Our Golden Eagles (School Stuff)

The kids were in their 3rd school play; this time it was Alice in Wonderland.  The boys were animals (some sort of ninja turtle but not the teenage mutant kind/some sort of furry creature) in the first act and playing cards in the second.  Annie was a lovely rose, and then she had the confidence to raise her hand when they asked who was little and could do a somersault, so she became a scene-stealing tumbling hedgehog with all sorts of sass.  I wish I had a video of her performance and the audience's delight.  All 3 kids did so well, even though Evan threatened to quit a few times.

Sam read the YA version of Unbroken and loved it...he did a presentation in class and got 101%.  He made us nervous the night before because of his lackadaisical attitude towards preparing for the presentation, then he nailed it in class.  Little (actually not-so-little) stinker.  Made me proud.

He's wearing my dad's Vietnam-era uniform.  Sorry, Dad, he keeps accidentally telling everyone that you were in WWII.

Sam had to make a timeline of Louie Zamperini's life, so he used a world map to show the extent of his "travels."  What an amazing life!  Sam wanted to watch the movie but we didn't think it would be appropriate, but then I heard an ad on the radio for a family-friendly version put out by Harvest (Greg Laurie) so we ordered it and watched it with some of our students.

Sam's presentation was for a program called Golden Eagle University, in which the kids read books of their choosing and complete projects towards degrees: first a Bachelor's, then a Master's and some even completed PhD's.  Sam somehow managed to complete a PhD, even though I thought we were going to kill each other during the Bachelor's.

Bachelor's graduation

Master's and PhD graduation

We got an invitation to an awards assembly at school for Evan a few weeks ahead of the event.  This kid keeps us on our toes...a perfect mixture of sweetness and slyness. He didn't know he was getting an award and started having some behavior issues at school, which made me nervous. But thankfully, we made it to the assembly date with no major consequences and he seemed to finish the year well.  Phew!  It will be interesting to see what his academic career looks like as things get more rigorous...he is very bright but has different academic strengths than Sam.  He never once complained or put off doing homework this year.  He gets right to it and is very organized.  And luckily, he didn't cut any girl's hair in class this year.  Hopefully that's behind us.  Yep, true confessions!

Evan and his teacher, Mrs. Patrick.  She has sons, so she likes pesky boys--I'm glad!

Open House at the kids' school,  Sam's teacher is so fun...she let the kids turn their desks into covered wagons, use cereal boxes to create an Electric City (complete with working lights), and got funding for a Lego Robotics program that they used all year in class.

It was such a gift for the kids to be at their same school this year, even though we moved out of the district.  I don't know if I ever shared the story of how, after we moved, I was continually getting a negative response on my inquiries about the likelihood of them getting approved for a transfer, and how I was tempted to just say we still lived with my parents.  I decided (i.e. was convicted) to go about it the honest way and just felt so bad that the kids might have to switch schools, knowing that we might be moving at the end of this year again.  Well, it got down to the day before kindergarten meet-n-greet and I still hadn't heard for sure.  I prayed so much, even telling my close friends, "God can do it, even though it seems so unlikely."  I called the school in the afternoon and was told no, and then right before the secretary was going to hang up (which was delayed by me starting to cry), she said (in a surprised voice) , "Wait, the principal wants to talk to you."  The principal spoke in a way that made it sound like she knew about our situation and was willing to help, put me on hold, and within 5 minutes, had made a call to the district and got us in.  Turns out, my mom had gone to lunch 2 hours earlier and had ended up sitting at the table next to the staff from our school, including Evan's former teacher (who happened to be sitting next to the principal).  She asked about Evan and if we had moved and my mom explained our whole situation, with the principal listening.  Can you believe it?  It was an amazing "coincidence," and we've been thankful for it all year.  Each kid seemed to have a class that suited them well--Sam's was so creative and energetic, Evan's was organized and he knew exactly what was expected of him, and Annie's was so sweet--and even though we got in literally the first day of kindergarten, she ended up with her closest friend, Paulina (and she got to continue the legacy of being the 4th person in our family within the last 35 years to be in the same kindergarten classroom).

The volcano was the highlight of the year.

Annie and Mrs. Johnson. Annie loves Mrs. Johnson's beautiful hair and Mrs. Johnson loves Annie's spunky style.

Annie and Paulina on a field trip

The first thing Sam's teacher complimented him on when I met with her recently was how great Sam was doing at being a Big Friend to his kindergarten buddy, Henry.  So sweet!

The whole school made paper quilt squares to decorate the MPR for the school's 50th birthday.  Most kids had a happy drawing of themselves or themselves with friends.  Evan's was a little different.  I am wondering if he was told to draw what he thinks of when he thinks of school.

Sam's:

Annie's:

Evan's:

And lastly, the joy of Spring Portraits.  When did this become a thing?  We have a tradition of not putting any thought or special preparation into them and seeing how they turn out (and we are shamelessly cheap and don't buy them).