My first grader's last day of school

Cambrie has been excitedly counting down to the last day of school.  She couldn't wait for summer vacation to start, but I had a feeling she might be a little less excited once she realized she wouldn't be seeing her friends daily.  Our day began with a farewell breakfast that the parents were invited to.  It was a great opportunity for me to come into the classroom and get a few pictures with her best friends from her class.  

Brynlee and Cambrie

Kate, Becca, Marina, and Cambrie

After lunch the kids acted out their reader's theater scripts that they have been practicing.  Cambrie's group performed The Little Red Hen and Cambrie was the narrator.  It was really cute to see all the kids performing.  Some had their parts memorized and some read from the scripts; they have all become so good at reading.  

McKenzie and Kelton and I left soon after that so the kids could finish enjoying their last day of school festivities.  

Writing farewell love notes to Ms. Fleming

Later that afternoon as we were waiting by the doors for the bell to ring, I couldn't help but feel a little nostalgic that this was my last time picking up a first grader.  The bells rang and Cambrie came out with tears in her eyes.  "I'm going to miss my friends!" she sobbed as she ran to give me a hug.  Ms. Fleming stepped out and wasn't much better.  Everyone was sad to see their friends go.  Ms. Fleming has been such an amazing teacher for Cambrie.  It's a little scary turning your six-year-old over to someone for seven hours a day, but after that first day when I saw Cambrie walk out of school holding Ms. Fleming's hand I knew she would be okay.  Luckily for us Ms. Fleming knows about Cambrie's lemonade stand so we should be seeing her a couple times over the summer.  

I flipped through the Shutterfly pictures of Cambrie's school year and was shocked to see how much she's grown!  Here are a couple highlights.

At the farm field trip

The kids each got a candy cane grown by their elf during Christmas

Pajama Day

The Valentine's Day party

Dr. Seuss read-a-thon

Gold from their class leprechaun

Music and sound activity

1st Grade math night

100th Day of School party

All of the summer birthdays were celebrated together last week with an ice-cream sundae party.

Field day, this is noodle tag

And this is tug-o-war (Cambrie is at the end...pulling backwards....or is that forwards?)

Mother Goose Preschool Grad

McKenzie, Addi, Izzy, Madison, and Merrick are all Mother Goose preschool grads.  

I have really liked Mother Goose because it is a co-op preschool set-up and I get to teach her class.  I love being involved in my kids' education; it is so exciting watching them learn!  I am disappointed that I won't have that opportunity next year.  This fabulous group of kids is splitting up to attend other local preschools next year, which means I have to send McKenzie off to preschool without me.  I am really having a hard time with that actually.  So instead I am trying to remember all the cute things she accomplished at preschool this year.  

She knows the names of all the letters in the alphabet and knows the sounds of most of them.  With help she is learning to sound out word families like cat, hat, sat.  She can count to 100!  She can write her name with no help at all, and when she practices her other letters she is spot on.  She is so proud of her coloring jobs and loves that she is learning to stay within the lines.  Her favorite part of preschool was making the projects each day.  She knows what order the days of the week go in.  She is a great listener and sits patiently on her mat during circle time.  She raises her hand to answer questions and nearly jumps to her feet when she knows the answer.  I am so proud of what she has learned this year!

She looks way too grown up in that cap and gown!

What do you do in the summertime?

There still may be three more days of school, but that isn't stopping my kids from already enjoying the summer weather.  So my question to you is, what do YOU do in the summertime?  My kids get out the sidewalk chalk and draw flower gardens.  

Practice their hula hooping.  

Crawl all over the sidewalk chalk getting as dusty as possible, and THEN decide they want to stand up instead. 

 

Eat forgotten sidewalk chalk pieces.  

Roller skate.

Go on lots of walks.  

And break out the slip 'n slide for the first time.  We are off to a great start!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day ranks up there as one of my favorite holidays.  Growing up I didn't really appreciate the holiday.  I still loved my mom, sure, but I thought we should celebrate Kid's Day instead.  Now as a mother who gets run ragged by the end of each day, I get it.   My girls have always been super sweet to me on Mother's Day.  I  get some cute handmade cards each year...actually, I  get a LOT of them.  They appear on my nightstand.  They appear on the kitchen counter.  They appear on the fridge.  They appear on my bathroom counter.  They appear taped to my bedroom windows.  I love those sweet little surprises.  Jeremy also treats me like a queen.  I don't have to step foot in the kitchen all day except to eat whatever fabulous meal he has prepared (this year it was yogurt and mango filled crepes, and an island pork tenderloin salad.)  I also get to lay in bed as much as I want during the day alternating between napping and reading a good book.  The gifts this year were really thoughtful.  Jeremy gave me a day at the spa.  It was advertised as Heaven on Earth, and I have to say that it came really, really close.  I had a massage, a facial, a bodywrap, and a float in a float tank.  I couldn't believe how relaxed I was when I came home.  I was truly spoiled.  But I also received a bonus gift this year too.  Instead of flowers in a vase, I received a bunch of flowers to plant in the front garden.  I have been wanting colorful blooms out there since we moved in and I am really excited to see how they grow.  They look beautiful.  I am grateful that I have a family full of beautiful and thoughtful kids, and a husband who loves me no matter what.  Thanks for a wonderful day everyone!

Super Stars

This year Cambrie's soccer team named themselves the Super Stars.  I have to say that it rolls off the tongue much more easily than the Sparkle Kitties on game day.  Almost all of the girls on her team go to Meridian so she was able to see them all the time.  She also had a couple of great coaches this year who taught her so much, so it was a great season.  Here are some pictures from her final game.

She became a much better dribbler and passer this season

Waiting for the other team to get set up.

She also became a lot better about her positioning and knowing where she needed to be.

It was always so exciting to see her take the ball down the field. 

One last team cheer

Team photo

And her favorite part of the season...getting her trophy! 

Dining alfresco (where no actual dining occured)

Every now and then we eat our dinner outside just for the fun of it.  However I know that I can't expect the kids to eat much, they become too busy playing to eat.  Here's what they were doing instead of eating dinner.

Climbing up the slide

Flying through the air

Surfing on the teeter totter

Climbing under the slide

Taste the Rainbow

If you have ever had to feed McKenzie then you know what a picky eater she is.  It has become so bad that we have to bribe her to eat the simplest things that she used to like: yogurt, spaghetti, peanut butter sandwiches, and even applesauce.  Unfortunately she has chosen to not eat multiple meals in a row because she doesn't care enough for the reward after eating.  Not only that, but she chooses to eat a candy after every meal and for almost every snack.  It has gotten out of hand.  So Jeremy and I decided we needed to have a serious intervention that was fun for McKenzie.  We came up with her rainbow chart.  

On her chart is a giant rainbow and about 50 magnets with pictures of different foods on them.  When she eats a food, she gets to put the magnet on the color she ate.  Her goal is to fill up her rainbow every day.  If she fills up her rainbow then the whole family gets to have a family dessert after dinner-and after dinner only.  We've been at it for four days now and I am so happy with how it's going.  When she's hungry and wants a snack she goes over to her rainbow chart to look at her choices.  She chooses what snack she wants based on what color she hasn't eaten yet that day.  When we first started her chart we took the family to the store and let the girls choose whatever healthy snacks they wanted, so now McKenzie has choices she picked out.  Cambrie has been a fantastic support for her sister through all of this.  She gives McKenzie recommendations, and cheers when she eats something new.  As an added bonus, if Cambrie tries a food she's never eaten before she gets to put a star on the rainbow too.  I really hope this stays exciting for McKenzie for long enough to make a difference.  So far though, she has chosen to eat tomatoes and cucumbers!  Oh how I hope she becomes a better eater!