Last Day of School

Yesterday was the last day of school. It was of course filled with nothing but tests and hard work, right? Not quite...I just don't remember end of school parties being so fun I guess. Both Michael and Trevor's grades ended up at the same park for the day, with pizza delivered for all of them. They did a good job keeping the big and little kids separate from each other so there were not any problems. Plus, it was really convenient for me to pop in with the water balloons for Trevor's class and even sneak a couple of pictures of Michael playing basketball with some friends without embarrassing him too much. I do have to say that some of Michael's "girl" friends saw me & Jake talking with Michael and they just kept saying, "oh your little brother is soooo cute Michael". It was pretty funny, especially the conversation we had later in the car about it. I think Michael is starting to realize his little siblings can be useful when it comes to some things - ha!

MICHAEL AND LOUIE TAKING A BREAK FROM BASKETBALL

Trevor was at the park for a few hours. During that time I don't think he did anything but eat pizza and doing the following with his friends...

TREVOR AND HIS FRIENDS PLAYING POKEMON

1 HOUR LATER, DIFFERENT PART OF THE PARK...STILL PLAYING POKEMON!

This isn't something they have really done previously this year, but apparently Pokemon is now making a comeback with these 8 year olds. Towards the end of the school day I was helping with Hayley's class party and Jake and I walked past Trevor's class, so I peeked in. Yep, you got it - there was a group of boys gathered around Trevor's desk playing Pokemon!

Hayley's class party was cute. By the time we had got there, the kids had already decorated bucket hats and cute tiles, and were eating ice cream cups with sprinkles. It was a fun end to a great school year for all of the kids.

HAYLEY AND HER FRIENDS AT THE TABLE, EATING ICE CREAM

JAKE TRYING TO SHARE HIS ICE CREAM WITH ME

Oh, yes...in case anyone was wondering, everybody passed with flying colors and will be going on to 7th, 3rd and 1st grades in August. We celebrated last night by Michael meeting his friends to see the Indiana Jones movie (again!) while the other kids and I hung out at a Chick-fil-a close by. They loved having 2 hours to eat and play (that never happens), so it was really a treat for them. It was Michael's first time going to the movies alone with friends (gulp), but don't worry, he had a blast and I survived the experience :)

SUMMERTIME HERE WE COME!

"Leaf" it to the Cubs!

For pack meeting this week Trevor's Cub Scout Den planted a tree at the church. It had been raining pretty hard that evening but cleared up just long enough to plant the tree.





They also made leaf impressions using a hammer and leaves, and bird feeders with milk cartons, peanut butter and birdseed. The younger kids all love these pack meetings, or as they call them "Family Scouts" since they always get to do the fun activities as well. They have the best Cub leaders ever!

Happy UNBirthday to Hayley

Because Hayley's birthday is in the summer, her teacher assigned her a day the last week of school to celebrate her "unbirthday" and bring a healthy treat to share with the class. Hayley decided she wanted to bring bagels with cream cheese and the class loved it!

HAPPY UNBIRTHDAY TO YOU HAYLEY!

Trevor's 2nd Grade Awards

Trevor had his 2nd grade award ceremony on Friday. This year they did things a little different. Instead of taking forever and calling each kid up, they did a fun slide show of all the kids, called out lists of names for different achievements like honor roll, excellent conduct all year, perfect attendance, etc, and just had the kids stand up when they called their name. Then with the rest of the time they let the kids do quick talents, mainly funny poems, short piano pieces, and a song. They all sang together "Deep in the Heart of Texas" and were all really cute.

Trevor came home from school last week and said he was going to play the piano for the awards. Really? Because he hasn't really practiced since his recital in April since his teacher had a baby a few weeks ago. So I didn't really pay much attention to his comment about playing until his teacher stops me at school on Thursday afternoon and tells me about it. She laughed when she heard he was only practicing at school. But he did a good job on "Old McDonald" and had a cute bow at the end.



In the older grades the magnet foreign language teacher picks one "Outstanding Student" in their language and that student receives a trophy. This year Trevor was the "Most Oustanding Chinese Student". Way to go Trevor!


JAKE AND TREVOR SHOWING OFF THE TROPHY FOR CHINESE.

In addition to being recognized for the Chinese award, Trevor was also singled out for Honor Roll, Excellent Conduct all year, being one of the top 3 readers in all of 2nd grade in the AR program, and was voted by his classmates as the "Citizen of the Year" in his class. As his teacher said later to me, "Trevor did alright for himself this year, didn't he?!"

The most remarkable thing about this was Trevor did NOT like to read going into school this year. Last summer I had to nag him everyday to read for the reading program at the library. But something clicked early on in 2nd Grade and he has truly learned to love reading. I love it when he comes to me with a book and says I should read it, or when I bust him reading in his room 1 hr past bedtime. So to go from not enjoying reading to loving it...more than video games most days, is one of the greatest accomplishments of his year - yea Trevor!

TREVOR AND HIS HOMEROOM/ENGLISH TEACHER, MRS. WARD


TREVOR AND HIS MATH/SCIENCE TEACHER, MRS. MINIFEE

SOME SCHOOL PICTURES OF TREVOR FROM THIS YEAR....

TREVOR ON THE FIRST DAY OF SECOND GRADE - AUGUST 2007

TREVOR AT THE CHINESE CONSULATE W/OLYMPIC MASCOT - SEPT 2007

TREVOR PERFORMING AT INTERNATIONAL NIGHT - OCT 2007

TREVOR EATING LUNCH WITH GRAMMY AND GRANDADDY FOR GRANDPARENTS DAY - NOV 2007

OUR GROUP AT NASA FIELD TRIP - DEC 2007

TREVOR AND JAKE ON FREE DRESS DAY - JAN 2008

TREVOR SHOWING HIS MOVES AT CHINESE NEW YEAR PERFORMANCE

TREVOR READY FOR GO TEXAN DAY - MARCH 2008

TREVOR SHOWING HIS STUFF AT FIELD DAY - MAY 2008

Great job this year Trev - we love you!

Indiana Jones

Saturday morning Don & I took Michael and Trevor to a private screening of the new Indiana Jones movie that a friend from law school/attorney Don does some work with now, invited us to. His firm was hosting it, so everything was totally free...even the popcorn and the soda. Very nice - they even gave out free Indy hats and rubber snakes at the end! The movie was great and we all really enjoyed it. You wouldn't think popcorn at 10 am would be that appetizing..but it was! A big thanks to my friend Maria for watching Jake and Hayley for us! They had so much fun with her & it was great to sit and enjoy a movie without worrying about someone getting scared...and this movie would have done it! As Trevor said before the movie "I already have goosebumps!" and it was "totally awesome!".

Fun Times

Last week we had lots of fun...

YODA SODAS FOR FAMILY NIGHT TREATS ON MONDAY

TUESDAY EVENING, MAKING DOZENS OF MICKEY MOUSE COOKIES WITH MICHAEL FOR PART OF A MAJOR DISNEY RESEARCH PROJECT AT SCHOOL

HAYLEY'S KINDERGARTEN AWARD CEREMONY WITH MOM AND JAKE ON WEDNESDAY

JAKE MAKING A CHICKEN AT STORYTIME AT THE LIBRARY LATER ON WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY WAS A HOME DAY, BABYSITTTING AND CATCHING UP ON LAUNDRY...SORRY NO PICTURES :)

TREVOR'S 2ND GRADE AWARD CEREMONY/PERFORMANCE ON FRIDAY (MORE ON THAT COMING SOON!)

HAYLEY'S COLORFUL PLAYDATE FRIDAY AFTERNOON WITH HER FRIEND KATIE...CHECK OUT THOSE NAILS!

CATCHING THE INDIANA JONES PREMIRE ON SATURDAY MORNING!

Hayley's Kindergarten Year

OUR SUPERKID, HAYLEY!

Wednesday morning Hayley had her kindergarten award ceremony. She was so excited. The 4 classes all combined to sing a fun song about "You be you, and I'll be me, that's the way we were meant to be". It's the same song all the kinder classes sing every year, and it still gets me, even after 3 times.

It's hard to believe the school year is drawing to a close. Hayley has learned so many things this year, from learning the alphabet, writing sentences, READING!, tying shoes, and even doing the monkey bars on every playground she can! Look how Hayley has grown this year!

HAYLEY AT KINDERGARTEN MIXER THE WEEK BEFORE SCHOOL STARTED - AUGUST 2007

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL - AUGUST 2007

HAYLEY AS PRINCESS LEIA FOR "DRESS LIKE A CHARACTER FROM A BOOK" ON HALLOWEEN (Yes, we really do have a book with Princess Leia in it!) - OCTOBER 2007

GRANDPARENTS DAY AT SCHOOL, HAYLEY ENJOYING LUNCH WITH GRAMMY AND GRANDADDY - NOVEMBER 2007

HAYLEY ON HER FIRST FIELD TRIP - CHILDREN'S MUSUEM, FEBRUARY 2008

PERFORMING AT THE CHINESE COMMUNITY CENTER FOR CHINESE NEW YEAR - FEBRUARY 2008

CUTE HAIR DAY AT SCHOOL - FEBRUARY 2008

SINGING "IF YOUR HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT, FLY A KITE" IN 5 LANGUAGES AT THE SPRING PRERFORMANCE - APRIL 2008

GETTING SOAKED BY HER TEACHER ON FIELD DAY - HAYLEY'S FAVORITE STATION OF THE DAY! - MAY 2008

WORKING ON HER DAILY HAPPY FACE PAGE IN THE CLASSROOM - MAY 2008

HAYLEY MAKING HER STEPPING STONE FOR THE ALPHABET GARDEN - MAY 2008

RECEIVING HER AWARDS FROM THE PRINCIPAL AND MRS. HOYOS

HAYLEY AND PART OF HER CLASS ON THE BRIDGE IN THE COURTYARD AFTER THE AWARD CEREMONY - MAY 2008

HAYLEY AND HER KINDERGARTEN TEACHER, MRS. HOYOS

MASTERING THE MONKEY BARS


MONKEYING AROUND ON THE MONKEY BARS, HAYLEY'S FAVORITE THING TO DO ON THE PLAYGROUND

DOESN'T SHE LOOK LIKE SHE'S READY FOR 1ST GRADE?!!

WE LOVE YOU HAYLEY!