Field Trip Day

Well, the first grade field trip to a state park was canceled (for the second time) due to the recent flooding/park clean-up and the Friday weather forecast (60% chance of thunderstorms). It was a last-minute decision, so the first grade teachers quickly planned a fun day for the kids for Friday. They had a morning full of outdoor games and activities, then they came inside for a movie and popcorn after lunch. It did start raining around lunch time, so it's good that they weren't stuck at the park. Crosby stayed home with Lane while Alexee and I went to the school for a little while to see Rhett and deliver popcorn and bottled waters.

When we arrived, Rhett's group was at the bubble station. Somehow he managed to get a ton of bubbles in his hair, so he looked like this. His teacher sent him inside to rinse it out in the bathroom.
Alexee was very interested in the playground equipment. We talked about how she'd be going to school here with Rhett before long! :(

Class picture

Sponge game

Hurry, Rhett!

Graduation Weekend, Part I: White Coat

It's Graduation Week for Lane--exciting times here! We're looking forward to having our families here this weekend to celebrate with us!

This evening L's class had a picnic and the traditional white coat burning ceremony. At the beginning of medical school the students each receive a short coat at a formal ceremony. After four years of wearing the coats that label them as students, they (gladly!) toss them into a fire just before graduating and officially becoming doctors.

It was a beautiful day, and the kids and I were happy to get to go with Lane for this special occasion. Alexee and Rhett were excited about the fire, but confused about why you'd burn a coat. They wanted to help though, even if it didn't make sense to them.

During the picnic, the kids played on the playground (they spent most of their time on this tire swing) and ate the dinners I'd packed for them (the class had BBQ catered for the event, but I knew none of them would eat that).Crosby loved having a turn by himself with Rhett pushing him fast.

time for dinnerRhett has a cheese wheel on his eye. Alexee chose her own hair bows. :)

Crosby didn't sit still for long. We went back to the slide while Lane and Rhett finished eating.

The students were invited to decorate their coats if they'd like. This guy used his as a dog toy. I saw one dog wearing a coat.

When Lane first decided to go back to school, I remember thinking "Rhett will be SEVEN when L graduates--wow that seems old. I can't even imagine Rhett being SEVEN." Well, here we are!

Ages 7, 4 and 2

Lane visiting with friends

Our family

Very proud of Lane/Daddy!!!

The kids were so dirty by the end of the night. Alexee dumped a shoe full of sand into her car seat when we left. I couldn't wait to get them into the bath tub. The public restroom at the park was about too much--ha!
The Dean presented the Class President with his new long coat, and then he was the first to burn his old one and start the process for the rest of the class.

Flashback:
July 2007, White Coat Ceremony
Lane receiving his student coat--a happy night!Tonight:

Ready to toss that same coat into the fire with help from Rhett and Alexee.

See ya!

Congratulations, Lane--What a great milestone!
We love you.

The Red Carpet

Today Rhett was invited to attend the end-of-year Accelerated Reader Party for reaching his semester reading goal. Lane was able to stay home with Alexee and Crosby during their naps while I went to the school to celebrate with Rhett.

Rhett & two classmates holding their tickets to the big event

being silly

The party planning committee did a great job--it was really fun for the kids. It was a Hollywood stars/red carpet theme. The tables were decorated with star balloons and clapperboards. The stage was decorated with more balloons and red carpet for the readers! Everyone had a chance to have their name called as they went to the stage to receive a prize.

The three students with the most A.R. points in each grade had their names on these cute signs attached to the stage. Rhett's is on the bottom right--he received the 2nd place award for the 1st grade! I'm so glad he enjoys reading!

1st Grade winners

1st, 2nd and 3rd place recipients for all grades.

(Rhett has a very loose tooth, and I saw him wiggling it while he was on stage.)

walking the red carpet :)

Rhett also received a $10 gift card to the movies, a $5 gift card to Barnes & Noble and a free kid's meal at Mimi's Cafe. Way to go, Rhett! We're so proud of you! After school we celebrated a little more with a trip to Sonic for Happy Hour.

NeighborzRAP

Last Sunday our street had a "NeighborzRAP" party. (RAP: Reaching All People) The idea behind this event was to collect hygiene kits (these are going to the recent flood and tornado victims) while meeting/visiting with neighbors. Several people worked together to provide yummy desserts and drinks, and we were able to assemble 25 hygiene kits for people in need. The kids had a blast playing together, and the adults enjoyed eating, visiting and watching the kids play.I have no idea how many treats Crosby ate. I lost count. He could reach the table, so every time he walked by he took another brownie, cookie, etc. That was his dinner on Sunday. I think he did at least drink a cup of milk when we came inside.

Alexee wore two tutus to the event. Here she is with her friend.

One neighbor made Symphony Brownies. 1/2 brownie mix in pan, add layer of Symphony bars (she used toffee almond--Y.U.M.), then top with other 1/2 of brownie mix before baking. They were Grrrreat! Today I bought the ingredients to make them!

Assembling kits

Kids rolling down the hill in our front yard

We pray for the families that receive these kits--that they'll have hope and healing!

Another part of the NeighborzRAP ministry is KidzRAP. They have ongoing service projects that are really neat and great ways to get your kids involved. I like the idea of these "Jars of Joy". This would be a great thing to do this summer while the kids are out of school!

"I wanna go, Momma"

Yesterday tried to be warm, but the wind was really chilly. I took the kids to the park for a little while anyway. After all, it won't be long until it's so hot and humid that we won't even want to go to the park. They didn't even notice it being cold--they had a great time! I got an arm work-out pushing all three of them in the swings at the same time. The higher I pushed them, the more they laughed. Crosby loves to slide and doesn't need any help. He's a great climber and has good balance and coordination (he didn't get that from me!). Although he doesn't need any help, R and A still like to try to help him. R insisted C sit beside him this time, and A ran to the bottom of the slide to catch them both. They both love Crosby so much. They get frustrated with him when he tears down their blanket-tents or grabs food off their plates, but they think he is so funny and they're very sweet to include him in things most of the time. I don't know if I've ever written about it, but I don't want to forget that Alexee has an imaginary friend named Layla. When Alexee talks about things we've done, places we've gone, etc. she often adds Layla into the stories. Crosby saw a squirrel and hurried off to chase it. It ran up this tree, and C said, "can't find it."I like this picture of the three of them looking at the little creek that is at the edge of the park. The grass had grown a lot since our last trip to this park, and I was a little bit (a lot) nervous that we were going to see or step on a water snake. I was thinking about it so much that when I stepped on a stick I screamed and jumped!

This morning Rhett had a soccer game at 10:00, and it was C-O-L-D again. (It was a rainy, stormy April here in Arkansas, and so far May has been unusually chilly. My Mom told me tonight that they had built a fire in their fireplace--crazy for this time of year! Maybe it will be in the 80s all through July and August!?) Lane said he'd keep Crosby at home if I wanted to take Rhett to his game. C won't sit and watch at ALL, so one of us is always chasing him around the fields anyway. That was our plan until Crosby heard us talking about it and came up to me and said, "I wanna go, Momma. I wanna go, Momma." He sounded so cute. I picked him up and he put his hands on my face and put his nose right up to mine and told me again that he wanted to go. So we all went, at least for a little while. He is talking non-stop now. Before the game they were all playing upstairs and Alexee started crying. I went up to check on them (her version was that the boys were being mean to her and stealing her toys), and Crosby met me in the hallway. He turned his hands up and shrugged his shoulders and said, "I not know why Lexee cry." Their stories did not match. Oh, and just for my records, C has used the bathroom on the toilet twice now! The first time was a week ago Thursday, the day we left for Branson with Lane's parents. He's shown interest in sitting on the toilet for a while, but he just recently had success! We cheered and clapped last week, and he was so proud of himself. Then one night this week I asked him if he needed to go to the bathroom before he got in the tub and he climbed up and went again. Maybe we will only be buying night-time diapers by the end of the summer!?