And that's a wrap!

The 2015/2016 school year is OVER! It went out with a bang, as usual. I have renamed this month Mayhem, as us moms are burning the candles on both ends running to the End of the Year celebration for Everything. But, the kids love it and it's over before you know it. 

Adelyn had her Year End Celebration on Wednesday May 18th. K-4 students were recognized at a sweet ceremony where teachers chose Christian character trait superlatives. Adelyn got "kindest". I thought that was most fitting for her. This girl was born empathetic. 

Afterwards, they had a water balloon toss followed by pizza and ice cream. 

Adelyn will miss Mrs. Gravitt! Good thing she goes to our church so we'll still see her :)

James's end of the year party was the next day. I was on the party planning committee and we went with a western theme. 

 One of the moms made EVERY single kid a horse (made from pool noodles, googly eyes, and ribbon). It was the cutest thing watching them race around with them!

 The class made a piñata that week. After the candy scramble, they headed back to the room for hot dogs, trail mix, and cheese sticks. 

And of course, graduation cupcakes!

There was a cute little photo booth with pony sticks and cowboy hats

 

 Randy and I shared the room mom job this year. Randy is one of my dearest friends from college. We lived together our senior year and in Atlanta a few years after graduating. Since then, she's lived in Delaware, Spain, and then ended up 7 minutes down the road and our kids have been in the same class for the past two years. Her husband got a new job and they're moving to Florida in a few days. Anyone who knows this girl is beyond blessed with her friendship. I am going to miss her terribly!

I am NOT crafty, but I stole this idea off Pinterest. The teachers received this cash flower pot, a Scout bag, and a Corksicle tumbler (that Randy monogrammed). They were amazing teachers! 

Mrs. Pam and Mrs. Jeri seriously need to loop up with James for the rest of his life. They were a dynamic duo, and James has had the best year! We'll miss "Morning Jam with Mrs. Pam" and the countless hours Jeri spends creating the most amazing preschool life for her kids. They're the ultimate teachers for a 4 year old!

James had his Pre-K graduation that evening. A friend asked if I was sad about him graduating. I'm really not, as we'll be at this awesome school for another 2 years! James is doing Young 5's and then we have Kindergarten. I'm not sure if I can handle the carpool line for 2 more years.... the sacrifices we make for our kids. Of course we went to Dairy Queen afterwards with the rest of the county after their preschool graduations. 

On Friday, James got his green striped belt in karate! 

The graduation party was at the Dojo and they had bounce house and an obstacle course. James loves Mr. Koostra! :)

Bring on summer! We're in week 2 of swim team! Both kids are participating so it's 2 hours at the pool every day. 

Adelyn's 7th Birthday

Ok, 7 just seems really old. I could handle 6, but now I feel like she's REALLY a big kid. She has been SO excited for May 11th to come. 

We ate at Rice with Seth's family on May 9th. This is the birthday tradition with this crew.

Grandma and Grandpa got her the mini Lea Clark American Girl doll,

Blowing out candles on her special dessert

Wednesday May 11th was her actual birthday. Before school, she opened her gift from us.

She was in desperate need of a bigger bike. This is a semi-mountain bike and she LOVES it!

We had to get a quick ride in before leaving for school.

Students can bring in treats on their birthdays. Here's how our conversation went: 

Me: "Want me to bring them in at snack time or lunch time?

Adelyn" "Oh, mom....I know you're busy. You don't have to bring them in. I'll just carry them in when you drop me off"

Me: "I don't mind at all! What time is lunch and I'll bring them in"

Adelyn: "I don't know what time we eat. {It's the END of the SCHOOL YEAR. I'm pretty sure she knows what time she eats} "I'll just bring them in myself"

Ok, got your point. :( So I didn't bring her treats in or eat lunch with my birthday girl. That night, she requested steak. My friend Heather was in town from London, so she and Ms. Madison (20 months old) dined with us. 

Adelyn's slumber birthday party was Friday May 13th. She invited a few girls to spend the night.

 Here she is, anxiously awating the arrival of her guests.

 The first thing the girls did was play upstairs and get into costume

 They all made their own pizzas

 Dining al fresco and enjoying their pizza. See Caroline's? She used a ton of cheese! :)

 After pizza, they went on a scavenger hunt. The clues led to a fun prize!

 It took them all over the house!

 They finally got to the prize basket and found their matching pajamas!

 Posing with their dolls and matching pajamas. 

After opening presents, they ate ice cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery

Yummy! 

The dolls enjoyed theirs too :)

 A little playground time (in pjs)

 Finally they enjoyed a movie with some popcorn and gummy bears.

They were all asleep by 11:15. There were LOTS of giggles and dancing before they passed out in their sleeping bags.

 Breakfast was pancakes and fruit/donut kabobs

Yum!

There just happened to be a 5k on our street the next morning. The girls went out with pom poms and cheered them on! They were so stinking adorable. They wrote encouraging messages on the driveway and cheered their little hearts out. 

Several runners high five them as they passed by

My parents gave Adelyn a $100 gift card to American Girl. She used her allowance and the gift cards to buy Lea Clark. She just loves these dolls! This was such a fun day for the two of us. It was my last homeschool day with her. After we dropped James off at school, I surprised her with a trip the mall to visit the store. We stopped at Starbucks and then hit the store. After carefully examining every item in the store five times, she chose this (which is what she wanted initially). After that, we went to another store and she chose some new sandals. Then we went to Chic Fil A. It was a fun morning with my precious seven year old. Next year, I will certainly miss this time together. 

Happy 7th birthday, Adelyn Grace!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day in our house doesn't mean fancy gifts. It's really just a day of spending time together. It started on May 5th with James's Superhero Mother's Day Celebration . We went the non-traditional route and wore Star Wars attire. 

 I love the background picture. I had to tutor that morning. Adelyn comes with me on Thursday mornings. Seth was picking her up from the preschool and taking her to rotary with him. She is kind of over the preschool life, and here's my friend's daughter (whom Adelyn adores!) hanging on her! She got to leave shortly after we arrived. 

 Jedi James

 Love this sweet boy!

 This is kind of off subject and really deserves its own post! Brenda turned 70 on May 5th. We had Seth's sister and her family and Seth's parents over to celebrate Grandma's big day. We enjoyed chips and guacamole for Cinco de Mayo and then moved on to steaks. 

 Happy birthday, Grandma!

Posing before church with Adelyn and James. James's little choir sang sweet songs. 

 We ate dinner at Branchwater that night. Behind the restaurant there's a grassy open area and ice cream shop. The kids ran around after eating their ice cream. They had the best time. I felt like we were on vacation! Bring on summer!

Grandma, Grandpa, and their grandkids

Savoring this time with my 6 year old. She turns 7 shortly after Mother's Day 

It's hard not to feel super lucky with family like mine.