A Patriotic Performance! - May 26

As Chloe's last official week of being a first grader draws to a close, the classes had a little singing performance on Tuesday morning specifically the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade classes. Each grade had a few songs to perform(individually) and at the end they all sang one song together. I guess it could be called the culmination of their music classes for the year led by their music teacher, Mrs. I don'tknowhername. =) The theme was "patriotic songs" and they were encouraged to wear red, white, or blue so of course..Chloe wore them all. LOL.

Chloe was somewhat worried going into this performance that she would not be able to remember all the presidents names which was part of the last song they all sang together. To be honest, I don't think she ended up memorizing them all(which is fine by me). I just told her to sing what she knew and hopefully the other kids that could remember would pick up the rest. Solid plan!

Just a few snaps from the event this week. Have a great weekend, folks~

-B

The End Is Near! - May 19

Eight and a half days.

That is how many days left until 1st grade ends and summer vacation begins for Chloe. That is kind of insane to me as in my mind I keep telling myself "ah we must be a little over half way through the school year!" lol NOPE. It's basically over. CRAZY.

Last weekend was Mothers day weekend and we spent time with our respective mothers as well as just as a family at home as Heather prepared to leave for her work trip this week. That put Chloe and I on our own for 3 full days. Everything went fine but as I probably forgot from the last time this happened, it certainly is a lot more stuff to do and keep track of when you do the entire day's events alone. LOL. I do feel fortunate that I have been a part of the day to day routine all along so it wasn't like a major shock as I imagine it could be to dad's that aren't in my position to be suddenly in charge of a kid's schedule and movements all day. We definitely had some good "daddy-daughter" bonding time so it actually worked out pretty well.

So in the chaos of things, we almost forgot that this week was Chloe's "open house" thing at her school. Again, suddenly I am reminded that school is rapidly drawing to a close. I think now might actually be the time to start freaking out. Just a few pics from the open house in case anyone is interested in seeing the classroom. Have a great weekend, folks~

B

Growing...Things! - May 12

We have tried with varying levels of success in the last few years to grow things in our yard. Last year, we did manage to actually grow some edible tomatoes with the occasional strawberry or two and a small single pumpkin(that should have or could have yielded many on one vine). I made a plan in my head last year that this year I would abandon trying to plant things in our native soil and build a raised garden box basically in exactly the same space that we were already trying to plant things. The idea being, that I could have better control over the dirt that we use and be able to have a designated space that we could maintain as needed and hopefully have better success growing things that way. It has been a few weeks in the process but I was able to buy the materials, put it together, and fit it in the space where I wanted it to go. I even managed to paint the outside with some leftover fence paint so it looks more at home in the yard.

I had my doubts but I have to say after a short time(and after transplanting our strawberry plants that didn't die from last year) in just the last week or so we have already surpassed the number of ripe(edible) strawberries over last year and we have some things starting to sprout. We bought some already started tomato plants and we still have to plant our pumpkin..or I guess maybe we still have to buy that I'm not sure. Either way, so far it seems to be going in the right direction and it will certainly be interesting to see what survives and what doesn't with this experiment. It's not rocket science, but I certainly wouldn't say it's my area of expertise. LOL.

Just a few random pics from the project and the progess as of yesterday(Thurs). Have a great weekend, folks.

-B

A Major (Character) Award! - May 5

On Wednesday morning at 7:58 am, Heather and I got an email from Chloe's teacher letting us know that Chloe would be receiving an award at their "flag salute". Every month, they have had an award for a different character traits and this month, Chloe was to receive the award for "Honesty". Her teacher specifically mentioned that Chloe has shown examples of being honest, trustworthy, and doing the right thing in class and at recess. I can back that up because if Chloe is anything, it's Honest and she is certainly good at doing the right thing(most of the time). LOL. So I was minutes away from leaving to take her to school and now I am scrambling to find my camera stuff and Heather calls me and says she happened to see the email and she is in fact, on the way. There was a little ceremony and the Principal called up the students from each grade that were selected to get the award. She said a few words and then we all said the Pledge of Allegiance and that was that! The kids are supposed to get a printed certificate but they didn't have them ready. Also, LOL.

So because I had my camera and I ended up being there long enough, I decided to stick around and grab some photos of Chloe doing her class "fun run". The "fun run" is basically a fundraising thing that we forgot to ask anyone to participate in..so basically Chloe ran laps and collected bracelets for each lap she completed. I believe she ran 12 or 13 laps which to me is pretty impressive considering it was literally 90 degrees out on Wednesday. At the end, I asked her if she would like to dump a cup of water over her head and she was like YEEEEES! So of course, bombs away!


Have a great weekend, folks~

-B