Kelly is so thrilled to have her cousin, Annie out to visit. We went out for dinner to Ruby's on the pier and they just HAD to bring their American Girls along.


Here they are enjoying a taste of Uncle Jonathan's milkshake-YUM!

Above Boards Art Show

Kelly entered one of her watercolor paintings in an artshow at the studio where she had lab for school. They had an open house on Friday. We walked around and looked at lots of different types of artwork.

Here is Kelly's picture displayed with other pieces of artwork. Her piece won an Honorable Mention.

Thursday was Kelly's last 1st grade gathering. We had lunch at the park and the kids played. It was a fun time.



Kelly and her friend Zoe shoot their cereal guns.

Kelly with her penpal from A track.


Kelly sitting on the tall wall with her friends. They had fun jumping off the wall.

Last Day of Workshop

Kelly's last workshop was on Wednesday. Her class sang songs, recited poems and watched a slideshow. It's hard to believe this school year is almost over. Here are two pictures, one from the first day of workshop and one from the last. I'm sure her appearance has changed, but I have a hard time noticing it.

Some of the kids from Kelly's class recited poems. Kelly and her friends recited an excerpt from "The Cat in the Hat".

Kelly received a few awards from her teacher. She was the student with the highest reading level.



One of her awards was for citizenship and character education.

Coastal Academy Writing Celebration

One of Kelly's literature pieces was chosen for the Coastal Academy's Writing Celebration. A student was chosen from each track (A, B or C) in each grade. Her piece is on display at the Oceanside Public Library for the entire month of May. Last night they had an awards ceremony. Kelly was nervous about being in front of a large group, but she did fine. Here she is after reading an excerpt from her writing and receiving her certificate.



The Reading Specialist, Kathy Scott gave out the certificates.



Kelly read her excerpt and jetted out of the spotlight as soon as she could.

This is a photo of the entire group of classmates who had their writing chosen.

Here is our smart girl standing under her writing with her certificate of achievement.

This is Kelly's piece of writing on dispaly.

Knott's Berry Farm

Today we went to Knott's Berry Farm, a theme park up in Anaheim. The park has lots of rides for all ages, but what made it more fun were the different buildings you could visit, such as a schoolhouse and nature center. Kelly even got to pan for gold. It was a very, very hot day, and of course the lines were long, but it was a ton of fun. Boy, am I wiped out!!

Ridin' the Rides!!!

Here are pictures of some of the rides we went on, but first I need to describe the second ride of which I do not have any pictures of. So, here it goes...There was this cool ride we decided to try called the "Sierra Sidewinder". Now, we were in Camp Snoopy, the "kiddie ride" section, which would cause one to think, "this will be fine", but this particular ride was not fine for me. It was a roller coaster with circular shaped cars. Two people sat on each side. Tom and Kelly sat on one and I on the other, facing in opposite directions. Oh, and the cars spun around while moving along the track. Also, I had to take off my glasses for the ride so I couldn't see a thing. The ride started climbing a tall hill, and that's all I saw. The rest of the ride I kept my eyes shut tight. I felt so sick, all I could do was take deep breaths. The cool thing is that we were able to purchase a DVD of Tom and Kelly riding the coaster. I'm trying to find a way to post it here, but I haven't figured it out yet. Anyhow, here are some of the other rides.


Kelly's first ride was Woodstock Airmail. As you can see, Kelly enjoyed herself on this free fall ride.


Here are Kelly and I on the hot air balloon ride. It seemed like a tame ride, except I was already sick from the Sierra Sidewinder so by the time it was through I felt like I was going to throw up (excuse the vulgarity).


Tom and Kelly rode the old wooden carousel.

School's in Session

This was a real schoolhouse that came from Kansas. As soon as I walked in I felt like I was in Little House on the Prairie.


Left side of the classroom


Front of the classroom



Right side of the classroom

There was even a Ranger Station/Nature Center where we were able to pick up hissing cockroaches, toads, meal worms and walking sticks. Kelly enjoyed holding the walking stick and later, the toad.

Panning for Gold

Kelly got to pan for gold. Here she is learning how to swish the sand out of the gold pan.


It took a lot of work so Daddy had to help.


All that work paid off. Here she is with her gold!

The last ride we went on was the best-the Stagecoach. It was pulled by four beautiful horses. The ride was very scenic, taking us all around the park. It was so much fun.





Notice the horse on the left-it looks like he's yelling at the other horse. He nipped at his buddy the entire ride.

Moms & Muffins

Friday morning Kelly's school had a "Mom's & Muffins" event. We had OJ or coffee and yummy muffins while we read together. Here we are in Kelly's classroom. She wanted to read to herself, but I explained that I was supposed to be reading to her this time. It was a great start to our morning.

Yesterday at the Swap Meet Tom bought a Singer Sewhandy machine, perfect for Kelly to sew with. He spent the afternoon tuning it up. Kelly started sewing with it. It does not have a pedal. Instead, it has a switch. My quilting instructor said that Kelly could attend class with me and she would work with her on using a machine. Now Kelly has one to call her own.

Mandi's First Quilt (continued)

Saturday was my second quilting class. I spent almost the entire 5 hours sewing my squares together. I haven't sewn the rows together yet, but this is what it will look like once I do. This was supposed to be the last class, but since no one was able to finish it, the instructor scheduled another one in two weeks. Hopefully I'll be able to get it done then.

Sad News About the Bunny

I'm sad to report that our bunny took a turn for the worst on Friday night. His injuries were too severe and he passed away. The top picture is of the burial spot that Tom & Kelly made Saturday. The bottom is on Friday afternoon before the bunny died.

Our Bunny

Last night while I was sewing at the dining table I heard some funny yelps. I ran out the door to find our cat trying to finish off a cute baby bunny. I was able to catch him and take him inside to inspect his wounds. The cat got him on his hind shoulder, foot and eye. I washed the wounds, but the one on his shoulder was down to the muscle. I tucked him into his "house", unsure whether he would make it through the night.

Update on the bunny

This morning I checked on the bunny hoping he'd still be alive and he was! In fact, he tried to get away from my hand as I reached in to catch him. I'm going to the pet store later to find some formula so he can eat.

Our New Piano

This is our new digital piano that we bought on Thursday. The owner of the store was able to get 3 for his showroom. However, this model isn't available in the United States. It's made by Kurzweil and is supposed to be the most realistic sounding and feeling piano. As you can see, Kelly loves it and hopes to start piano lessons soon.

Mandi's First Quilt

With some encouragement from Tom, I signed up for a quilting class at the base hobby shop. It is a 2-day class that started today and ends next Saturday. The quilt that I am making is a patriotic stars and stripes quilt. We started by choosing our fabric and by the end of class I was already running my machine. It was a lot of fun and I am looking forward to finishing my quilt. When it's all done I'll be sure to take a picture and post it here.

Here I am hard at work. I am trying to get more sewing done at home so I will be able to finish the quilt at my last class.

Here are the various pieces that I am using in my quilt.

This gives you an idea of what it will look like when sewn together.