Creative Kids
Creative Kids: Wooden Flower
Karlie made me this beautiful “wooden flower”
I received this super special flower from Karlie. She found the wood, cut it into the perfect length, carved out the flower and presented it to me in a field of evergreen leaves. Love it! It was a creative, thoughtful, and beautiful gift.
It makes me smile seeing the kids use their creativity and often I am blessed with getting to enjoy the end product. The best part of this pretty flower is that I don’t have to water yet it stays gorgeous. My type of low maintenance and beautiful decoration that lasts for a long time. Grateful for Karlie’s talent and thoughtful gift. I know this took her a good bit of time to design, create, and put together which means a lot to me. Love my girls!
Creative Kids: Woodworking Class
Brina made this cool piece in class
Well we have made it halfway through the 2019-2020 school year! WooHoo!!! While there are aspects of school that can be quite exhausting there are other parts that are fun. Brina recently brought home this neat project. It’s cool to see everything that they are learning in their classes. She had a great time doing this at school and it turned out really well. I think it’s awesome that she is learning how to use and operate a variety of tools. The first projects she made when she was little were treasured works of art as well, but she has come a long way from the crayon scribbles on a sheet of paper. Thankful for the opportunities for the kids to learn and use their creativity.
Like anything in life some projects are more fun and exciting to do! Whether you are doing tasks around the house or work some are going to use a lot creativity and be more enjoyable while other projects that are just as important will not be as much fun (laundry, washing dishes, etc). May we always continuing learning and growing no matter what stage of life we are in whether it is doing something creative and fun or tackling the necessary life activities for that day.
Counting My Blessings: Week In Review
It was a busy week, but we had a lot of fun. The girls came into work with me first thing in the morning for a little bit. They helped unlock the doors, turn on lights, and get set up for the day before spending time working on their summer workbooks for some time before I took them into camp. They did a Music & Technology camp in the morning and a Rube Goldberg creative experiments in the afternoon. It was super neat seeing what cool creations they developed over the course of the week.
I want to be accountable to you so the following are snip-its of some of the things I am thankful for this past week.
Counting My Blessings – Week In Review:
Monday –Thankful for an opportunity to spend some time chatting with the girls on the way to work and their help getting everything set up for the day.
Tuesday – Thankful to have an chance to see and hear all the neat things the girls are learning and creating in their week at Summer Camp.
Wednesday – Thankful for a dentist near home, that gets me in for an early appointment, and that I didn’t have any cavities or items that need to be done! Yay!
Thursday – Thankful for the girls curious and inquisitive minds. They are not afraid to ask questions so they can learn more from people in various areas.
Friday – Thankful for some quiet one-on-one time with Jake. It was nice to relax, catch up, chat, and spend some time together. Grateful for his thoughts and for being a sounding board regarding my crazy ideas. He brings peace, calm, and great insight to areas that am I trying to figure out.
Saturday – Thankful for an opportunity to spend time my family! We got a lot of accomplished, but also had fun together!
Sunday – Thankful for the freedom to attend church, learn, and grow. Grateful for a refreshing and much needed moments with my family.
What are you thankful for today? I encourage you to take the time to write down a few blessings that you have in your life today. It will help cheer you up and turn your focus on the amazing blessings you encounter each day.
Congratulations Brina! Regional Science Fair Champion – Cupcakes on the Rise Project
Brina bringing back her trophy!
Brina has worked really hard over the past few months on her Science Fair project, Cupcakes on the rise! She has made approximately 410 cupcakes since starting her experiments. Our fridge has been full of chocolate cupcakes and she as well as Karlie have taken a lot of cupcakes to school everyone week to share with their friends and classmates. Proud of Brina for all her hard work.
Regional Science Fair Champion – Brina!!!
For her science experiment Brina picked a cooking experiment. She wanted to find out the difference in the heights of cupcakes when you use eggs versus egg substitutes (like applesauce and egg replacer). Many people have allergies and it is important when making food for people with these allergies to know how the recipes will turn out. The eggs act as binding agents in cupcakes, but will non-egg cupcakes turn out similar and tasty. Are there any noticeable differences specifically in height (but also observations regarding taste, texture, how perishable the cupcakes are, and more information).
Congratulating my sweet girl on her win! She was still in shock, but excited and pleased!
Brina started working on her Science project months ago. She started with making cupcakes one batch at a time. Brina did everything in making the cupcakes (a couple of times Mom or Dad chipped in and helped with clean up, but otherwise she did it on her own). Next she took the information from her experiments and created her journal, graphs, took pictures, and more. Once she had all her experiments completed and the journal was complete she started working on her display board. She added all the required and key information on her board and then spent the next few days adding more cute decorations to make it fun and appealing. There were a lot of stickers used in the process! 🙂 The display board turned out well too.
Jake and Brina at the Regional Science Fair Ceremony! Way to go kiddo!
She discovered that although the applesauce and egg replacers do act sufficiently as binding agents in cupcakes they do not rise as high as the cupcakes containing eggs. The taste and textures of the non-egg cupcakes were not only acceptable, but preferred by some family and friends. The day before her school’s Science Fair presentations she made another batch of cookies to share with her and Karlie’s classmates. She won the opportunity to go to regional the following week! The day before the regional Science Fair competition she made another batch of cupcakes with the 3 different binding agents to take for the judges to enjoy. Jake took her during the school day to set up her project and we came back for the ceremony that evening. We were pleasantly surprised when they announced her as the 1st place winner for the Regional Science Fair 2016. She won a trophy, certificate, medal, and a cash prize for her Science Fair Project.
Standing with my sweet Brina by her display board, cupcake goodies, and all her awards! Good job Brina Bee!!!
Thankful for an opportunity to see Brina work for months through the Science Fair process and her hard work get rewarded. She is a great cook and always a big help in the kitchen. The project was fun, tasty, and a great learning experience for everyone in our family.
Karlie’s Science Fair Project! More = Less!
More = Less!
Karlie did a fun Science Fair project this year for 5th grade! It was fun and a great learning experience for her. Her friends and classmates were fascinated by it. We are proud of her hard work!
The purpose of the experiment was to see if the changing the velocity movement through a pipe will cause the pressure to increase? Bernoulli’s Principle says that when a fluid is traveling in a horizontal direction, as the velocity increases the pressure will decrease and vice versa. The principle shows when the pressure is at it’s lowest, and is at it’s highest. Some of the things that use Bernoulli’s Principle are race cars, airplanes (Bernoulli’s Principle makes it possible to fly), and it helps a baseball player throw a curve ball. The fluids increase speed, when pushed through a narrower space, will cause internal pressure to decrease even though it is in a tighter space. The external pressure increase at slower speeds.
Karlie presenting her Science Fair Project! She did excellent!
School: Karlie’s 5th Grade Awards! Good Job KARLIE!
Karlie’s 5th Grade Awards!
Brina and Karlie had their 5th grade Awards Ceremony on Friday, May 27, 2016. There is something both unique and special about having twins because they challenge and encourage each other in many areas of their lives. Thankful for the girls love of learning. It is great seeing them grow up into amazing young ladies!
Jake and I knew the girls did really well this year, worked hard, and got decent grades, but we were still surprised at how well they did. Thankful for all their hardwork regarding school. It has obviously paid off and they have learned a lot throughout the year. They did fantastic this year. It was a tough year, but it was worth all their effort!
All there teachers were excellent and encouraged them to learn a lot while making learning fun for the students! Their Homeroom Teachers, Gifted & Talented Teacher, Reading Teacher, and STEM Club Coaches, Library Leader, Chorus Director, Safety Patrol Leader, Beta Club Leader, the Administration Leadership Team and more were all good about communicating with the parents which is always key in helping the kids be successful. Thankful for all the teachers and all energy they put into our kids this school year.
We are VERY PROUD of the hard work Karlie put forward this year and the amount she was able to accomplish throughout her 5th grade year! The girls have the biggest class in the school so it is a huge honor to get these awards. Way to go kiddo!!!
Karlie received the following 18 Award Certificates, 13 Award Medals, 3 Award Pins, 2 Trophies, & 4 Specialty Awards:
- 1 – Highest Math Achievement Awards (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal)
- 1 – Highest Social Studies Achievement Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal)
- 1 – Highest Reading Achievement Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal)
- 1 – Highest Science Achievement Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal)
- 1 – Highest Language Arts Achievement Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal)
- 1 – “A” Honor Roll Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal)
- 1 – Jet Toy Challenge Competition Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal – Brina’s Team went to Regional Competition)
- 1 – 5th Grade Elementary School Diploma (It’s official that she has graduated up to 6th grade – Middle School. Received 1 Award Certificate, 1 Award Medal, & 1 Stuffed Bear)
- 1 – Helping Hands & Beta Club Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal – for doing Community Service Projects throughout the school year)
- 1 – Chorus Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal – participated in Community Chorus Events & Activities throughout the year)
- 1 – Academic Excellence Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal)
- 1 – Library Assistant & Book Worm Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Adorable Book Worm)
- 1 – President’s Education Awards for Outstanding Academic Excellence (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Pin)
- 1 – Safety Patrol Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Pin)
- 1 – 1st Place Accelerated Reading Award & Trophy (Received 1 Award Certificate, 1 Award Medal, & 1 Trophy – Karlie broke her schools record in highest AR Points!!!)
- 1 – Children’s Book Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal)
- 1 – STEM Club Award (STEM Club Team – went to state) (Received 1 Award Certificate, 1 Award Pin, & STEM Organizer for next school year)
- 1 – Gift & Talented “GT” Gift Award (Received a Karlie’s Characteristic Gift Award from GT Teacher and Classmates
- 1 – All A’s All Years in Elementary School Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Trophy)
Karlie and Brina together received 34 Award Certificates + 25 Award Medals + 6 Award Pins + 3 Trophies + 1 Cash Prize + 7 Specialty Awards at their 5th Grade Awards Ceremony!
Love these girls! XOXO
School: Brina’s 5th Grade Awards! Way to GO BRINA!
Brina’s 5th Grade Awards!
Brina and Karlie had their 5th grade Awards Ceremony on Friday, May 27, 2016. Jake and I knew the girls did really well this year, worked hard, and got decent grades, but we were still surprised at how well they did. Thankful for all their hardwork regarding school. It has obviously paid off and they have learned a lot throughout the year. They both had awesome teachers which is always beneficial for the kids too.
We did not even save seats for the girls (we didn’t realize that they would need to sit with us after graduation), but it didn’t matter because they barely even sat down before they were called back up on stage to receive their next award. They did fantastic this year. It was a tough year, but it was worth all their effort!
All there teachers were excellent and encouraged them to learn a lot while making learning fun for the students! Their Homeroom Teachers, Gifted & Talented Teacher, Reading Teacher, and STEM Club Coaches, Library Leader, Chorus Director, Safety Patrol Leader, Beta Club Leader, the Administration Leadership Team and more were all good about communicating with the parents which is always key in helping the kids be successful. Thankful for all the teachers and all energy they put into our kids this school year.
We are VERY PROUD of the hard work Brina put forward this year and the amount she was able to accomplish throughout her 5th grade year! The girls have the biggest class in the school so it is a huge honor to get these awards. Way to go chickie-a-dee!!!
Brina received the following 16 Award Certificates, 12 Award Medals, 3 Award Pins, 1 Trophy, 1 Cash Prize, & 3 Specialty Awards:
- 1 – Highest Math Achievement Awards (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal)
- 1 – Highest Social Studies Achievement Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal)
- 1 – Highest Reading Achievement Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal)
- 1 – Highest Language Arts Achievement Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal)
- 1 – “A” Honor Roll Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal)
- 1 – Jet Toy Challenge Competition Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal – Brina’s Team went to Regional Competition)
- 1 – School Science Fair Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal)
- 1 – Regional Science Fair 1st Place Grand Prize SCPC Winner (Received 1 Award Certificate, 1 Award Medal, 1 Grand Prize Trophy, & a Cash Prize)
- 1 – 5th Grade Elementary School Diploma (It’s official that she has graduated up to 6th grade – Middle School. Received 1 Award Certificate, 1 Award Medal, & 1 Stuffed Bear)
- 1 – Helping Hands & Beta Club Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal – for doing Community Service Projects throughout the school year)
- 1 – Chorus Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal – participated in Community Chorus Events & Activities throughout the year)
- 1 – Academic Excellence Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal)
- 1 – Library Assistant & Book Worm Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Adorable Book Worm)
- 1 – President’s Education Awards for Outstanding Academic Achievement (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Pin)
- 1 – Safety Patrol Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Pin)
- 1 – STEM Club Award (STEM Club Team – went to state) (Received 1 Award Certificate, 1 Award Pin, & STEM Organizer for next school year)
Brina and Karlie together received 34 Award Certificates + 25 Award Medals + 6 Award Pins + 3 Trophies + 1 Cash Prize + 7 Specialty Awards at their 5th Grade Awards Ceremony!
Love these girls! XOXO
Happy Halloween!
We gave the girls a choice about what Halloween activities they wanted to do this year. They chose to stay home, play games, spend time together, carve pumpkins, make a special meal, and more fun instead of going out trick & treating! We had a lot of fun together! Thankful for our girls and sweet time together!
Baked and seasoned pumpkin seeds!
Karlie’s scary pumpkin!
Caramel flavored pumpkin seeds!
Brina creating her owl pumpkinOrganized Chaos: Organizing Our Arts & Crafts Supplies
General Craft Supplies
Our kids love to do crafts! In the summer months, on the weekends, or evenings when the kids have some extra free time they like to do crafts. Throughout the school year they have to do various projects for school so our art and craft supplies come in handy for those tasks as well.
The general arts and crafts supplies are stored in our storage closet on one of our shelves in individual containers labeled with what is inside each one. Whenever the kids want to do a craft or need something specific all they have to do is get the container out, use whatever item they need, and put the container back once they are finished. If they use up all of one particular item they write that item on the grocery / shopping list (or tell us if we are nearby so we can add it).
When the kids were younger we had a lot more containers of art and crafts supplies. Now we have narrowed it down to the supplies they use the most and will fit on one shelf in the storage room. We still have a couple drawers and other containers on the very bottom shelf for specialty or specific items that do not fit into these categories, but they are easy to access when they need them as well. Also, the girls have crafts that were give to them in their own rooms, Organized Chaos: Kids Crafts & Activities.
These small containers with lids that we used for the arts and crafts supplies, you can find for a $1 at Dollar Tree, have been very useful in helping our family get organized! Once the items are placed in containers, we put the lid on, and label them. We picked up the shelving a long time ago at Sam’s Club, but you can find it at a number of stores including Walmart, KMart, Target, Home Depot, Lowe’s, and more.
Here are some of the container labels we used for our arts and crafts supplies to get you started:
- Stencils
- Small Crafts
- Glitter
- Craft Sticks
- Modeling Clay
- Crayons
- Google Eyes
- Beads & Necklaces
- Fuzzy Sticks (pipe cleaners)
- Water Color Paint / Paint Brushes
- Finger Paints
- Stamps
- Pom Poms
Our organized storage room – the top shelf in this picture is where the arts & crafts supplies are located!
School: Brina & Karlie’s 4th Grade Awards Ceremony!
Proud of my girls!
Brina and Karlie had their 4th grade Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, June 2nd. Jake and I knew the girls did really well this year and worked very hard, but we were still blown away by the amount of awards they received. I honestly don’t think Jake was in his chair for more than 5 minutes throughout the entire Awards Ceremony (seriously). Every time he sat down one or both of the girls names would be announced to receive another award. The grandpa sitting next to me said “Wow, you most be doing something right with those kids. They are very talented!” Both girls did worked hard all year even when it wasn’t always easy so it is something exciting to celebrate with them!
They both had great teachers this school year. The teachers encouraged them to learn a lot! Their Homeroom Teachers, Gifted & Talented Teacher, Reading Teacher, and STEM Club Coaches were all good about communicating with the parents which is always key in helping the kids be successful. Thankful for all the teachers and all energy they put into our kids this school year.
We are VERY PROUD of the hard work these girls did and the amount they were able to accomplish throughout the 4th grade year! The girls have the biggest class in the school so it is a huge honor to get these awards. Their classes are large and it takes a lot of work to get these honors. Way to go girls!!!
Karlie and Brina received 13 Award Certificates + 10 Award Medals + 2 Award Pins:
- 2 – Highest Math Achievement Awards (Both girls were the highest in their classes)! (Received 2 Award Certificates & 2 Award Medals)
- 1 – Highest Social Studies Achievement Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal)
- 1 – Highest Reading Achievement Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal)
- 1 – Highest Science Achievement Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal)
- 1 – Highest Language Arts Achievement Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal)
- 1 – “A” Honor Roll Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal)
- 1 – “A/B” Honor Roll Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal)
- 1 – 1st Place Accelerated Reading Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal)
- 1 – Pickens County Youth Arts Award (Received 1 Award Certificate)
- 1 – Children’s Book Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal)
- 2 – STEM Club Awards (their STEM Club Team – Solar SySTEM went to state) (Received 2 Award Certificates & 2 Award Pins)
Here are some of the pictures from their big Awards Night! Very proud of our girls!
Way to go Brina and Karlie
Brina’s Honor Roll
Karlie’s Honor Roll
Highest Reading Achievement Award
Highest Language Arts Achievement Award
Highest Math Achievement Awards – Brina and Karlie!
Highest Science Achievement Award
STEM Club Awards
Highest Social Studies Achievement Award
Children’s Book Award
Pickens County Youth Arts Award
Talking with friends after the Awards Ceremony!
Brina showing us her cool projects in the hallway!
Brina and Karlie’s certificates, medals, and pins literally filled our kitchen table!
STEM Club, Highest Achievement in Math (for their class), and Honor Roll Awards & Medals for both girls!
Below are some of the pictures of their medals from their 4th Grade Awards Night (I didn’t take pictures of all of them or they didn’t turn out plus some were similar, but this will give you the idea of what they brought home on their 4th Grade Awards Night)!
2 of these Medals for Highest Math Achievement Medal (1 for Brina and 1 for Karlie)
All “A” Honor Roll for the Entire School Year
Highest Social Studies Achievement Medal
Highest Reading Achievement Medal
Highest Language Arts Achievement Medal
Multiple ones of this medal – 1st Place Accelerated Reading & Children’s Book Award
Highest Science Achievement Medal
All “A-B” Honor Roll for the Entire School Year
We are super excited to see all that the girls have accomplished this year. We are thankful for all their effort and hard work. It is evident that they can do a lot and learned a great deal this school year. They finished strong. It is still hard to believe that this is their last day of 4th grade, they are growing up too quickly.
We are looking forward to a fun summer full of learning, memories, and catching up with family and friends! It is our hope that they continue to enjoy learning and growing as they get older. Thankful for our girls. We are very blessed! LOVE YOU BRINA AND KARLIE!!!
