end of school year time pics

Chillin in our hotel room, waiting for everyone to get ready to eat breakfast and get back on the road.  I have time to actually post.  Here are some of our activities from May.

Dance wrapped up for the year, and, with it, Kinley and my weekly lunches.  We enjoyed eating at our 2 favorite restaurants: Jim Dandys and Applebees.  We pretty much had the menus memorized at each restaurant.

Kinley, helping me with a Mother's Day project for church: a photo booth.

Ewan, dressed up for wax museum day.  His teacher picked the category "outlaws, gangsters and pirates".  Ewan picked Baby Face Nelson as his character.

Kinley had her very last day of preschool.  On to kindergarten!

Academic awards ceremony for Cale.  

I had the privilege to help with Kella's first grade field day.  It felt like forever outside with a group of 7 kids.  In the hot sun.  

Had some great mornings with coffee, snuggling with Jasper, while Kinley watched some television.  We wake up slow in the mornings.

And, last day of school for my middle and high schoolers....

...and my elementary and primary kids.

And, now we are in the midst of our big summer vacation, which I have titled "Expedition 2018".  June will be almost done by the time we get back and we have July to make the most of, too.

Back to school 2017!

If you follow us on social media, you will know that the kids, except Kinley, started school on Tuesday.  So far, so good.  I would say the biggest challenge is getting ourselves back into the school bedtime schedule.  Summer was great.  We stayed up late. We slept in lots.  Now, school reality has set in.

Cale and Marcus left first.  Cale is in 7th grade and is taking honors English, honors math and honors band-French horn.  Marcus is a freshman and his classes include AP World History, Spanish, Biology and band-trombone.

The second round of schoolers included Kella (1st grade, Mrs. Sears), Ewan (5th grade, Mr. St. Amand) and Liam (3rd grade, Mrs. Lodge).  They were ready to go and had all met their teachers the night before.  Ewan actually had his teacher back in 3rd grade for some of his classes.  Kella's teacher is new to the district and somehow, Liam's teacher has never had a Shaffer in her class and Liam is the 4 kids to go through the elementary school.  How is that even possible?  

Good news, everyone had a great day.  They loved their teachers and were happy to go back to school the next day.  The trend is holding and routine is getting easier to slip back into.

Here's to a great year!

First day, last day

Comparison pics are fun.  Hey, everyone's doing it.  So, for posterity's sake, I present you with the children's photos from the start and end of their school years.   

Kinley-Jumpstart class at Sonlight Station Preschool

Ewan (4th grade), Liam (2nd grade) and Kella (kindergarten) at Hamilton Heights Primary School

Marcus (8th grade) and Cale (6th grade) at Hamilton Heights Middle School

Random end of school year stuff in photos

Lots of activities and events happened towards the end of the school year.  Below are some of the reasons we are so busy around here.

Ewan did his science project on if a banana will brown faster on the counter or in the refrigerator.  Guess which one got grosser faster?  And, we got to make some banana bread with the test subjects.

Liam did his Young Author book on stinkbugs.  Yes, you read that right.

Random concert pic.  Marcus is standing and I know which head is his.

Ewan's art show picture.  Ewan was super-excited that I came to look at his picture.

Also, Ewan was happy that I came to see his Young Author book.  Ewan did his as an Indiana alphabet book.

Kinley had her last day of preschool.

Liam participated in the 2nd grade talent show.  He did three magic tricks with the help of his "lovely assistant" Mr. Clary.  

Cale got the award for most steps taken at the middle school walk-a-thon.

Marcus was the 8th grade student recognized for 8th grade band at the academic awards night.

And, finally, last day of school for Marcus and Cale....

...and Liam, Ewan and Kella.

Also, Kinley needed her picture taken.

Then, I dragged Kinley to the elementary awards ceremony.  

And, Cale came home with a perfect attendance award.  I knew I had sent at least one of the kids to school every day.

Cale's cool project

Check out the cool totem pole that Cale completed for a class project.  He had to make something that tied into a book he was reading for class.  When Cale mentioned totem pole, I envisioned a desk-top size one.  Cale had something bigger in mind.  It took about a week, with some help with learning a new skill-paper mache.  We think it turned out great.  Cale included an eagle, a ghost bear, a wolf and a lightening bolt.  All those symbols were important in the story.  This is probably one of my favorite projects Cale has done.  And, I'm not surprised at the scope of this project from my boy who likes to dream big. Now, it resides in his teacher's classroom.  For as long a she wants it.  Hopefully forever.  

Ewan writes about himself

Ewan's class is working on paragraphs about themselves to display in the hallway outside their classroom.  Here is Ewan's work-in-progress (complete with Ewan spelling)..

"A star named Ewan was born on September 6th.  Ewan has 3 brothers, 2 sisters and a mom and dad.  Ewan went to hollyday world (a star moment so far in life).  Ewan is good at soocer, climbing, running.  Ewan will be a pro soocer."  

School's back!

Yesterday, marked the first day of school for 5 (yes, 5!) of the kiddos.  Everyone was ready.  Most of the school supplies were purchased.  Things seemed to go smoothly, including going to bed and waking up earlier than our summer normal.

A little back to school shopping with Kella to provide her with more everyday clothes to wear and less princess dresses.  At least for the classroom.  The girl also scored 2 more pairs of shoes.  

Meet the teacher night on Monday.  Ewan-4th grade-Mrs. Cherry.

Liam-2nd grade-Mr. Clary.  (Ewan had Mr. Clary in 2nd grade, too, and must have said lots of great things about him, because Liam acted like he won the lottery when he found out that Mr. Clary will be his teacher.)

Kella-kindergarten-Mrs. Goff (Cale and Liam both had Mrs. Goff and she is excited to have another Shaffer in here class.)

And, they're off!  Tuesday morning, bright and early, my 6th and 8th grader board the bus.

Followed an hour later by the elementary/primary crew.

And, then there was one.  This is not how we spent our entire day, rest assured.  But, Kinley was quite happy to have television viewing to herself. 

What does one do with one child at home, you ask?  Well, yesterday, I spent over an hour cleaning up the kitchen.  I also did lots of laundry and Kinley and I went to the store and finished the school supply shopping.  More cleaning in the afternoon rounding out my day.  I think my goal is to slowly reclaim my house from summer vacation.  It will be a slow process.

And, how did the school kids do?  Everyone came home saying they had a great first day.  First day of classes went well.  Marcus did not like that every class went over rules the first day.  Kella said that no one played with her at recess, so she played by herself.  I suggested she find someone else playing alone and ask if they want to play with her.  She seemed happy with that and not really sad anyway.

All the school kids were excited to go back to school today.  So, I call day one a win.

It's beginning to look a lot like school is starting soon!

Among other things going on here, these two boys got to go to the middle school yesterday and get their locker and class assignments.  We will now have an 8th and 6th grader in the house.  They seemed satisfied with their schedules.  Marcus got place in honors algebra (*sigh, every year is a struggle to make sure he does his homework and studies for the class.  But, I know he is proud to be in the class) and is also taking Honors Band.  You have to audition into that band, a combo of 7th and 8th graders and smaller in size(also, something to be proud to get into). Cale got placed in Honors math, honors English and honors  language arts.  All things I expected since he has been in the "high ability" classes most of his school career.  These boys will have to be up and ready to go by 7 am every day.  One of the things we did this summer was separate the boys into 2 room, so that those who have to wake up early (Marcus and Cale) hopefully won't wake the ones who get to sleep in still (Ewan and Liam).  We are on the final countdown to the start of the school year!

Marcus-8th grader

Cale-6th grader

the perfect fit

Cale just got done with his best. year. ever.  He was placed in Mr. Walsh's homeroom-the class for high achievers.  From the beginning, he was challenged and pushed to work collaboratively and independently.  Cale thrived in this environment.  He loved every moment in this class and he loved (loves) Mr. Walsh.  So, what a great honor for Cale when he was recognized as the boy Husky ROCKS (Respect, Organization, Co-operation, Kindness) winner for his class.  I was a proud mama, for sure.  And, Cale was an elated boy.  And, a kind parent snapped this picture for me and I love seeing the smiles on everyone's faces.  Perfection.

Everyone's last day of school!

We are at the beginning of our summer break.  The ladies finished preschool a few weeks ago and the boys just finished up on Thursday the 2nd.  What can I say?  The kids all had amazing teachers that they loved.  What a blessing it is to have teachers who love our kids.

Good-bye Pre-K and Bumblebee classes!  Hello Kindergarten and Jumpstart!

Goodbye 7th, 5th, 3rd and 1st grade!  Hello 8th, 6th, 4th and 2nd grade!

praise for Cale

Who doesn't love to get emails like this from their children's teachers.  Cale has the perfect fit this year with his homeroom/language arts teacher.  I know Mr. Walsh is Cale's favorite teacher, ever.  

Hey there.  I had to share with you that Cale’s interview with me yesterday was absolutely outstanding, and I would have measured his responses with any adult on any day!  This boy is an outstanding student and person.  I was in absolute shock to hear the answers that flowed seamlessly from his mouth.  I could kick myself for not taking video of his interview.  It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me yesterday with your son.  Be VERY proud of the person that he has become!  He’s truly amazing, and he will go far places with his exemplary work ethic!  Kudos! J

Getting crafty for Valentine's Day-thank you Pinterest!

I was tired. 

Tired of our collection of leftover valentines.

Tired of seeing all the valentine ideas I pinned on Pinterest.

Time for some change.  

Now, before I could figure out exactly what kinds of valentines to do, Liam got motivated and filled out his using the random collection of valentines we had accumulated.  

So, then I went searching, and found these two valentines.

For the girls....

http://www.popsugar.com/moms/DIY-Noncandy-Printable-Valentine-Day-Cards-Kids-13791428#photo-27420908

Cute.  Simple,  Pink. And, glowsticks.

And, for Ewan...

http://www.stitchcraftcreations.com/2012/01/30/forceful-valentines/

Glowsticks!  Who doesn't love glowsticks?  And Star Wars to boot! 

Our printer totally came through and printed the valentines out on some cardstock.  I used purple and pink for the girls and plain white for Ewan.

Ewan was excited to do something different.  He likes Star Wars and glow sticks.  And, his teacher had decided on no candy valentines.  So this was something fun to give out in place of candy.

The finished products.  They turned out pretty well and I will be searching my pins again next year for more ideas.

A genius among us

It's common knowledge here that Liam knows way more than what is common.  Just the other day, we were studying up on the different types of dimensions out there.  Oh, you know, like length, height, depth, time all the way to the 11th dimension.  This guy was able to follow along to some videos explaining the dimensions and then come back and explain them to Andy.  

It's always fun to get Liam's progress reports and see how he is doing.  

And, the comments from his teachers are nice to read, too.

"Liam is just doing wonderful in reading!  He thinks from a different perspective and shares insights that his peers might not have made a connection to through discussion.  He is eager to help others in reading."

"Liam continues to excel in a faster paced math setting." (And, thank goodness he is starting to pass his math facts timed tests! (says his mom))

Liam is such a sweet, gentle boy with a caring heart.  I am excited to see what the future holds for my "professor".