Zane's 8th Birthday, Mason's School Program, Zane's Last Day of 1st Grade

I was reminded once again this week just how quickly time flies when Zane turned 8!  Seriously!  I can hardly believe it when I hear myself saying I have an 8 year old.  What an amazing ride the last 8 years have been.  Zane - you are amazing!  We love you more than you will ever know!  

 

Happy 8th birthday Zane!

To celebrate, Zane wanted to go to Pizza Shoppe...however when we told him his favorite waitress wasn't working that night, he changed his mind.  So we ended up at BWW.  I promise, I even offered to cook for him, but he wanted to go somewhere.  I think he wanted to get a free dessert and have everyone sing him "happy birthday!" 

Thursday night was Mason's end of the year program at preschool.  It was the graduation ceremony for those moving on to kindergarten next year.  I almost cried...thinking we'd be sitting in that position for Mason next year.  Wow!  Mason was really excited for his program.  That morning he told Matt he didn't need to go to school until after supper because "that's what Mrs. Buchholz said."  I tried my hardest to get him to dress up.  The best I could get was the "tie shirt" and jeans.  Oh well...he was still cute!

Mason with Mrs. Buchholz

Mason with his buddy Max (when we got there Mason said "Max has on his handsome clothes")

Madelyn & Zane...can't believe how big these kids are!

Brycers crawling all over before it started

The looks on these kids' faces crack me up!  Look at Nora (front, white sweater)!

Doing the actions...

Singing the songs!

This is what Zane did the whole time!  At least it kept him from whining!

Bryce loved clapping for them!

Thank goodness it's not time for him to be in school yet!

Yay Mason!

Mason with Ms. Jackie (one of his half time teacher assistants)

Mason with Mrs. Fredde, who is with him at the after school program

Mason with Mrs. Dawn (also with him at after school)

Nora and Mason

Nora and Madelyn...sweet sisters

I'm wishing I would have checked my settings here...or knew anything about editing...but these pictures make me laugh!  The Ottis and Baker kids are like siblings!  I love seeing them together!  And...yes...this is in the church yard after the program!

Attempting to get an "from oldest to youngest" photo.  You can see Mason was really into it...

Not only did Zane turn 8, he also finished 1st grade!  We are so proud of him!  I sent my camera with him to school for some fun shots with his friends.  He did good!

Mrs. Pickett and Zane

Abraham and Zane

Zane and his 1st grade class

Zane with Ms. Jackie (a teacher at Y-Club)

I still have this week at school - 4 days and counting.  This has been my most challenging year of teaching and I am anxious for summer!  I'm doing good though - report cards are done - so I should just have to get my room packed and straightened and I'll be good to go!  Wish me luck!

Um...it's less than 2 weeks until Mexico!  YAHOO!  If you're wondering...operation bikini body has not gone completely as I'd planned for it to...I always have pretty lofty goals for weight loss...but I'm still going to go and enjoy myself...I can lose weight later!

Happy Mother's Day

What a week!  I knew when it started that it would be crazy.  Wednesday was Kindergarten Roundup.  We already have 85 kids signed up for next year - which is the most we have EVER had at this point in the year!  So we are a little worried that we might have large class sizes!  I hope that it just means we have them all identified...or that there will be enough more that we can add a section!  More than 20 kindergartners...in August...is interesting!  I am so lucky to have such an amazing husband that doesn't hesitate to leave work early on these kinds of days to get the boys.  While I was at Roundup, I got this picture from Matt:

 



GRASS!

Apparently Bryce loved the grass!  When I got to thinking about it, this is probably the first time he really "remembers" grass, as he would have only been 4 months old at this time last year!  Matt said it was hilarious...he'd sit down in the grass, then lay back, and just giggle!  He's such a joy to us!

 

Today was Mother's Day.  What a great day!  I'm so lucky to have three amazing boys call me Mom!  And we are also fortunate enough to have two amazing moms!!!  Today we went to church, ate lunch together, and had Yogurtini (frozen yogurt) for supper cause moms got theirs free!  We really did feed the boys when we got home, but counted it as our supper!

 

This weekend, Mason has been all about helping Matt around the garage.  He has wanted to clean everything!  They ended up getting some gloves and masks to keep him safe from chemicals they were using.  He took it a little far...was wearing them as we planted flowers as well! 

 



Mason washing things...

He was telling me NOT to take pictures!  Because he was working on the farm!

Bryce just wanted in on the action...poor fella!

Bryce and Daddy!

The boys acting as statues...Mason as "Peter Parker" shooting webs!

Statue Peter Parker

Statue Zane (he actually was copying another statue beside him).

Yogurtini!  Me with my loves!

Yesterday I got word that my Great Aunt Ruth, my Grandpa Bunch's sister, passed away at the age of 97.  She would have turned 98 today!  Aunt Ruth had the best memory.  She could always tell us dates, years, stories, and it was great!  Please pray for her family, and for safe travels for everyone, as we say good-bye to her this week.  The funeral is on Wednesday and so I will be traveling to Iowa for that and leaving the boys here.

 

In closing this week, I'll leave you with a message from Kid President.  It's a message to moms.  This kid just makes me smile.  If you have a few spare minutes...watch it!  Even if you're not a mom, he'll make you smile too!  Click on the link below to go there.

 

 



Letter to Moms From Kid President

Moving Day!

Lots of times people say "I don't know how you teach those little kids..."  Well, here are two of many reasons why I love what I do:

 

"Helo Mrs. Baker.  I want you to know you are pretty."

So this weekend was moving weekend for my mom and dad.  Not the only moving day, but the big one!  I took Friday afternoon off and Matt took the whole day.  We dropped the boys off with Matt's parents and then we headed into town to get things packed up!  While Mom worked on organizing and packing, Matt, Dad, and I loaded the trailers.  We did a pretty good job, if I do say so myself, at packing things in.  Mom and Dad thought we'd have to take 2 trips, but we only took one!  We didn't leave for the new house until 11:45 p.m., drove 50 all the way there (in the rain), and went to Perkins when we got there around 2:30 in the morning.  We had skipped supper (couldn't stop...couldn't be tired), so it was our supper and breakfast combined!

After our meal, we went to the new house.  Of course we had to have the "tour" and couldn't go straight to bed.  And there were a few things we had to get out right away, like a bed for Matt and I to sleep in, and the washer and dryer that were soaked!  So we ended up getting to bed finally at 4:30 a.m.!  Whew!

Saturday we woke up, got some donuts, Adam came over, then we started unpacking.  Actually this part was easier than packing and didn't seem to take us long at all!  Ron and Peg, my parents' friends, brought us over some lunch, which was really nice!  Saturday evening my Uncle Daryl, Aunt Robin, Cousins Jamie, Brooklyn, and Rob all came over to visit also.  Then for supper we enjoyed some BBQ pork from one of the new neighbors! 

We had a great time!  Their house is beautiful!  And now we're looking forward to our next visit...where we can just relax!

One of the things mom gave us that we brought home this weekend was her desk from when she was a kid.  It also went through me and both of my brothers.  Mom had the drawers stocked for the boys.  They were so excited and couldn't wait to get it in their room.  Here they are posing for Grandma:

They were excited to have a "homework" desk!

Mason loved it so much he had to sleep by it...

While the boys were with Grandma/pa Farmer, Zane lost another tooth.  This morning, Zane was very upset, but wouldn't tell me why.  Matt finally figured it out...that darn tooth fairy didn't come for his tooth!  She must be busy!  So I guess Zane wrote this letter:

 

His note worked!  When he got home from school, he had $2 in his pillow.  Whew!  I asked him why he thought she hadn't come and he said, "I don't know.  She's busy?"  Thank you tooth fairy!