That's funny

Noah: Mom, what's your name?
Me: Mom.
Noah: No, *cute smile* it's Cwista!
Me: Oh. Okay. Christa.
Noah: How do you spell it?
Me: I-T
Noah: What's this [pointing to his nose]
Me: Nose
Noah: What's the opposite of down?
Me: Up.
Noah: HAHA, Mommy, Cwista, know up!!!!
(noah must have older siblings :).  He'll get it)

Kelly is NINE??? WHAT??

My Kelly is NINE today!!!  I think I'll just stay in denial, because it really just doesn't seem right :).  She's getting SO OLD!  But really, she's growing up to be such a sweetheart!  I love to think about Kelly and all that she has accomplished in her life and all that she has become.  She's a neat little girl.  She's such a good friend to everyone around her.  She is one of the biggest helpers I know, and really knows how to help and does a great job (which is hard to come by :) ).  She's very dependable.  She's a hard worker.
Kelly has a deep love for school, following rules, organization, and the good feeling she gets when she completes something she's worked hard on.  She loves the classroom setting.  She loves being smart :).  She's absolutely loved Mrs. Ashliman this year and all the fun parties she has and her fun way of teaching.  Kelly is an amazing artist.  She draws some of the funniest creatures, and some of the most beautiful settings.  Very versatile.  She surprised us all with her amazing time on the 50 yd dash!  She does her best all the time and always wants to be ahead.

I'm excited to see what Kelly does this next year, and what new adventures she takes on.  Hopefully she will still like me when she turns 10 :).  I feel like we are good friends and that we share a special bond.  I love her hugs and her sweet notes.  She's always there with a sweet thought, or love when I need it.  She's very compassionate.

THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!! WAHOO!!!

Our last day of school was a pretty fun one!  At 10:15 I was able to go to Luke's Kindergarten (non)Graduation.  (they don't do a graduation anymore, but I think this is just to replace it)  Mrs. Savage let them color with chalk all morning and then they were coloring their own little frisbees when I got there.  She did some talking about how much fun she's had this year with our kindergartner, and tried not to cry :).  Then they recited a little poem for us, SO CUTE!  Wish I'd had my video camera out.

Then she gave us all his books and work and little gift, and we were done!  That was it!!  My little kindergartner is no longer!  It's so strange to think that Luke is going to be in first grade next year.  Even though I am SO looking forward to not having a half-day-er next year, it still weirds me out to think he's old enough to go all day!

We've really loved Mrs. Savage.  This was our second year in a row with her, and I have just really grown to appreciate her teaching style and her love for her job.  She really knows what she's doing.  I've loved getting to know her and I've loved knowing that my kids are in good hands when they are in her class.  She really loved Luke this year.  She's always had nothing but good things to say about him and that's been really fun for me :).  She was so impressed with his reading at his end of the year assessment and that was fun for him to hear I think ;).  

We're going to miss Mrs. Savage, but I guess it's time to move on!!  

First Grade- Here comes LUKE!!!!

We had to get a picture of Luke and his soul mate Carter Summers.  They were total buds all year.  They have their differences, but for the most part, they're pretty much the same :).  I'm glad Luke has had someone to play with and be friends with all year!  I know he cares a lot about Carter.

So after we picked up Luke and Carter, we went to get Noah and Erika at Grandma's and we all went to Arctic Circle to celebrate the new first graders!  

I ran a few errands, took Grandma home and then we headed on back up to the school to get pictures of the big kids!

When we got there, Kelly's class was on the steps singing!  SO FUN!  Mrs. Ashliman knows how to distract :).  So many of these kids were crying about having to leave her.  She's really been amazing.  Kelly said several times that the reason she was sad about school being out is because she wouldn't be able to see Mrs. Ashliman anymore.  Makes me cry just thinking about it.  I'm going to miss her too, she's so happy and cheerful and there's just never a dull moment with her! Kelly told her she was like family to her.  How sweet is that!!  Breaks my heart for Kelly.  

We waited a few minutes while the other grades came out, and while Noah and Erika took turns screaming.  I really hope this is just a phase we are going through and that they don't make it a habit.  It was just Erika the last few days, but with Noah joining in.... it's really more than I want to deal with.  I hope they're not breaking me in for what's to come ;)  (wormie, be a good baby!)

Charity came out with a big smile!  I was so happy to see that!  I know she's had a good year, but I think there were just enough downs, that the end of the year is not as devastating as it was last year.  I was happy for her!  Here she is with a lot of the girls in her class she's grown to love this year.  Beata, Annie, Charity, Leah, Susie, and Saffron.

Here's Bradley with his good friend Bennett.

Bradley was in a very somber mood when he came out.  Totally surprised me.  He wasn't his cheerful self and when I asked him, he said he was going to miss Mrs. Trease.  What a sweetheart!  It's been a fun year for him too.  Mrs. Trease has been a great teacher.  And I know she's been going through a lot in her personal life, but I was just really impressed with the fact that she was able to keep it all out of the classroom and carry on like things were fine at home.  She's been like a friend to me, every time I would go in to help with reading.  It's been fun getting to know her.  

Mrs. Ashliman will go down in the books as being the best teacher ever I think.  She really was a good one.  Kelly loves her so much!

It's been an interesting year with Charity's 4th grade class, but Mrs. Davis was the one who made it bearable for Charity.  She's been an amazing teacher!  She absolutely knows what she's doing.  She has such GREAT organization!  I LOVED that I always knew what was going on in the class, and I never felt in the dark at all.  She is very on top of things.  I think Charity learned a lot from her teaching style and was able to improve in so many areas this year.  It's been fun to watch her learn and struggle and grow!  She's a good girl, and I think she will miss Mrs. Davis.  

Kelly with some of her friends.  Lucy, Ruby, and my Kelz.

Bradley and Sam

Bradley and Aiden became close firends right away this year!  I'm sure they'll spend lots of time together this summer!

One last shot of my big kids at their school!!  It's been a great year!  Here's to a great Summer too!!

When we left the school we went up to Grandpa's to check out the kitten he found in his window well.  He is now a guest in our home and hopefully not one that we get TOO attached to.  The place I want to take him to is not open on Saturdays, so we will have him til Monday I guess.  He's pretty cute, gray with white accents :).  

After that we rushed Charity off to her swim party at Beata's house, and then made our way to Build-A-Bear for Kelly's birthday!

She picked out a really cute Bunny and a little pink robe and bunny slippers.  It's adorable.

Then we hurried back to pick up Charity, and we all went to see Avengers!!!  It scored great reviews with pretty much everyone.  There are enough slow parts though, that Erika was extremely distracted about halfway through.  And aside from having a huge, I mean HUGE, MESS in her panties, and my decision to just trash them, she did really well :).  Everyone else seemed to love it though!  I loved hearing everyone's comments at the end.  I think Hulk was the favorite :).  Who doesn't love Hulk?

So that was that!  Pizza for dinner and off to bed!  It was a fun day!  Hopefully we can keep the momentum going and have a fun Summer this year.  I really want to do a lot with the kids, especially knowing I'm going to be tied down to a sweet little baby when the Summer ends.  

Goodbye 2011-12 school year!!!!!  

Journaling

- Tuesday was Charity's field trip to Antelope Island.  I will have to have her tell more about that and upload the pictures she took on her camera.  We had a good time.
Nate had a pretty overwhelming time of it while I was out partying with Charity.  Homeowner stopped by, massive leaking in the laundry room that required the fix it guy all day.  Mowing the lawn, and a whole bunch of extra kids over!  We went out for a much needed date to see Avengers that night after we got the kids in bed. He's an amazing man.  Incredible Dad.  I can't believe how much he did that day and how much he put up with!  I'm so grateful he was ready and willing to take care of it all.  It meant so much to me.  We absolutely LOVED the movie and we will definitely be taking the kids to see that one!  Especially Noah.  He will LOVE IT!!

- Wednesday was Field day!  Wahoo!  I love field day!  I worked at the 50 yard dash station, so that was a lot of fun!  It was fun to see how fast some of the kids can run!  Kelly actually finished with the best girl time in the 3rd grade!  Go Kelly!  Even with her short little legs :).  Erika sure hated field day this year though.  Cried through the whole thing about wanting to go home and then when it was time to go, she kicked and screamed and cried all the way to the car (and on the way home, and when we got in the house, and for another 20 minutes after that...), drove me nuts.  I hate it when she's like that!  Luke and Noah did good though for the most part.  I'm glad Nate ended up keeping them at home for the first half of it though until heading off to work, because none of them would have lasted too much longer.

- Thursday night Grandpa invited us out to Chuck E. Cheese.  He had some kind of coupon that triggered his interest and so he spoiled.  The kids had a lot of fun.  They all had so many coupons, it was fun to watch them run around and blow them all.  Erika dragged Charity around for the first half and then had Kelly take her around the second.  She liked the picture taking one :).  Noah had Bradley to show him around.  I saw very little of them except when Noah was passing off his ee-oh to us.  Luke went around trying to find the machines that were giving out the most tickets.  This is how he spends most of his time in these places.  Funny kid.  Bradley had a lot of fun showing Noah around and I did see him spending a considerable amount of time at the hoop shooting one :).  Cute boy.  Kelly was an animal, she got around to everything.  Even up to the stage to shake her bootie for the whole room to see.  She's so funny.  Charity seemed to be racking in the tickets the whole time.  I'm sure they all benefitted from her good luck.  They all put their tickets together in the end and were able to get a few little trinkets.  It amazes me how little you can walk out with from those places!  Although I do have to say, the pizza/food was a lot better than I had anticipated.  The last time we went to Chuck E. Cheese was in Alaska I think.  And the pizza there was awful.  I really think they were heating up frozen pizzas in a microwave and calling it good, there.  It was nasty.  So that was a relief.  Grandpa Hatch seemed to enjoy watching everyone play and it was fun for Nate and I to sit and visit with him!  That doesn't happen everyday.  Usually the kids are so demanding of his attention, we don't get to talk much.  So that was an added bonus for the night.

Proud Momma

Thursday was the big Awards Assembly at the school.  Mrs. Savage had emailed me a few days before to let me know that Luke was winning a very special "Life Skills" award and so I made sure to be there.  Here's a copy of her email to tell me about it:

Dear Parents,
I wanted to let you know that I have selected your kindergarten student for the Life Skills Award for this year from the kindergarten class.  There is one boy and one girl student selected from each class in the school. I personally consider this award to be very important because it was based on the positive social and friendship skills demonstrated by the student during the year.

While it is not required, I wanted parents to know that these awards will be given on Thursday, May 31 at an assembly at the school.  The student is not aware of the award at this time. I have found in the past that sometimes parents like to know so that they can attend the assembly. Usually, parents in general don't attend, but it might be something you choose to do.  It runs from about 9:00-10:00.  I am not sure of the exact time of the presentation of this specific award.
Thanks!
Mrs. Savage

I was SO PROUD of my Lukey!!  I have to admit I worried about him a little, going to school this year.  But he sure proved that I had nothing to worry about!  He's excelled at everything, and improved SO much.  Then to think that all this time he was even showing the skills necessary to win such an award.... that just was the cherry on top :).  I'm really glad he is a good friend, and that he is able to be rewarded for it also.  He's a good boy.

While I was at the assembly I was able to witness Kelly getting her certificate for being the best girl in her grade at the 50 yard dash, and then I also got to see Charity get her recognition for the decathlon.  

 Fun stuff for this proud Momma!  I really was looking forward to seeing the slide show too, but Erika wouldn't have it.  We had another one of her screaming episodes, all the way out of the school and all the way home.  Again.  I was FREAKING OUT!!!  Seriously, if anyone saw me put her in the car, they may have wanted to take down my plates.  I was TICKED!!!  You can only do so much to calm a screaming child though, and none of it was working.  So she continued.  We had a very long talk when we got home (and I of course had a little break down) and hopefully something clicked with her.  If she does that again, she's done.  I'm selling her to gypsies.  I do NOT put up with that stuff very well!!  Makes me ANGRY!  So a little to counter how good I was feeling about my older kids I guess :).  Don't want to get too cocky I guess :).