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.

Alexander's 3rd Birthday

Today was Alex's, or Dr. Alexander, or "The Flash's" 3rd Birthday!  Alex goes by several names, and really you never know "who" is going to show up in the moment.  He had a wonderful birthday and said his favorite part of the day was "having my friends come play."

Preschool ended last week, so I decided to have a very small get-together with a few of his preschool friends.  They came over to play and have lunch today.  On a normal summer day here, the kids would have played outside on our swingset, BUT we had our lovely tropical storm blowing through, or I guess by now, a tropical depression, so we had rain, rain, rain (about three inches total they say).

Our party-goers didn't seem to mind, but my playroom did  :)  The kids had a balst.

 The dining room is all ready for the "Cars" birthday lunch bash.

 The Birthday Boy, complete with the same birthday shirt Luke wore LAST year.  Alex has almost caught Luke in clothing.  The hat is from his preschool teacher, Ms. Amanda.  All the preschoolers received birthday hats on their birthdays.  Well, last week, on the last day of preschool, Ms. Amanda had the hats all ready for all the summer birthday babies.  Alex was so excited to FINALLY get his birthday hat.  It's a miracle, and a testament to how much he likes it, that it survived until today.

Lunch, sub sandwiches, pasta salad, Cheetos, and fruit...all of Alex's, I mean Flash's, lunchtime favorites.

 We had two moms cancel, but with the rainy weather, the small group was perfect. 

 Sure, let's put swords down our shirts...

 Luke really enjoyed the party.  There was one other boy his age (there were supposed to have been five five-year-olds), and they had a blast with the Nerf guns.

Waiting for his cake...

 Alex LOVED his cake.

Adeline and Becca...Becca is one of our neighbors, and ironically, we knew them last time we lived here (went to church together).  Another random tidbit is that Becca's dad and Edward happen to be in the same unit.

 This is Alex's favorite friend, Adeline. He talks about her ALL the time, and apparently at preschool, they are quite the pair. He could not wait for her to come to the party. Luckily, he'll see here again soon, as her birthday is next week.

A big bucket of bugs

 

The older boys having a blast,but notice Flash was at the party the whole time.

Thanks for coming to Alex's party...he was one VERY happy little boy.