Kaelia's 4th Birthday Party

Today we celebrated Kaelia's 4th birthday with a small party at Jeepers.  This is one of the girls favorite places to go to during our trip to Michigan each summer, so it was fitting to have Kaelia's party here.  The theme was, of course, Disney's Frozen.

Kaelia started the party off with some great rides with her sister and cousin, Jacob.  The snake ride was definitely all of their favorite because it is the biggest roller coaster at Jeepers.  Other highlights were the wind tunnel and a twirly ride that all three of them rode together.  They had mixed feelings about those two experiences; first they squished each other on the twirly ride, and then the girls' hair blew in to Jacob's face during the wind tunnel.

The cake was a big hit amongst the girls with the two sisters from Frozen on top.  Afterwards, it was time to open presents.  Kaelia actually shared this part with Taelyn because the extended family brought gifts for her birthday that we celebrated in South Africa.  Both girls got some very nice gifts, and they had a great time.  Thanks to everyone for sharing in her special day!

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Kaelia - 4 Years Old

At four years old, Kaelia is now 37 lbs. and 40 inches tall.  She is full of personality, showing both a very sweet and loving side as well as a sensitive and angry side (particularly when in time out!).  There is also a super silly side to Kaelia's personality.  She loves to make us all laugh, and Taelyn finds her hysterical!  Most often, though, she is full of smiles, hugs, kisses, and snuggles.

Kaelia loves to play and use her imagination.  Some of her favorite things include playing with dollies (Disney Princess Barbie dolls), coloring and painting, dressing up, and reading books.  During a typical day, Kaelia will change her outfit at least four times!  She also loves going to playgrounds and could swing on the swings all day if someone was willing to push her for that long.  She does know how to pedal her own feet, but she prefers going higher when someone pushes her.

The latest and greatest topic of play for Kaelia is currently Disney's Frozen.  She knows all of the songs by heart, and her and Taelyn do a great job re-enacting some of the scenes - especially the opening scene where the sisters are kids.  Kaelia also has a favorite number: 12.  We are not really sure why this came about, but she brings up this number all the time.  If we tell her she has five minutes left of bath time, for example, she might respond with, "Um, how about 12?"

Kaelia is also understanding peer relationships more and more.  She likes to play off by herself, but also loves playing with others.  She is very close with the little girls in her class, although she sometimes misinterprets social situations and thinks that people are being mean when they are just making different choices than she would make.

At school, Kaelia has done very well developmentally.  She uses scissors, colors in the lines, can count and identify all her letters, and is even starting to work on her phonetic awareness.  Some of this is probably because her big sister is doing the same things in Pre-K, and Kaelia catches on very quickly to whatever her sister does.

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The Last Hurrah

As we prepare to leave South Africa in a couple of weeks, he are making sure we fit in one last time at some of the kids' favorite places.  This has included one last hair cut at Kiddo Cuts - the girls' favorite salon where they watch movies, color, get suckers and balloons, and, of course, get their hair cut. Here are their salon do's.

We have also gone to the Bird Gardens again, just a half a mile up the road.  In addition to seeing lots of birds and watching a great bird show, the girls also got their faces painted.

Next, we went to Old MacDonald's Farm where we saw some farm animals and played on the playground.

Then we visited the "big slide" where the girls took one last trip in intertubes down a huge incline.  This was the first time Kaelia would go on the tubes by herself because she has been a little scared in the past.  But this time, not only did she conquer that fear, but she was the first to put her hands up in the air on her way down the slide, and then convinced Taelyn to do it too.

Finally, over our last weekend in South Africa, we went out to various places in a Mini Cooper limo!  First, we took the girls around the block for a spin, and then the adults took over.  We spent the night with four other good friends - the people that we have been closest with during the last four years.  Of the six of us, four  moved to South Africa together, and five are now moving on to other countries.

Kaelia's Going Away Party

Yesterday was Kaelia's last day of school at her little South Africa preschool, so I arranged with her teacher to have a small going away party.  She shared the day with one of her best friends in the class, Luna, who also celebrated her last day.  The biggest highlight for Kaelia was baking cupcakes and decorating them in preparation for the party.  Kaelia was fantastic with the sprinkles, and had her own little system for getting the job done efficiently!

During the party,  Kaelia distributed her cupcakes to each kid in her class while Luna gave them cake that she brought in.  Then the class sang some songs and celebrated the two girls.  Kaelia had a wonderful time and was so excited to tell me all about it when I got home.  Here are some pictures from the day.

Cake & Cupcakes in Kaelia's Class

Kaelia with Teacher Philippa

Kaelia's Two Best Friends: Azile & Luna






We also received Kaelia's report card on Friday, and she did very well.  She is right on track with the grade-level skills even though she is at least a year younger than the other kids on the class.  We are so proud of our little Kaelia and so excited to have her come to our school with us next year in Qatar!

Graduation Day

Today was Taelyn's graduation from Pre-K, and the school put together a very nice ceremony.  The gym was decorated for the seniors' graduation from the weekend, so the Pre-Kers took advantage of the set-up for their graduation too.  The principal and school director even wore the robes from the senior graduation!  During the ceremony, the kids wore graduation caps, and in place of gowns, they wore their Daddy's large, white, button-down shirts with the sleeves rolled up.  It was adorable!

Taelyn was so excited for the day and even more excited to see Justin and I there.  Afterwards, there was a nice little party within her Pre-K classroom where we watched them perform songs.  Then each student announced what they wanted to be when they grew up.  Taelyn said she wanted to be a museum curator because she likes old things and wants to tell others all about them.

At the end of the party, the class said a final farewell to Taelyn because she is the only student in her class that is leaving this year.  She gave each of them a chocolate lollipop and said goodbye.  It was very sweet.

Taelyn truly has had the most amazing school year in Pre-K.  She had the best teacher we could ever hope for, and she loved absolutely everything about school.  She will certainly miss AISJ next year, but she is excited for new beginnings in Qatar.  We are so proud of all of her accomplishments this year and how much she has grown as a learner.  Here is a slideshow of Taelyn's entire school year.

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