Cortney's Crew

Today was awards day for the first trimester at school. They do this for 3rd - 6th grade. (It was also pajama day....who's idea was that???) The kids can receive an Academic Award for having B's or better on their report card, or a Principals Honor Roll Award for having all A's. Also the teachers have a few nomination awards for their class. And the specials teachers have nominations for the grades. Riley received an Academic Award. She also received a Teacher Nomination from her teacher for "showing excellent acts of kindness, good citizenship, and classroom behavior". There were only 3 kids from her class chosen for this award. She also received a Teacher Nomination from the Art teacher for "Outstanding citizenship and achievement in Art". Only 2 4th graders received an award for Art. I'm very proud of my Riley! This report card was the best I've seen from her and I'm so glad that her teachers recognized her for all her hard work ...

Riley and Alexandra receive allowance twice a month (when Dean gets paid). They get an amount equal to their age, so Riley gets $9 and Alexandra gets $6. They have banks with 3 separate sections that I got from Deseret Book. So when I get their allowance from the bank I get it all funky with lots of change so they can do tithing and savings. I'm sure the bank people love to see me come in! They have to put 10% in tithing and 10% in savings and the rest is theirs to use however they want. When we first started this, I had been buying little things from the $1 spot at Target or just little toys for them. So once we started their allowance I stopped buying little things for them and they had to do it for themselves. This greatly helped our budget and we found that I spent less giving them allowance. Also we decided not to have allowance tied to their chores. The chores and work around the house they do because they are a part of the family. Also, just in case we couldn...

In November we had Enrichment for our Ward's Relief Society. It was an awesome holiday party. I had a great time visiting with some of the awesome sisters in our ward while I learned how to make a "Gingerbread Nativity". It was super fun and I loved making it! And the girls loved eating it!

Okay so I was horrible with taking Halloween pictures this year. Mostly because I spent every Halloween activity that we went to chasing Scarlett. So these are two of the very few pictures I have. Alexandra wanted to be a black cat. Scarlett was a peacock. And Riley was Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon. (And yes I feel absolutely horrible that I have no pictures of Riley....) Alexandra couldn't wear her mask at school, but when she had it on, it had this catwoman pleather look to it. And Scarlett is up in the first picture throwing a fit in the corner.

Scarlett is 18 months old today!! I can't believe how big she's gotten, and I can't believe how quickly time has flown by! We went to the doctors today and here are her 18 month stats: Weight - 28 lbs .4 oz (91st %) Height - 34.5" (99 th %) She is still a (very) little behind developmentally, but nothing that the doctor is concerned about at all. I love being able to spend all day with her. Most days she is a joy and makes me laugh. She has 13 teeth - all 8 front top and bottom, 4 molars, and 1 canine (although the other 3 canines are trying to come in too). She loves dolls, balls, balloons, chocolate, Tiger (our cat), and her sisters "Piggies" (Guinea pigs - a post for another time). Her favorite TV shows are Super Why, Magic School Bus, and The Cat in The Hat Knows A Lot About That. In fact if I'm watching Netflix Instant Watch on the Wii , she tries to ask for Super Why - although it sounds like "U (blah blah) Fry"? I love the fact th...