Moving on up!

Today was the last day of school for this kiddos and the last day of elementary school for Lex!! They had their end of year ceremony and 5th grade graduation. It was so sweet. He has such a wonderful class! It makes me sad that they’ll be separated into different teams in the middle school.

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5th graders enter the gym to great applause. Everyone else (all the classes, plus 5th grade parents and families) were already seated.

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There were a lot of awards to sit through. Fortunately everything moved along pretty quickly.

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Lex won an award for “Most Improved Musician.”

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As he walked back to his seat, his classmates all called his name and put out their hands for high-fives. It was soooo sweet! I didn’t see them do that for anyone else. They all knew about his musical challenges and I think they were proud to see him rewarded for his success. I love his class.

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Where there are words, Lex will read them. :)

When I asked Lex later if he was surprised to win a prize and he said, “Not really.” I laughed at his honest, then he clarified, “I was surprised that it was a music award though.” I love his confidence!

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These two teachers are retiring after 25 and 30 years in the district. They got many standing ovations. Mrs. Torrey, in the white sweater, is Lex’s teacher this year, and Mrs. Shattie , in the blue dress, was his teacher in 3rd grade. Both are excellent, caring teachers and will be missed by many in the district!

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Each kid got a little “diploma” saying they successfully completed 5th grade.

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Good bye elementary school!! I’ll have to dig up his “first day of school” photo and compare them. Later.

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When Lex said, “Mom, will you take a picture of us?” I said, “Oh yes, of course!!” :)

Oh yeah, this little lady moved up to 4th grade today. She is exited. The 4th grade works on an “open-classroom, co-teaching” model in which two fourth grade teachers (in years past they were in individual classrooms) co-teach, sharing the class and work-load. One is an accomplished math teacher and the other a recognized ELA teacher, and they have very compatible personalities. We attended an open house last week to learn more about the model and how well it works for them last year, their first year co-teaching. Eve is pretty excited that all of her friends will be in her class.

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She wanted to make sure Daisy was in the picture with her. :)

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Eve got very excited that Daisy looked at the camera too. :)

Welcome to Middle School!

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I love these two sillies!

We had open house at the middle school last night. We learned what team Lex is on an who else is on his team too. It was so fun. Lex was a rock star! He was so confident and so happy to be there. When we walked into the classroom a boy who was on the FLL team with him for the past few years, said hi to Lex and Lex said hi back and I think he felt super cool and happy that an 8th grader he’s friendly with was there to greet him. He spoke in the group, played the game with the team (and although parents were invited to join in, Lex told me not too!), and so was happy. After the team meeting we hung out in the school for awhile, saying hi to people and checking things out. He showed us the gym and cafeteria, and the band room. I mentioned buying a lock for his locker and he told me no one uses locks anyway. Like a cool middle-schooler! :)

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They gave out team t-shirts and he put his right on! He has some growing to do still! He even wore it to bed last night. :) I think he’s excited!

I really think that extra trip to HMMS helped and, even if he won’t admit it, I think it gave him a lot more confidence tonight. There were definitely nervous looking kids there, but he was not one of them! He was even walking though the halls and jumping up to slap door frames! Like a cool middle-schooler. :)

Today is 5th grade graduation. Break out the tissues!

Math books

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One of Lex’s teachers gave this to him.

Me: “Lex, your book has square roots on the cover.”
Lex: “Yeah, actually they are cubed roots.”

I didn’t bother opening the book.  Clearly I am not “mathy folks.”  😄

Apology Penguin

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Last year when the kids were fighting a lot I made them write apologies to each other several times. I had mostly forgotten about that (though I should probably do it more often!), until today. This morning I was in the shower and they started at it. When I was brushing my teething I heard Eve shrieking and telling Lex to go away. I couldn’t do much about it since I had a toothbrush in my mouth so I just ignored them. When I got done and came down stairs they had separated and were quiet. Eve was in the living drawing and Lex was at the table working on origami. I went to get dressed. When I came out of my bedroom Lex says to me, “Mom, I made Eve an apology penguin!” He was so proud and happy. I asked what Eve thought and he said it made her smile and he was pretty sure she was in the living room drawing something for him. I thought of last summer’s forced apologies and wondered if the kids had been thinking of that too. Whatever they were thinking, they made up and we had a beautiful day together.

For Sale

Our awesome neighbors made these awesome stands for summer play work!  My kids quickly joined in on the fun!   Lex even asked his friend if he was looking to hire help.  😄  His buddy said sure and handed him an origami book.  Lex is a pro though and promptly got his own books and supplies!  Like a chef with his own knives. 

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When business is slow they support each other. 😊

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This picture came out way too dark and I'm too lazy to walk down the street and take a better one! LOL!

Lex’s 11th Birthday!

Hey all. Lex turned 11 last month. I’m still not loving my blogging setup and, well, I guess I’ve been busy too, so this post is a little delayed. I love the boy all the same though and I’m sure he’s fine with the delay. :)

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Morning presents.

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Happy Birthday!! Eleven years old and handsome as ever! <3

I made brownie bars for school and cake for the party, so I asked Lex if maybe we could skip a cake on his actual birthday. He said sure, then asked for cookies instead. How could I say no?! :)

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Candle in cookies, better than cake!

This year we had a birthday party at the rock climbing place. Lex invited a bunch of boys and it was so much fun!

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Packing up goody “bags” for the rock climbing party.

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It’s party time!!!!

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Happy Birthday Lex!!

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Lex had a great time! We sang and joked about how many candles the cake needed and all his friends were so nice and happy to be there celebrating with him.

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Presents time. (I think Alan just said something funny. Love the look he’s getting.)

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Hey, there were a few Colliers there too! :)

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Alan decided to give it a try too! He’s a natural, of course.

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Everyone was all worn out by the end!

The next day we went for a nice walk to the playground. It’s always great when Rosy is around. She drags us all out for fun and exercise!

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Eve decorated the dog with lovely dandelions.

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Lex has mad ball skills! :)

So there’s Lex’s 11th in summary. I love him more than the world and it’s amazing and overwhelming and just plain perfect that he has become the young man he has. I want to keep him in my arms forever, yet also look forward to what the future has in store. Life is good. Happy Birthday my boy!

Welcome June

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I love this house It isn’t mine, but it is adorable. I love the orange door and the flowers right by it (you can’t see them well in this picture) and the fence and all of it. It looks so charming and sweet.

Happy June.  I have so much going on.  So much to write about, but so little time or motivation.  Lex had a birthday and several parties.  Lots of family came to visit.  I got a job.  School is out in six days.  Here comes summer!  Maybe a blog post or two as well.  Not tonight though.  Tonight I need to eat dinner and go to bed.  Life is good.

Thank you notes

Lex did a great job with thank you notes this year!  Not only was he prompt, with a little encouragement from me, but he wrote clever and funny things too! 

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Is it weird to post his thank you notes online?  Some of you may recognize some of these. 😊

The best part though is that he did them with no fussing or arguing!!  That’s what I’m thankful for!!  Maybe I should write him a note! 😄