Another tooth "bites" the dust!

During a friendly game of street hockey today, Anna accidentally got hit in the mouth with the puck and it almost knocked out her wiggly tooth. A couple of minutes later it was out!! She is one tough cookie!

Happy meals and ice cream cones!

Second big adventure of spring break - happy meals, ice cream cones and fun at Playland with our neighbor Sam - he and his brother Max are two of Anna's best friends. Unfortunately they are moving today but not far away. We will miss them though!

Spring Break Begins!!

Our first fun activity for spring break was making fresh basil pesto! It's great on chicken for grilling or baking but we have never tried to make it from scratch. After a quick trip to the grocery store we had all the ingredients - basil, pine nuts, garlic, salt and olive oil. We blended everything together, put it in a jar and then realized we had forgotten to stir in the parmesan cheese that Anna had worked so hard to grate! We had a big laugh about that! Anna does love to laugh. I have to say it turned out VERY green and smelled delicious! What a big green mess to clean up in the sink though. The best part was spending some good mother-daughter time together. The next best part will be eating it on grilled chicken with Daddy tomorrow night! Yum-oh!

Teacher conference

This morning we had the spring conference with Anna's 2nd grade teacher, Ms. Cundy, whom we love! She said Anna is right on target for this point in the year and is a joy to have in her class! Anna started the year at a reading level of 18 and is now 24. By the end of second grade she should be at level 28...so we have lots more reading to do! The main difference between 24 and 28 is the ability to do a thorough written summary of what is read. Ms. Cundy said Anna was her #1 student as far as math facts - addition and subtraction. I guess all that extra work at Kumon is paying off! She is still working on everyday math skills like money, making change, telling time and temperature, etc. Her handwriting continues to improve and she is working on consistency in punctuation, capitalization and spelling. She is also working on staying focused on her work. (Smile) - Aren't we all? Anna showed us some of the things she has been doing on the school's iPad and some of the stories she has written. She wrote a very cute story about going fishing with Boppa at Green Lake! We were so proud of her and all she is learning this year!!

Neon colors day!

Today at Anna's school is "neon colors" day to get everyone to "light up" about the school book fair! Plus, spring break starts tomorrow! Anna and momma spent the morning dancing around to one of our favorite songs - "Good Morning" by Mandisa with Toby Mac. Fun!!

Spring Training

Team Szymanski has started spring training!

Anna as Jane Addams

Anna's 2nd grade class had their People Who Made A Difference presentation today. Anna was Jane Addams - the first American woman to receive the Nobel peace prize for her work with social reform and women's right to vote. She created Hull House - one if the first settlement houses in the US. So proud of Anna and all her classmates!!