End of School Year !

Another chapter of the children's lives is closed.

Autumn is now a 5th grader! Peyton will be a kindergartener in August! Olivia will be in Pre-K (wherever that may be)!
I am amazed by their growth of the past year and how much they have changed; especially over the past couple months.

Autumn's awards ceremony was rather long since it was the end of the year. She received Honor Roll again and Perfect Attendance. She has been accepted in to the gifted program, Scope. Autumn has also informed me that she scored very high on her CRCT. This is how the conversation went.
Autumn- Hey, mom, I got to throw water balloons at my teacher today.
Me- Really? Why did you throw water balloons at your teacher today? (very puzzled)
A- Well, for every subject that we scored over 850 we were able to throw one water balloon at Ms. Tanner.
Me- How many water balloons did you throw?
A- Five.
Me- (Hitting the brakes on a back road near the house) Autumn that is awesome! (with a high five to her) You scored that high on every subject on the CRCT?
A-Yep, Ms. Tanner was so wet from the balloons.
Some days I wonder does she really understand how proud we are of her. She is so nonchalant about some things. We have not received the official scores yet, but I am pretty sure she scored high.

Peyton's Pre-K graduation was wonderful! I am very impressed by the way the children behaved and performed. The graduation did not start until 8pm, past bedtime in our house; so I was worried that some of the kids would be cranky, tired, and just plain not wanting to 'perform'. Not at all the truth! I don't think I saw one children not participating, they had such pride in what they were doing. Must of been the two weeks worth of practice. Peyton told me the days before graduation that I was going to cry when he was walking into the church; I held myself together. I was a little teary eyed; even daddy is the one that cried (he had to look away from Peyton to stop). The children said the pledge of allegiance and the Lord's Prayer then performed a couple songs. Peyton's class performed 'Life is a Highway', all with air guitars; so fitting for him. He also received the Most Athletic reward! I kept myself together until Mr. Billy announced them as Senior High School Class of 2024. 2024? What!?! I can't even think about that! Then I started thinking in 8 years Autumn will be graduating from high school! EIGHT YEARS! Where has the time gone?

Olivia had an end of year program on Friday morning. This was the first performance/school function for Olivia that I attended. Chris has been at a couple others; and she did not 'perform'. She either just stood in front of everyone or would not stand on 'stage'. I was hoping that this would not be the case, especially with the progress in attitude and behavior she has made. Olivia sat in her chair in front of all the parents and did a wonderful job! They also did the pledge of allegiance, The Lord's Prayer, and a couple songs. Olivia received the Best All Around award! If you would have told me 4 months ago she would have received that award, I would not have believed you. She has changed so much since moving to the new school; I can't say enough about how well she has done in and out of school. Sometimes it just takes a different view of scenery!

Peyton was upset this morning that he was not going to 'Autumn's school' today. He was ready to go to Kindergarten and start at his new school. He did not care about having a summer break he just wants to go to 'Audy's school'.

I am so thankful and glad that we have found a school where are children feel comfortable and can be themselves. My heart swells to hear the little ones say The Lord's prayer and to sing at the top of their lungs 'The 10 Commandments'. We have been so blessed since deciding to move the children there. And to think I almost did not choose this place because of the look of the outside. Looks from the outside can be very deceiving!

Olivia's Note

As some of you know, Olivia can be a, well , she is a strong willed child. We try to embrace that daily with some of her actions and I know that it will be a great characteristic trait when she gets older.
She had difficulties at her other school; not listening, telling her teacher no, not following directions; the list goes on and on. I touched on some of the it in earlier post, see Out of the Mouths of Babes (don't know how to link in the post). Well anyways, she is a very bright intelligent beautiful and loving young girl when she wants to be; she can be very vicious also.
So when getting the children from school, Olivia runs up to me and says 'Mommy, I got a note from school today....(Oh, great! I thought, what kind of note) a GOOD note! Olivia's teachers had written Chris and I a page long letter on how well she behaved and how mature she was at school today even when others were being distracting and not listening. I am amazed at how much she has changed since attending this new school. She has no problems at all at school- listening, following directions, using manners. They love having her there. And the same behavior is starting to happen at home. No more fits in the mornings getting ready for school, getting ready for bed when asked; don't get me wrong she is still 4 and has a very strong personality, but we are getting better!
Olivia was rewarded last night with a Popsicle right before bedtime; we were running behind due to the fact of working on a school project for Autumn, which I will write about later. Chris was not happy with the Popsicle right before bed; I told no Olivia will eat the Popsicle and go straight to bed. Who-la, she did with out complaints or whining.
Way to Go Livi! You are becoming such a big girl!

Mother's Day Gifts

I received my Mother's Day Gifts on Friday night in the driveway after coming home from Autumn's soccer game. They could not wait until Sunday to give them to me. I have been hearing little bits and pieces of what the little ones had been making and then them quickly reminding each other that it is a surprise and not to tell mommy. Both of Olivia and Peyton's gifts were in brown paper sacks, not too much to them and just Happy Mother's Day written by their teacher.
First to give was Peyton, obviously. He opened the bag for me and handed me a small yellow card. I looked and it and started to cry. He wrote all by himself "Happy Mothers Day" on the outside and 'I Love You, Peyton' on the inside. I was emotional about it was this is the first time I have seen him actually write full word that were readable. One of my fears for him for Kindergarten is not writing his letters and being able to make words. He has made so much progress in his new school. There was also a baby jar with bath salts for 'me to take a bath and relax, mommy' and a flower pot that Peyton hand painted and hand flowers already growing in it.
Olivia, was next. Her bag had a card attached to it that she made with her teacher. But her handwriting "I Love You, Olivia' on the inside (no problems with Olivia's handwriting at all). On one side of the card were questions Olivia was asked; I am 6 years old, and she loves me because I am her bestest friend. Made my heart swell to have a bestest friend when I have been told many times 'I not your friend anymore'. She also gave me a hand painted flower pot, no flowers yet.
Autumn brought hers to me after we got inside. She made a beautiful card also; which she spent a long time on. There was also a handmade picture frame with a picture of her in it, just beautiful!
We didn't do anything special; I actually worked on Mother's Day. But having the gifts from my children made it very special. Olivia and Peyton have been very tedious about making sure that the flowers are watered, may too much Olivia. I have the cards and Autumn's picture sitting on my dresser so that I see them every morning! I am very touched to have received a homemade gifts than one that was bought at the store!

Out of the Mouths of Babes

My children say some the most extraordinary things; and they do not think twice about it. On Friday, Chris and I went to a conference for Olivia. It was a planned 'end of year' conference for her. Neither Chris nor I were nervous about the conference, but I remember her last one at her last school; and did not want the same kind of conference. For any that knows Olivia, she can speak her mind when she wants to and does not take anything from anyone.
The conference went great! Olivia is doing very well in her new school! Her teacher, Ms. Jennifer, is very impressed with her counting to 20 and knowing most of the alphabet. She can write her name very well, not her last name yet but we are getting there. I found it very odd that she did not recognize certain letters though; O,P, and R. Her name starts with O, her brother's name starts with P and her last name starts with R, who knows? How does she not recognize these letters? That's Olivia for you.
Olivia has told her teacher that her parent’s names are Tiffany & Brett. Huh? Does she even know a Brett? (My cousin's boyfriend's name is Brett, she has seen him twice in the past year and I don't think she even talked to him at both family functions) So is she completely confused to what her father's name is? No, she knows that her daddy's name is Chris. I said that she was calling 'her daddy a brat'!
Olivia is also able to tell or retell a story. Hmm, wonder who she gets this from? My sister, Mary? Her teacher had to tell us about her retelling of a story because it was 'just too cute'. When Ms. Jennifer was evaluating Olivia, she had asked Olivia to retell a story that they had learned about early in the day. So, Olivia told the story of The Last Supper.
Olivia: We learned about The First Supper.
Ms Jennifer: You mean The Last Supper?
Olivia: NO, I mean The First Supper. Jesus broke the bread and gave it to his people. Then, he gave them wine or juice; and told them to eat and drink it.
Ms. Jennifer: Who are Jesus' people?
Olivia: His recycles.
Ms Jennifer: His disciples?
Olivia: NO, his recycles!
Ms. Jennifer: You mean, his disciples?
Olivia: NO, I mean his recycles!
Ms. Jennifer did not correct her again; she was trying to contain herself from laughing so hard.

I started to think about this more in depth about how are children say the most unusual and innocent things. What if we took those saying seriously and took a deeper look into them.

One definition of recycles is 'Convert (waste) into reusable material'. Jesus takes us and makes us new.
Another definition is to undergo reuse or renewal. Think about that! We are renewed with Jesus Christ.
Being a disciple of Jesus we are to witness to others so that they are changed and renewed.

I think the Lord talks to us every day through our children; by their actions AND their words, even if they are not the correct ones.

Go and be recycles!