Our Busy 4th Grader

Before school let out for summer break, Kaleb had LOTS going on! On Derek's birthday, Kaleb attended his school's annual lock-in at the middle school. He met his AR (Accelerated Reader) goal every quarter to be able to attend this lock-in. Yay! From 3-11pm he had lots of crazy fun with his friends. The biggest event of the night is the dodge ball tournament, complete with posted brackets and a championship game. Teams of 6 are formed ahead of time, and many teams wear matching shirts. Kaleb's team had matching face paint. :) Although they didn't make it to the championship game, Kaleb and his teammates beat the teachers. That's almost a bigger deal than winning it all.

Kaleb and two of his teammates

It is SO loud in this room!

 I enjoy volunteering at this event because it's one big party! There's lots of treats, lots to do, and lots of music and dancing. Kaleb wouldn't dance to the Macarena...but I did! :) However, 2 hours was enough fun for me--I don't know how the teachers and kids last until 11!

There are just as many inflatables behind me as there are in front of me!

Derek took Kaleb turkey hunting the next afternoon. They saw plenty of turkeys and enjoyed their time together. Maybe next time Kaleb will get his bird.

What boy doesn't love rocks, right? The rock museum was a fun project for Braylen in 4th grade, so I was glad Kaleb got to do it too. He used Braylen's display board, but found his own rocks and made a game with them. :) On Monday both 4th grade classes displayed their rocks, so of course I took some pictures.

The museum spread throughout three classrooms.

The next day the 4th graders put together a project for Social Studies. Kaleb dressed up like Father Flanagan, the founder of Boys Town. When I put a coin in the cup on his desk he "came to life" and read his script out loud. I had fun visiting other kids dressed up in character as well. The girl next to Kaleb is dressed up like Barbie. If you know Kaleb at all, you'll understand why that's funny. :)

Later on that same day, Kaleb played the piano in the talent show. He played the same song he'll be playing for his piano recital in June, so this was a great rehearsal for that. He did well!

Kaleb playing "Mockingbird."

Good thing school has ended by now...Kaleb (and his mom) are ready for some down time! This turned out to be such a fantastic school year for Kaleb. He grew in lots of areas, and I can hardly believe he'll be a 5th grader this fall. Stay close, little boy...you are so special to me.

Spring-Summer

Tomorrow is the last day of school! The calendar says it's spring, but it's the beginning of our summer. It seems like I just watched Braylen walk to middle school for the first time, and now here we are. He received some awards at the 6th grade recognition assembly last week, and I want to do a little bragging on him. :) For the first time ever, one of our kids received a perfect attendance award--Braylen! He also scored high on his achievement tests, WordMasters tests, and was one of seven students to receive the "big" award of the year from his team teachers. It's for "demonstrating safety, respect, responsibility, and resourcefulness throughout the school year and doing so in such a manner that makes him a standout from other students." Go Braylen! My God be glorified through your life! We are SO thankful for an incredible year of 6th grade!!!

Kaleb's been very busy at school these past two weeks, and I will post more about his activities another time. When I asked him what he will miss the most about 4th grade he replied, "My teacher." I'm so thankful for excellent teachers! Aaron's been moaning and groaning about school for a while now, so I'm pretty sure he won't miss much. Ha! I'm ready for a slower pace. I'm ready to have my kids at home with me. I think. :) Moving on...

We have a robin's nest in our backyard maple tree this spring, and she has 5 eggs in there! We call her "Mother Robin," and enjoy spying on her in the nest. :) Since it's so close to our back patio, I don't even need any "robinoculars!" (That's for you Mom!)

Look behind the big branch.
Her tail feathers are on the left, and her head is on the right.

Such pretty eggs!

Aaron's late birthday party was a success! The boys played with their Nerf guns and watched Aaron open gifts in the camper. (It's so easy to please them at this age!) After eating the Angry Birds birthday cookie, Derek and I loaded up Aaron + 4 friends to go mini-golfing. We had the course to ourselves, and everyone had a great time. I felt better knowing I had given Aaron the party he waited patiently for.

He wore this white shirt so it would glow in the black lights!

That's all for now...I'll use the second half of May to play catch-up on my blog. Derek had a birthday last week and we really did celebrate him! We're also planning a fun end-of-the-school-year-celebration this weekend...Happy Spring-Summer! :)

Pretty Columbines in my backyard

Special Days

There's still lots going on in our family, which means it's been pretty quiet on my blog. That's just how it is in May. Yesterday, Mother's Day, was not a relaxing day for me. With Derek working at church until 12:30, and then working at graduation at 1:30, and attending an open house at supper...it sure didn't feel like Mother's Day. But that's okay, because I have all day today to myself. :) I've watched an episode of The Middle, set sprinklers in the yard for Derek, and took all the time I wanted in getting ready this morning. Happy Mother's Day to me. :) The best part of my day yesterday was spent chatting with my mom on FaceTime. I sat at my kitchen table and it felt like she sat here with me. Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Remember how I said I'd share more about Kaleb's field trip? He and I spent an entire day living like a pioneer. Well, we experienced the FUN parts of pioneer life. I helped out in the Freighter's Hotel, making corn husk angels with the 4th graders. Kaleb also did some tin hole punching, bead work, sewing, and played several pioneer games. He learned how they prepared food without the modern appliances we have today, and sampled some homemade bread and butter. Lunch was so good...stew and johnny cake, apple crisp and lemonade, served up on tin plates and cups. I was the last one to make it to the lunch line, and Kaleb left his place at the front of the line to join me in the back. My boy. :) We shared a nice lunch together where he told me, all on his own, that it made him feel special to have me there helping out. That made all of my volunteering worth it for sure. When I left Pioneer Days and drove home in my minivan, I pondered all that I did that day with Kaleb and cherished each moment.

The girls wore long skirts and aprons, while the boys wore vests.

Pioneer Days

A tepee and steam locomotive were just a few of the fun things the kids experienced.

One of the games pioneer kids played. Kaleb was quite good at this one!

I have so much more to write about, but it will just have to wait until later. I'm off to visit Kaleb's rock museum! :)

Outside and Loving It

This time of the year is lots of fun, but it's filled with so many things I find it hard to write about it all! School is out in one week. Awana and youth group are finished for the year. We've already had our first camping trip of the season. We're riding our bikes and running and jumping on the hay bales. (Well, I'm not running and jumping on hay bales, but I'm pretty sure that's stating the obvious!) Braylen and Kaleb competed in a track meet on Saturday. Kaleb and Aaron have had fun field trips, and I was blessed to go along for both of them.

I took our boys fishing and Braylen brought a friend. They put their own worms on!

Aaron's first books he checked out with his very own library card, all about turtles!

Our Awana boys and Awana nieces

Ginger had her surgery on 5/1 and is healing nicely. This afternoon I took her to the vet for a quick check--I was concerned her stitches weren't holding--but all is well. Poor girl has to wear the "cone of shame" for at least another week. At least she's coping better than she did the first two days.

She wears the cone of shame with dignity. :)

We had great camping weather the one day/night we camped. I learned how much work it is to camp for one day...next time we'll stay at least two nights to spread out the work a bit!

The boys brought their Star Wars guys and set up quite a display!

Some of these figures belong to my brother. We'll give them back someday so my
nephew can play with them too!

Of course Aaron found a toad, and worked very hard to keep Ginger away from it.

Derek's tradition is to play trac ball with the boys when we camp. In this picture
I see all 4 of them!

A campfire is a must!

On May Day I made some cute little "baskets" for the boys to deliver to the neighbor kids. Kaleb and Aaron used walkie talkies and stationed themselves around our house to catch anyone who tried to leave a May basket on our doorstep. I love May Day because the kids stay outside all afternoon and run around with the neighbor kids. Can't they do that every day? When Aaron prayed that night he said, "Thank you for this day that was so-so-so-so-so-so-so-plus-infinity much fun!" Braylen had fun delivering a basket to his buddy Hunter, but flat out refused to take any baskets to the neighbor kids.

Aaron made his May Day hat in school. Isn't it great?!

At the track meet, Braylen placed 2nd in standing long jump, and 2nd in the 800 meter run. Kaleb ran in the 100 and 200, and placed 4th in the 200. We packed a picnic lunch and I realized how much I enjoy watching track meets instead of participating in track meets! Derek works with the boys to stretch their muscles and get warmed up before their races. I love that.

Braylen is the one in the red shorts, flying into the sand. :)

Next time I will write about my field trip with Kaleb. It's late, I'm tired, and tomorrow I'm having Aaron's birthday party with his friends. Yes, his birthday was almost a month ago, and Derek's birthday is this Friday. But my motto is and will always be, "Better late than never!" :)