{Survived}

Another school year has finished. Another year of 1st Grade under my belt, E finished 3rd and K finished 6th.

It was a crazy busy year, but the time flew by. E constantly reminds me of how fast the year went by. It went by in a flash and I still can't believe it is over already.

E & K were both recognized by their teachers during their awards and seemed super happy that they year is done.

E's class

Now onto summer.....swimming, reading, playing, relaxing, and trying to figure out how to get ready for the next school year.

{soliders}

For school K and E each got to be in a Civil War Re-enactment. K was on artillery, meaning he got to launch water balloons. E was with his class and got to work with the regiment and throw water bombs at the other regiment.

It was a fun day and something they looked forward to for weeks. It was a nice break from their normal school day.

{Elections}

K decided to run for AHA 2nd Grade Representative for next school year. He figured he had a better chance at winning because next year's 2nd graders are my 1st graders so they would know him.

He wrote his speech all by himself and got a teacher recommendation.

He won after a second vote, because the first time around they tied. He is excited to be in the AHA House as the 2nd Grade Rep next year. I just hope he is ready for the extra work that it will bring.

{E's past 8 weeks}

E has had a record 8 weeks.

Week 1: All school winner of the Geography bee (he beat the upper grammar and high schoolers!)

Week 6: 3rd Place winner in 3rd grade in the Science Fair

Week 8: 2nd Place Winner in the Pinewood Derby!

Way to go E! We sure are proud of you!

{columbus}

This year K is in Upper Grammar which has brought a whole new world of school into our lives.

One of his big projects this year was to write and perform as Christopher Columbus for the school's patriot project "Links of Liberty a Wax Museum."

So all we did as parents was supply him with books about his person and help with costume and props. He did all the research and writing of his script.

It turned out quite amazing. He looked great in his one of a kind costume made by his Grandma Walker and all his props he worked hard at making and coming up with ideas. He was the 5 person in the historical timeline that was followed and it was wonderful.

He stood there in character for 4 hours and was able to present his speech to all those who came by. We are so proud of his hard work!

{Love poem}

So for all school devotional this morning, E's class was in charge of it. And since it is Valentine's Day they each shared a line of poetry that they had written last week.

It had to start: "Love is like" and they had to use personification. It was the most memorable devotional this year.

E's was:
          "Love is like food, on the table, speaking kindly words to my belly."

So So So Funny!!

{Consitution Night 2011}

At AHA our scholars write constitutions for their classrooms. Basically the rules of the class. So to celebrate the feat of writing it (this can take up to two weeks) we have a Constitution Signing on National Constitution Day, September 17th. It is a great event and on e of my favorite of the school year!

C witnesses the boys sign their class constitutions while I stand and witness all of the scholars sign ours. It is lots of fun and so fitting for the kind of education our children get at our great school!

{the Last Day}

The Last day of school is always fun (because it is a party day!)......

.....and hectic (my class, K's class, and E's Class all have awards and parties!) ....

.....and tiring (did you read the last two things...3 parties and 3 awards and one set I have to plan and run for my class) .....

.....and the most anticipated day of the school year (really it's the last day of school what would you expect?)!!

So K and E were both recognized by their teachers after participating in a small class presentations. We enjoyed both of their teachers this year and feel so lucky to have had wonderful teachers that worked with each boy at their level challenging them every step of the way but not pushing them over the edge.

K and Mrs. Walker (5th Grade)

E and Mrs. Curtis (2nd Grade)

It was a great school year and we are READY FOR SUMMER!!

{Fine Arts Week}

At our school we celebrate the Fine Arts every spring.

This year both boys gave reciations with their class and made a class project for the art auction.

 This is E's Class quilt that his class made. On the back were hand prints of each scholar with a sentence each scholar wrote....E's says "Even though we come from different families we are kids of God!"

The quilt was my favorite item of the auction and wished we had the extra cash to win that piece....

{50s Day}

Each year our school has a sock hop and the scholars (and teachers) dress up for school. This is a great treat since we wear uniforms all year long. This is taken right before we walked into school that morning...sorry about the car in the background!

So thanks to a great sister in law who can also sew anything I have a poodle skirt and the boys love sporting their white shirts and jeans. It is a fun day and event!

{Patriot Play}

This month was our school's Patriot Play.

K and E are part of the Lower Grammar so they did not have major roles, since they did in the Thanksgiving Production, but they both sang and K recited a section of the Declaration of Independence with his class.

This picture shows my 1st Grade class on the front room, E is on the far right middle row & K is the far left top row.

We always love to see them perform and do their best!

{Math Bee 2010)

The math bee was fun again this year and the boys did fairly well. In school they are each placed in math classes according to their ability. This year E is in the math class one grade above his "normal" class and K skipped a math class and is in a Pre-Algebra class. So for the math bee they competed with their math class.

K was able to continue through the math bee into the next class level after his math class. He made it about halfway through the next level.

We are happy and proud of the dedication the boys have in their school work not only math but in every part of their education.

{Spirit Week 2010}

At school we have Spirit Week and each day the scholars get to dress up in a themed outfit (normally we wear uniforms to school so this is great fun for the boys).

First day was cultural day, so we went hawaiian...easy comfortable and part of us.

Second day was mismatch day. K wouldn't give in a look like a fool with the rest of us so only E and I dressed up.

Third day was historical day, pick something from the past to dress up like so we went with togas.

It was lots of fun and gets us out of our uniforms for a few days.

{Sock Hop}

Every Spring our school has a Sock Hop. In our 5 years at the school this was our first year going. We went mainly becuase E wanted to be in the Hula Hoop competition (at the back to school bbq he beat out the 4th graders so he was anxious to do that again).

We had the girls that night so they went with us and danced the night away. My boys are definatly boys standing on the edge being wallflowers, while the girls weren't shy at all and got right in there and danced away. One of my first graders took them in the middle with her and they all danced together as long as they wanted too. She was great and would bring them to me or C when they were done dancing. It was a fun night!

And E got first place in the hula hoop contest for 1st Grade!! Go E!!!

Science Project Time

This year is the first year K has to do a "project" as opposed to a report for the science fair at school.

It has taken two weekends of our lives but it is finished (a week early...but they didn't know it was a week early until we were finished tonight) and everyone is glad it is done.

K did a project about temperature affecting the amount of soda that explodes out of a can when you shake it. He was happy to have a project that makes a mess.

E is in 1st grade so he still gets to write a report. They do note card reports to teach them how to form paragraphs etc. So his report was on the rhino and is in note card fashion on a poster board. He is very proud of his project. All we did was cute the circles and print out the pictures he picked. He did the rest himself...

Book Report

So if you live in little boy land as we do and have a reader you have probably heard all the laughing when your reader is into the "diary of a wimpy kid" books. K choose this book for his book report this past month...we are doing one book report a month...and yes I said we.

Chad was in charge of helping with this one. K has to choose a report style every month and they are not your typical "write a report" reports. I was voting for a "write a new ending to your book" option but he wanted the "make a board game" option. Luckily you can only chose each report style once.

Here are the cards he made, with the help of dad and photo shop, and the board he made.

His class loved playing the game so that was a big bonus for K.

Spelling Sentances

Almost every night E has to write his spelling words 4 times each and a sentence for each word. Most of the time he is right on top of it and needs a little help with the sentences. One day about two weeks ago he sat down and did all his homework without a peep...never asking for help...and I didn't think anything about it.

So when Monday rolled around and we were getting ready for school the next day, I looked over his homework packet to make sure it was all done. And I was reading over his sentences and found this one...

"I am white."

The spelling word was white. I was laughing so hard! And of course showed it to Chad.

You see when E was born he was very "white" compared to our first baby. E was blond haired, blue eyed, and very white skin. K was dark headed, dark eyes, and darker skin. So we have always lovingly called E our "white baby" especially in the summer when I have to consciously remember to lather him in sunscreen all the time.

So for him to write this sentence was too funny!

First Project of 3rd Grade

So today Kaden turned in his first "project" for 3rd grade. All his other projects have been papers and reports. This one was the first 3D project.

Before Christmas he wrote a report on comets and now he had to make a model of one...so here it is to share!

2 Rings left

Ethan is our official countdown to Christmas boy. After Thanksgiving break he brought home countdown rings from school and has been ripping on off each day. So Today (Tuesday) it looked like this....

Ethans First Reciation

For part of the class party Ethan had to memorize a poem to present in front of the class. He was so ready and so proud of himself when he was done. He was the only one to not need help and to just get up and do it without being poked and prodded. It was a great moment!!

Oh....the poem he did was called "If you talk to a Monkey" by Rowena Bennett.

If you talk to a monkey

he seems very wise.

he scratches his head

and blinks both eyes.

but he won't say a word

he just swings on a rail

and makes a big question mark out of his tail.