Here we go.... Let's look back at 2nd Grade!

Well, here we are, a week into the 2016-17 school year.  It's a whole new routine for all of us - Riley's started kindergarten and we're at a brand new school.  With that new routine, I'm hoping to spend a lot more time blogging again, and so...we need to do  A LOT of catching up.  Hopefully, this will be our last big catch up and I can get back to this more regularly.

So, even though he's now a third grader, let's look back at the end of Gavin's 2nd grade year.  I already blogged about Riley's preschool graduation, so it's time to give Gavin some of the spotlight, too.  

Gavin had a rocky end of the year after his teacher began having health issues and missed the last six weeks or so of school.  He had a lot of substitutes coming and going, and because of that, there was a lot of chaos in the classroom - because, you know, kids can't behave for subs...  But, he kept working, kept reading, and even completed his first diorama!  They had to pick something Arkansas related to research and create a diorama/write a paper about, and he chose Bill Clinton.  

We were all kind of processing the fact that as the school year ended, so did our time at Elm Tree.  We loved the school and really LOVED the calendar, but with our town growing so rapidly, the school board felt the need to get all elementary schools on the same calendar, and thus rezoned everyone.  That meant no more year-round school and no more Elm Tree.    I received this key chain from the PTO for volunteering, and I love it.  The kids recited a student creed every single day, and this is how it started.  It's a good reminder that you get a fresh start with every sunrise.  We all need that reminder sometimes...

On a scorching hot day, Riley and I headed to ETE to help out with the 2nd grade end-of-the-year party, which was a sports/Olympics themed event.  It was HOT, but we still had fun.

And the class was SO excited to Ms. Behnke come back for a visit.  They had missed their teacher, you could tell.

And, of course, mama had to get her traditional last day pictures before we left 2nd grade in the dust....

Thankfully, he obliged.  It's not often I get good pics of this one these days...

Riley helped me hang the end of the year decorations to celebrate the start of summer, and instead of baking something, they asked if we could do ice cream this year, so we headed to Yum Yos after our last Elm Tree carline.

Elm Tree was good to us.  The three years we were Wildcats helped shape Gavin.  He matured, and slowly worked on becoming more confident, more outgoing, and more social.  I remember dropping him off at kindergarten like it was yesterday...  We are so thankful for our two years with Mrs. Ruffner and our last year with Ms. Behnke.  He had wonderful teachers that helped him grow, continued to nurture his love of learning, and inspired him to keep going.  He made amazing friends, and I know that the true friends will hang around even though we're leaving for a new school.  He tried out Cub Scouts, and learned that he loves Running Club and soccer.  He learned to read, and left 2nd grade reading on a 5th grade level.  He is growing into an amazing young man.  And we love him.

Goodbye, 2nd Grade.  Goodbye, Elm Tree.  We'll miss you both, but we have bigger things ahead, and new adventures to be had.  <3 font="">

A Preschool Graduate

We're already a month post-graduation, but it still gets me all teary eyed when I think about Riley finishing up her time at Tiny Tots preschool.  

She was so excited for me to straighten her hair the morning of her graduation and wear her new dress and jellies (which was the only time she wore them before Phoebe ate one...)  I remembered at the last minute to print off the 'Last Day of PreK' sign and get pictures just before we walked out the door.  Of course, Big Brother had to do some photobombing. 

We headed in and snapped some pictures with two very special ladies before school started.  I'm sure I've mentioned the story before, but Miss Tricia stepped in and took over the classroom in January after a sudden resignation by her teacher and it truly was the best thing that could have happened to our preschool 4s experience.  We are so thankful for her! She helped Riley find that love of learning that she seemed to be losing during the first half of the year.

And Miss Misty...oh, how can we ever thank Miss Misty enough?  She was Riley's teacher last year and made such a huge impact on her.  Riley hated leaving her classroom for a new teacher in her preK 4s class and missed Miss Misty terribly.  We were very grateful to have her as the new preschool director this year, and I hope that she is able to stay in our lives in some way over the years because she is such a special person.

 I learned my lesson with Gavin's preschool graduation program.  They cram a ton of people in the small classroom ad I knew I had to get there early, so I showed up about 30 minutes early and helped set up chairs so I could claim a front row seat.  While the kids were still getting ready and in their places, I got a sweet little gesture from my little BFF.  A couple years ago, we were going through a rough patch with an angry little girl, and these precious little moments remind me of how far we've come.

The program was a quick little recap of the school year with song songs and dancing (and eventually I'll get the videos on YouTube!).

And then, of course, there has to be a 'diploma'! 

Jarrod and I are so proud of this little spitfire.  She has grown up so much and is destined to do great things.  Deciding to send her to kindergarten was really tough on me, but I'm so excited to see where her new journey takes her. 

We love you so much, Riley Savannah!

Our Baby Boy is EIGHT!

It's been a few weeks since it happened....but somehow our little guy grew up and decided to turn eight last month.  We decided to have a little 'Ten Days of Birthday' countdown, and he got a little something each day for the ten days leading up to his birthday.  Nothing major - just a special breakfast, or extra electronics time, things like that.  We also celebrated with the birthday banner hanging in the living room that he got from Mimi and Beepa for Christmas.  Looking forward to using it for many years to come, including when he's a teenager and super embarrassed by it. ;)

 

Right before his birthday, he lost yet another tooth!  Took him forever to lose his first, and now he seems to be losing them left and right.

On his actual birthday, he was lucky enough to have the day off school for part of his May break.  I woke up to make him his birthday pancakes to find him snuggled up under his new blanket with a backlight, reading one of his new books he got from Aunt Meggie and Uncle Kyle. :) Love how much he loves to read!

After dropping Sister off at school, I surprised him and took him back to the house and spent the entire time Riley was at school playing his new xbox game with him.  Neither of us had ever played Fifa before, so we weren't really good at it, and we laughed a lot!

We picked Riley up and then headed to meet Daddy for a pizza lunch.  Dinner was lettuce wraps, of course, and we had a special cupcake dessert.  

A couple days later, we had his birthday party with friends.  It had to be the easiest party I ever threw -- two hours of playing video games with friends and cookie cake.  Basically, I greeted the guests, cut the cookie cake, and snapped pics of the boys before they left.  The rest of the time was spent engrossed in the massive screens that filled the place. :)

 

 

Happy birthday, Gavin Jack!  You're growing into a really amazing young man and we're so proud of you.  Love you more than any other boy in this world.  XOXO