1st Grade: DONE

On Thursday Emma finished her last day of 1st Grade!!

 

Emma with Mrs. Spawn

Emma had a fabulous year!  It started out slow as we were all a little nervous about her starting at a new school again.  She went through preschool and Kindergarten in two different towns, and here we were again starting another school year at another school.  Andrew and I did not let our worry show, but we became a little concerned as we realized that Emma was VERY AWARE of the fact that she was the "New Kid".

The first few weeks of school we kept on praying as she came home a little quiet and we did not see too many smiles at pickup time.  Every day we would cheerfully ask her, "So, did you play with any friends at recess?".....then we held our breath and she would reply, "No, I just like to play by myself the first few weeks of school."

But, pretty soon when we went to pick her up we would see her smiling, laughing, and chatting with friends while she waited for us.  And boy did this make our hearts sing!!  Her smile came back and now she has a ton of friends.  She loves school!

I think this was one of the hardest lesson so far that Andrew and I learned as parents.  It was so hard to have no control of our daughter feeling lonely in school.  We just had to trust and wait, and be patient.

Emma is an excellent student and very self driven.  She always makes sure her work is done perfectly and excels in all of her academics.  BUT her favorite is reading!  She is such a bookworm and loves to read, which we are so happy about.  She is now reading at a 3rd grade level and just keeps moving up!

Her teacher and her parents could not be more proud of her!!

As much as she loves school, she is pretty happy about getting to spend more time with Bella this summer!

We have a walker.

Little Nora took off on her own last night!

I looked at her and said "Do you want to walk?"
Then she just stood up and started walking!!

And we got it all on tape because right before that we were taping her shaking her head back and forth, when we told her "no".  I'm so happy we got it recorded!!

Preschool: Done

Macy's Preschool:  DONE

 

Monday was Macy's last day of Preschool!

We are so proud of her and how far she has come this year.  At school, her teacher told us she was a quiet shy little one who was very respectful and quickly picked up on new skills. Her speech has gotten so much clearer and she was one of the only ones in her class to accomplish one of the assessment goals that was set for the whole school, so she got her picture hung up in the mail hallway.  It was only a few spaces away from big sister Emma's picture and she was so proud of that!  So were we!

The girls classrooms were right next to eachother this year and that was fun.  For the teacher's it was confusing because pretty much everyone at their school thinks they look like twins and got them confused all the time. 

 Macy loved her teacher Ms. Early and she will really miss her next year.
But Ms. Early is not done with the Carlsons!  Reese will be in her class next year!

It was a very successful year for our little Macy.  Can't believe she is on to Kindergarten next year!

11 months.

Nora Fe is 11 months old today!!

She is such a sweetie and has completely stolen our hearts. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before, but she is just such a happy little girl! 
She is so loving and such a joy!
Our baby girl is getting so big and before long she will be walking on her own!
(and be one, but we are NOT even going to go there yet!)

Dance Recital 2013.

Oh the fun, the excitement, the glitz, the butterflies, that amazing high of performing on stage!
Last weekend was Emma and Macy's big dance recital!!
And we can't forget Andrew's Super Dad's Dance!

 

 

MACY
This year Macy did a Tigger ballet song and The Itsy Bitsy Spider for her tap number.
All those little Tiggers were ADORABLE on stage!!

 Macy and her buddy Aliyah.

EMMA 

This year Emma danced her Tap number to Little Miss Riding Hood, and her ballet number was I Enjoy Being a Girl.  Emma is built like a dancer with her long legs and graceful moves.  She looked so grown up on stage and I could not help but get a glimps of what she will look like in 6 or 7 more years.

 

 ANDREW'S DAD DANCE
This year the Dad's dance was Superman themed.  The Dads had their own practices and worked really hard.  The Dads wore Superman shirts and the girls wore Wonderwoman shirts.  There were over 100 Dads that participated in the Dad's Dance and I must say that it is a huge highlight of the show.  The crowd goes wild for all those Dads, and then all of our hearts swell when we see them dancing on stage with their precious daughters.

 My pictures did not capture many of the awesome moves, but Andrew did great (honestly one of the best dancers on stage) especially since he had two girls to dance with, and so did the girls.

 Andrew's exit move...a cartwheel.

 Superman was fitting because he really is our hero and the SUPERMAN of our family!!

It meant so much that both of the girls grandmas came to watch the big show.  It makes it more fun to perform when you know you have fans out in the crowd.

Grandma Hays

Grandma Reeves

What a fun yet exhausting weekend for our dance family!!

It was a great way to wrap up the dance season!!

PS:  A BIG Thanks to aunt Emily and Patrick for coming to watch Reese and Nora during the Saturday show!  We love you and we really appreciate it!!