pics...

Good morning, Guam!

This bug was struggling to get out of the spider's web--interesting to watch.

Love these moments-

my Grandma

She's been in heaven for 2 days, & I'm missing her very much.

She was such a sweet lady, and I'm so glad that I got to know her-especially in my adult life. She was my #1 blog reader, and I always loved her daily comments (via email) about the blog. I hate living overseas at a time like this.

tinkerbell and paintings by Gracie

--Thank you Uncle Toby!-- This was her favorite birthday gift.

I love to watch her paint--she does this for nearly every art class. She thinks through her color choices, and really takes her time. A painting like this takes her about 30 minutes.

art class-love the messy days

special day

So...April 15th is Scott's birthday, and usually we don't combine birthdays, but we decided to have Gracie's party on this day too.

The day started with Ella making Scott his favorite breakfast--PB&J toast---I love it when the girls are so thoughtful. (without being prompted!)

Then we started getting ready for the party-

Gracie spent most of the day in the pool-

Party time!

Then we came in---and noticed that somehow Angel got up on the table & had eaten a lot of Scott's cake! But we sang happy birthday anyways:

Presents---Scott was happy to get more Pampered Chef grilling items-

artworks by Gracie:

Okay, I know she's my kid and all----but even if she wasn't, I'd still say these artworks are pretty amazing for a 3 year old-

Ella makes signs for the fridge--she plans these things out in her free time-

And while I'm posting things I've scanned, just incase anyone is curious about my lesson plan book for Ella--I'll put that on here as well. This is a typical week. I know I've got several friends here in Guam that might bring their children home next year to homeschool, and I'm thrilled about that. Not sure if I will keep homeschooling in Ohio, but we are leaning towards homeschooling Kate for 6th grade here in Guam. (and Ella for 4th grade--that's a definite.)

Ella is typically done by 1:00 everyday. We've got lots of extras--piano, swim team, Japanese, art classes, plants & home ec with my friend Robin, and tennis. Our days are full, but we've found our routine...and right now, it's working out great. I'm loving it....and I didn't think I would. Ella is loving it too---which I'm even more thrilled about.

Happy Birthday Gracie!

It's Friday the 13th, and my sweet Grace Yukiko is THREE!!!

Incase you didn't see this on facebook--today we found out that we will be moving to Cleveland, OH next summer (2013). We are thrilled that Scott was selected for BN command....it's a recruiting command, so that's why it's not at an army base. I've been having fun researching areas around Cleveland. :) This will be a huge climate change for us.

Gracie's birthday party is on Sunday. I cannot believe she is THREE!!!??? She's my baby girl---and growing up entirely too fast! More pics soon.

Happy Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter. He is Risen! & we are so grateful. :)

I'll start w/pics from yesterday-this was an egg hunt on base:

I love it that Kate is like another mom to Gracie-

The night before Easter-

One new thing we did this year was put these little coupons in the plastic eggs, it was a big hit-

Morning!

We ended up at Gab Gab beach-

Tonight we were so tired--decided it was a pizza night.

And I've been trying out some fun ideas (via pintrest) for Gracie's birthday party coming up next weekend. The homemade bubble blowers work great!!--so much better than a regular bubble wand.

Angel & Gracie fell asleep in a pile of clean clothes, fresh from the dryer-

More soon...

pics...

This spider lives right next to our front porch. I love to watch him work...at night he'll have lots of moths to cocoon and eat. It's amazing! This picture turned out neat because it had just rained, and there were water droplets all over the web.

--and thanks to SOS curriculum---Ella explained to me why spiders hang upside down. :) I had no idea till she told me.

Gracie- the sweet princess, pony-riding witch

Tennis with my girls today-

Ella starts taking tennis lessons tomorrow- I'm so excited!! I recently started playing again with a really fun group of ladies. It's been about 18 years since I last played tennis (yikes, feeling SUPER old now!) I'm definitely rusty---but it's SO MUCH FUN!