Summer To-Do List

At the beginning of summer, it is time to create our "Summer To-Do List", just as we have done in 2011, 2010 and 2009. This year, the kids wanted to help me make the list. So, drum roll please . . . here are some activities we hope to accomplish this summer!At the end of summer, we'll check back in with the list to see all that we were able to check off. Wish us luck!

E's Class Award

On the last day of school, E's teacher gave each student in her class a special award. What was Eleanor's award? It is a pretty good way to sum up Eleanor's year. Whenever she had a free moment, she was always writing creative stories.

Splashdown

On the last day of school, Kindergartners experience a very special day called Splashdown. I had very fond memories of it when E went through it at the Main Campus in kindergarten. The morning begins with outdoor games as a class. I actually helped facilitate the water-balloon-popping relay race station. When Hayes's class rotated through this station, the class was divided into two teams - boys vs girls. One at a time per team, the kids would then race down to a chair and try to pop a water balloon by sitting on it. Once their balloon popped, the kids raced back to send their next teammate in line. If my memory serves, I think the girls won this race.

Once the classes rotated through their ten different stations, it was time for the real water game - being hosed down by our local fire truck! Hayes screamed with delight every time he came out of the spray to check back in with me.
It is hard to believe that by the end of the day, Hayes and his buds had officially become rising first graders! What a memorable way to officially kick off summer!

E's Perfect Attendance Year #2

I never would have thought that after Eleanor achieved perfect attendance last year, I'd be sitting here writing about her doing so AGAIN this year. For a second consecutive year, Eleanor did not miss a day of school. I truly do not know how she is so lucky! Looking back, I'm not even sure if she stayed healthy throughout the school year, but if she didn't, she timed her illness(es) impeccably. (As I sit and write this four days after school is out, she's asleep on the couch after battling a stomach bug throughout the night last night. See what I mean? It is all about timing.)

As with last year, the students who have perfect attendance ride the Fur Bus Party Bus to Chick-Fil-A where they are treated to a breakfast on the last day of school. Eleanor was pretty pumped Tuesday morning as she thought about her first hour or two at school Chick-fil-A. At the end of the day, when I arrived at her campus to catch the tail end of her class's end-of-the-year party, she was still all smiles, especially when I asked her to get together with her fabulous teacher, Mrs. Lane. Here E is with her third grade class. On the last day, Mrs. Lane gave each child an individual award (the yellow sheets many of the kids are holding). Eleanor received an award for being "The Most Creative Writer."
Congrats, Eleanor on hitting another perfect attendance milestone!

Young Bucks Yankees

This spring in addition to playing soccer, Hayes also played baseball on Buckhead Baseball's Young Bucks New York Yankees team. He has a great coach who we've been with for a few seasons, and good coaching always helps to make the season enjoyable. For this age group, the focus was to get the boys to hit a coach's pitch versus hitting off a tee. Hayes could almost always hit a coach's pitch, but really seemed to take his hitting to the next level towards the end of the season. Hayes's current plan is to take baseball off this fall and focus on soccer. We'll see if he can hold true to this or not, especially with the aura of lacrosse and flag football glowing in the background.

The ABCs of Third Grade

As one of their final third grade assignments, Eleanor and her classmates had to come up with their own "ABCs of Third Grade" based on what they had learned this past school year. Here is how Eleanor filled out her A to Z prompts:

Kindergarten End-of-the-Year Program

Last Friday, half of the kindergarten (the other half sang on Thursday) put on a year-end musical performance for families to come see. This year, we have been very impressed with the kindergartners' performances to-date and this one did not disappoint. They sang nine songs: "This is America", "The World is a Rainbow", "Dites Moi" (in French), "Love Somebody", "Skin-a-marinky Dink", "Sing About Martin", "One Small Voice", "Love Grows", and a French song about all of the French-speaking countries of the world. Hayes and his good friend Virginia were all smiles during the performance,with the knowledge that summer is just around the corner!

Hawks Game

Hayes has been begging Thomas to take him to a Hawks game all season . . . so in late April, Thomas got access to Joe Johnson's front row, court-side tickets to the Atlanta Hawks versus the LA Clippers game. Thomas, Hayes, Hayes's friend JD and JD's dad Jimbo all dressed in their Hawks attire and ventured down to Phillips Arena to support our local team. I don't think the boys had a clue how good their seats were, but they were beyond excited all night about being so close to the game being allowed to stay up late.The boys and dads stayed until the end with the Hawks coming through with a victory by the score of 109-102.

Go Hurricanes!

With Eleanor playing soccer this spring, Hayes decided that he wanted to play the sport this season too. (The last time he had played soccer was when he was four-years-old!) One of his best buddies in his kindergarten class, Owen (pictured below next to Hayes), played on the Hurricanes, and his dad was the coach so Hayes decided to join their team. This entire kindergarten year, Hayes has played soccer each day at recess, and it has paid off. He surprised us all as he has turned into quite the player. Hayes LOVED playing soccer with some new friends and can't wait for it to start back up in the fall. Go Hurricanes!

Flaming Gladiators

This spring, I co-coached E's Tophat soccer team, the Flaming Gladiators. We had a sweet group of girls though at times Coach Leslie and I felt like we were herding cats. Because I actively yelled coached from the sidelines, I was always too distracted to even think of pulling my camera out and snapping some shots of E. Thank heavens for team photos to document the fact that (1) yes, E did play soccer this spring and (2) Bonus! Mom was the coach.

We were one of those teams that always played the opponent close and even out-shot the opponent most of the time but still ended up losing. Our girls showed tremendous progress each game which culminated in our season-ending 7-3 victory against the previously-undefeated league leader! It was a crazy game because (1) the opposing coaches spent much of the game screaming at the ref (2) there were multiple injuries on the other side and (3) we had 2 penalty kicks in the game after never having one in the history of E playing Tophat soccer. It was a very gratifying win. Go Flaming Gladiators!

Name Aliens

This past weekend, we had the kids' cousins Wages and Anna come stay with us from Columbus. Our kids LOVED having their older cousins here with them. Thomas and I were amazed at how exhausting it is to add to more kids to the mix, but that was largely because our weekend was booked non-stop with activities.

While here, Anna taught the kids how to create Name Aliens. Once I saw the finished product, my memory of doing the same exact thing 30-or-so years ago came rushing back. On a piece of folded-in-half construction paper, you write a name in cursive. Then, you cut out the paper around the outline of the letters, open the folder paper back up and voila - you have your alien to decorate. Ben's name . . .became this alien. Eleanor turned into this yellow alien.Finally, Hayes pouted so much when I asked to take his picture with his alien (he would not even turn his over to show his name) that I decided to take one without him just to make a point.

The kids have made so many aliens this week using different names that I'm starting to feel like we've been invaded!

Walking Baxter

Baxter, our golden retriever of nearly 13 years, is starting to show his age. His hind legs are really giving him problems, especially when he first tries to get up from a lying down position or when he wants to climb up stairs. I've since read that this back leg failure is very common in senior goldens. To minimize the weakness, moderate exercise is supposed to prove beneficial so I've had Eleanor walk Baxter each day after school. The last few days, Ben has gotten into the habit of joining E and Baxter on the brief walks, and he does so with a huge smile on his face. I appreciate their help, and I know Baxter does too!

Mom's Day

Today was Mom's Day in Ben's class. I joined him in his classroom for a treat of strawberry shortcake and some time together doing puzzles as Ben loves to do. While there, I was also presented with a portrait Ben drew of me and some words he said about me. Ben dictated the following: My mom is 15 years old. When I go to school she goes to the YMCA. She likes to eat salad and cereal. Her favorite drink is wine. She also drinks orange juice in the mornings. She wears dresses and YMCA clothes. We play games together like Zingo. She is sweet because she feeds me dinner. She is afraid of witches.

He loved having me there as he kept hugging me for almost the entire 45 minute period. It was very sweet, and I loved spending the time with him.

Field Days

Last Thursday and Friday, Morris Brandon held its annual Field Days. The kindergartners and first graders participated in the games on Thursday so I headed down to the main campus to watch some of the fun. I love these two pictures I took of Hayes and his two buddies in his class - Caleb and Owen. They are new friends this school year, and they are clowns when they are together. Then on Friday, I went back to the school to see Eleanor and the other third and fourth graders participate in their version of the games. Unfortunately, my timing was not the best as E's class was taking a snack break when I first got there. I did capture this cute picture of E and her two dear friends in her class, Lily and Caroline. Then, the class moved on to an obstacle course race in the gym. (Eleanor is in the bright yellow shirt behind the boy in front.) Field Day is a great tradition at MB that brings smiles and laughter all around for those involved. It was obvious how much fun both E's and H's classes have together and that is something a parent loves to see.