William's Fourth Grade Celebration

Another first this year for our family a fourth-grade celebration!  Covid took the opportunity from Alice and Emily*.  So, William was the first #crockstar to attend. 

Der Bus is currently making sad car noises (but only for me and not for the mechanic) so I am sans car at the moment.  That said, on Tuesday, when I collected the children, I left our horseshoe set at the school.

Walking to their school is no issue, but since his event started at 10, I had no desire to walk home after drop off, start a task, only to stop said task and return to their school.  So, instead, I hung out in William's classroom until it was time to set up!

His class was the first in the Kona Ice line. = )  As usual, he got all the flavors, but at more of it than usual.

He played kickball with his teacher and many of the other fourth graders!

And he played Jenga with Matthew.  They were joined by others, but I was helping with something and couldn't' grab another picture.

The fourth grade walk almost had me in tears as they played Pomp and Circumstance, but I didn't actually cry.  (I'm saving it all for next year.)  They got to walk the halls and see all of their previous teachers one last time!

William was set to spend the greatest number of years at his school, and he did, but it was 4 years (TK, K, 1st, & 4th) instead of 6! 

His teacher is awesome and is slated to have the twins in the fall, which will secure his place as having more #crockstars than any other teacher (80%) but he missed out on Emily. = (  So, currently, the 6th & 7th grade math teacher is up as the next to be able to teach the whole crew!

I was feeling a lot of emotions for sure, and I know William is both nervous and excited about joining the big girls at their school.  For now, I'm just glad we have the summer to recuperate!

After the day ended, we walked home, and the horseshoes were HEAVY!  We were a few blocks away, before I realized that I didn't have my teacup, because William had removed it from the pocket of his backpack and set it on the floor, because he thought it was his classmates. So, we left the horseshoes right next to the sidewalk and returned to the school one last time for him to run in and retrieve my cup!  We returned to the horseshoes and finished the long, heavy, walk home.

later days 

 *Emily was homeschooled her fourth-grade year, but for the majority of that year the students who were in school were virtual, and I'm not sure they would have had something so populated even had she been in school.

Field Day!

This year the twins had their first field day at their elementary school! 

They had been once before they attended as students, to cheer on their siblings, but covid robbed them of their kindergarten and subsequent year opportunities. = (  

William was in Kindergarten the last time he had one! Suffice to say, it felt very much like a 'first' for all of them.  And it was a first for me, in that I was a volunteer this year!  And, since Emily was already out for the summer, she also helped. = )

I was a co-leader at one of the water stations.  We started with the fourth graders (who had time to run 2 rounds) and slowly decreased in age until we got to the Kindergartners who managed only a few rounds by the time the round was over. lol.

I couldn't tell you if William's team won or lost, but they did enjoy getting all wet!

I also don't know about the victory among the third graders, but I think they all had a fun time!

Because I was helping run a station, I wasn't able to get around to take other pictures, but one of the twins' friends mom sent me a picture from the ice pop station! = )

The day wore out poor William, and he came home and slept for a couple of hours, then had an early bedtime, particularly for a Friday!

Musical Performance

A month before the little ones were due to perform their musical performance at the High School auditorium a note came around asking for volunteers to help set up.  Seeing that the big girls were due to end their day at 11am, I thought sure, I can help set up, no problem, I just might have to leave early.

As the day approached, we learned that the grades would be ascending during the duration of the concert.  This meant, that if they ran too far behind, I would be missing William's to leave and gather the big girls. = (

All the same, I did help set up, and took a picture of an Alto Xylophone (since Emily is an E flat Alto Saxophone player. lol.)  Our job was putting signs up on the seats so that the classes would know where to sit!

The ukuleles also made an impressive arc!

Kindergarten and first grade both took a long time to switch from their seats in the audience to their places on stage.  I was very concerned that I wouldn't be able to stay for William.  Luckily, by the tiem they made it to third grade, the kids transitioned much faster! 

Grace and Juliet's grade sang a song and then played a song!   Grace and Juliet were hidden from my view by the ukulele players, so I only successfully got pictures of their singing.

William's class played instruments and then did a dance.  The dance was very quick, and full of movement, so I wasn't able to capture him in dance, just playing the xylophone with Weston.  = )

They finished the performance with plenty of time to spare, I even had time for the auditorium to empty and help clean up the signs!  Then, off to pick up my big girls on their last day of school!

later days

edit: written 6-16-23 and backdated for continuity. 

Safety Picnic

At the start of the year, I filled out a form for William to be a safety, but not knowing how the logistics of dropping off and picking up the big girls on their new schedule would go, I made a note that he couldn't be a safety in the morning, and so he was designated as a "substitute" safety.  

He only had duties a few times during the year, but was still invited to the safety picnic at the end of the year!

It was a chilly morning, but it was a very good day for an outdoor event!  They fed the kids, and had activities and snow cones, and there were just 4-8th graders from many different schools enjoying a day in the sunshine!

William, Riley & Weston

I spent some time following William around, but quite a bit of time sitting at 'base camp' and just chatting with the other adults. = )

I think he had a fun time and was happy to be invited. = )

later days

edit: written 6-17-23 and backdated for continuity. 

Fun Run!

For the fun run, 3rd Graders were asked to wear purple, and 4th Grade Red.

Grace had no problem assembling an almost solid purple outfit, with matching bow!

Juliet said she had a tougher time, but she didn't clue me in until it was time to head out the door, so she wore a kind of purple shirt. = )

William's wardrobe is predominantly green, and a quick check the week before, showed me that he had no red to speak of.  At the thrift store I found no shirts that were on the 'clearance' color, so I picked a half off one that I thought he might re-wear because of the characters. While shopping, I found a shirt, with the clearance tag, somewhere completely random!  With the saved dollar, I bought him a pair of red socks too! = )

I only took one picture of him during the run, and was so pleased with the product!

Grace and Juliet were running during several rounds, so it was much easier to catch a short of them running. = )

Break time with some sidewalk chalk!

The music was loud and fun and it was sunny and it was an exciting time for the kids!  I have no clue whether or not they reached their goal, since we didn't get a follow up. = (

When the twins were in Kindergarten, they did the fun run in the fall, so this was their second time to join in the run, and William's third or fourth time!

later days

edit: written 6-15-23 backdated for continuity.

Annie's Big Nature Lesson - 4th Grade Field Trip - Woldumar

Annie's Big Nature Lesson was another field trip that Alice and Emily both missed out on thanks to Covid.  We were paid and ready and even had the parent meeting before the world shut down. So, this year, I went to the training again, but got to actually attend this time! = )

My first day to go was on Tuesday, and it was a cold, snowy, wet April day!

Our first activity of the day was to use an old school GPS monitor.

Spider Web caught some snow.  It was so cold though, that my phone kept shutting off!

Next, we trekked out into the woods for some team building exercises!

Snow collected in the clearing. It was quite pretty, but oh so cold.

We went back to the barn after the team building, for lunch, and that was the end of my time there that day.  I was frozen through, so was not terribly sad to get back into my nice warm car with a lovely heater.

A few days later, I joined the group again, and the weather was beautiful!  We were warm enough to take off our jackets even!

This time I was present for observation hour.  They were short a few adult nature journal books, so I just enjoyed some time observing nature and pointing out things of interest to William. 

He was one of the lucky ones, who had an adult and was allowed to go out onto the dock for his observation!

Beautiful view!

Unexpectedly, a group from another school came over and needed the docks for their activity, so our group was displaced.  

And this was our new view. = (  

We made the best of it though, and even found things we wouldn't have normally seen!  A bit of deer fur, including winter coat, were trapped on a branch and we got to see it up close!  Who knew that trackers really and truly could track animals in such a way!? lol

Sitting there in the quiet, it is amazing how noisy someone walking through the woods truly is!

I was also listening to A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens, and his description of the cask of wine crashing onto the street and the poor collecting it with rags and shoes, from between the cobblestones, was so engaging, that when I came back to myself, I was surprised to be sitting in the middle of a forest and not looking at a cityscape in pre-revolutionary France!

It was a very pleasant experience for me, and I know the kids had a great time of it, and learned things they can't even express.  What a lovely week of outdoor learning!

And now, I'll start early, crossing my fingers that the twins have better weather!

later days

edit: written 6-17-23 backdated for continuity.

Art Show

Last week, the 3 little ones finished up their art class for the year (they start music class this week.)  It's really sweet, because they put on an art show with artwork displayed around the school and portfolios for parents to peruse.

Since Grace and Juliet are on student council, they were enlisted to help with set up.

I'm pretty sure that this is Juliet's, though I forgot to ask, and she's currently at school, so here's hoping. ; )

Grace's self protrait:

One of only two pictures that I took at the event. We, intentionally, went late, so there weren't nearly as many people, but we missed out on the activities.  We did get to collect their impressive portfolios of the big pieces that they've created during the year.

Next year will be our final art show, which does make me a little sad, but luckily, it is an entire year away, right?!

later days

Back to School, Round 1

Once the big girls returned last week, we dedicated ourselves to getting things ready for school (after one last trip to the swimming pool.)

Meet the Teacher night was on Thursday, and Grace and Juliet have Mrs. P, who was Emily's teacher.  They got to pick their own spots, at least for day one, and Juliet had her fingers crossed that Kennedy would pick the spot next to hers.

William has Mr. C, who was Alice's fourth grade teacher.  I think he's going to do really well in his class. He also saw that he was one of the library helpers, according to the 'job' bulletin board.

The principal snapped this awesome picture of us at the ice cream social/meet the teacher night!  I was impressed that everyone was looking toward the camera and she caught an Alice smile!

One day, Avia needed to go to Meijer, and invited anyone who wanted to go, and they got a donut.  Once Alice signed up to go, I joined as well.  My donut was good.  We saw this M&M display at the QD.

And then, when Emily and I were shopping for a grill cover and school shoes for her, we found this M&M display!

The teachers came by in a scavenger hunt on Friday, and brought goodie bags.  They were able to mark off 3 items from us: "school shirt," "bike," and "all the siblings." = )

And then, the day finally arrived!  First day back to school.  We always walk the first day, and today was no exception.  Emily joined us this morning too.

The twins dressed the same, down to swapping socks, with a few exceptions to help their teacher. = )

They came home happy and tired, here's to a great school year!  The big girls will start next week, in their new district.

later days