Today was N's last day of school. He finished his Freshman year! It's so hard to believe ... it kind of feels like it went by in a blur. I took this picture of him right after he got home from school today. It was pouring rain. Weird weather, I know! He had a great year, but I know he's glad to be done with all of the massive homework! Great job, Nathaniel!!
J earned the coveted "Coyote of the Month" at school Friday. Only 1 student per class is picked each month. This is what his teacher said about J: "J is a hard worker in our classroom. He also knows how to treat others with respect. He is caring and enjoys helping others. He loves to participate in class and strives to always have good grades." We are so proud of him!!
T earned one of the Character Counts awards for his class. This month "caring" was the character trait. This MADE HIS DAY!! This is what his wonderful teacher said about T: "T is a sensitive, caring person that treats others kindly. He is always volunteering to help others in class and on the playground. In class, he makes a great Bumblebee and takes this responsibility very seriously. On the playground, he is always earning HOWL tickets for helping pick up playground equipment and cleaning the cafeteria. T is such a delightful boy and I am so thrilled to have him in our class!"
We are so proud of both of our boys!!
N started ... gasp ... High School today! He is SO ready to be in High School. G dropped him off this morning. He is also really looking forward to seminary, and meeting other kids in the stake that go to his High School.
B is starting 7th grade today. He was up and ready to go this morning. He barely said 'goodbye' before he ran off to to the bus stop!
J & T are holding flowers for their teachers. It's a school tradition for each student to bring the teacher a flower. It then becomes part of a class bouquet symbolizing all of the different students in the class. I trimmed them off of one of our rosebushes this morning. J starts 4th grade and T starts 1st grade. J was especially happy about his new binder and school supplies this year. 
Here they are walking side-by-side to school this morning. J was very helpful.
Here's T with his new 1st grade teacher. He was a bit nervous. I walked him into his classroom and it helped him seeing some of his friends. Right before I left, he whispered to me that he was scared. It broke my heart! I know he'll do fine, but it will take some adjusting to being in school all day. He still likes a good nap!
Well, this is the FIRST time that all of my boys will be in school for the full day! Definitely a new phase in my life.
N was officially promoted from Middle School on Wednesday, June 2nd. He has loved his time at this middle school. The staff is great!! Grandpa was able to join us for the promotion ceremonies, too! We had great seats in the bleachers, and could see N very well. It was a very nice ceremony. High School, here he comes!!!! Class of '14!
... Then I had to make a mad dash over to T's kindergarten picnic. That's another story ...
Grandpa was able to come see both boys receive their awards on Friday at the school. They were at different times, but it all worked out. Dad even came back from work to be there for both of the boys.
J with his awesome 3rd grade teacher. J won the very prestigious Coyote of the Month award for his class. His teacher had some very nice things to say about J. He's a wonderful boy who is excelling in school and is a friend to everyone. We're very proud of him.
T with his Kindergarten teacher. He earned one of the two "Character" awards for Caring in his class this month. He was SO excited!! After he got the award, his biggest concern was whether or not he had to stick it out at school for another 15 minutes or if he could just come home with us. We took him home. Actually, we walked home and once we got home, I realized that he RODE HIS BIKE to school! I had to go back and get it.
I surprised J with a McDonald's meal today! T and I waited until his lunch recess was about over (he has recess before lunch), and brought him his surprise. He was very excited about it. Not so much about me taking his picture! He enjoyed his Pajama Day, and REALLY enjoyed the surprise.
Here's T with K and G before school, getting ready to take a yearbook picture of the Walk to School Club. Fun to see all of the kiddos in their PJ's. Many of the kids brought a favorite stuffed animal.
So, T brought Cloppy, his horse!
Here are the boys walking to school in their PJ's. So, I meant for this photo to be first, but my computer is not cooperating, and I can't shift it. Friday was Pajama Day at the school. T finally got his turn to be the Star Helper in his Kindergarten class this past week. He woke up with some serious 'bed-head' and was ready to get his Legos ready for his share item. This was VERY important!
After we loaded up the cooler bag with string cheese and grapes for the class snack, we headed to the school. T got to be the 'line leader' all day and the special helper in class. At snack time, the class sang the "Thank You" song to him. He LOVED it all!
Here's T at the head of the line before school started. He was thrilled to have this privilege!
This morning, we headed out to catch the 'walking school bus'. T kept thinking that we were going to be getting on a real yellow school bus ... so I think he was a bit disappointed. It was kind of neat to see most of the students walking to school this morning. Students were also asked to wear red, white and blue today in commemoration of 9/11.
C'mon mom! Seriously ... you want me to pose with Cody?? YEP!
I caught one of the many Frisbees that were tossed out to the crowd of students. So I gave it to J. I ended up catching another one and so I gave it to our friend, C. They also bounced beach balls around and tossed out key chains. There was bottled water, bananas, bagels, and fruit leather for the students. It was a very fun way to start the day at school this morning.
I know that J doesn't look to happy in any of these photos. I think he gets sick of my camera. Oh well. Too bad!
N & B had to rise early this morning. The bus comes @ 7:15 am this year (last year, it came @ 7:25 am). They were both excited about going to school this morning. N begins 8th grade this year. 
B has been looking forward to going to Middle School. I'm glad that he gets one year at middle school with N. B begins 6th grade.
J was not so excited about school starting. It was hard to get him to smile. He has LOVED our summer. We had a blast. He started 3rd grade today.
Here's T holding a flower from our yard. T & J each brought one for their teacher this morning. It's a school tradition: each student brings 1 flower for the teacher to add to a class bouquet to show the diversity of the class. It was a big morning for T: he started Kindergarten today!
Dad even got to walk with us to the school this morning. He got J settled in his class while I waited with T. Later, I ran over to J's class to get a little peek and snap a picture. I saw a smile sneeking out!!
J seemed to be settling in just fine. He knows several kids in his class, so he's happy about that. After school, the boys all reported having a good day. T is still a little unsure about Kindergarten. He was worn out and took a chunky nap already! So, we are getting back into the swing of things around here. Soccer practices start this week, too. We'll get back into a rhythm ... eventually ...
Tuesday was also the open house for the Middle School. There wasn't a whole lot to see, but it was nice to say hi to a couple of his teachers and see some of his work. B liked being able to see the campus and the classrooms, especially since he will be attending there starting August.
Wednesday night was open house for the elementary school. Here's J and his teacher, Mrs. Saldana. J has had a wonderful year in 2nd grade and has done really well academically. We are so proud of him and all of his hard work. It has been fun coming in as the Art Docent. I loved seeing J at school. Today, Friday, was the last time I came in for Art. We finished up by decorating our portfolio bags. I had to bring T with me this morning. He wasn't too happy about it because he'd rather be home playing with his new Legos.
Here's B with his teacher, Mrs. Annicchero. B also had a great year and a wonderful teacher. She really appreciated B's 'out-of-the-box' thinking and encouraged it. I also came in once a month to do art docent in B's class. Very fun! I'm so glad that I had another mom help out because it's a little more challenging with 32 students! Although B had a great year in 5th grade, he's very ready to move up to Middle School.
Thursday, the preschool gathered at the park and played for a couple of hours. Here, T is with one of his teacher's, Miss Jenn. We all brought assigned food to share & had fun hanging out. The kids played at the playground, ate, then had fun with water 'guns/sticks' -- I don't know what to call them! Below, T and his friend, G, are spraying each other and having a blast!
Thursday was also T's 5th birthday. He loved that he got to see all of his preschool friends @ the park. So fun.
Later, T FINALLY got to open his family gifts. He was SO happy to receive lots of Legos. B was drooling over the camper. Oh well! Then, we went to Leatherby's to celebrate even more.
Friday morning, T & I went over to the school to decorate art bags in J's class. We got to see B working AND have him help us in the crosswalk. Cool!
As we were leaving the Art Room, we saw B's class doing PE. So we stopped by and watched and said 'hello'.
It took us more than 30 minutes to get home this morning because we had to stop and look at bugs along the way. He loves rolly-polly's and lady bugs. He also picked me a boquet of dandilions. He wanted to get a picture of me and my beautiful flowers. I love it!! So, T took the next picture of me trying to hold the dandilions of all different sizes. Not too bad for a 5 year-old! 
Here we are before the play began. We had 2nd row seats! We really enjoyed the play.
I also went into B's classroom to present another Art lesson on Wednesday. We used oil pastels and cut out pictures from wall paper or fabric to add texture and perspective. The theme was 'Artists Show Space' ... as in perspective.
I also made a quick appearance in J's class when I dropped off brownies for his Valentine's Day party. 
