Last Day of School

Today was finally our last day of school!  It seemed like it would never get here!  It is hard to believe that another year has come and gone and that we now have a first grader in our house!  Parker had a wonderful year with his teacher, Mrs. Pritchard, and has learned so much more than I could have ever imagined.  He is now a fluent reader and can read anything he picks up (including texts on my phone!). 



"I'm a first grader!"

Not only was today exciting because it was the last day of school, but Parker lost his second tooth this morning before we left for school.  His tooth had been loose for almost a week and it was barely hanging on.  I could hardly stand to look at it so I made Cory try to pull it and it popped right out.  Parker was so excited to get to sign the "I Lost a Tooth" chart at school one more time!

I can't believe how quickly this year has gone and I know that I'm going to turn around and he's going to be wearing a cap and gown.  I am looking forward to spending the next two months with him before he is off to first grade!

AWANA Awards

Last week, Parker and Eden received their AWANA awards for completing their Sparks/Cubbies books.  Eden was not thrilled about walking across the stage to get her award so I had to carry her while she dug her head into my shoulder and cried. 

She quickly found her happy heart and was excited about her certificate.

Parker completed his first Sparks book and started the second book this year.  He did a great job not only memorizing scriptures but remembering them from week to week. 

Parker also earned one of the Merit Awards given to three Sparkies who worked hard, completed their books, and were kind to others in class.  I am so proud of him for all of his hard work this year!

An All Star Weekend

Parker just finished up his regular season of tball and was asked to be on Cleburne's All Star team this summer.  Cory and I went back and forth on whether or not we wanted to make such a huge commitment during the summer, but finally decided to let Parker give it a try.

Parker and his teammates participated in their first tournament this weekend and ended up placing 2nd!  We are so proud of his team and how well they played, especially in the championship game this evening.  They are a very young team (they've only practiced together twice) and they played against teams that have been playing together for a long time.  It was a long and busy weekend (they played five games) but Parker had so much fun and can't wait to do it again next weekend. 

After the championship game

Coach Tony accepting their trophy

Parker accepting his 2nd place ring

Proud Daddy

Parker was so excited that his best buddy Cole came to watch him play this afternoon

These two didn't make watching the games very easy!  We are definitely going to have to figure out a new plan for the next tournament!

Eden's End of Year Speech Party

Last week, Eden had her end of the year speech party.  She has had such a wonderful year of speech with her therapist, Mrs. Fabiola, and we are so proud of all of the progress she has made with her articulation.

The party started with a speech story about a little boy and girl who got to eat ice cream and after that, Eden got to make her own ice cream sundae- yum!

We love Mrs. Fabiola!

The last activity was Articulation BINGO.  Eden was paired up with several other students (including a third grade student) and they played one game of BINGO.  I was worried that she would get nervous playing with kids she didn't really know, but I was wrong.  She loved it and even found a few of their pictures on her own!



We are so thankful to Mrs. Fabiola for all she had done for Eden this year and can't wait to see how Eden continues to improve over the summer!

Parker's GT Presentation

Last week, Parker had his end of the year GT presentation to show off all of the work he has been doing in Mrs. Webb's GT class.  This nine weeks, the kindergartners have been studying different artists and art mediums.  Parker got to go up and show all of the pictures that he had created over the past few months.  We are so proud of everything Parker has done this year and look forward to another fun year of learning in first grade.

Our Family Field Trip to the Zoo

A few weeks ago, Cory was off on a Saturday and we didn't have anything planned, which doesn't happen very often.  Since he only has one Saturday morning off every month, we usually plan it when we have something important going on, like Parker's birthday party or our ski trip.  Because we didn't have any plans and the weather was perfect, we decided to pack a lunch and surprise the kids with a trip to the zoo.  It had been over a year since we had been to the Fort Worth Zoo, so we knew they would be so excited!

When we got there, the first thing they wanted to see was the flamingos.  It was fun to watch Lily's expressions- the last time we were here she was barely walking.   

 

 Next up were the monkeys and rhinos.

In the African area of the zoo, we saw elephants, giraffes, and Lily's favorite... the hippos.  I still can't figure out why she loved the hippos so much, because all they did was lay in the water, but she asked to go see them twice.  And to this day, if you ask her what her favorite thing was at the zoo, she will always say the hippos!

 

We had to stop for a quick snack break after the giraffes because the kids were "starving".  I'm not sure how they could have been starving after only 30 minutes of walking, but we stopped for a snack anyway!

The one thing Parker and Eden couldn't wait to do was feed the birds, so we headed there next.  We saw the lions, tigers and mountain goats (who both happened to be going to the bathroom on the rocks...a highlight of the trip!) on our way to the bird cage.  Unfortunately, the birds were not interested in eating our birdseed this time, and we only got a few to come anywhere near us.

Lunch was up next and I could not believe how much these three kids ate!  They ate everything I packed... six sandwiches, four bags of chips, three apples, three bananas, applesauce, juice boxes, and they were still asking for more.

Next we walked over to the petting zoo and the kids enjoyed petting a chicken, hog, and goat (who also happened to be going to the bathroom).  It was a six year old boys dream come true!  He couldn't stop laughing about how all the goats we saw were going to the bathroom!

The last time we went to the zoo, the kids were disappointed because the carousel was being remodeled.  Today, they were all excited to get to ride it!

 

By this time, the kids were getting tired and the zoo was getting a lot more crowded, so we decided to call it a day.  Our last stop on the way to the car was the new reptile house with crocodiles and lots of snakes.  Eden loved looking at all the snakes and was super excited when she got to touch one.

We all had such a fun time at the zoo and I enjoyed spending time with Cory and the kids so much.  It is always fun to go places with friends and extended family, but sometimes it is just nice to do things as a family of 5.  We made lots of memories and even though it's been two weeks, the kids are still talking about our "family field trip" to the zoo (which is what Parker called our outing!).  Just last night as I was putting Lily to bed, she kept telling me about the monkeys who were just hanging around, the elephants with hay on their backs, and the hippos in the water.  Hopefully, it won't be another year before we make it back to the zoo!