Celebrations

Samuel had a fun and busy day today.  He is lucky to have such nice sisters to go along with all of his activities and often just wait around.  I have a feeling though that his "Waiting Around Time" is not too far in the future.  Esther is starting Kindergarten this coming fall, and she is bound to be a busy body.   He might have to do a little more of the waiting part, because Esther has consistently shown to us that she has no sense of urgency.  None.  Zero.

Today was Samuel's "Wax Museum" presentation and end of the school year awards ceremony.  His whole class has been working on this all semester long.  Independently, every student has been researching a notable figure of his or her choice.  At the end of their research they were to present that person in the "Wax Museum".   Samuel had chosen "Thomas Jefferson", which was an excellent choice in my opinion, since he is one of my favorite founding fathers and whose political ideas I greatly respect.  Samuel and I worked together on an artifact he was supposed to have for this project.  We built a model of Jefferson's amazing home-Monticello. Dressed as Thomas Jefferson, Samuel did an excellent job presenting the life of this amazing person.  We are so proud of him.

At the 2nd grade ceremony Samuel was awarded the "All Star Student" Award.  The school's counselor called me the day before and told me that Samuel was nominated by his teacher to be one of three "All Star Students" in his class, which consists of more than 100 children.  He also asked me not to tell Samuel since they wanted this to be a surprise.  We brought our video camera to make sure we captured every minute of it.  Samuel was so happy and gave his teacher a huge hug after the ceremony.  They also presented him with a T-shirt that only All Star Students can have!

This is what Ms. Williams had written about Samuel's deserving this award:

"I am proud to be able to recognize Samuel Heaton as an "All Star" student in second grade.  Samuel can always be counted on to be a good friend to everyone.  He will take his time to make sure everyone is getting along and happy.  When students are disagreeing on something, no matter when or where, Samuel will go out of his way to make sure everything is fair for everyone as he helps to work it out.  When deciding what to play or do at recess, Samuel will work with other students to make everyone else happy, even if it is not what he wants to do.  In addition to being an "All Star" friend, Samuel is also an "All Star" student.  He works quietly and steadily in the classroom to get his work done, being a good friend to others along the way.  Samuel is without a doubt an "All Star" student...Congratulations Samuel! "

He was also awarded for achievement in the following areas:

-All Star Student

-Cardio Club

-Citizenship

-Math

-Social Studies

-Reading

-Writing

-Endeavor

He also had his end of the baseball season party.  Our team mom was so nice and generous to pay for all the boys to go to "Pitch, Putt, and Play".  The boys have been having a rough season, so it was wonderful to see them happy and relaxed.  

Season coming to an end...

The end of the school year is coming to an end.  It has been a busy, but good busy, year.  Maggie is a bit older, and we have been doing more activities with the other two children, especially after she transitioned to having one nap a day.  Esther has been going to gymnastics, piano and singing lessons and Samuel to baseball, piano, and cub-scouts.  They also tried soccer in the fall, but that did not take off as well.  It was fun to see the children have fun and make new friends.

It is getting harder and harder to do staged pictures with Maggie.  

It kind of works when she is strapped.

Lunch on a day off from school.

Esther at gymnastics.

At Baseball Practice. 

One of Samuel's baseball games.

Maggie bloopers

She rarely walks, mostly runs.

It is almost impossible to get a good picture of her since she is always on the move.

She is wearing her favorite shoes of mine.  She knows exactly in which box they are and loves to wear them often.  (I took this with my phone and it shows.)

Maggie loves to scavenge any leftovers from the kitchen table by, of course, climbing onto it.

Or standing on it.

Bacon Love

In our house bacon has become a symbol of problem solving.  At least for Maggie, eighteen months old, that is.  The bacon was put out of her reach, supposedly, since she's had her fair share of lard for the day.  However, Maggie goes to the bathroom, gets the stool from under the sink and helps herself to as much bacon as her little heart desires!  And that is a lot.  And here she is caught in the act.