Kindergarten Graduation 2011

(May 27, 2011)


Another kindergartener down the line. Or should I say walking the line! Grant proudly accepted his diploma as he participated in graduation ceremonies last night. It has been another great year and Grant has learned SO MUCH. As we started the year out I was concerned about some of the frustration he was having with his homework, but it didn't take long before he was improving and even excelling at his work! His wonderful teacher, Mrs. Lyons, describes him as having this extraordinary "drive" to improve and learn. He always wants to know what to expect, what's next. By the end of the year he was moved to one of the top reading groups in his class and I could tell by his reading homework that he was improving dramatically over the course of the year. One thing I'm sure of is that he had no trouble in making friends! He often talked about his classmates and I know he looked forward to school each and every day because of that camaraderie. And he again managed to keep his teachers laughing the whole year through! By now we are used to hearing "Grant has such a sense of humor!" We love him and are so proud of the wonderful year he's had. Way to go Grant! Congratulations buddy!

In his classroom prior to getting on his cap and stole

Receiving his diploma from Mrs. Lyons during the ceremony

With Mommy - I love you buddy!

Proud parents

The whole crew

Our graudate

10 Year Anniversary

I know neither of us can believe it's been 10 years! Our family has been BLESSED, through good times and bad and I am so thankful God gave me you to go through it with. I wonder what the next 10 will bring?!

Evan's Preschool Graduation

Today our little Evan graduated from preschool!! Evan did not start the year out in preschool, but we were very fortunate that there was room for him in the public preschool classroom at our older boys' school and he got to go for these last two and a half months of school. To say he loved every minute of it would be an understatement! Evan looked forward to going to school every day and was eager to tell me about each day's experiences - finally... one who will talk to me about school!! Although, that does go right along with his talkative nature, lol. Evan is still only 4 and will not be 5 until July, but both his teacher and I see no reason to hold him back. He is as ready as ever for "big-kid" school! Here are some snapshots from both his first day of school on March 7th and today's graduation.

And I cannot leave this post without saying HOW MUCH we appreciate the teacher and assistants of our preschool program. I have personally been with these staff for FIVE years between the older 3 boys and it has been a wonderful experience to say the least. We've laughed together and cried together (of which there was a lot of today!). I cannot say enough good things about them! I also cannot believe that this is the last of my children who will be in this preschool program as is. Unfortunately, due to space constraints, the preschool program is moving to another public elementary school and so these ladies will all be taking on different journey's after this school year. We hate to see you "go" and we love you and wish you the best!

1st Day

Graduation Day!

Mrs. Lee, thank you SO MUCH for EVERYTHING! You are forever a part of our family!!

First Lost Tooth - Grant

(May 22, 2011)

Another first for another of my babies! Here is his new smile!

Field Trips 2011

(May 19th and 20th, 2011)

Clayton and Grant's classes recently went on field trips just a day apart. With Clayton's class, we visited Kentucky Down Under and with Grant's we went to the zoo! It turned out be be great weather for both and we enjoyed our days!

Opening Ceremonies 2011

(April 15th & May 7th, 2011)

Baseball has begun! Here are some pictures from the boys different nights of their official opening ceremonies. I am helping coach both Clayton's 7-8 year old team and Grant's 5-6 year old team. It is busy but I love it!!!

Grant

Evan

Evan and Grant

Clayton

Clayton and Mommy

Kentucky Derby Festival Mini Marathon 2011

(April 30, 2011)

13.1 miles - sound like a lot? Well, it IS! A few months ago I am on the phone with my [super-athlete] brother, Lewis, when he tells me "By the way, I want us to sign up and run a half-marathon in April." I know that doesn't sound extremely convincing, but because a longer-distance race was on my mental list of eventual goals, I felt like I couldn't refuse. Might as well get it over with, right?! So I nervously accepted the challenge and began the necessary training to reach this elusive goal. I even took seriously the consideration of changing the way I eat in order to improve my performance and have since developed a whole new outlook on the way I feed my family! The efforts of my 10+ weeks of training came to fruition this past Saturday when I crossed the finish line of my first-ever half-marathon. Although Lewis was supposed to run the race with me, a bike-wreck-injury of sorts (he hit a dog while out cycling and injured his hip) kept him from being able to do so. This was actually not an issue for me because I knew he would push me hard and now that pressure was off! Ha! I must say I was pretty scared and still couldn't believe I was even doing this right up to the starting line. I hadn't felt very confident in my improvement throughout my training and was concerned that I could even finish without walking! During registration, they ask you to put down your expected finish time so that you can start in a "pace-group" that will finish in about that time. I honestly guessed an accurate time for me would be definitely over 3 hours and so I put down 3:15. Lewis said he expected I could do it in more like 2:30 and I thought he was crazy! Well, what he always tells me about your race performance being nothing like your training performance was definitely true for me this time around. I finished the race in 2:17:44 and could NOT believe how good I felt the entire time and how much I enjoyed it. The course was not hilly/difficult at all which was great - I needed that for my first! There were 15,000 people that ran this race so it was pretty neat to be surrounded by that many other runners! Lots of encouragers/spectators along the way sure doesn't hurt either! I am excited to say I've checked that goal off my list and I look forward to various other races/events in the future! Just waiting on bro to get me a bike so I can do my first triathlon! WAHOO!

Putting on my bib number

The weather was P-E-R-F-E-C-T

Pre-Race pics

In the loooooooong starting line

Me and Lewis just before race-time

Hi!

Getting ready to finish - thumbs up!

Post race - Yay, I did it!!

With my #1 supporter/trainer - thanks Lewis, love ya!

With my #1 fan - Moms are the greatest!