Who's in FIRST?

 Miss Ramona entered the first grade this week!

I sent her off on the bus at 8:13am and didn't see her again until 3:28pm.

The house is pretty quiet without our Ramona during the day. I guess she is really the life of the Ramona-Mika-Paula party most of the time. I used the new-found quiet time to finish a couple of projects:
1) Mika's bedding. I trimmed a full-sized comforter to twin-size, sewed some purple fabric onto it, and made a ruffled bed skirt out of the leftovers. It's not perfect, but it's finished--and it matches the girls' room.

2) Chrysanthemum wreath. I cut up a bundle of fake flowers, wrapped them around a wire hanger, glued on a bow and hung it on the front door.

It was about time to take down that daffodil wreath--Spring is long gone and back-to-school season is here!

Summer Montage

We enjoyed a wide array of activities during the summer of 2015. Here are some highlights, crammed into one giant blog post:

June 6: Princess Party Fundraiser

Mika dressed up as Cinderella, Ramona dressed up as Rapunzel, and I dressed up in my old prom dress.

My cello student, Maddy, played the part of Elsa.

Cupcake walk with Mulan and Belle

Pin the tail on the donkey with Fiona

Searching for Cinderella's lost slipper with Cinderella and Merida

Dancing with Ariel

Eating a cupcake on Sheila's lap

We stopped by a Target on our way home to buy some ice cream, still in our princess attire. After we walked in, I realized I was wearing red + khaki: the Target employee dress code. I got a lot of comments because of it, but thankfully no customer service complaints.

Cinderella passed out in the carriage ride home

First two weeks of June: Swimming Lessons

Paula sporting Mika's goggles. She was a spectator for this round of swimming lessons.

It was Mika's first time taking a swimming class on her own. Last time I was with her in a parent/child swimming class and and I'm pretty sure she thought I was torturing her.

Ramona started treading the water a little bit. Both Ramona and Mika are still pretty apprehensive about independent swimming, but hopefully they learned something.

Neighborhood plays:
The girls participated in a couple of plays held in Megan's driveway this summer. Here are some photos from their dramatization of "Peter Pan:"

Kieran was Peter Pan, Megan was Wendy, Ramona was Tinkerbell, and Mika was Periwinkle. I am not sure which part Whitney played.

Paula enjoying her little car:

Mika enjoying a nap under the fairy table:

Paula enjoying a waffle with Nutella:

June 15-19: VBS at Lauren & Natalie's church

June 19: Timnath Movie Night at Summerfields Park

Free ice cream sandwiches!

Free cotton candy!

Free movie: Hotel Transylvania

June 27: Lauren's birthday tea party

Paula inside an ottoman:

Ramona and Mika at the bank:

Setting up their own bank accounts!

Mika at the library:

All three girls reading a book outside:

Dressed up for church:

July 16: Windsor Lake

Paula with a bowl on her head: (somewhere there is a picture of me doing the same when I was her size)

July 31: Outdoor concert by our orchestra

Forest and the girls came to see me, then they got gelato afterward.

August 1: Library Carnival

More free cotton candy!

Another Sunday dressed up for church:

August 4: Centerra Kid Day

Big turtles, big bunnies, and more free cotton candy!

August 4-6: Tennis lessons for Ramona

Fresh harvests from our garden:

Paula turned into a super picky eater around February, so the time she tried pizza with basil and zucchini was quite a joyous occasion:

Neighborhood pool:

August 15: My little cello recital:

August 22: Haircuts for Ramona and me

Chop, chop! More hair to donate to Locks for Love. Donation #2 for Ramona, Donation #7 for me. I guess we've been busy growing some hair.

Haircuts, all cleaned up for church:

There it is. We had a lot of different kinds of fun this summer--glad we squeezed it all in!