Water Fight

So the last day of school just isn't the last day of school without an epic water fight celebration!

Every year I plan something fun for the kids to do the second they step off the bus on the last day of school.  It can be a food fight, water fight, ice cream party, etc.  This we we opted for a water & silly string fight.  I spent the entire morning filled up water balloons.

When the kids stepped off the bus, we went nuts.  It's nice having other fun moms at our bus stop.  They like to get in on the fun too.

Within minutes, the street was a mess, but boy did we have fun.

After we cleaned up all the balloon pieces & silly strings, we had popsicles.

HAPPY SUMMER EVERYONE.

The Last Day of School

Every year the kids get excited to make candy bar posters for their teachers.  They do them all by themselves & they always turn out adorable.  It's also fun to take pics of the kids on the last day of school so you can see the difference a year makes.

 Lorien survived 4th grade & not only did she survive, she was a superstar.  She was on honor roll all year & had a blast.  Her reading skills improved greatly this year & Lorien just loved being a part of school.  We love our Lo!

 

Taya did wonderfully in 1st grade.  She started with a kindergartner reading level & ended the year reading at a 4th grade reading level.  She is a little reader!  Her math, english, & science skills also leveled out at a 4th grade level.  She's all geared up & ready for 2nd grade.  We're very proud of you Squick!

Cadence finished her final year in elementary school.  I can't believe she'll be a 7th grader next year & in jr. high next year.  It's crazy.  Cadence excelled at everything she did & she's gearing up for crazy class schedules, big lockers, & a higher level band to play her oboe in.  She's very excited.  We love you Boof! 

Cadence definitely matured the most this year.  Look at her first day of school vs. her last day of school pic.  She went from a cute little baby face to a full grown gorgeous teenager face.  It's unbelievable.  STOP GROWING UP.

  

The BLADE!!!!  I can't believe this year is over & Bladen isn't in Kindergarten anymore.  He loved school SO much & he's reading like crazy.  My kids just love to read.  He's all geared up & ready to tackle 1st grade next year & he's hoping he gets Taya's teacher.  Way to go Mannos!  We love you.

We have the best two bus stops in Eagle Harbor.  We love the kids there.  

It's been a wonderful year.  Great kids, great teachers, great bus drivers, great area.  We love Carrollton & Smithfield, VA.

One Last Lunch

So Bladen's Kindergarten Graduation & Taya's 1st grade play were the same day, so I decided to join both of them for lunch that day between both performances.  It was SO fun.  I got to eat an old school lunch (talk about flashbacks from my childhood) with the two cutest kids I know.

The lunch ladies were laughing when we were going through the line because they were cleaning out the fridges & freezers since it was the last two days of school.  There were all sorts of random foods to choose from.

I ended up with popcorn chicken, a cheese stick, mashed potatoes & gravy, broccoli, & corn.

Taya & Bladen had some of the same stuff plus honeydew melon & pizza.  ha ha ha.  It was a lot of fun.

I can't believe it's the end of another school year.  This year flew by way too fast.

Goldilocks & The 3 Little Bears

For Taya's end of the year program, they did a 1st grade play.  I knew the "casting" was coming up, so I told Taya to make sure she didn't try out for a part with too many lines since she'd have to memorize them.  (aka so I wouldn't be up late every night the last two weeks of school helping her memorize lines.)

So when she came home with a smile on her face saying "I'm Goldilocks!  I'm Goldilocks!"  I didn't know whether to be thrilled or want to cry.  ha ha ha.  But I totally underestimated my little girl.  She had every single one of her lines memorized in two days flat & then she started showing me her "actions."  This play was going to be adorable.

She did an amazing job.  She was the perfect Goldilocks.  I could watch her play over & over & over again.  It was perfection.  What a cute bunch of 1st graders.

Mrs. Lenz has been an amazing teacher for Taya.  I have my fingers crossed that she'll be Bladen's teacher next year as well.  She's done amazing things for Taya who went from reading at a Kindergartner reading level to a 4th grade reading level in one school year.  Mrs. Lenz has taught Taya how to love books & I'll be forever grateful for her for that.

Great job Taya.  2nd Grade can't wait for you to conquer it.

Bladen's Kindergarten Graduation

The last week of school is brutal.  Between soccer tournaments, music concerts & programs, graduations, field day, & plays it gets pretty hectic.  But it is super cute too.

Bladen had his Kindergarten graduation the day before the last day of school.  He sang about 6 songs he learned during the school year & danced a little bit for us.  It was absolutely adorable.

After the music program he got to go up & get his kindergarten diploma.

And then Mrs. Mann gave him the cutest little bag of gifts ever.  It was full of toys, books, a kite, & a money bank for saving his allowance.  Mrs. Mann really is the best Kindergarten teacher around.  She taught Taya last year & Bladen this year & I'm going to miss her.  I have my fingers crossed that she'll be Craiger's teacher in a year & a half.

Bladen's best friends this year were Isla & Grace.  We love these girls.  They are so fun.

Thank you Mrs. Mann for an amazing Kindergarten year.

Cadence's 6th Grade Graduation

I can't believe Cadence is in middle school now.  Here in VA, 6th grade is still considered Elementary School so now that she's done with that, she moves over to the Jr. High school (which happens to be at the High School.)

Cadence was awarded with several exciting awards at her ceremony this year.  The biggest award was the Presidential Academic Award which is really difficult to get.  She had to have a straight A average for the last 3 years of school as well as score above grade average on all end of year testing for all 3 years.  I was very proud of her for being one of the few kids that got that award.  She worked hard for it.

She also got several academic awards like Principals List (straight A Honor Roll), above grade average in History, Science, Math, & Language Arts, some Citizenship awards, & a few other things from her teacher.  It was a great year for her this year.

She's really going to miss her best friends this summer.  I hope they all have some classes together next year in 7th grade.

My friend Nancy gave Cadence her first "real" piece of jewelry for this graduation.  She got a diamond & amethyst pendant & it's gorgeous.  She loves it.  I told her she's old enough to have nice things, but to take good care of them.

I'm so proud of my little girl.  She's getting so old so fast.

After graduation, I took her to the Smithfield ice cream parlor for lunch & some ice cream.  She was pretty happy about that.

After that she was done with school for the year & didn't have to go back.  Most kids would be excited about that, but not Cadence.  She insisted on going to school the last day to say goodbye to her teachers.  (She's definitely MY kid).