Lauren's Graduation

Yesterday, Lauren graduated from Kitty Stone Elementary School. I really didn't expect it to bother me, but as I was sitting there during the ceremony, it hit me that my child was leaving the safety of the elementary school and heading into another chapter of her life - Junior High School. The thought of it terrifies me. For whatever reason, I felt that she was safe while she was in elementary school, but I don't have those same feelings about sending her to Junior High. Maybe it is because she will technically be at the High School, but just in another building on the campus.

Lauren received a ribbon and a certificate for AB Honor Roll, a pin and a certificate for the Presidential Academic Excellence Award, and a certificate for citizenship (basically this is a good conduct award). She also received an Elementary School Diploma.

Congratulations, Lauren. Mom and Dad are very proud of you.

Locks of Love

Lauren has wanted to do Locks of Love for several years now, but we were trying to let her hair grow long enough so that she would have some hair left when we cut it. Lauren has really wanted to do it since Megan and Hillary lost their hair during their chemotherapy treatments. So, when we went in for a trim last night, Lauren asked Jennifer to go ahead and cut her hair.

Here is the after picture with Lauren holding her hair that she will donate. Oh, and that cute little baby is Ethan. Ethan is the son of my friend, Jenifer. Lauren loves carrying him around everywhere. I think Ethan is going to be as big as Lauren soon. :)

Logan's End of Year Program

Last night, we attended Logan's End of Year Program at Wee Care. The class sang some songs and did a Kindergarten Chant, which Logan lead. He giggled through most of it, but did a great job. Then the class did a play of The Little Red Hen and Logan played the part of the cat. Afterwards, they were presented with a diploma from Wee Care.

Next week will be Logan's last week to attend Wee Care. We have had a child in Wee Care since August of 1996. So, after nearly twelve years - we are finally getting a pay raise!

Yard Work

After Logan's t-ball game on Saturday, we decided to get busy working on an area of our yard that has been neglected for some time. We decided to clear out some of the small trees to make room for a trampoline that Nonna and Papa gave to the kids. Ma-maw, Pa-paw, and Aunt Laura were there to help. After helping Neil with some trees, Pa-paw decided he needed some rest and sat his chair right in the sun. Lindsey decided Pa-paw needed some shade and picked up one of the small trees that had been cut down and shaded him. Logan decided he would take a rest too.

Here is what the area looked like before we got started. The drought last year killed a lot of our grass, but we are hoping that we can get it to grow again as long as we keep getting the much needed rain. So, hopefully that big dirt spot will eventually be grass. :)

Here is what it looks like now with the trampoline in place. We also moved the playhouse up to that area, so the kids have a nice shaded play area. We have some more work to do, but the kids have thoroughly enjoyed their new space.

On Sunday afternoon, the kids enjoyed a picnic on the trampoline.

Thanks to Nonna and Papa for the trampoline and thanks to Ma-maw, Pa-paw, and Aunt Laura for help clearing the area. We did have a few new visitors in the yard Sunday to check out what we did.

Author's Tea

In the second grade at Kitty Stone Elementary, the kids get to write and illustrate their very own book. The book is printed and bound and then the children illustrate the story. They have the "Author's Tea" at the end of the school year and present the bound books to the children.After all the books are handed out, the children meet up with their parents and/or visitors and read their book to their parents or visitors and then a reception follows.

Lindsey's book was titled, The Living Rose. It was very creative and she did a great job with the illustrations. Thankfully, this reception was prior to lunch because that one pettifore wasn't going to last long. :)

Logan's Field Trip

Today I went with Logan's pre-school class to the Anniston Museum of Natural History. The kids all had t-shirts that they had made at school that were very cute. They had different animals on their shirts and they were to look for all the different animals that they had studied in the past few weeks.

Logan enjoyed seeing the animals, but his favorite thing about the museum, besides the gift shop, was the Discovery room. He loved the earthquake simulator.

Logan's favorite activity for the day...digging pennies out of the water in the cave section of the museum. When I caught Logan and Jaelyn each with a handful of pennies, I made them throw them all back. Of course, they made a few wishes with their "borrowed" pennies.

Mother's Day

Logan's special painted flower pot.
No 'Lion' You're the best!Logan and mom

At daycare, they have "Muffins with Mom" on the Friday before Mother's Day. Last Friday was my last "Muffins with Mom.", since Logan will be going to school in the fall. It was a little bittersweet. I'm going to miss all the special crafts that they make at daycare - the teachers always make sure Mother's Day is special. I'm not going to miss making that monthly payment to the daycare, however. Logan's teacher, Mrs. Annette, said that Logan proudly painted my flower pot life a giraffe. It was truly one of a kind. Of course, I am very proud of it. I have nine other hand-painted Mother's Day flower pots proudly displayed in my office. I don't remember the count from each child, but they are all priceless.

Neil cooked for me on Saturday and Sunday, but I had to buy myself a gift. I purchased a very comfy pair of Yellow Box flip-flops. Logan made Neil pick out a singing card for me - which was very cute. Logan wanted to keep the card for himself later. :) The girls made me some special cards at church and Lindsey made me a few other cards and certificates at school. I have already cashed in a few for hugs and kisses.

LifeSchool Musical

Last Wednesday, the 5th and 6th grade choir from our church along with the 5th - 7th grade choir from another local church performed "LifeSchool Musical." They did a great job! The message was awesome.

Lauren had a speaking part and she did really well. She had a few delays on saying her lines, but she wasn't the only one. Lauren also did a great job with her solo. I tried to video the production, but I ran out of memory on my camera and my tape ran out on my video camera. I am getting a copy from the church on DVD. I imagine we will be enjoying this for many years to come.