pictures & funny girls

This post is supposed to be about the girls' parent/teacher conferences at school, but then when I went looking for photos, I found a bunch from our "christmas photo shoot" (with our own personal, fabulous photographer Andrea Flow) and I wanted it to be about that too.  And so it shall (be).  :)

These girls are very, very sweet:

And taking pictures of them is always hard, but fun. 


It's hard because when I want them to all smile, they frown.  When I want them to be silly, they get mad.  When I tell them to look that way, they look this way.  When I tell them to act natural, they look posed and strained.


But it's funny because when you're able to capture them just being themselves, the results are always (in my opinion) winners:

Ah, good times!  Those are my favorite.

I couldn't exactly use this picture for our christmas cards, but I sure wanted to!  Don't know why I love it so.

Anyways, back to the girls & school. 


I expect certain things when I have appointments to meet with their teachers....I expect that they'll tell me they are good, they try, they are generally nice girls.  I even expect to hear about a few behavior issues here or there.


But I was so happy & proud at the conferences I had this week.  I couldn't stop smiling, and it made my whole day.

Arissa:

The facts: She led her own conference and showed me all her work and her report card.  Her grades are great but what really impressed me was her "plan" she had written out which identified her "problem" areas (such as they are) and how she plans to improve.  She sounded so self-assured and confident!

The funny:  When we were discussing a paper with her teacher which we all agreed could have had a more developed ending, she tried to call me out by saying "I had to finish it like that, because my mom was watching Oprah and yelling at me to go to bed!".  :)  Her teacher and I thought that was pretty funny.

Mallory:

The facts: She is the one I kind of expected I might hear about being too "chatty" in class, or god-forbid even bossy.  But her teacher only raved about her and how bright she is and that she strategically placed her next to someone she wouldn't be too chatty with, and in fact her seat-mate is a little less motivated than her so she keeps him on task.  She is helpful and respectful and well ahead of the standards for mid-year second grade.

The funny: The teacher was so impressed with a certain project that was given to the kids just for fun to supplement what they had learned in class, and how thorough Mallory was.  The reason that's funny is that when Mallory told me the project was "just for fun" and didn't even have to be turned in, I thought she was making it up and I was bound and determined to teach her good work habits and planning and I made her work on that thing bit by bit, even meeting with an actual police officer and writing a play about it!

Mariah:

The facts:  She is eager to learn, takes on extra responsibility, is so friendly and kind.  Her grades are perfect, she catches on quickly and likes to help those who are not as quick.  She loves to write and always goes above and beyond what's asked.

The funny:  Her teacher likes her new glasses.  wtf??  She doesn't HAVE glasses!  Apparently for the last two weeks though, she's been wearing a pair daily that I had gotten her from the Dollar Tree to play with.  I'm pretty sure they're reading glasses which means seeing beyond her desk must have been a challenge, but she stuck with it!  Silly girl.  Also, her teacher showed me this paper that Mariah wrote, which had me laughing out loud the entire time I read it:

My great-grandma is very special. She is ninety years old.  She is very beautiful.  She sounds rich, she gets money from the government.  She is careful with living creatures and will always help.  She is stronger than me.  She has many friends, and is curious about dead things.  She has two children.  Her daughter died but her son is still alive and helps her with her garden work.  She says she is ugly, she has wrinkles.  She also lives alone.  She is very special to my whole family.  She is about to die...I am not sure, but I think.  She likes having family over.  She likes to eat spaghetti.

Oh my goodness.  :) 


Oh and one more thing, which really amazed, delighted, and shocked me:


All three of them excel in math.  It comes easily to them.


How that's possible is beyond me, but I'm just thankful.