Another School Year Comes to an End!

Along with the end of the school year comes lots of celebrations and awards. I am always so proud of my children for their achievements each year. We had an ice cream party in Zach's class after the teacher presented lots of awards and certificates. Zach managed to receive an award for each category. Letter grades aren't given in the 1st grade. We are always in awe of his reading skills and he even received a ribbon for having the second highest accelerated reading points in the first grade. He is now working on the Harry Potter series in hopes of getting a jump start on AR points when he returns to school in the Fall. Zach also received a "Three Musketeers" award along with his two buddies, Jason and Jeff. They are definitely quite the trio.
Zachary posing with Mrs. Schlanger, his first grade teacher. We LOVE Mrs. Schlanger. She has taught 3 of our children so far and pray that she doesn't retire before Ellary enters the first grade.

Zachary posing with Jason and Jeff after Mrs. Schlanger awarded them the "Three Musketeers" award!

As you can see, they are quite the trio!!

Sara's class also had a celebration with lots of awards. She finished 3rd grade with straight A's every quarter and ACED the EOG's (end of grade state tests)!! Although, she would probably say that her most proud achievement this year was earning the National Physical Fitness Award. She takes great pride in the fact that she is a fast runner and has a lot of physical strength and endurance. We are so proud of Sara!Sara posing with Mrs. Brewer, her 3rd grade teacher

Jace has finished 6th grade, his first year in Middle School, with straight A's every quarter! He has really worked hard and developed some great study habits and organizational skills that hopefully will carry on with him throughout the remainder of middle school and high school. He also ACED his end of grade state tests!! Today, we received a letter from the school letting us know that Jace will be receiving an academic award at the end of year assembly on the last day of school. Richard and I are looking forward to attending the assembly so that we can congratulate Jace and let him know how proud we are of him!!

AND AFTER ALL OF THAT....WE ARE READY FOR SUMMER BREAK...MYRTLE BEACH HERE WE COME!!

No More Diapers....a New Scooter....and One Less Tooth!!!

We are so proud of our Baby Girl for deciding recently (at 2 1/2) that she would like to wear "big girl panties". She woke up one morning and told me that she is now a big girl and big girls wear Dora panties! She then pulled her Dora panties out of her dresser drawer and put them on. I went along with her plan fully expecting that I would be cleaning up a lot of messes. I guess I didn't give her enough credit because she went straight to the potty and did her "business" and has only had a few accidents ever since. And....it has been nearly 6 weeks!! As a reward, I took Ellary to the toy store and told her to pick out a "potty training prize". She picked out a Barbie camera and a pink Radio Flyer scooter. She loves the scooter and especially loves trying to keep up with her big sister, Sara as they ride together.


After reading the title, you might be thinking that the "one less tooth" has something to do with the new scooter...Actually, I think that would be a better story. Along with the potty trained child, comes the excitement of a two year old who loves the freedom of going to the potty and washing hands "ALL BY MYSELF"!! There are just some things that Ellary insists she does not need help with. Today, Ellary yelled to me in the next room that she had just gone potty and was now washing her hands. I might add, that she takes a little long to wash those hands and there are usually more than the normal amount of bubbles in the sink AND on the bathroom counter. During the middle of her hand washing I heard a crash and went running to see what had happened. Ellary was laying in the bathroom floor with her wooden stool on top of her and one of her front teeth sitting on her chin. The amazing thing was... she wasn't even crying much. I, on the other hand, wanted to cry after I talked with our dentist (my brother-in-law) and came to grips with the fact that the tooth CANNOT be put back in because it could cause problems for the permanent tooth underneath. So, we will see the dentist in two weeks about having a bridge put in or she may sport this sweet smile for a few years to come. Either way, we think she is ADORABLE!!!!