Letter Lydia wrote to us...

Dear Mom and Dady.

I love you so much I chud mary you Dady & Mommy I love you so much I wud kes you to deth.
You'r Dotr
Lydia
P.S. I love you.

Dear Mom and Daddy,
I love you so much I could marry you Daddy and Mommy I love you so much I would kiss you to death.
Your daughter,
Lydia.
P.S. I love you.

Found this in Lydia's lunchbox this morning...

Gramo & Samr

(Grandma & Sammer)

GG's Girl

Girls' Day Out with Bekah

On Saturday, Bekah and I attended the Girls' Day Out at the Factory in Franklin.

The Factory (for those not from Franklin) is an old stove factory that they've converted into a mini-mall with upscale shops, restaurants, and other businesses.

After we got to the expo, we looked around for a bit and decided to go to the Princess Pavillion.

There, they would do your nails, hair, make up and then you could dress up and have your picture taken.

I encouraged my little tomboy to do these girly things.  She chose a clear nailpolish. 

I insisted she choose a color!!  We were going to glam it up!!

So what color did my little tomboy choose?

Blue!!

She thought her choice was quite funny.

She didn't want them to fix her hair, but she did let them add a little glitter to it.

After that, she was ready to "design" her own outfit.

We ran into Jessica and Ellie in the princess pavilion, so Jessica and Bekah vogued for the camera:

and got a little silly too!

After the Princess Pavilion, we went around the rest of the expo center, looking at the booths and registering to win things.

Rebekah really wanted to win some tupperware.

And she was sure to grab the candy anywhere she saw it.

We attended a cooking demonstration and a safe driving demonstration. 

Yeah...on that one...Bekah really wanted to go.

The guy who led the workshop was walking around with a princess bicycle helmet on all morning.  Bekah thought he would be hilarious (and he was), so she really wanted to attend his workshop.

She registered for the drawing...

and she won!

I somehow knew she would win and had the camera ready!

She won a gift certificate for a large pizza.

After that, we got seated for the main attraction: the fashion show!

Bekah was really excited about this!

It was the main reason she wanted to come!  She really enjoyed it!  Seeing the smile on her face was so priceless!!

After that, we perused the shops in The Factory.  Bekah REALLY wanted to get her picture taken in this huge chair!

So we waited for the full grown man to get out of it.  (He was just sitting in it---not for a photo-op ---just to sit in it.)

And then we got our shot!

It was an awesome day!

100% Cute

Lydia's Weekend News

(Click on the image below to view it larger.)

Above is Lydia's report of the "Weekend News" where she tells all about our weekend.

I think it's HILARIOUS!!  I LOVE her creative spelling (yes, we're working on it!!).

I dare you to read what she's written and see if you can figure out what she's saying.  Too funny!!

Here's what she wrote:

on Satrday moning I got. Drest and buyotefid. For Barbie feshen feretel.  In the move teaytr it was fuuuuuun!!!

on Sunday I wint to chrch and aftr that I got to mak a Build-a-Bear!!!!!!!!!!

What she meant:

On Saturday morning I got dressed and beautified for Barbie Fashion Fairytale in the movie theatre.  It was fuuuuuun!!! (fun)

On Sunday I went to church and after that I got to make a Build-a-Bear!!!!!!!!!!

Things I find the funniest about this:

1. That Lydia used the word "beautified."

2. That she spelled "beautified" like this: buyotefid.

3. How she spelled theatre (teaytr).  You know, the South, it's a the-AY-ter!! 

4. That even with all those misspelled words, she managed to spell "Build-a-Bear" correctly!



Bekah's TCAPs

We had parent/teacher conferences tonight and received Rebekah's TCAP scores for last year.  (TCAP's start in 3rd grade, so Lydia hasn't taken one yet.)  We were warned that the TCAP scores would be abysmal because they upped the standards last year severely. 

Well, we weren't disappointed at all.  We're really pleased with Bekah's scores.  She's right where she needs to be.

Here are the scans of her TCAPs.  You can click on them to view them larger. 

The 2nd column shows whether Bekah is Advanced (star), Proficient (dot), Basic (half-dot) or Below basic (triangle).

The 3rd column shows a percentage grade.

The last three columns show the bottom points for Basic, Proficient and Advanced (so you can see how close Bekah is to each category).

This is Bekah's Reading/Language Arts TCAP

She scored proficient with a total score of 785.  This puts her right in the middle of the proficient range.  Mrs. Miller said that proficient is A/B range.

The shaded area shows the range of where she should be...and about where the average child is in Tennessee.  The diamond represents where Bekah is in that mix.

This is the Mathematics TCAP.

Bekah is proficient in mathematics as well.  She scored 780, which is the top portion of the proficient level.  (791 is advanced.)

This is Bekah's Science TCAP.

She scored proficient here as well.  Her total score was 763, which is right in the middle of the proficient range.

And this is her Social Studies TCAP.

And I don't know why we were so shocked, but Bekah is ADVANCED in social studies!!  I mean, it makes sense, because these things are natural topics of conversation around our house...and Bekah just eats it up.

Bekah scored 232 in Social Studies, which is well within the advanced range.  Her percentages are between 92% and 97%!!!  Wow!  Just look at her diamonds in this score!

So, needless to say we're quite pleased with this. 

And Bekah was too!  She was all giggles over her social studies score!!

David & Rebekah's Smoky Mountain Weekend

While Lydia and I were rockin' out our girls' weekend, David was picking this little one up for her first solo camping trip with Daddy!

She could not have been more excited!

He took her to the Smoky Mountains National Park. 

On the way there, she peppered him with so many questions:

Why are they called the Smoky Mountains?

How big are the mountains?

Will we get close to the mountains?

Where will I sleep?

Where will you sleep?

My Bekah...my little studious, bookworm Bekah

is a tomboy and so much like her Daddy it's funny.

She loves to learn and loves to explore...and is more comfortable around bugs and rocks than she is around lipstick and mascara.

David took her to one of his favorites...

...and she got to learn and explore...

...seeing nature first-hand.

Gosh! I'm just so proud of her!!  Just look at that glowing face!!

Rebekah wanted to learn everything about everything in the Smoky Mountains.  They went to the visitor's center and she explored every display.

She even watched the 45 minute informational video.

She could not soak in enough information.

On their first full day, David and Rebekah hiked to the top of Clingman's Dome - the highest point on the eastern seaboard.

In doing so, Bekah earned this patch:

David and Rebekah decided that they would do this sort of thing often and that she could collect patches from all the places she has explored.

For Bekah, being a collector of collections (and experiences), this idea was a hit!!

And exploring the Smoky Mountains...

...is definitely worthy of earning this patch as well:

(They did see a bear in Cherokee, NC!!)

They did all kinds of other fun daddy/daughter activities as well, including hunting for crawdads in the river.

I remember doing this in the creek behind our house when I was a little girl.  I SO LOVE that my girls are feminine, but not prissy!!  I love that they are girly, but not squeamish at the sight of frogs, worms and crawdads!!

On Sunday, David and Bekah took a much longer hike to the top of Laurel Falls.

David was so proud of Bekah for her determination!!

She wanted to earn this patch:

 

...and earn it she did!!

She not only hiked up there,

but fully explored every inch of that place!!

And yes, she fell in!  Ha ha!

David and Rebekah had fun chasing this elusive salamander.  They tried for quite a while to catch it, but he was too fast for them.

I am so happy that Rebekah got to experience such a fun weekend with David - one that was so totally perfect for her!

And I am so proud to have a husband who is a daddy who wants to form these bonds with our girls!!

I'm sure this is an experience that Bekah won't soon forget!