Sierra and her friend Claudia entered the science fair with a project on paper chromatography, entitled CSI: Forest Hills. Their experiment enabled them to discover which criminal wrote the stick-up note! Skye had a project too, but at the last minute it wouldn't work and we ended up not entering it. She was very upset, but she got to be the "bad guy" for Sierra's project so it turned out OK.
We won! We entered our names in a drawing at the Raptor Road Trip and we won! I went out to Portland Audubon last Monday to pick up our prize. We won a pair of Leupold binoculars and a Birdwatching for Dummies book, along with a one year membership to the Audubon Society! While I was there I explored a little and I can't wait to bring the girls out there. They have miles of trails, but the coolest part is the Wildlife Care Center, where you can meet the education birds and even watch a surgery if you happen to be there at the right time! I've heard a rumor that there are quite a few letterboxes out there too, so I'm going to have to follow up on that soon so we can log some more finds.
Sierra is officially registered for Junior High! (Yikes!) Last week the counselors from LOJ came to talk to the sixth graders and help them forecast their classes. It should not surprise any of you that her first elective choice was Drama! She is also considering Spanish, French, Guitar,Clay and 3D Design, and S.E.E.D. (Science Exploration and Experiment Design). When I went to the Parent's meeting I bought her her first "Spirit Wear" and she wears it proudly!
Report cards came out recently, followed by conferences, and both the girls did well. They both struggle with being a little too chatty during class, but that's to be expected I guess! Skye's teacher is so positive and caring, it's made a world of difference for her. (ask me about last year's teacher sometime when you have a couple hours!) The fifth and sixth grades are blended at Forest Hills and they've developed a "junior high prep" curriculum that I think works really well for Sierra. They even use the same homework planner LOJ does. I'm hopeful she'll be well prepared to start up the hill next year!
What else...Sierra and I went out with some friends of mine and played Lasertag a couple weeks ago. Let me just tell you that she is a force of nature in the lasertag arena! She even walked away with the highest score in our last game. Afterwards we went out to Midnight Cosmic Bowling. Sierra was not quite as skilled at that. (I promised not to say anymore on that subject!)
Skye is really excited about a new group at church. It's called The Explorers and it's just for third and fourth graders. They meet once a month and do cool things like cosmic bowling, mini golf, and rock climbing. She had to miss the first outing but she's looking forward to the April activity!
I guess that pretty much fills you in. We hope to hear from all of you soon! If any of you have any pictures or news you want us to share here, just e-mail it to me (my address can be found in our profile if you don't already know it). I'll leave you with a pic of the girls I took a few days ago at the park. We love you!
