bala house montessori

Summer is almost here! The girls are wrapping up their school year activities with end of the year celebrations.

Lauren took her last kindergarten field trip to the Japanese House in Fairmount. Each month the kindergarteners took a different trip and this one was sort of the culmination. They learned all about Japan for about two weeks and then experienced it for themselves at the House.

Sophie had an art show of the different works that she did at the Narberth Handwork Studio. She took a fiber arts course where she sewed some pillows and a sewing machine class where she made a skirt. She loved that one so much she’ll be heading to a fashion camp this summer.

And Sophie also had her first Girl Scouts camping trip. Her troop went to a camp ground about an hour from our house where they earned badges hiking, learning how to use a compass, cooking dinner, and learning about nature. Dave was a chaperone… and Lauren and I slept wonderfully in our beds at home 😉

Sophie also did a program called Girls on the Run this spring, where, for two days each week for an hour and a half each day, she learned to run as well as did a lot of girl empowerment activities. The culmination was a 5K in May. She needed to have a running buddy with her so that was me. It was a hot day and she was tired, but we did it in 48 minutes. She was really proud of herself when it was done, and so were we. We can also definitely say she is not the runner in this family – at least not at the moment.

A few days later I ran in the Philly Broad Street Run, which is a 10 mile race. This was the 6th time I’ve done it and I got a personal best time, with a time of 1:22:55! It rained the whole race, but wasn’t that cold, so not so bad.

And finally Dave and I got dressed up for a black tie fundraiser for Temple University Trauma Center. We were invited as guests of the Gift of Life Family House, a board that I sit on.

Still up – Lauren’s spring ballet recital and Sophie’s spring choir concert – which are of course are at the exact same time in just a few weeks. We’re going to have to draw straws to decide who goes to which.

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Every year Lauren’s school, Bala House Montessori, has an event called the International Dinner. It’s a pot luck where families are asked to bring a dish that represents their cultural heritage and then the kids give a singing performance where they sing about world peace and loving each other. It’s very cute.

The kindergartners are the “hosts” and sit at the table to check people in and ask for donations. Afterward the kids use the donated money to purchase animals for villages in need through Heifer International.

  • Lauren and her friends collecting donations at the door

Lauren on stage with the other kindergarteners singing their songs. She decided to dress in her unicorn outfit, because as we all know, the Sharp’s are actually descendants of the unicorn.

Unrelated to the International Dinner, but still worth adding so that we can look back at this post some day and remember, Lauren has moved onto a new favorite ensemble, seen here. Over the last year she has decided that she has one outfit or one piece of clothing that she loves, and wants to wear nothing else. She wears it until it’s full of holes and need to official retire into the trashcan. Right now this is the outfit, complete with the boots. It’s magical and amazing, just like Lauren.

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The girls have both settled into their new schools pretty well at this point. They seem to both have made some good friends and like their teachers. 

Two weeks ago Lauren’s school hosted Grandparents Day, and PopPop came in for a visit. She showed him around the classroom, introduced him to her friends, and they both enjoyed snack.

Lauren and PopPop
Last week all of the first graders at Sophie’s school put on a concert called Mighty Minds. It was pretty cute. Here’s a quick clip of one of the songs. Sophie is on the end, second from the top.

Here’s Sophie’s first grade picture. Looking a bit sly, I think. Unfortunately Lauren missed her picture day when she was in the hospital with a broken arm, and they don’t do any makeups(!). So sadly, we won’t have a school picture of her this year. 
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