Proud

Courtney's Uncle Peter is serving a mission for our church. He will go to Tucson, AZ to serve for 2 years. Courtney's Grandma and Grandpa are also serving a mission for our church. They will go to a country near Armenia called Georgia where they will serve for 18 months. This has been a big focus of Courtney's life lately. We have had MANY family gatherings and many activities surrounding the events of them leaving. I have been so impressed with how proud Courtney is of them. She tells her friends about them and shares about them in her therapy classes.

We woke very early one morning (3:30am) to send off Uncle Peter at the airport. Courtney thought it was so much fun to wake up in "the middle of the night" to do this. When we got to the airport she thought it was so much fun to be wearing her pajamas at the airport!
Big Bear Hugs
Courtney loves to give the biggest hugs and nearly knocked Uncle Peter to the ground. I have to say I met a nearly 16ish age boy the other day who came out of his class and "jumped" into his father's arms-legs wrapped around his waist and everything! The dad just grabbed him up and hugged him. I hope that Courtney doesn't outgrow her big hugs either!

I had to include this picture because as Courtney sat there chatting it up with Grandpa (at 4 am mind you) they were so cute...with their hands both in their pockets chatting away. I have to say, out of all of us who made the 4am truck to the airport, I worried that Courtney would not like that idea and boy was I wrong. She was the happiest of all of us and had a great day following the early adventure!

Hands-On Learning

Courtney is a hands-on learner. She is homeschooled and has a lot of opportunity for hands-on learning. We recently went to the Children's Museum of Stockton where we had a day full of hands-on learning.
This is a water table. The water flows with a little current from one end to the other. The square plates in the water can be arranged to allow water flow or block it. There are ducks and other small toys that you can then send down the water to see if the path you made will help them get to the end, or keep them caught in a pool of water. Courtney loved fishing the ducks out and running them back to the top to send them down again.
Courtney LOVES to put on a show. This little puppet corner was great for her. She and her sister were taking turns being the introducer of the show and then putting on little puppet shows.
Courtney didn't stay in this outfit too long (it is a really heavy hat), but I couldn't hardly get her off of the fire truck they have. Her imagination is so great. She drove all over town putting out fires and helping people.

Baptism

We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints (LDS). As members, we believe in being baptized when you are 8 or older. As Courtney turned 7 it was really important to me that we spend a year discussing what that means and what happens and that it be her choice to do it and that she understood what that meant. We spent many family nights discussing this choice with Courtney and teaching her what it would mean to be baptized. Over the year, she decided that this is something that she wanted to do.
I asked Courtney's grandma (who she only knows as "Tuki"-the "grandma" name that all the grandkids have for her) to make her a special new dress that she could wear for the occasion. It turned out beautiful and Courtney calls it her princess dress. She turned 8 in December and in January, we had a special day for her baptism.
There were so many people that came to support her that they filled all the chairs in the room we were in and they had to open according doors to the next room in order to accommodate everyone that was there. This little girl sure is loved. She was baptized by her father, Arron.
We are so proud of Courtney for making such a big decision. We are also proud of all the time and effort she put into know what that means.

Stealing

STEAL was one of Courtney's spelling words this week (we are working on "ea" and "ee" words). We talked about what it meant in simple terms (taking something that doesn't belong to you without asking). Later in the week we were sitting at the table and I heard some noises outside. I jokingly said "What's that noise? Is someone stealing our car?" Courtney got very serious and concerned and said "No, they wont steal our car-its too heavy to carry." Arron and I just exchanged a giggle look and told her she was right!

So Smart

Courtney gets it. Even when I don't think she does, she gets it. On a recent Tuesday I read Courtney a page on “Biology” and we talked about it and did a little gluing activity about it. I thought that the info had gone over her head, but I was glad that she at least “heard” it. A few days later her teacher came to see what we have been working on for school. Courtney was in the other room and as the teacher and I were talking about what we have been doing for school, I asked Courtney “What 2 parts of science make up Biology?” She didn’t hesitate, stands right up and says “Botany and Zoology”. I passed a shocked look to the teacher and then said to Courtney “What is Botany?”. She replied “plants and trees”. I then asked “What is Zoology?” to which she sayed “pets and animals”...she said it in a voice like "Come on, Mom, that's so easy!" She really is a smart little girl who is learning so much all the time.

Milestone

Courtney takes a small handful (I think there are 10-12) of pills twice a day and two pills at night. We call them her "yummies". Now that she is getting a little older, we sometimes call them "medicine" or "meds". She eats them in spoonfuls of applesauce. We put 2 pills on a spoon with some applesauce and she is able to swallow them. Just recently, she learned how to swallow them with just water and can do it all on her own. Yippee! She puts the pill (or sometimes two) in her mouth, moves it to the back and then takes a big drink of water. I am amazed that she has taught herself how to do this at such a young age! She is so proud of herself when she does it all on her own!

**These "pills" are a combination of vitamins, minerals ,herbs, and medication that help boost her immune system and keep her functioning and digesting well. They help to give her the best chance possible to be as healthy as possible so we find it completely worth it to have her take them daily.

Little Dancer

Courtney took a dance class this last school year. She learned tap and ballet. She recently had the end of year recital. She looked beautiful and did an amazing job. She danced in 3 different dances and the finale. One was a tap number that they also sang the song with (an adorable Bumblebee song). One was a fast tap number to Supercalifragalisticexbealidocious! The last one was a ballet number that was a lullaby. For that one each girl had a baby doll that they danced with. Courtney was truely great. She memorized the steps for all three dances. It was amazing to watch her talent of music shine. She would memorize the steps by remembering which step to do with which notes. Even if she got off in steps, when the music changed, she could switch her steps to be on the right step with the right notes. She got right up there on stage and really enjoyed the performance. When I asked her what her favorite part of the recital was she didn't hesitate to say...going to In-and-Out afterward for hamburgers!
I'm so proud of the hard work she put into learning her dances and I'm proud of her wonderful performance.