Illahee Monkey

Grant's class went on a field trip to Illahee.  The kids had fun digging up creatures from the sand.

Field Trip to SEEEattle

 Madison got to go on a field trip at the beginning of the month and take photos of architectural elements.  I have to admit I was a bit jealous of that field trip!

Honors Society

Madison does a great job with her school work and is inducted in to Honors Society.

Watercolor Wonder

I taught a Monet inspired art project in Carter's classroom this month.

It reminded me that I love to paint.

AR Champs

Carter and Grant both got gold medals for the 10-11 school year Accelereated Reader (AR) challenge- Hooray for my readers!!! Grant also got the highest number of reading points for all the 1st-3rd graders at his school (those Harry Potter books are worth alot of points).

Seattle Children's Museum Field Trip

I ferried over with the boys to Seattle on a field trip this week to see the play "The Man Who Planted Trees". I almost fell asleep at one point during the play when they had the theater darkened- Ahhh the joys of being pregnant. The boys said they wished they could go on a field trip every day.

Race to the finish!

Madison won first place in a fun run she went to with some friends on the base recently (a race she wasn't initially that excited to do). She was pleased she won, though she speculated if she could get an even better time for her mile if she was "in shape".
The race cars are from a soap box derby that Carter did again for cub scouts this year and Madison's shop class which had a bottle rocket car race.

Gummy Bear Town

For an assignment at school Madison had to construct a cell module. She made such a creative gummy bear town... the only bad thing was that Dad threw it out before we could remove some of the things we wanted to keep from the cell model.

Harvest Day Tea with Reading Buddies

Carter and Grant invited their reading buddies to a Harvest Day Tea in held in their classroom this week. They were gracious hosts- Oh what little gentlemen they were! Serving their friends without even being aked. I wonder how I can get more of that behavior at home...
Jamesy and I came to the tea to take picutes (me) and entertain everyone (James).

Goodbye Sweet Bus

Grant got to ride the bus in the morning to Kindergarten all year long (I picked him up in the afternoons). Next year there will be no bus for this young man bc I will be driving him to school with Carter. Goodbye sweet bus goodbye. I'll miss seeing you stop at my curb to magically wisk my kid away to school.
Grant had to part with his first big front tooth this month as well. Goodbye tooth, hello toothfairy.

The sign says it all

Carter will be at the top of his class next year. His class has 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders in it and he has been waiting for a long time to be a third grader. Now he's finished second grade and is moving on... Thank you Mrs.B for another successful year!

Elementary School is Over

Madison has finished elementary school. Crazy that it's already happened. Yet here we are at her sixth grade promotion celebration. She is seeming so much older lately. Morphing from a kid into a young lady. When milestones like this happen they make me feel hyper-aware of the passage of Time. The fleeting way it sprints past and hops out at you with surprises. Surprise- your kid is done with elementary school. Surprise- high school is over. Surprise- you're married. Surprise- you have four kids. Surprise- one of them is almost a teenager. That Time. He's a prankster.

Gummy Bear Dance

For the end of the year talent show Madison and her friends did a gummy bear dance. If I ever figure out how to put video onto my blog I'll put it on here. I have a fancy video camera, but getting what I video to a place where it can be seen by others is and continues to be an enigma. People who put videos into blogs tell me your secrets...

Olympic Park Institute

Madison and I went to the Olympic Park Institute with her class back in June. We got to soak up three days worth of information from our guide and the world around us. We got incredibly lucky with the weather too because it was beautiful most of the time we were there. My favorite part of the experience was spending some time with Madison and seeing her interact with her friends. OK- I also loved the apple cake we ate one night there. Plus taking picutres without anyone telling me to stop was cool. Some things Madison loved about it were: the "Stayin' Alive" game, fun skits (did you just drool?), sensory walk, hangin' in the cabin, talking about how gross the boys cabin was (they were taking turns getting sick), and learning about the names of the plantlife we abound in and usually ignore.