Tessa's been just as busy as Aubrey with all of the school activities this first semester. Although, she's had a harder time because her GT teacher, Mr. Belknap, moved to an administrative position after only a couple of months of school, so by Thanksgiving break, she's been without a permanent teacher. Mr. Belknap is a student favorite and it wasn't any different for Tessa. She loved him as her teacher. She ended up having him sign almost every school supply she owned so she'd have his autograph everywhere. The entire class, including Tessa, was so sad to see him go. She cried for like an entire week. He really was a favorite and will be missed. The first activity we took pictures at for Tessa was a school open house that was held a couple weeks after school started. Tessa showed us her art picture that was on display of a giraffe she drew.
I love Tessa and how easy going and bubbly she is. She is definitely different than Aubrey when it comes to dressing up though. For picture day, Tessa specifically picked out this outfit and did not care that it wasn't fancy or dressy. When she got in the car with the Kasallis's to go to school, they even asked if she remembered that it was picture day and she said "yep, this is what I want to wear." I loved it. It's totally Tessa!
For Tessa's Reflections entry, she took this picture of Buddy, our turtle, and titled it "Buddy, the Monster." I love how it turned out and how close and clear she was able to get the picture.
At the Reflections award ceremony, Tessa also got a certificate and an Honorable Mention ribbon. She got her picture taken with the principal, Mrs. Lugo and with the vice principal, Mrs. Clay as well. Tessa was very upset that her entry didn't move on to the next level. She was really proud of her work.
In November, with the Presidential election taking place, the district decided to have a voting opportunity for the students as well. I went to the school to help with it and was able to take a picture with Tessa after she voted. It was fun to teach the students about our right to vote and give them that opportunity during a huge national event.
I was only able to grab one picture with Tessa when Taryn and I went to have lunch with her for the Thanksgiving feast. Here's Tessa with one of her classmates and friends, Juliet. Juliet and Tessa met at school, but found out later that they go to the same church, so that was fun. Juliet is in a different ward than us, but they've had plenty of play dates and really like hanging out together.
This is not school related, but one night Tessa wanted me to twist her hair, so she could have curly hair the next morning. After getting all of her hair up, we decided she looked like a reindeer, which matched her pajamas perfectly. We had to take a picture. Unfortunately, with her shorter hair, all the twisted hair ended up making her hair a lot curly and crazier than we were expecting the next morning. We had a hard time getting her happy with a hairdo to send her off to school. We probably won't be doing this again; but for now, at least we have a picture of the one time we tried it.
At Lundy, the 4th graders get to participate in the Kids Excel program. They learn some dance steps while talking about motivation and self-awareness. They put on a performance right before school lets out for the Christmas break. It was fun for me and Taryn to go watch her.
Before they started their performance for us, I grabbed a couple pictures. Here she is with two of her friends, Adrianna and Bianca. And then I took a picture of their starting positions while we waited for all the parents to get settled. Sometimes it's nice being the shortest because that means you get to be in the front row for things like this. They did a great job and had a lot of fun.
I was very upset with myself for not taking any pictures on Tessa's last day of the semester when I was in her classroom the entire time running their party. I totally spaced taking a picture, even after I ran downstairs to get pictures of Aubrey's class. They did multiple crafts, ate pizza, and played games like charades and Christmas bingo. It was fun spending time with Tessa and her classmates, since it's usually just Aubrey's class that I get to see. Tessa is still a straight A student and loves her classes, even though she's still waiting for a new GT teacher. Her other two teachers, Mrs. Adkins and Mrs. Hingst, are also her favorites. Tessa is very social and loves playing with her friends. She was just saying the other day that she gets a little frustrated sometimes because she says her friends are always fighting over her and wanting her to play with them. I just told her to be nice to everyone which she says she is. I told her that's good and that's probably why they fight over her. She is the nicest person and is always willing to help someone else and make everyone else happy before herself. We love Tessa and she's doing a great job in the 4th grade!
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