Memorial Day

VERY THANKFUL FOR OUR FREEDOM!

*****

It has been a nice, relaxing weekend...

back yard sprinkler fun

time at the park this afternoon

fresh-squeezed lemonade, hot dogs, red/white/blue fruit

 and S'mores

Alexee also went to a birthday party today for her friend Rachel.  I thought the invitations were so cute!    She loved dressing up and had a great time.

It feels like summer is officially here...but the kids have to go back to school tomorrow!

International Village at Riverfest

Rhett had a great time at Riverfest's International Village on Friday.  The boys worked hard on their display board, the model of Stonehenge and their speech for the judges.  And they won 2nd place!  We were proud of our school...we had three teams (England, Australia and Kenya) , and they placed 2nd, 1st and Grand Prize.

Here's Team England:  Aaron, Boston, Nikolaus, Rhett & Lawson

This was the third day in a row that Crosby had to go along to a school event, but he was happy and had fun anyway.

There was a LOT of space to run and play...C was difficult to keep up with.

The boys during their speech to the judges

After the judges visited the England booth, we had time to kill so we found some snacks.  What's a festival without a funnel cake, right?

And we still had more time until the awards were announced, so Crosby and I walked down to Clinton Presidential Library to look at the fountains.

And finally, awards time...Congratulations, guys!

The G.T. Sponsor and the students that participated in the Culture Club:

Kindergarten Field Day

On Thursday, Crosby and I spent the morning helping A's class with field day.  It was nice this year because Pre-K and Kindergarten had their field day separate from grades 1-5 so it was not crazy and crowded like last year.  AND the weather was beautiful.  It never seemed hot at all, which is unusual for May here.  The classes had color-coded t-shirts making it easy to keep up with your class as you traveled from station to station...great idea!  Their first stop was tug-of-war.  The kids were all so sweet and supportive of each other throughout the day.  I commented on that to Mrs. D and she said that's something they've really worked on this year.  Just another reason we love her!

Their next activity was karate, and what a fun one that was!  As you'll notice in most of these pictures, Crosby (in the plaid shorts) just joins right in and pretends he is a member of the K class.  I hope he is this cooperative when he actually starts school!  They all looked cute and serious doing their moves.

The bubble station was another favorite.

Alexee really didn't want to get wet for some reason, but she participated anyway (with some encouragement from both her teacher and myself).  The sponge relay was exciting for them, and most didn't mind the water at all.

Alexee and Chloe (on the far right) were the only two kids with dry shirts after this station.

Last stop before lunch:  the huge parachute

It was a busy, fun-filled day.  I think the kids were all tired.  I know I was!

Year-end Kindergarten Celebration

The kindergarten classes had a fantastic year-end celebration yesterday! The fun started with a 45 minute outdoor concert by local musicians, Brian and Terri Kinder.  (Mr. Brian is actually my neighbor's uncle--small world!)  Their songs were all really creative and kept the kids involved and entertained!  

Good friends:  Jessica, Chloe & Alexee

The giant globe song was a crowd favorite!

Following the concert, the class enjoyed a picnic on the basketball court, popsicles and an awards ceremony.  Each student received an award highlighting something fun about his/her personality.  It made me think about how much time Mrs. D has had with these kids, and how she has gotten to know them so well.  She has been such a wonderful teacher--we've been very blessed!

So proud of this soon-to-be 1st Grader!  It's been great to see her make new friends, learn to read, gain confidence in speaking in front of her class, etc.  She has grown in so many ways this year.  We're thankful for this wonderful school and the amazing teachers and staff!!

Graduation Weekend

It doesn't seem possible, but our nephew graduated from High School on Sunday.  Luke was five when Lane and I started dating.  He turned 18 today!

It seems like he should still be this age.

We were happy to get to celebrate this special occasion with him.  We went to Hot Springs Saturday afternoon, and that evening Lane's parents cooked dinner for everyone.

Rose Mary decorating for dinner:

Here's the recipe for the frozen Oreo dessert that my mother-in-law made:

Layer 1:  crushed Oreos--spread in bottom of dish

Layer 2:  vanilla ice cream --slightly softened

Layer 3:  drizzle hot fudge and caramel from the jar (don't heat)

Layer 4:  thawed Cool Whip to cover

FREEZE OVERNIGHT.

Sunday morning the kids also had surprises from Grammy & Bobba:

Alexee got this great tea party gift basket that Rose Mary won at a silent auction.  It was full of the cutest things:  tea cup note cards, miniature tea sets, a teapot wind chime, jams, cookies, coasters, napkins, etc. Crosby got a sand bucket for our upcoming beach trip [HI, CANDY!! :)] filled with fun things like water guns, a sling shot, sand forms and more. And for our tech guy, two new video games.  Thank you, Grammy & Bobby!  They all loved their gifts.  

We met the rest of the family for lunch before graduation, but this is the only picture I snapped.

We stopped by Lance & Jennifer's briefly between lunch and time to go to Summit Arena.  Crosby discovered a set of drums, and Alexee always likes to play with their dog and cats.

 opening cards and gifts

Well, this isn't a clear photo, but I'm pretty sure this was when he walked across the stage to get his diploma.  

Congratulations, Luke...We're proud of you!

*****

Robin update

Sadly, only one robin hatched.  It rained really hard one day and water poured off the roof into the nest.  I went out in the storm to move the hanging plant, but maybe it was too late.  It has been fun getting to watch the one baby bird wait for food.  It hatched sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning...and I could tell it had already grown by the time we got back home on Sunday!

Aurora, AR Party & Stonehenge

Last week I went out to refill the bird feeder, and I saw Aurora sitting there!  The chipped pink nail polish on "her" (?) shell let me know that it was her, but just to make sure, I got a cracker from the pantry to see if she'd eat it.  She did.  Hopefully we'll be seeing her around all summer.  The kids were happy to hear that she came back.

She had Wheat Thin crumbs on her mouth.

Last week was also Kindergarten Safari for the incoming class.  While the new students toured the kinder classrooms, the current students went to visit first grade.  :(  This school year FLEW by.  Alexee has had such a fun year...I'm really sad for her to move on to 1st grade already.  Rhett has already warned her that she'd better get ready because it's a lot more serious and you don't get to do nearly as many fun activities.  (Thanks, Rhett! ha) 

Thursday was Crosby's last day of school until August.  He took his teachers these blue pitchers with patriotic cups and straws and a recipe for mint tea.

He's wearing swim clothes because it was water day--where they get to play outside in the sprinkler.  He's always excited about that!

We've loved his sweet teachers, Mrs. Vicki and Mrs. Roxanne!

Friday was the second semester Accelerated Reading party for 1st-5th grade.  It's always a lot of work, but I think it's a fun event for the kids.  These are the only pictures I took for some reason.  I was busy handing out books, and Rhett left the party early to go back to work on a special project for culture club so I didn't even get a picture of him.  

After school we hurried home to work on the papier mache Stonehenge project (for culture club) with my friend Ali and R's friends Lawson and Boston.  They present their project this Friday.  Boston's mother is an art teacher, so she helped the boys build the form with chicken wire and layers of newspaper.  We did another layer then painted the structures.  Friday night I picked up a pizza for the kids then I was asleep on the couch as soon as they went to bed. It had been a long day...a long week, actually.

The next morning day we went to Hot Springs for our nephew's graduation.  I'll do a post on that soon.