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Every day after school I help Ashlyn practice her spelling words.

Practice...

Practice...

Practice...

It's not something that she necessarily enjoys.

She'd much rather be playing outside!

I think she has finally grasped the reasoning for all that practicing,

because today she brought home a spelling test

that proudly displays an 18/18 and a TERRIFIC!

Not only did she spell all 18 spelling words correctly,

she spelled all 5 challenge words correctly!

And not only did she spell all of the words correctly,

she also got 19/19 on the dictation section!

She was SO proud of herself - beyond ECSTATIC! As was I!

I was seriously speechless and after we jumped up and down,

I actually fainted onto the floor!

When I finally pulled myself up off the floor,

we went to Sonic to celebrate a job well done!

She and Gavin got Sonic Blasts - Reeces and Oreo.

I got a raspberry ice tea - my fav!

It's great being a little brother (and Mom) that gets to benefit

from such a great accomplishment!

This one's going to be put on display for sure! Loud and proud!

Polish

Ashlyn came up with the idea to categorized our nail polish colors.

Of course Gavin wanted to make a page for himself (wondering why?)

What a creative idea!

And it was a great way to occupy their time on a rainy day.

Random Photos

Slurpee Surprise

Yesterday was a beautiful spring day...

It was Friday and I felt like celebrating the arrival of the weekend!

I was in the mood to take a walk... but I needed a "destination".

The closest place... good 'ole 7-Eleven.

So when the kids got home from school I told them we were going to walk somewhere we've never walked before. They may have been a little disappointed when it wasn't Chuck-E-Cheese or the Mall, but they were excited none the less.

Of course I took my camera - Daniel says it's attached to my hip. Although it's really like a necklace that I wear just about daily - it goes with everything!

We enjoyed the nature along the way.

Checked out the creek.

And watched for Daddy to drive by on his way home from work.

Both kids chose a "Coca-Cola" Slurpee. YUM!

On our way back home we saw a garage sale sign.

We just had see if there were any treasures we couldn't live without... but there weren't any, which was a good thing, since we didn't have any money with us.

We stopped to talk to some friends and ended up bringing a friend home for both kids to play with.

They played. Daniel and I made dinner together... on the grill.

It was a nice evening...

Connecting through everyday life...

Staying connected is very important to me, and although I would much prefer to have regular face to face connections with each and every one of my friends and family, our busy lives just don't always seem to accommodate these wishes. Although it is important to remember that technology does not connect us - our relationships connect us - I believe that technology can be a beneficial outlet. And this is why I am (finally) creating a blog. I'm excited to share my everyday happenings, because after all - random things and ordinary moments fill our lives with unexpected treasures...