Madison's Birthday Party

On the last day of school, the kids had an early release.  With that, we decied to have Madison's friends over for her little birthday party.  Most of the girls live right here in our neighborhood and ride the bus with her.  Two are friends from Edward's work who we me during the deployment, and one friend, Emily, is one of our friends/neighbors from Yuma who moved back here last week.

After school, here are 10 little girls very excited for summer.

For mid-afternoon, they were very hungry! 

My wait staff for the day...Flash stayed to help serve and clear food.  He was really cute. Luke went with a set of sisters' brother who is five.  They did Slip-N-Slide during the party.

Madison wanted a large cookie.

Sisters who live behind us.  Luke went with their mom and brother to play.

Friend who came in from Southern Pines (deployment friend!)

Sisters who live down the street

Madison with Emily, one of our neighbors from Arizona.  She was really glad to see her.

Arts and crafts

She lives across the street.

Biggest hit of the day...Twister!  We had several rounds of the game, complete with a championship round.

 Laura lived at the end of our street, and since her parents were renting, they now bought a house a couple miles away, which now means she has to swtich schools next year.  At least the girls can still play together.  I had to explain to Madison Laura's moving was not too far away as Army kids are accustomed.

 Biggest hit of the party!!!  Madison has been wanting this doll chair for awhile!

After the sugar high set in with the kids, I took the outside to run and play. One of the moms stopped back by, and she was a great help with all of their energy!

Thanks to our neighbors and friends for celebrating Madison's birthday with her. She had a really great day.

Madison's Last Day of School

Madison had a fantastic first grade school year here in North Carolina.  She is now a second grader!

Here is Madison just off the school bus from her last day of school, Friday, June 8.  This was also her birthday. She had a great day.  I was able to eat lunch with her on the last day, and the school is really good about recognizing birthdays.

The backpack and lunchbox survived the whole year and are both still in great shape.  Madison lost two water bottles over the year.  She LOVED, LOVED, LOVED her teacher (and so did I).  She had 18 kids in her class with her teacher and teaching assistant.

Madison learned a lot of Chinese (all students learn Chinese at her school).  Her computer skills are awesome.  She learned a lot here at home, but man, they have showed her some great skills and resources.  She does well with keyboarding on the computer already.  Her favorite extra classes were "all of them" and they were:  Art, Music, Library (she brought home books everyday-yea from her librarian mom), Computers, PE, and Chinese.  She had at least one of these each day and Chinese three times a week.  Her reading skills are soaring; she loves to read.  Madison loves math and asks to do extra math at home all the time.  She wants to learn cursive writing, so we'll work on that this summer.  Her teacher had her put into the Discovery G/T class this year, and she also was in "Club USA" a program the guidance department does for military kids, with special focus on deployments. She can't wait for that class again next year.  I'm so glad the public schools here recognize the military issues and create classes for them.  I was so happy when she came home with that info sheet last fall and begged me to let her be in that class. 

Madison learned how to buy her lunch at school (there was no cafeteria in kindergarten in Yuma).  She also had to learn how to ride the bus, and thankfully, she had a really, really nice bus driver, even though he went to UNC and USC and was a HUGE Tar Heel and Gamecock fan  :).  He was one of the kindergarten aids, so he really knew the kids (Luke wants to be in his class this Fall).  Looking back, Madison spent the entire first semester of the school year at a new school with her dad deployed, and I'm so proud of how she handled herself. 

This school year, she played soccer and t-ball, loving both. She was in the kids' choir at church, and she also lost five teeth.

Now, onto second grade...

Looking back...the first day of school.   I would have had her wear the same outfit, but it doesn't fit anymore.  Yes, all the kids have grown a lot!

Tea Party

Alex setup a "tea party" in the master bedroom this week.  Not only did he put out a blanket for the party, he hauled the play chairs downstairs from the playroom.  He told me that it was Jake's birthday.  Jake is one of his two favorite toys.  Kitty is his other favorite.  So, the attendees were Jake, Kitty, Alex, and me.  Luke opted not to attend.  Alex was even able to sing the "Happy Birthday" song to Jake by himself.

The food was great.  You can see Alex stepping on our "food."

A Birthday Party for Alex and Madison

Alex and Madison have their birthdays nine days apart.  Two days before Alex's birthday is my dad's birthday, so we have several right in a row.  This past weekend, my whole family gathered for a big birthday party.  We hadn't been all together in two and a half years, so it was a really nice time for all of us. 

 Alex's favorite color is orange, and Madison loves purple=CLEMSON colors on their birthday cake!

 Cousin Alaina

The five cousins eating together

 We put up one of those above ground pools last week.  The whole family has been enjoying it.

 The girls

 Best family picture

 The grandkids-Madison (7), Alex (3), Weston (2), Alaina (1), and Luke (5)

 My brother, Clay, with his son, Wes

My sister, Meredith, with her daughter, Alaina

 Alex's "Big Boy" Razor scooter

AWESOME Flash costume from Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Andrew

Madison was so excited to get this Ariel doll from Nana

Grandma and Grandpa came through with new sheets, which Madison had me wash and put on the next morning.

 Another huge hit-Transformer costume from Aunt Karen and Uncle Clay

Grandma came through with a Wii game.

Super Flash

 Bumblebee Luke trying on Alex's costume

Flash with his new red scooter

Madison said her favorite gift was the Rapunzel figurine set from Alaina.  Alex loved his Flash costume.  Thanks to all of our family, near and far, for the great birthday gifts.  It was so thoughtful.  Our family had a great time getting together Saturday.  We found out Saturday night that Edward's sister and her husband, Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Andrew to the kids, summitted Mt. McKinley in Denali National Park, Alaska.  Well done, guys!

Group Ball

Edward and I attended the Group Ball last night (his work). We hadn't been to a ball in two years, so it was nice to have an evening out.  The Army keeps changing the uniforms (ever so slightly), so he has on new pants and a new white shirt to keep up with the regulations. Oh, and we can't forget that he had to update his rank and awards, so his uniform continues to be pretty costly  :)

The kids stayed home with Grandma.  They had a blast.  Thanks to my mom for coming over to help out. 

While the ball was nice, we really missed our Freefall Balls where we actually knew the people attending.  We did enjoy the new Embassy Suites Ballroom where the event was held, but it wasn't the same without our Yuma friends.

Alex's Birthday

Alex had a nice evening on his birthday.  He requested we eat at "McDonalds that has a slide," so we did.  He opened the presents from us and told us what a great birthday he had had.

This Cars airplane seems to be the hit gift.