Copy Cat

Brian and Ben were away at an out of town baseball tournament (which Ben's team won!), so we were busy creating fun of our own.

It's a long video, but watching Luke watch the big boys cracks me up!  I was having trouble getting it to load directly, so you'll have to use the link.

Cha Cha Slide

I Love This!

While I was washing dishes and the other boys were busy playing, this is what Luke found to do.

Completely unposed....I absolutely love this!

Classic Summer

We've had a lot of rain, severe storms and high humidity lately; some classic summer weather.  I love it when the lights have to be on in the middle of the day because it's so dark outside.

The picture doesn't do it justice, but it was raining HARD!

The hard rain was followed up with some hot and humid sunshine.  Perfect for playing in the water with cousins.  Little Luke was a bit late making it into the shot.  : )

Watch out ladies!

Adam

Max

Anna

Matt

Fun times!

Playing "Shark and Fish"

Just a couple days after the hot and humid weather, we were hit with another round of severe weather.  This is a tree directly across the street from us.  You can see it just behind the red hanging flower in the first picture in this post.  So sad to see it go.

Newspaper Clippings

We've started our envelope of newspaper clippings to save for Ben when he gets older.  We're so proud of his success in elementary school, and we're excited for his next phase of middle school to begin in the fall!

Ben's kindergarten teacher nominated him for "Student of the Month".

A friend of the 4th grade baseball team made an individualized magazine cover for each of the players.
(We laugh at where the ball is!)

First place this spring!

Rotary Club honor given to Ben by his teachers.

Last Day of School

On the last day of school, we looked out the garage and saw a double rainbow.  What made it even that much more amazing..it hadn't started to rain yet.

Part of the gang getting ready to bike on the last day. 

Gifts at the end of the year are a nice perk of being an elementary teacher.  I'm not sure why this goes along with the territory of teaching, but the thoughts and gifts are appreciated.  This year was no different and there were so many generous families.  My job share partner and I each got spoiled with Target, Barnes & Noble and restaurant gift cards.  We also got $75 each for spa treatments and this beautiful bouquet of flowers.

The most unique gift came from a kindergarten teacher in our building whose son was in our class.  Earlier in the spring she emailed a long list of questions for each of us to answer.  Favorite food, colors, hobbies, Bible verses, how people would describe us, etc...  She made a personalized shadow box for each of us.  Since I said my favorite colors were blues, greens and browns, that was the color scheme for my box.  My partner's was a black and pink theme.  I love a gift that is so personalized.

ValleyFair

Towards the end of the school year, Ben asked me if I would chaperone his 5th grade field trip to ValleyFair.  How could I refuse?  Since it fell within the last 10 days of school, I had to get special permission from our HR office to take the day off, but I'm so glad I did.

Ben had never been there before, but he was really excited to try out the rides, and he rode almost all of the big rides!

Excited for a fun day!

The Power Tower: one of the few rides Ben did not ride

3 of us moms kept our groups together, so for much of the day, this was our gang!

The boys pouting when they were told they couldn't ride the Ladybug ride because they were too tall.

Just imagine...12 5th grade boys fill this kiddie giant swing and pretend they are afraid.  They enjoyed being quite obnoxious.

Lunch Break!

While waiting for the moms to use the bathroom, Ben led the group in a Jammin' Minute routine.  This is an exercise routine that the entire school does at the beginning of each school day.

Yes, Ben is on there somewhere!

I'm so glad I got to spend this day with him.  I'm guessing he won't be asking me to hang out with him much longer.

Basketball & Syrup

Some random blogging material:

The Smith side of the family (there are 23 of us) has had an NCAA March Madness pool and traveling trophy since 1997.  Everyone gets to put in their own picks and it makes watching all that basketball much more manageable, and sometimes, it's even fun!  Well, guess who the lucky winner was this year?!  Mr. Adam himself is the proud owner of the trophy for the next year.

Completely unrelated to basketball, Luke loves his blueberry waffles and syrup most mornings.  He's recently discovered this fun new trick with a sticky fork.

Oh, Happy Day!

This is message written on the deck door greeting the boys for breakfast today!

It always takes us a little time to adjust to everyone being home for the summer, but trust me, we're not complaining!

A middle schooler, a 4th grader, a kindergartener and a full-blown toddler next year...as little Luke would say, "Holy cow!"



The video is annoying because I forgot and shot it sideways.  As big Luke would say, "Deal".

3rd Grade Track

The boys don't love their PE teacher at school, but he does a good job and is being recognized for his hard work.  One of the things he does at the end of the year is a track meet for each grade level.  For 3rd grade, the students got to choose their events.  Matt picked the hurdles, the 100 and the 400.  It's so fun to cheer for the kids and watch their faces light up and the energy pick up when they hear someone clapping for them.  I know the feeling!

Notice his hand.  It's what our boys do when they're nervous.

Clearing the first hurdle!

Matt told me running the hurdles was like jumping over snakes.

Finishing the 100

Running strong in the 400

Having a great time

3rd grade buddies:  Dylan and Matt