Last day of First grade

Emma's last day of first grade was a half day.  We had a fun class party!  Jarrod created a slide show of the year and helped organize 'minute to win it' games.  The kids LOVED them!  First they participated in toilet paper mummy races:

Next they tried their best to shake ping pong balls out of these empty tissue boxes.  Hilarious!!

Lastly they tried to balance a cookie on their forehead and then work it down to their mouth without using their hands.  Tricky but funny!

Of course little brother had to participate.  He thinks he is part of the class :)

Fun friends

Emma was blessed with an amazing teacher and lots of sweet friends this year.  She enjoyed school and learned so much!  She especially enjoyed reading and finished in second place in the reading counts system (with 141 points)!  

First grade awards

I'm really beginning to believe that every year is going to pass by faster than the one before.  I can't believe Miss Emma is now on her way to second grade!!  The first grade awards ceremony was held the last week of school.  Each teacher carefully selected two students from her class to receive the citizenship award.  We were so honored that Emma was chosen again this year :)

First grade citizenship award recipients {such a great bunch of kiddos!}

Emma was also one of only eight first graders who made all A's throughout the school year.  We are so proud :)

It has been such a joy to watch the class of 2025 grow and develop over the past couple of years.  Their class consists of so many sweet and spunky personalities and it has been fun for Coach and I to get to know them.

Emma with Rebecca - one of her very best friends on earth :)

We are so thankful God chose us to be this sweet girl's parents!  She is such a delight.  We are proud of the example she sets for others and for the way she makes them feel.  She does her very best at everything she tries and puts forth the effort necessary to excel in life.

Second grade here she comes!!!!..........

Spelling Bee

This week Emma participated in the annual Lansberry Elementary spelling bee.  Contests were done by grade level and three representatives were chosen from each homeroom class.  Each contestant was expected to be familiar with a list of 335+ specific words {some of the most challenging included Wednesday, February, graph, through and subtraction}.  During the weeks leading up to the big day she practiced, practiced and practiced some more!

Our sweet #15 before the bee began

Mrs. Meredith's class was well represented {Savannah, Blaine & Emma}

She performs well under pressure and in front of a crowd!  She was focused, determined and seemed nervously excited.  Her parents, on the other hand, were a ball of nerves!  I'm pretty certain that I stopped breathing each time she stood to spell.

First grade besties Rebecca and Emma

1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners {Benjamin, Emma & Malachi}

Proud parents

Overall her first spelling bee was a wonderful experience!  We celebrated by letting her leave school early to enjoy lunch at Olive Garden {her fav!} :)

According to Owen....

Owen constantly keeps us on our toes with the funny things he says and the well thought out questions he presents.  Here is a collection of the most unforgettable things he has said recently.

"Daddy told me to do this!"  (while hugging me)

"I want to marry they.  I want to kiss they!"  (when eating Ramen noodles)

"You don't make the rules of my whole body!"

"I love you just *this* much" (while showing a tiny space between his fingers)

"I'll go potty like a race car" (quick speed)

"No means no!"

"How much did you pay for her?" (asking Jarrod and pointing to me)

"You've got to try this.  It tastes awesome!" (coming from our picky eater when trying something new!)

He calls the Incredible Hulk "Hunk" every.single.time.

together = "to-gela"

stiff arm {football} = "sniff bomb"

Conversation after he finished a snack:

Me: "Please go put your dish in the kitchen sink."

Owen: "No, you can do it."

Me: "You have legs."

Owen: "You have legs, too!"

Some of the deep  questions he asks (and wants real answers for!)

"Why do we have belly buttons?"

"How do babies get out of mommies' tummies?"

"Why do the Little Einsteins never grow (a favorite tv show)?"

Mother's Day

Jarrod has a tradition of creating a sweet slide show for me every year for Mother's Day.  I've learned to have a Kleenex box close by.  Here is the one he made this year:

FCA Banquet & Award

Last week Jarrod and I attended the annual area FCA "Night of Champions" banquet.  It was held at Carolina Creek Christian Camp (where Emma attends camp!).  We enjoyed a delicious meal and delightful company!

Jarrod was honored to receive the Mark Johnson Coach of Character Award.  He was introduced by fellow Coach Don Hill and the award was actually presented by Mr. Mark Johnson himself.  It was an exciting time :)  Pictured with us above are Mark Johnson and Beau & Stacy Bevers, FCA area direcctor and his sweet wife.

We were blessed to have some great local friends join us for the evening 

{L-R Charlie & Lyndsey Robinson, our youth pastor & wife, L.C. & Cathy Courtney, school board member & church friends, (us), Josh Boyd, THS junior & FCA huddle leader and Dave Plymale, TISD Superintendent}

Owen at age 4 1/2

Last week we celebrated Owen's half birthday!  For months now he has claimed to be "four and a half" and "almost five" but now it is the truth!  He now wears mostly size 4 clothes, size 11 shoes and weighs approximately 40 lbs.  He constantly asks questions and is very curious about the world around him.  {Some of his most recent questions:  How does a car run?  What are trees made of?  How does a baby get in a mommy's tummy?  Will I be cute in high school?}

Since turning four we have had two routine conferences with his teacher.  Ms. Anitra has been such a blessing to us!  She says that he is doing great!  He has two best buddies, Keaton and JK.  They are all among the oldest in the class and also have older siblings, which she thinks might have something to do with the way they get along so well.  She commented on how comical Owen is and how much he enjoys making others laugh.  She tested him on alphabet letter identification and he got almost all of them correct!  She agreed that he has mastered all tasks and expectations for the year, which has contributed to our decision to go ahead and promote him to the Pre K class at the same school for this fall {Mrs. A will be moving up to Pre K, too!}.  We still plan to hold him back a year but will most likely have him spend a year in Pre K at the elementary school as well.

He loves to count, dance, do crafts, vacuum, play sports (especially baseball, soccer, football & golf), play Wii, play on the ipad, and do exercise videos with us at home.  He loves to play at the Sonic playground after school, which we have done quite often recently with the beautiful weather!  Each child in his class gets a turn to take home the homework backpack.  Owen was thrilled to take it home.  I've never seen anyone so excited about doing homework!  He prefers not to play alone, tidy his room, run errands or try new foods.  His diet primarily consists of Boston cream pie breakfast strudels, pumpkin muffins, biscuits with gravy, bacon, Ramen noodles, fettuccine alfredo, weenies, garlic bread, pop corn, chips and queso, peanut butter sandwiches, tortillas, yogurt, rice and hard boiled eggs (without the "olk" - yolk).  Very rarely will he deviate from this list.  Pediasure is a thing of the past!

His speech has improved recently.  Over Spring Break he randomly started sounding out his 's' and 'f' sounds perfectly and consistently!  There are still occasions when we simply cannot understand him.  He tends to get irritated but has figured out how to use context clues to better communicate what he is talking about.  We followed through with Dr Knight's referral and he was evaluated for speech last month.  As we suspected, he is just a little behind the curve in articulation.  He will start meeting with a speech therapist once a week and then will be re evaluated every 90 days.

Lately we have noticed that Owen has taken interest in math.  When we give him two different single digit numbers he can put them together in his head and tell us the double digit {4, 6 =46}.  He has recently made several different number associations.  He called attention to the fact that there are four members in our immediate family and that his age is four.  He also made reference to the fact that both he and his daddy both have the number eight in their ipad passwords.  He is also great at 20+ piece puzzles!  He focuses and completes them in record speed!

Our boy is a very light sleeper.  He almost never stays put in one place during the night.  He still starts in Emma's bed but transfers to our bed during the night.  He often falls asleep on the way home from school.  He definitely still needs that daily nap and will do so in Pre K!

His favorite days are t ball days!  He doesn't seem to understand the difference between practices and games but has the time of his life out there!  The first thing he asks each morning is "Do I have a game today?"  On game days he constantly asks "How many minutes 'til my game?"  His coach let him play pitcher which was hilarious!  He had the biggest grin on his face and proceeded to tag the opponent without  the ball.

Things I never want to forget about 4 1/2 year old Owen:

• He is very shy and it often takes him quite some time to warm up to new adults.  
• He is extremely cuddly first thing in the morning and last thing at night.  
• He still adores his big sister but doesn't allow her to push him around as much as he used to.  
• While she is at school he sneaks into her room to play Barbies.  
• He has all of the Frozen song lyrics memorized.  
• He has an amazing memory ("one time you said...").  
• He is scared silly of bugs.
• He often holds my hand on the way to school.  
• He furrows his brow and grunts when he doesn't get his way.  
• He loves his little school friends with all his heart.  
• He can easily be bribed with McDonalds happy meals and electronic privileges :)

We love him to pieces.  He is growing up faster than we wish he would but we are enjoying every minute - temper tantrums and all!  :)