Grade 6 Graduate

My beautiful girl is officially done with elementary school and had her Grade 6 Grad. 

She is smart, strong, funny, talented, and ready to start junior high.

Calista received her "Diploma de Excelencia Académica / Certificate of Excellence" from the Spanish Embassy for completing Grade 6 in the ISA Bilingual Program. We're proud of her!

Calista volunteered to give a speech and did fabulous! She seemed so calm and collected, even if she admitted afterwards her legs were shaking! She was nervous but not afraid: she knew she could do it because she's given talks in church.

Getting her certificate from the representative of the Spanish Embassy.

We're pretty proud of this kiddo!

Calista has thrived and come into her own. She auditioned for the talent show at school and was the closing act. 

She was nervous but did great (a common theme).

And her friends were pretty proud of her, too!

Her favorite part of grade 6 was being with her friends, while taking the PATs were her least favorite part (although she rocked them!).

Calista is looking forward to being in junior high. She's kind of scared but it's going to be fun.

Also, note to event planners: black frosting is never a good idea! 😂

Caleb is 7!

Caleb's birthday was pretty quiet because we weren't feeling all that great, but we still got cinnamon pizza! Yum!

He had wanted a birthday party, but it just didn't happen because of our health. 

Sorry, bud. Maybe next year...

Still, he got presents.

Lego is always a hit,

and who doesn't love pterodactyl wings?

Another highlight of the presents were the wiggly slugs.

Caleb received two, but he graciously told Calista she could have one. What a loving boy he is.

Happy birthday, dear Caleb!

Maybe next year you'll blow out your candle on the first try. Maybe.

Incisor Drama

Caleb has lost his first tooth, and in pure Caleb fashion, it was dramatic.

Caleb was eating a banana after school when he suddenly started crying. "My tooth cracked! Owwweee!" He was INCONSOLABLE. 

I quickly assessed the situation and informed him his tooth was not cracked, but loose. Really, really loose. This helped him a little, although Caleb informed me that it hurt to eat and so he wouldn't. And he wanted to show his friends it's loose, so he wouldn't be able eat until he sees them, anyway.

I tried to logic him into letting me pull it (it'll hurt less once it's out, he'll get hungry and grumpy if he doesn't eat for a day, we were having chocolate chip pancakes for dinner, his friends could still see the gap...) but Caleb was adamant.

Kyler got home and tried the exact same logic with the exact same result. However, Kyler and I decided to pull the parent card and just pull it anyway. 

After it was pulled, Caleb was pleased to discover it did hurt a lot less, he could eat pancakes, and also  realized the tooth fairy will come, hopefully bringing money and chocolate (?).

To quote Kyler, silly wonderful child.

A Bespectacled Calista!

A bit ago, Calista told me the board at school was blurry. It had been very nearly a year since her last eye appointment, so over Spring Break, I took all the kids to get their eyes checked. 

The boys came back within normal parameters, 

(and so got to play video games for a bit)

but Calista came back as needing a prescription. So we checked out the displays and she picked out her favorite.

By the time Spring Break was over, her new glasses were ready!

Looking pretty adorable, don't you think?

Spring Break 2023

Spring Break is a weird time in Edmonton. It's still often cold and doesn't really feel like spring, so we sometimes have to get creative about what we will do with our time.

Of course, there's the taking-care-of-business parts. Eye exams, doctor's appointments. (More on that later!) I sure know how to make Spring Break exciting!

But there is also the fun times.

We went to the library, obviously. I love going to the library, and so do my kiddos. 

What's not to love?

We also headed downtown to meet Kyler for lunch and walk around the Legislature. 

It was actually probably warmer than you might think. 

The kiddos loved wandering on the grounds, especially walking in circles around the Centennial/eternal flame. 

Silly children.

We went to the zoo. We especially loved the lynx, farm animals, 

seeing Lucy the elephant, 

and playing on the whale bones!

The hopeful goat at the zoo did not get any food from us. Sorry!

And, in order for it to feel a little like spring, we went to the Muttart Conservatory. 

The Muttart is a great place to be when our plants haven't quite woken up yet.

Kyler came with us, which means... a picture of ME with the kids. 

Haha. 

And Kyler with them, too. 

And! Calista made a goal to play prelude on piano at church once a month, starting in March. 

We are super proud of her for having the courage to play, especially because she didn't wait for the hymns to be perfect before playing them. Sometimes if a thing is worth doing, it's worth doing badly you do it anyway while you learn to do it better.

Happy Spring Break, even from Edmonton!

Calista and Craig go skiing!

Traditionally, my kids' school has done 2 ski trips every year, for the older kids. Because of covid (always...) Calista has only gone one year, even though she's in grade 6, and Craig hasn't gone at all. 

But this year, we are finally getting back to normal. Which means two days at the ski hill!

The first was in January. In Edmonton, we never quite know what weather we are going to get, but it was a beautiful day to go skiing. 

I got to go to the local ski hill, too, helping kiddos get on their boots and get up when they fell. None of the kids, except Calista's grade, had been able to go before, so it was a bit chaotic. 

I was so proud of Craig and Calista: they worked hard and kept trying, even when they fell or got frustrated. 

Craig did so well. 

I half expected him to refuse to go back out after his lesson/lunch, but he went down the hill again and again.

And Calista did great, too, but I was less worried about her.

They both loooooved it.

The second day on the ski hill was 2 months or so after the first. It was fun to see how much all of the children improved in just 2 sessions.

And, since the kids were all more experienced, I decided to try being in skis for the first time. Ever. In my whole life. 

I managed to stay upright and move around a bit. 

After a while I made the choice to quit while I was ahead, turned in my skis, and go back to paying attention to the hill full of children. 

Craig  went down the littlest hill over and over. 

He could have gone on the next biggest but he didn't want to and that's okay. 

He was getting his money's worth on the little hill.

Calista practiced turning and met her instructor's requirements to try out a real run.

The look of a girl who went on the chair lift and down the green run.

Mostly successfully.

I am so grateful that field trips are back on to provide this experience to my kids and so many others. I am also very grateful that I have the flexibility to go with my kiddos! I know that if I worked, we would have more money and be able to afford more and better things, but I also know that we are very blessed to be able to afford life without me working. And I love being available for my children.