The entrepreneur and her pupils

 I like both of these shots where the first focused on the students and the second focused on the teacher.  I know there's a name for that.  Not up to speed with camera jargon.  Brenya??  I guess the first step is recognizing that there's a name for it.

Science: Exploding coke/mentos experiment.  Love that they are taking notes!  But I hope they didn't miss the explosion while doing so.

Rewind--end of year hullabaloo

Ty's Award Ceremony.  I can't believe I didn't get a full body shot of Ty in his getup.  Especially when I'd paid the kid $3 to wear it.  There was a $1 outfit as well, that one allowed crocs instead of sperrys, plaid shorts instead of starched khakis and an un-tucked collared shirt with no belt.  Bribery.

More than once during the ceremony I caught Ty glancing over at me. There will come a time when he has no interest in knowing where I sit in the crowd.  I ate it up this day.  He had a stellar year, excelled in every subject, grew a few more inches, kept his two front teeth intact, became closer with friends, ate mostly school lunch (with the exception of Tuesday's when Reese and I brought lunch to him and ate together in the PTO room while I did some work) and still refuses to visit the school nurse for ANY reason.  She's scary.  I'm pretty sure if Ty broke his arm he'd wait until he arrived home to mention it to anyone rather than risk a trip to the nurse's office.  Seriously, whatever that nurse is trying to do to avoid sick/injured visits from the elementary students, it is sure working!

Love this shot of Jade catching her first glimpse of us in the audience as she walks the graduation procession with her class.  She looks so old!  Her two wonderful teachers are the male and female behind her on the left.

So long to our amazing Principal!  She moves on within the district as the Director of Principals.  We think she is just the person for the job but wish that didn't take her from us. The only Principal better than Mrs. Butler would be our very own Grandma Patsy; Principal of Canyon Crest Elementary in Utah.  Oh, how we wish our children could attend her school, even if it comes complete with many a visit to the Principal's office.  :)


Jaden, Cherry and Clair at 5th grade field day.  I was helping in the snack shack . . . but I was mostly observing Jaden as she interacted with friends.  It's not very often that I get to peek in on her at school.  Although I'm often on campus doing this that and the other, it's typically been for Ty's class and general PTO stuff.  Gone are the days that her teachers need my help in the classroom.  And throughout the school year I've eaten lunch with the kids about once a week.  However, these last couple of months I became too cool to sit on the stage with Jaden.  ; )  So I suggested we leave campus and eat out.

Last day of school.  One last pic as a first grader before we walk out the door and Ty instantly transforms into a second grader.

Must pay tribute to Long Horn flag, for the gazillionth time, as we make our way down the hallway to get Jaden from her class.  My phone didn't quite capture their hook 'em horns gestures.

So much going on.  Always the tag along.  I think it finally caught up with her today. 

Jaden had some friends over for a "last day of school" celebration.  Honestly, I'd prefer 14 of Ty's little friends.  My ears might still be ringing or at least they fear another gathering of the sort. Loud. :)

A diva derby, immediatley followed by Jaden's piano recital that I only took video of.  She played an extremely slow version of Canon in D followed by Folk Dance.  She did great.  :)  

An informal dance recital for both Jaden and Reese that I don't have pictures of.  But I do have this dance shot of Reese in her element and obviously in the comfort of her own home.

And lastly, Ty was asked by his teacher to represent his 1st grade class at the District Project Fair.  He quickly became the know all for all things grassland.  He was helped by a 3rd grader to put together a slide show on that fancy little laptop behind him.  It was very professional.  Ty was really looking forward to it.  He had a small case of nerves on the drive over.  I was proud of him for performing so well outside of his comfort zone.  

summer expectations

Thursday (June 2nd) was the last day of school. Friday I told the kids we'd go for lunch to make our summer agenda together.  I was gifted this on Mother's day . . .

and at the kids' request it was brought with us to be used as our writing tablet (because it weighs just as much as a writing tablet) to jot down our strategies.  But it was most likely brought with the hope of games being played on it as some point during the meal. And I did have to grab a scratch-pad of paper and pencil as I ran out the door for my ideas. Still old school.  Along the drive Jaden carried the iPad on her lap to Subway, where she got a jump start conjuring up her own summer program before we arrived.  Enjoy Jaden's self prescribed program, one that has failed miserably thus far, followed by Ty's comeback, which has also lacked success:

Jaden writes:
Summer expectations
Ty: do all of jadens chores and give her money
Jaden: sleep in and eat junk food


Ty responds:
Jaden..  Buy Ty. Toys
Ty watches. Tv and movies        Jaden does not

As one could expect, their lists aren't without snarky demands or exclusions of the other sibling.  Oh, Reese, look what you have to look forward to, sibling rivalry isn't too far off for you.

A break before the break

Back in May and two weeks before school let out for the summer we stole away for a much needed vacation.  It was mostly for this big guy.  A vacation so that he could do exactly what he's doing above and below--hang with his kids.  Kyle, uncommonly, had two trials a week apart.  We hadn't seen hide nor hair of him. None of us were especially thrilled by it but Reese definitely took it the hardest.  She would wake as early as her little body could to try and catch him before he left for the day, to no avail.  And she'd cry at night wanting her dad to put her to bed.  Which wasn't happening either.  As soon as the last trial ended we didn't have to twist his arm to get out of town.  Wanting to take advantage of off season pricing and little to no crowds we left Houston on a Sunday morning and drove to one of our favorite resorts in San Antonio.  Truly we could just as well have never left the resort and it would have been plenty for the likes of us that week.  But we did venture out to Sea World and the Natural Bridge Caverns nearby.  We also caught up with Nick, Katy and Sutton, the only family we have in Texas.  Ty was glad to have a little shadow.  Jaden gets one.  The boys equally adore each other.  The trip was rejuvenating for all of us.  Can't wait to go again!

  

As Jaden walked into find her seat for the Shamu show she was nabbed and asked to participate in the show.  Which was cool.  But not quite as cool as you it used to be.  She was on the jumbotron, she got to wave to Shamu from behind a chained off entrance and she got to tell everyone what she wants to be when she grows up: a teacher. 

Besides the few pics where Reese is on the ground, this is how she made her way through the cave.

Time to head home.  We didn't have to coerce this one.  I can confidently say that Reese's favorite part of the trip was packing, unpacking, and rolling her suitcase EVERYWHERE.  I love this shot of her.

Jaden's seeing $ signs again

Moms and summer students,

I am getting ready to continue my summer school.  My mom says I can hold it on a Wednesday or a Thursday from 9-1.  I'll choose the day once I hear back from all of you about which day works the best for the most of you.  

I hope your kids want to come back to my school.  I am going to keep it educational and fun at the same time!  Plus, you get to hang out with my cool brother (well, at least my students think he's cool anyway).  Ty says he's most excited for the National Geographic shows we will get to watch on Netflix, followed by a report on the kids' favorite animals.

No need to send a lunch because we will be making them together.  I'm thinking creative lunch ideas like sailboat sub sandwiches and homemade pizza rolled out individually.  You get the picture!  I have a fun cookbook that our class can decide on which lunches we'd like to do.

I am raising my tuition from $5 to $6 a day.  

Excited to teach, 

Miss Jaden :)

(Jaden will have 8 students including Ty)


Chloe, Audrey, Esther, Katie, Summer and Anna,

My name is Miss Jaden (Reese's older sister) and I would like to be your dance teacher this summer!

If you want to join my class we will practice  on Friday mornings from 9:00 to 10:00 throughout the summer. Tuition is 3.00 dollars a lesson.  If you don't come you don't pay!  We'll work hard, but also have a lot of fun honing our skills! We'll start this week.  Hope to see you there!

Excited to dance with you,

Miss Jaden :)


(Jaden will have 6 dancers including Reese)