Homework.

She was so proud to take this on the first day of school. :)

Kindergarten Graduation.

Harris has been bringing home information about a "Kindergarten Awards" ceremony in his Friday folder for the last couple of weeks.  To be honest, I really didn't think much about it.  We've been super busy and Babe's formal graduation (which was on a Friday night) pretty much overshadowed Harris' middle-of-the-day school program.

Of course, Ben and I adjusted our schedules to attend (we try our best to attend everything) but I really didn't expect it to be that big of a deal.  I was honestly quite surprised to show up and realize it was, in fact, a type of "graduation" ceremony.  The place was packed.

The kids started off by singing a few songs as an entire grade level.  I'd already had the privilege of watching the Kindergarteners perform the songs at the Kindergarten Roundup, but it was still fun to watch my crazy boy sing his little heart out from the stage.

After the singing, the six Kindergarten kiddos with perfect attendance this school year were recognized with a certificate.  Harris was one of them!  I love this picture of Ms. Conoley holding his hand as he waited for his name to be called. :)  Ms. Conoley has been the perfect teacher for Harris this year...we will miss her like crazy over the summer!

The Perfect Attendance certificate was the only "real" award that was handed out.  Each Kindergarten teacher called the names of the students in her class and each individual child was presented a "graduation" certificate by the Principal and Kindergarten Administrator.  It was simple and quick and pretty perfect.

After all the students were recognized, the classes hosted a small gathering back in their rooms.  They served cookies and juice and Ben and me had a few minutes to hang with Harry before we had to head back to work.

I couldn't be more proud of this kid and his accomplishments this year.  I still can't believe that after tomorrow, he'll officially be a first grader...I know I'll blink and he'll be in high school.

It really is true:  time flies when you're having fun.

Kindergarten Roundup.

Hadley and I spent last Thursday morning over at Freeman's Mill participating in the Kindergarten Roundup!
Even though she tells me she's "still a little nervous" to go to Kindergarten in the fall, she's also excited to finally have a turn to experience some of things she's watched Harris do over the last year.

Even when she feels a little shy, the girl can muster confidence from out of nowhere.  When the "red fish" group was called to gather beside their assigned Kindergarten teacher so they could head off to complete their activities, my girl marched herself right across the front of the packed cafeteria with a smile on her face...loving the fact that every eye was on her for a brief moment in time.  The assistant principal standing at the microphone even commented on the persona projected by Hadley.  The girl is something else.

Ben was unable to miss work on Thursday morning, so I sat through the parent part of the presentation by myself.  Having just been through the process with Harris, this time around things are easy for me.  Our experience at Freeman's Mill has been nothing but fabulous and I can't wait for our family to take the next step there.

As a special treat, we got to watch Harris sing with the current Kindergarteners during the program.

That boy is something else, too.

Hadley returned from her time with her small group sporting a goofy grin and this awesome hat:

And then we hopped on the bus for a quick spin around a nearby neighborhood.

The bus driver, who was transporting rising Kindergarteners and their parents (most of whom were on a school bus for the first time ever), only ran over two curbs during the five-minute tour...not too sure what to say about that.

Hadley loved the experience, regardless of the curbs, and was so excited to get back to Ms. Audra and her Pre-K class so she could share.

I still haven't processed the fact that my little "Baby H" will be headed off to Kindergarten in the fall.  For now, I'm trying to enjoy all of the articulation activities with her without putting any thought whatsoever into what they actually mean.

She's growing up on me.  Funny how they do that.

Project.

Harris was assigned his first (of many) research projects. :)  He chose to learn more about "sabertooth cats."
If there's anything I'm thankful for in the homework realm, it's the internet.  I can still remember my mom dragging me to the public library (back when it was in downtown Lawrenceville) to "research" and check out Babysitters' Club books.  It's tough enough for me to find uninterrupted time to print out a word document; I can't imagine loading up my crew and heading to the library!

Harris did a great job with his project, though.  We learned that sabertooth cats killed prey with their teeth that were the size of bananas.  Sabertooth cats were also three feet tall.  That's some pretty exciting stuff when you're a six-year-old boy!

We worked on that poster for about a week...even though Harris enjoys school, homework is like pulling teeth most of the time.  I'm trying hard to create a homework routine that will stick with him throughout his educational career...truthfully, I'm not sure it's going so well.

I can't wait to see what first grade brings!

Easter Parties.

We had to divide and conquer this year. 

Ben spent the day with Hadley's class celebrating all things "egg."

He was supposed to drop the camera by my office on his way back to work so I could have it to take some pics of Harris' celebration.  Unfortunately, his translation of that conversation resulted in him leaving the camera in Babe's cubby at Primrose.  Thank goodness for smart phones. :)

Fun times (and sugar highs) were had by all!

Celebrations.

Both Harry's class and Babe's class held special celebrations on Friday in honor of Christmas.  Hadley's official class party isn't until Wednesday, but Ms. Audra had an exciting "Polar Express" day on Friday.  Babe got to wear her pajamas to school (including her "Clarice" slippers), drink hot cocoa, and watch The Polar Express movie, in addition to other fun activities.  To say she is loving Pre-K would be an understatement.

Harris' class did have their official party on Friday afternoon.  I was able to swing by on my way to a doctor's appointment.  God bless Kindergarten teachers. 

The kids participated in a book swap, played Christmas bingo, made a couple crafts, and decorated sugar cone Christmas trees.  It was organized chaos at its finest.

He had such fun, though, and I love watching his heart in action.  While Harris was excited to open his gift from the book swap, he was even more excited to watch the little guy whose book Harry picked out open his.  I love that kid's heart!

I also couldn't be more thankful for our decision to have him start Kindergarten at six.  His comfort and ease in the classrom is something I'm simply not sure would have been present last year, and his teacher has been absolutely phenomenal.

We've got lots to celebrate!

Thankful. :)

I have so much for which to be thankful.  Even if I were to list everything that came to mind, I know I'd still overlook/leave out/take for granted/etc. hundreds of blessings in my life.  But I won't let that stop me from naming just a few of the obvious.

I am so, so thankful for my family.  I'm thankful for the education my children are receiving and for the schools they attend.  And I'm thankful for my job:  thankful that I enjoy it, thankful that it is close to home and close to my kids' schools, and thankful that I can take time to participate in some of the "stay-at-home mom" stuff that happens with my awesome kiddos.

Last week, I had the awesome opportunity to attend Thanksgiving celebrations for both Harris and Hadley.  On Wednesday morning, I made it over to Freeman's Mill for the "Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast." 

The entire Kindergarten population paraded into the cafeteria on Wednesday morning to find a feast waiting for them!  I guess celebrating Thanksgiving with turkey, corn, rolls, applesauce, popcorn (?), and brownies at 9:30 in the morning is as good a way to celebrate as any! 

The kiddos were dressed as Pilgrims and Indians and performed a funny Thanksgiving song for the parents.  And then they chowed down while all the adults watched.  It's such a hoot to watch Harris at school:  he has TONS of friends and smiles and waves and talks to everyone.  I have no idea what happened to my shy little guy, but I am so thankful he feels so comfortable at school.

Every student had a particular place setting at their lunch table.  Below is Harris'.  I'm pretty sure he's the only one who wrote his last name. :)

He's a mess.

I had to head back to work before his class left the cafeteria, but it seems like a good time was had by all.

And Wednesday morning wasn't the only day the Kindergarteners spent in celebration!  On Thursday, Ben (and me-briefly!) got to join Harris for the "Thanksgiving Lunch" prepared in the school cafeteria.  It's been a long time since I've eaten in an elementary school cafeteria.  What a rite of passage that is!

On Friday, I was able to head over to Primrose to enjoy a Thanksgiving lunch with Babe.

Her class also performed a couple of songs for us parents.  Hadley's favorite Pre-K song, by far, is "A-Toodie-Ta," and she was stoked for me to watch her sing it with her class.  So stoked, in fact, that she told her teacher earlier in the week that I was going to get up and sing with her!!  God bless Ms. Audra for allowing me to sit that one out. :)

Watching Babe interact at school is crazy fun, too.  She is the epitome of the word "silly."  She LOVES to laugh and loves to make other people laugh.  And she certainly doesn't shy away from attention.  She, too, is quite a hot mess.

The Primrose "feast" included food for everyone.  Primrose, as always, provided turkey and dressing for the class and us parents filled in the rest.  There was quite a spread!  Babe chose to contribute green beans and was very proud of my effort in preparing them.  I'm thankful that she is easy to please. :)

Her place setting included a list of things for which she was thankful, including:  having food, being with my momma, playing with my momma, tickles, and salsaltio turkey." 

Guess I need to buy the girl some salsalito turkey.

Thank you, Ms. Audra, for making Babe's first school experience fantastic!

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!

Hoedown!

About a week ago, the PTA at Harris' school hosted their fall fundraiser, which happened to be a hoedown.  It was awesome!!!

Kids could purchase cowboy hats and bandanas, a DJ played tons of great music in the decorated gym, Papa Jack's catered BBQ and a decent dessert table, and they even had pony rides! 

The kids had so much fun running around and yelling, "howdy, pardner" and calling Ben, "boss."  Speaking of Ben, he was asked to host the scarecrow auction (his auctioneer skills are becoming well known!) and did an awesome job.

All the money raised is going toward the purchase of new playground equipment, so it was a pretty exciting night.

Hadley TORE IT UP on the dance floor and can't wait to participate in the "Kindergarten dance" next year.  Harris was a bit shy about dancing but loved running after his friends and playing pin-the-tail on the horse.

The pony rides were a big hit, too. 

Sweet Emmy enjoyed the view from her stroller.  She really is such a laid back baby!

It was such a fun evening...and far exceeded our expectations!  We're already counting down the days until next year!

Field Day Fun.

I lucked out last week and managed to catch a quick peek of my oldest boy at field day.

*It was also hat day.  He was so proud of that "Lilburn Police" Captain's hat.

And I was so proud of him!  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE his Kindergarten teacher, Ms. Conoley.  Harris has had such a wonderful experience at school and has become quite confident in himself and his social ability, two things that were high on our list of hopes for him this school year.

Thankful doesn't even begin to describe our state of mind.

I'm so in love with him.

G-Braves.

Harris' elementary school hosted a fun night out at the Gwinnet Braves game last week.  The kids have really been getting into sports and sporting events lately, so of course they jumped at the chance to go to a baseball game.

And not only did we get to actually enjoy the game, but Harry and Babe also got to take their turn walking around the field!  The Braves ended up playing a double header that night thanks to earlier weather, so in between games the kiddos got to represent Harris' school.

I'm positive Hadley thought the entire parade was just for her.  The girl digs attention.  She ran and waved and high-fived and smiled and was most likely pretending she was the Braves Queen or something else along those lines...

Harris just soaked up time with his friends.  We ended up sitting by a little girl who rides his bus and they pretty much played together the whole evening.  He also got in a little crotch-grabbing while on the field...

That's Kindergarten at its finest, folks.

Emmy Doe simply hung around with Ben for the majority of the game.

After the parade, we finished up our ballpark dinner and headed for home. 

Not a conventional way to kick off the start of college football season, but a not bad one, either...