun as she did last year, and that I don't miss her too much!
Tessa is still as sweet as ever...most of the time. She's also sassy...but in the cutest way possible. She gets away with almost anything! It's tough to be mad at a girl that looks like this. Especially when she says "I love you mommy", out of the blue, with complete sincerity.
(her Nine Year old pictures)
Okay - feels like we're all caught up on Tessa. Next I'll do an Asher update - hopefully BEFORE another 9 months have passed!
1 comment:
tell me about these baking soda hair treatments...Kilynns hair gets THRASHED in the summer...and so straw like. I try conditioning, wetting it before she swims, etc. Would love any extra tips you have. I tried convincing her to wear a swim cap sometimes, but that was a no-go. not that I was surprised.
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