and just like that...we have a middle schooler

I knew the day would come sooner than I thought it should.

I knew it would be exciting yet sad at the same time.

I knew that, for him, it would only be exciting.

He has graduated from elementary school.

He is a middle schooler now.

Grandma and Grandpa came for the graduation ceremony.

And it won't be long before he will be looking down at me.

Someone please give me my baby boy back!

Love him.

He preferred no pictures.

No such luck.

The very last day of elementary school.

(A long time coming, too, since we didn't get out until June 6th!)

Fifth Grade Clap Out.

On the last day of school, right before dismissal, the 5th graders get to parade through our school as the other students, teachers and parents line the halls and clap them out one last time.

It's possible I shed a tear or two.

It's possible that lots of the girls were crying.

It's possible that our guy was only happy about the entire situation.

Don't let him fool you.

He had a great time with great teachers and great friends the past 6 years.

He will miss it.

But he is so ready for middle school.

Documented: August 2013

August.

One of the boys' most favorite and least favorite months all in one!

Most favorite because they get to go to the Cisne Reunion, which is like one of the best highlights of the summer.  I loved it as a child, too.

Of course, that was when it involved real amusement rides.

I remember watching all day out the window at the funeral home (for those of you who don't know, we lived above the funeral home my dad owned for the first 4 years of my life and then we spent lots of time there growing up even after we moved to our house).....anyway, I remember watching out the window because I had the perfect view of the carnival workers setting up the carousel.  

I'm sure I bugged my parents all day long to go ride it.

I still like going over during Reunion time - it's nostalgic for me, of course, but I really like seeing everyone again and catching up.

So I'm glad the boys like it too.

And the worst month, too, of course, because school begins again.

Don't get me wrong.  We are all always ready for some routine again after freer summer months.

But I think the boys would choose a different way to introduce routine back into our lives.

{whole spread}

{side a}

{side b}

4th Grade Camp

This kid was so excited to go to 4th Grade Camp a few weeks ago!  

And according to him, it was the best camp ever.  

He talked about it until he went to bed the night he got home,

and then started in again the next morning.

So much to tell us.

He was most excited about the archery sessions.

He got two bulls eyes in a row!

But he really liked every bit of it - even the food.

The best sloppy joe ever, apparently.

I'm glad he is outgoing and likes to be with his friends.

I'm sure this will be a forever memory for him.

back to school

Wow....I am realizing how far behind I am with updating the blog.

The boys started school on August 15th - about a month and a half ago!

Oh well.

The first day.

(I'm also realizing that I need a faster lens to get rid of the blur :) )

Second grade for this guy.

He is still this excited about his class!

Fourth grade for this guy.

Probably the last time he will let me come into his class on the 

first day.  I was really pushing it with this year.

At least he smiled for me.  Probably so that I would go away.

They are both really enjoying school and liking their teachers very much.

So thankful for such a great school!

wrapping up the school year

They've been out for a few weeks now.

The last few days and weeks were fun, but I'm so

glad we're on summer flex time now!

Elliott and some of his friends at the Zoo during their field trip.

Meet Aluminum Guy

One last project for the year.

He had to use at least 8 (I think) different shapes

to construct a creature.

I thought he was pretty cool!

The supplies began returning home.

I always put what we need in the homework cabinet,

and then the rest get put away for next year.

My absolute favorite part of the end of the year!

JOURNALS.

Each year I have been given this gift of a 

window into what is important to them in the form

of a written journal from September until May.

I LOVE what I find in there.

FIELD DAY

It was wacky olympics themed.

This was my station.

Japan's Chopstick Chicken Relay Race.

The kids had to pick up this rubber chicken

with chopsticks only.

Run with it to the frying pan.

Drop it in.

And the next person would go and get it.

Fun times, I tell you!

Autograph Party

Our PTO hosts an autograph party every year where the kids can get together with

other classes in their grade level and sign yearbooks or autograph papers.

I remember doing this in middle and high school, but not elementary school.

Good thing since I was always frantic about saying just the right thing in each person's book.

Didn't want to say the same thing as everyone else, wanted it to be fun or nice, and didn't want to say the same thing in each book.  

Whew!  Lots of pressure.

I will say that I have some very long paragraphs in my yearbooks, and I bet my classmates do too :)

The boys......pretty much just sign their name and they are done.  Hmmmm.

science fair

This was the first year Elliott did a science fair project.  He has asked a few other times and we've put it off, knowing it's a lot of work.  We felt like he could handle it this year, so he signed up and decided to explore which type of cup was the best at keeping ice from melting.

He did a great job figuring out the experiment with some encouragement from Brian, and he was a bit surprised at the findings (but not me, a big fan of the Tervis).  He thought that the ice would last the longest in the aluminum water bottle because the opening was much smaller than the other cups, but the Tervis Tumbler came out the winner.

It was a really great learning experience for him, especially since he had to do it all on his own.  He realized how much work it really is.  He made it home with a 3rd Place ribbon, and I haven't heard him say that he wants to do it again next year yet.  I'm sure he will.

spelling bee

So proud of Elliott today!  He came home a little before Christmas saying that he had won the spelling bee in his class, and today he competed in the school-wide spelling bee.

We had been practicing the word list that his teacher sent home for days (I thoroughly enjoyed this because I love all things about spelling/grammar, etc. - much to Brian's relief, I'm sure).  He was a little nervous for today, not knowing exactly what to expect and wanting to do well.  He handled it really well, took his time and asked for repetitions, sentences, etc.  And I was so impressed with his and the other kids' character in encouraging each other with silent thumbs up and whispered "good job"s throughout the competition - so great to see that selflessness.

He came in 3rd place today and was very happy with the accomplishment.  He was pretty proud when telling Ethan that his name was read over the loudspeaker at the end of the day along with the 1st and 2nd place winners, too!

So proud of you E!!!

bubble letters

This brought a smile to my face this afternoon as I went through Ethan's binder from school.  This is the first time I've seen him be creative with his lettering.  I remember Elliott wanted to write in bubble letters all.the.time. in first grade.  I remember his teacher mentioning to us that we really needed to encourage him to use bubble letters sparingly since it was causing him to slow down in getting his work done.  It must have been a fleeting phase since he didn't have the desire to bubble letter every single thing in 2nd grade, so I had kind of forgotten about it. 

So this brought back a lot of memories this afternoon, and also made me excited that Ethan was being creative on his own.  I doubt that he remembers Elliott's bubble letters phase, so he either came up with this on his own or saw it on a friend's paper.  I miss the days when they both wanted to sit with me and create things.  They still do every once in a while.  Sometimes when I'm in the office they even come up to me and ask if they can make something with the paper on my desk (gladly since I never use it to scrapbook anymore).  But they much prefer playing catch or soccer or riding bikes or playing a video game or Legos.  I guess they're just creative in different ways now - building Lego creations, writing books, creating an entire scenario with Imaginext.  I just miss the construction paper and paint days :(

first day of school

The first day of school.  The boys were excited to go yesterday, and even knew what they wanted to wear and everything.  I'm pretty sure that's not such a big deal at our house as it would be at a house of girls (I know cause I grew up in one), but I was pretty excited that they had an opinion about it and actually wanted to look nice.

Here they are the morning of.  I mustered up the energy to go with them on their first day.  I was worried that I wouldn't be able to and miss all of that.  I made it and crashed when I got home.  Ethan didn't want us to walk in with him at all and didn't say two words to us once we got into his classroom.  Elliott made sure we were both coming and even gave us hugs before we left.

There was chatter in the van all the way home that afternoon about money systems, new friends, new experiences.

"did you know that there are two people who have to carry the lunch tub all the way down to lunch?"

"and we have jobs that we get money for!"

"we get money for being good."

"blue is like really special.  But green is good too.  I got green today."

"we have to use the bathrooms all the way down by the cafeteria or down by the 2nd and 3rd grade cause we can't use the kindergarten ones anymore."

"we don't have any homework until Tuesday, but you have homework Mom"

"there's a lot of work in 3rd grade"

 and my favorite...

"I had to miss all of my recess because we had to practice the dumb car rider line!  Why couldn't they just make the people who didn't do it last year do it?  It was stupid."  (he really doesn't like to miss recess)

I have to say that I love our school.  The teachers are great.  The staff is great.  And I've met really great parents through volunteering up there.  It's still small enough to me that it really seems like a community.  And the 3rd grade last year got the highest math scores on the MAP test in the whole county!

Sometimes I get itchy feet and want to move.  Either out somewhere with mature trees and some space between houses or to Florida where it's warm and sunny.  We don't because of the market right now, but even if the market was good I would really have to think twice about leaving this school district.   One of the main reasons we are where we are is because we wanted this school district.  And we sacrifice some things for it, but every time I walk into that school I'm reminded of how much it's worth it.  I love that their emphasis is "respect, responsibility & caring".   I think they've all done a really great job of making sure that is the climate at that school.   They've been so supportive and awesome while we've been navigating the cancer journey, and I just could not ask for a better experience for our family.  Go ROCK STARS!!

the graduate

This boy graduated from Kindergarten today!  I loved his class.  He has met so many new friends, and they are like a little family with the most fun and caring teacher!  Elliott had the same teacher, and I knew that she was the one for Ethan.  I prayed and prayed that Ethan would be in her class, too.  I was so excited when the letter came saying that she was his teacher, and I have not been disappointed!  I am kind of sad that we don't have any more kids at home to send to Kindergarten with her :)  She is an awesome teacher, and she has been a good friend to me this past year and especially the past few weeks!

These people drove over from Illinois to see him graduate!  He was so excited that Grandma and Grandpa were going to be able to be there, and gave them his excited-embarrassed-happy-I'm-going-to-pretend-I-don't-care face when he walked into the gym and saw them.  And Elliott was most excited to get out of class for a few minutes to celebrate with Ethan (and eat some cookies, of course).  He was not so excited about going back to class, realizing he had forgotten his lunch, not getting to leave school early, and not getting to eat lunch with Grandma and Grandpa - tough day for him I guess.



This girl was so happy to be there, yet sad at the same time.  I know God has awesome things ahead for Ethan, but I am always sad when a school year ends.  He has made such good friends, and I have become good friends with some of the parents in his class.  I know that we will keep our friends even if they're not in the same class next year, but I just wish we could keep all of them together in their little "family".   We love you all Mrs. Hale's class!!!



P.S.  Brian did get to go to graduation.  He just didn't make any of the pictures - so sad, huh?  He worked the video all morning and then had to go to work before we snapped any pictures together.  Sorry B!

stage debut

Elliott was so excited to have a speaking part in the very first holiday program at his school last night!!  He did an awesome job, too.  Nervous butterflies were definitely present, but he was so thrilled that he was going to get to have a "solo" part in the night that he could not stop smiling - so cute.

He chose his own outfit and let us know that he looked "cool".

And Grandma even made it over to watch him, too!  We love that you were there with us!

So proud of you Elliott!

thankful #3

{teachers}

thankful for the blessing of incredible teachers for our boys.  Ethan has had the same teacher throughout pre-k with the exception of the year we were in Georgia, and we love her!  She is very creative and loving and Ethan learns so much from her.

I have never seen a more teacher more passionate about teaching than Elliott's teacher.  The picture above is just one example of how she is so great about making home/school connections and giving the kids tons of strategies to help them do their best.  She is loving and understanding and just an awesome teacher.

{teaching}

I can honestly say that the past few months have been very hectic and a learning process as I adjusted to going back to work while still balancing everything at home also.  It makes it all worth it when I get a drawing made just for me.  There is a little boy in the 3 year old class who melts my heart each time I see him.  A couple of days ago I was just passing through the class and he said "Ms. Jonica, I'm thankful for you" in his little 3 year old voice.  Then today he gave me this picture of a tractor for me to take home....that he had made just for me. 

Charmed

This is a very proud 1st grader showing off his charm that he received last week by earning 5 "Screeches".  The kids at his school get a "screech" from their teachers when they are seen displaying great character traits and then get a charm every time they earn 5 screeches.  They are also congratulated by the principal during morning announcements.  Elliott was so incredibly excited about this that on the morning that he was going to receive the charm he was up and dressed by 7:30 asking if he could go to school yet!

We are so so proud of you Elliott!!!!!!!