Painting with an Artist

My Aunt Beverly and Uncle Mike came into town for a few weeks right before Christmas and left just this past weekend. They stayed with Aunt Jeanette, who lives not even a full mile from us! We all had such a wonderful time with her and Uncle Mike and each one of us were sad to see them leave.

The week after Christmas her and the girls had an afternoon of painting, which turned out wonderfully! She taught the girls a lot of neat things with many tips when it comes to painting and each one chose something different to paint. Caitlin decided on Tiker Bell and Breanna on a Carebear.

 What many do not realize is that Breanna LOVES to paint and talks nonstop about wanting to do this as a living, so for her to have the opportunity to paint with Aunt Bev, who does this for a living, was amazing! Aunt Bev has been commissioned to paint not only all over the US, but places throughout the world! She has just recently released her first book, "Come Walk with Me, a Poetic Journal" which is fabulous and a MUST have! There are a few more books in the works that I will announce once they are ready for release. In her poetic journal, she shares 36 of her paintings as well as the poetry that she has written that flows so freely along side the art work. There is a sense of serenity when reading or simply flipping through this book. You can view her art work and blog, as well as order cards, a copy of her poetic journal, art, and more on her website at www.beverlyhooks.com. To stay better up to date, don't forget to "like" her facebook page as well as sign up to receive her newsletters! Her work is absolutely astonishing!

Potholders in the Making

We have found an art project that Caitlin enjoys! For Christmas the girls each received a kit to make potholders. They opened everything up them up the other night and sat in the floor all evening making a couple potholders. They want to work on them every night. The most amazing part is how much Caitlin enjoys it and how still she will remain. She tends to not have much of an attention spam for these types of things. The pictures below are of the second one she made. She's doing real good with these! I have to say, I'm very proud of her! I like the colors as well!











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Location:The Biddle House

Let the Drama Begin....

I needed time out of my always chaotic house last night, so I decided to head to Starbucks and update the blog as well as work on some school things I have going on. During this I decided to take Bre with me, as well as her friend Destiny. While we were all working (I was busy with school and each of the girls homework), one of the kids they associate with called Bre and told her she was mad at the two of them, then proceeds to hang up on Breanna. Really, is that all necessary? Anyhow, Bre tried to call her back, yet had no luck. This is when the war of texting began. After about ten minutes of it I told Bre that they all needed to stop and either be friends or leave each other along. This daily game is getting old very quickly. This is the point that Bre feels the need to call her back.... Destiny had to listen but couldn't speak and Breanna was talking. Below is the picture to the drama of nine and ten year olds.... Aren't they too young for this?




- Posted using BlogPress from Britt's iPhone

Location:Starbucks in El Paso

1st & 2nd Grade Awards

I know this update is LONG overdue, but in my defense, this has been a crazy summer already! I am trying to stay updated with things, but with kids home all day and my health the way it has been, there are times it just gets difficult!

Kevin and I were both able to attend the girls award day at school this past school year on June 3, 2010! It was very exciting to see their excitement as well as knowing they were both finishing up the school year and preparing for the next! Where has the time gone. It seems so unreal that Caitlin will be in second grade and Breanna in third. It still feels like yesterday we were faced with so many fears with Breanna and the pregnancy. So, for Kevin and I to see her here and so healthy only makes us realize exactly how blessed we truly are!

During Caitlin's award ceremony the children all sat on the story time carpet while Ms. Fox handed out awards. Of course we had Nic and he wanted to be apart of the action. He sat on the carpet with the kids and watched very quietly for the first part. Out of nowhere it was time for an award to be presented when Nic decided to stand up and shout "My turn. Nic's turn". Of course, what can anyone do besides laugh! The teacher had one of the helpers in her class grab an award that she could present to Nicholas. He was awarded for "PAWS-itive Behavior". Seemed fitting due to his positive attitude, clapping, and howling for the other children when they received theirs. And yes, I did say howling! ☺ He sat still while Breanna's teacher, Ms. Starkey, handed out awards. Though he did howl and clap! The kids got a kick out of this as well as the parents.

Caitlin's class was a short awards ceremony, which probably has to do with the grade. She was awarded:

Math Award for Math Completion

Reading Award for Outstanding Reading Ability

Ms. Starkey announced to the class that Breanna moved to the school in the middle of the school year, yet everyday she challenged the class with her knowledge. She could not get over how intelligent Breanna is at such a young age. She was an excellent student and leader. The awards she received (which was more than the other kids):

P.R.O. Award ~ People Respecting Others for showing courtesy, kindness, consideration, and respect for his/her fellow students and teachers.

Outstanding Student for being a hard worker

Mathematics Achievement Certificate

El Paso Independent School District Honor Roll Certificate

Readers Are Leaders

Certificate of Merit in recognition of outstanding achievement in Physical Education (x2)

Certificate of Progress (penmanship in the second grade. Has made notable progress in keeping correct position, using proper movement and doing legible writing in all written work)

She also received two medals as awards.

Throughout the last half of the school year Bre also received multiple awards for Student of the Week, Good Attitude Award, Certificate of Outstanding Performance and Super Reader.

(I am trying to load more pics, but the blog is not agreeing with me right now. I will add more as it allows me)

Afternoon at the Pool

While Nicholas was napping and Kevin and one of the guys were playing PS3, the girls and I decided to spend the afternoon at the pool. It was nice to be out, enjoying the sun and water. The girls had a blast playing. They met some other kid and all three kept jumping in and out of the water, giggling nonstop!

Field Trip

Trendy Tuesday

Kevin is on CQ tonight so it was just the kids and I at home watching American Idol before they headed off to bed. The girls have a field trip tomorrow to watch the 4th graders at the school perform at the Plaza Theater out here. They are so excited because they get to dress in something cute and not in school uniforms! Of course, that led to Caitlin wanting me to straighten her hair...and we all know what a funky mess that is! Haha. I ended up drying and straightening both girls hair then realized they each had split ends and had to trim their hair, which led to hairstyles that are slightly different, but so cute! They each love their hair. Caitlin checked it out in the bathroom and then ran into the living room in excitement, yelling, "I look so beautiful! Thank you so much Mom". It made my night! I have not trimmed or cut their hair since we were in Germany. I use to do Bre's all the time out there! We decided to add before and after pictures! I will post more tomorrow with how they look before they go to school.

Bre after we straightened, but before the cut...

Bre after her cut.

Caitlin after we dried her hair, but before we straightened and cut...

Caitlin after we cut and straightened. So different but so cute! We love it!

Smelly Feet Coverup...

We stopped by Wal-Mart before going to the kids dental appointment in order for us to pick up a few things we needed at home. It was actually a pretty easy going trip without the drama the kids typically cause. The kids were all in a great mood and played with a ball while we were in the checkout line in the Garden area. Breanna turned around and noticed a pack of Always Maxi Pads sitting on one of the shelves. Guess someone decided they didn't need them any longer so just put them wherever they saw fit. Bre grabs them and proceeds to say, "Look Mom and Dad we can buy these for Caitlin's feet since they stink so bad". Kevin turned bright red, I could not say anything due to the fact that I was laughing so hard, Caitlin looked upset even though she had no idea as to why and everyone in line was laughing. Bre thought the pads were to go in shoes for people who had bad feet odor. Poor Caitlin! Just so everyone knows, her smelly feet are TERRIBLE! She can clear a room with a quickness!

Oh-so-sweet Sisterly Love

Sweet, sweet sisterly love! Ha, we only wish! It seemed the only things the girl wanted to do tonight was fight and argue. It was nonstop all evening! As far as punishment goes, we tried the corner, we spanked them, we made them write pages of different sentences of things they would no do... None of these worked tonight for some reason! Then, it hit us, do what we did awhile back that made them finally listen... Make them stand in front of us hugging each other! Of course it did not bother Caitlin like it did Breanna. Caitlin was just fine hugging on Bre, which of course made Bre even more mad at the world than she already was! By the end of this, they were both so upset with us that they forgot they were ever mad with each other! I guess to sum it all up, our punishment worked!

Fun at the Mall

The girls managed to talk us into letting them take pictures in the
photo machine at the mall out here. They ended up having some cute
pictures, while also loving the machine!