End of the Elementary School Year

The end of the school year was very busy. It seemed like there were many activities to occupy the month of May.

One activity was the first grade field day. I volunteered to help with that. Unfortunately, it was raining that day and so they held the field day indoors. I was able to take Paisley and a group of other first graders around to the different stations that were set up. The kids had a lot of fun. Two of the stations were musical chairs and "belly ball" which was interesting!





The 3rd graders put on a program that Avery and I were able to go watch one morning towards the end of school. They did a very good job. Each child had some kind of speaking part and they sang several songs. Easton did a great job. Unfortunately, I was too far back to get pictures during the program, but here is one right after:



Paisley had a great year in first grade. Her teacher said that she was a big help to her and the other students. She made several new friends and had a lot of good experiences. She excelled academically and was at the head of her class. When she finished 1st grade she was reading well above a 4th grade level. We were so proud of her and her accomplishments! Her teacher, Mrs. Brian, was absolutely fantastic! I wish Paisley could have her every year. She is very kind and patient with the students and really cares about them. Paisley LOVED her. On the last day of school she SOBBED when she had to say good bye to Mrs. Brian. It made Mrs. Brian and I both tear up! But, Mrs. Brian was kind enough to give Paisley her phone number so that they could keep in touch over the summer. :)



Easton had a great 3rd grade year. He also met new friends and had some fun experiences. His teacher, as all of his teachers, described him as being the class clown and a very social boy. While this was okay at times, it also got him into a little trouble at times. :) He did very well academically. His report card was usually A's, with some occasional B's. He was able to memorize all of his multiplication facts and did very well with all he was asked to do. His teacher, Mrs. Boren, was a good teacher. He got along with her and seemed to enjoy her class. Unfortunately, when I helped in his class at their party on the last day of school, I forgot to take a picture of him with his teacher. :(

I can't believe that I will have a 4th grader and a 2nd grader next year! Time is going way TOO fast!

End of the year preschool activities!

Avery finished up her first year of preschool in May. She LOVED going to preschool. She had a great teacher and met many new friends.



Towards the end of the year, the kids took a field trip to the zoo and to ride some rides at the park. I invited my friend, Heather, and her two little kids to come with us.








We had a really fun afternoon!

On the last day of preschool, the kids put on a little program for the parents. It was very cute!



They did several little songs with actions:

They did the Chicken Dance:




Sang The Itsy Bitsy Spider with some spider puppets:



They did a fun song with ribbons:



And, sang a song that involved animal puppets:



Afterward, they sat at the tables and had a little picnic together.



I am so glad that preschool was such a fun experience for Avery! We are looking forward to another preschool year this fall!

Roadshow!

This spring, our stake did road shows. I thought that participating in our ward's road show would be a lot of fun for our family. We all got involved. Easton and Paisley were in the cast.

The show consisted of several different stereotypical families.

Paisley's family was the King Family. They were very self righteous and snooty. Paisley was one of the daughters in the family.




Bowing down to her "dad".


Paisley LOVED being onstage! She was very sad when she found out that she didn't have any lines. So, she talked to the director and was able to "write in" her own line. She did a part where she threw a big fit while trick-or-treating because her "mom" wouldn't let her go trick-or-treat at the Addam's family's house. She screamed, "Let me down! I want to go to their house!" She hammed it up, for sure! She got a big laugh from the audience and did a great job!





Easton's family was the Addam's Family, like from the old TV show. Easton played Cousin It.




He looked awesome in his costume!




It was a perfect part for him because he is pretty shy and it made him more comfortable on stage to be disguised. It cracked me up to watch him on stage!

Our ward did a great job! A lot of hard work and hours of time went into the production. I helped gather props, and also helped with the microphones. Dave was in charge of the lighting. So, it was a family affair for us.

We can't forget this little girl, our biggest supporter:



She patiently (most of the time) sat through many rehearsals and hours at the church!

Easter 2011

Easter isn't Easter for me unless we dye some Easter eggs. It is just tradition. Dave, on the other hand, could really do without this tradition. Most years, I just color the eggs with the kids while Dave is at work. This year, I decided that Dave really needed to be in on the fun. But, to make it more bearable for him, we decided to invite our friends to dye eggs with us. This way he at least had another adult male to converse with during the process. :)

We invited ourselves over to our friends, the Kunz's . We brought all the supplies and just used their house, as they had just had a new baby girl. The kids all had a lot of fun, and we did, too. :)






On Easter, the kids woke up to baskets, a new church outfit, and a toy from the Easter bunny.



Easton got new batting gloves for baseball.



Paisley got a hula hoop. (Oh yeah, and her FAVORITE thing, a Justin Bieber shirt!!)



Avery got a pink ball and bat.


It is always fun to hang out with the kids and share their excitement about their gifts and candy!

We spent Easter evening with Dave's family. We had a great dinner and the kids got to go on an Easter egg hunt around the house. It was a great night!

Avery's Friend Birthday Party!

It is officially catch up time for this blog! Get ready for many posts to come, finally!

I let Easton have his first "friend" party for his birthday at age 5. Then, I let Paisley have her first at 4. Avery has been watching Easton and Paisley have friend parties and was constantly asking about having her own party. So, I gave in and let her also have her first friend party at age 4 this year.

We had the party on her actual birthday, which was March 9th. We didn't want to do anything too crazy, so we let her invite 3 friends, one of them being her cousin. We took them to see Tangled and then went to dinner at Pizza Hut afterwards with my parents.




It was the perfect little party! The girls had a lot of fun and were really well behaved.





Avery was in high heaven the whole night. She really felt special! It was really fun to watch her with her friends!



She was spoiled and loved opening all her gifts!





I love Avery so much and am so sad that she is growing so quickly! She really is my little buddy and my sweet helper!



I am so glad we let her have a party because there is nothing better than seeing her smile!