Last Day of School

The last day of school was a week ago!  It was also awards day.  Camden got a medal for all-year honor roll.

After the LONG ceremony, everyone either left or went back to their classroom for the rest of the day.  Camden wanted to stay for the last class store.  I wanted her to participate in a new tradition.

The graduating seniors went back to their elementary schools and walked the halls in their cap & gowns while the elementary students cheered them on.  Since Waveland no longer has an elementary school, those students came to New Market.  We dug out our old Waveland gear and cheered them on.

They were blasting, "Celebrate Good Times" over the school speakers.  It was a fun atmosphere.

Then back to the class for indoor recess (it was raining).  I was going to take her home after the store, but then Mr. Chadd said they were going to have a raisin fight at the end of the day.  Apparently, they have all been saving raisins from their breakfast meals for a massive fight.  I didn't have time to stick around for pictures and Camden wanted to stay for the excitement.  I'm not sure a raisin fight would have been enough incentive for me to stay at school on the last day...but it worked for her. 

Memorial Day

We didn't go to the 500 this year so that Kevin could work.  Needless to say, it was a low-key weekend.  Well, minus the small tornado/straight line winds on Friday.  But Gramma Pat came over on Monday to spend the day with us.

We picked up Paxton and headed to Up the Creek for lunch.  Camden topped her meal off with a hot fudge brownie sundae...with four spoons so we could all share.

We then headed to a nearby Amish greenhouse and got starts and seeds for our garden.  The rain really needs to stop so we can get this thing planted!

Poor Kitty

He finally got declawed...and wasn't excited about the drive to the vet.

It's the Small Things in Life

I have been wanting this forever.

Glad to finally have a place and yard that makes a clothesline possible.  Especially glad to have a husband and daughter who can put one up.

Funny story...Kevin went to several stores to find poles and no one carries them in store.  He was chatting with a friend who works in the hunting department at Big R.  The guy asked if Kevin found what he was looking for.  When Kevin told him that they didn't have clothesline poles in the store, that he would have to order them online, the guy said, "Well, my project this weekend was to take down our old clothesline poles, we don't use it anymore."  Kevin asked how much and the guy told him it was his for the taking.  Better than spending $125!  And they are the old school ones - very solid.  Now it just has to stop raining!

First Day....Last Day

 

 

After we took her pictures this morning she said, "Remember we were at the apartment on the first day and now we are in our house.  And we love our house!"

Flowers and Fun

Our flowers have taken off this week.  A picture from Mother's Day shows roses buds and little else.

 

They looked gorgeous this past Sunday, along with the bushes starting to bloom.

Even the trellis has some blossoms.

Last night I stepped outside to watch Camden and Kevin ride around the yard and couldn't believe how gorgeous they all continued to be.

But the real story of the night was Kevin letting Camden take the controls.

Roald Dahl

Camden did an oral book report last week.  Each kid had to read a biography and then prepare a report.  They got points for dressing up like their individual, content of the material, props, and presentation.

Camden read about Roald Dahl. He is probably best know for writing children's books such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, and many others.  However, he also married actress Patricia Neal, wrote screen plays for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and several episodes of Hitchcock TV shows, and invented a few medical devices.  Quite the story.

Camden wrote out her speech on note cards and then had a prop for different aspects of his life.  She practiced it twice for me.  The first time she read the cards the entire time.  She had already told me that Mr. Chadd instructed them to not read from their cards, so she did a second time and very purposefully only looked at her cards for prompts.  It was quite good.  Then she did it for Daddy and Papaw.

She looked adorable as a frumpy English man.

Thankfully her teacher took a picture and sent to me, because I forgot.  She had to get herself dressed and did a good job getting that too big shirt tucked in...and hanging out of the suspenders just made him more realistic.

Her props were:

Cadbury chocolate bar: the boarding school he attended as a child was in the town were these candies were made.  The boys got to taste test the chocolate.  This was where the idea for Charlie came from.

Toy war airplane: Roald joined the British Royal Air Force and was a fighter pilot in WWII.

Pictures of Roald & Patricia and their children.

First Aid Kit: Roald's child was hit by a taxi and had a brain injury.  Roald helped invent a drain to help with swelling and fluid.

BFG book:  One of the famous books Roald wrote was The BFG (big friendly giant).  She listed several of the books in her report.

Gobstoppers:  They had to talk about the contributions this person made to the world.  She mentioned his inventions, his books, and how he inspired new candies - like Gobstoppers.  After her speech, she gave all the kids a few candies and Mr. Chadd the Cadbury bar.

She really, really did a good job with this whole project!  Her teacher even emailed me that morning.

Talk about one proud mom and dad!

Lusk Magic Show

For a celebration of I-Step completion, the PTO hired a magician to do a school assembly.  He was hilarious!  Camden laughed so hard...well all the kids did.

Her favorite part was the ending where her teacher, Mr. Chadd, was called to participate.  I had tears running down my face I was laughing so hard.

Lunch With Your Kids

As a volunteer appreciation, the PTO had a lunch catered for parents/grandparents who went above and beyond at our events this year.  We held it in the shelter at school (which we raised money for and built this past year) and catered it for both adult and their child(ren).

Gramma Pat and Kevin have been roped into so many events this year that I was glad both could come and spend lunch with Camden.

...and me!

And So It Begins

No I don't just mean mowing our yard.  He is prepping this area.

For our garden.

Because of the rain, we weren't able to start in time for potatoes, but we will have lots of corn, tomatoes, beans, peppers, onions, zucchini, cucumbers, etc.  We even decided to expand it a bit after the first tilling.  It's a big plot.

Grandmas be on the lookout for a canning/freezing party at the end of the summer.  Hope to provide some for everyone. Cause freezer corn and canned beans and tomato juice are a must!  Oh...and salsa...and pickles...and zucchini bread...and...

Mother's Day Dinner

On Saturday night we had some of our favorite moms over for dinner.  Gramma Pat, GaGa, Aunt Carole, and Amanda joined us.

We enjoyed pulled pork, turkey, mac & cheese, cole slaw, and a salad.  For dessert I got pies from Shady Rails Farm - a delicious cherry and a butterscotch cream.

 

  

It was a beautiful night so time outside before and after dinner was a must.

Olivia and Luke had such a good time jumping over the rope as the two grandma's held it.  

We also discovered that we have two orioles that have made our yard their home.  Gonna put some oranges out for them to enjoy.

Such a lovely day together.