Happy Easter 2013

Happy Easter!  The kids were up early and ready to see what Easter Bunny surprises were waiting for them.  

 Searching for all the hidden eggs.

Busy putting together new Legos from Grandpa and Nana.

 Dressed in our Easter finest and ready for church.

 Our parish's beautiful new San Damiano cross arrived on Good Friday. 

I had the privilege of seeing the original San Damiano cross in Assisi last month. :)

 The Easter celebration continued at the Klassen's brunch.  

Cheers to our wonderful hostess, Judi!

 Egg hunt time!

 A girl on a mission!

 Here is one of Emma's eggs with a blue sticker.

 Cheering on the egg hunters. 

One of these years we're going to have a sunny warm Italian Easter!

 Orion and Emma :)

 Still searching for those red sticker eggs.

 A golden egg!

E-G-G-S

As soon as we got home from the Eggstravaganza on Saturday, Emma dumped out all her candy onto the dining room table.  She sorted and tallied all her loot. :)

After lunch, it was time to dye eggs! 

Egg Hunt Flashback

While we were eating lunch today, I pulled out some photo albums of Easter Egg Hunts past.  I loved that Emma's outfit today was so similar to the one she wore 6 years ago in Yokosuka! 

I had her go put on this hat and snapped this picture.  Still as cute as ever!

Eggstravaganza

We celebrated Easter in La Maddalena last year, so this was our first Eggstravaganza.  Despite the chilly weather, we had an awesome time!

Before the candy hunting began, we cheered on the Naples High School softball team.  Here are Emma and Camden right up next to the action.

Our friend, Deacon Mike, is here celebrating the Easter Triduum with our parish. He was cheering on the Wildcats this morning, too!

 Miss Teeth

 My sloth babies :)

 A great picture with the Easter Bunny

 Train ride

 Playing one of the games hosted by the USO (and our favorite Nicki Price). Camden was a pro at this game!

 Camden was off and running in his candy hunt!

Look at all that candy!

 Emma's turn!

I was not strategically placed very well for Emma's hunt, hence the super zoomed pictures.

Pocahontas at the Living Museum

Emma has been working very hard on a research project.  On Wednesday and Friday she joined the entire second grade to put on a Living Museum. Pocahontas did a wonderful job writing her speech and creating her poster.  She was right by the front office-a perfect spot for visitors to stop by and see her.

 Listening to her speech...

 Emma and her classmate, Emily, shared the role of Pocahontas.  

Independent, Creative, Problem-Solvers

Naples Elementary School will foster a safe and nurturing environment that provides rigorous learning opportunities to empower all students to become independent, creative, problem-solvers who will demonstrate exemplary character in a global society

This is what we hear and see everyday. It is the essences of what I teach and what Emma and Camden learn at our wonderful school. 

There are 3 displays of pictures throughout the school (created by our favorite first grade teacher, Lara Fletcher). Each word of the vision statement is held by a student. Last spring, Emma was one of the model students and this winter, Camden was chosen. I love walking down the hallways and seeing these smiles!