Last Day!!

I sent my first and third grader off to their last day of school....they were beyond excited!!

 Last day of 1st grade!! I am so glad that we did not listen to the recommendation of Austin staying in Kindergarten last year...due to being behind in Reading...not only did he improve and meet his AR goal this year- he went above it and on his dibels test they needed a score of 40-he scored 120!! We are so proud of him and all of his accomplishments this year and we know that he will do very well in 2nd grade!! A big shout out to Mrs. Hughes and Mrs. Lassiter for working with Austin this year!!

Last day of third grade for Miss Em!! She loved it and learned a lot....of course she loves her teacher Mrs. Howell too!!! I know she will do great in 4th grade too!!

Waiting down at the bus stop for the bus...

It was a foggy morning.....their last time getting on the bus in the morning on the LAST day of school!!

Also a shout out to hubby- Happy Birthday!!! His birthday usually falls on the last day of school! LOL We love you bunches!!!

Endings

School is about to end.....four days left!! This year has gone by too fast. I remember when I was teaching I was just excited as the kids when the school year was over....still am LOL. But I just can't believe I will have a fourth and a second grader on my hands. Now we are looking forward to summer activies like VBS, visiting family, the beach, celebrating baby girl's 9th birthday (really 9???), our 11th anniversay, Grammie's B-day, 4th of July.....the list goes on....I am hoping they learn to sleep in but I am not counting on it LOL.

Switiching gears....my precious Papa is about to meet Jesus soon and see Granny. His doctor has given him 1-3 weeks (his cancer has come back) and he is not eating. So yesterday we went to see him and say goodbye. I explained everything to Em and Austin and gave them the choice to go and see him. They wanted to go. It was so hard....it just broke my heart. It took him a minute to reconize me and then he held my hands and pulled me into a hug. I wish you could of seen his face light up when he saw Em, Austin, and Christian. I am sad that Christian is too young to remember him. I know he is ready to go but it is hard to let him go. He fought in WWII, Vietnam, graduated from the FBI academy and has been police chief of three towns here in Alabama. He joined the army when he was a teenager and lied about his age....sometime during that he meet Patton who found out his age and sent him home....he went the next day and joined the National Guard....LOL....he was determined!!! He and Granny met during the war when he was wounded and she was a nurse (she grew up in England)...and he had to fight to bring her to the US to get married. I wish I could of written down all of his stories....but I guess I thought I always had time and then sadly life gets in the way. He has always loved me and treated me like his own. (I was "adopted" when I was 19 in college by a christian family which included Papa and Granny-long story there) Thankfully I have gotten to say goodbye and I know I will see him again someday.

7 years ago today.....

7 years ago today I was 37 weeks pregnant with our second child and first boy. I was feeling pretty bad and had been for about 2 days. I only had one week left before I went on maternity leave from teaching......thankfully I already had everything ready for final exams and the sub. After talking with Dr. Hancock on the phone she decided I needed to come in to be checked. We got my in-laws to come and watch Em so we headed to the hopsital in Alabaster. I was dehydrated, had a tempature, my blood pressure was up, and I was having contractions (but not feeling them). Well since I was having a second c-section my doctor decided Austin was coming that day. Poor James had to go home and pack my bag since he won't let me pack or bring one before we left (he was in denial that Austin could come early since Em was so late). LOL  He soon came back with Em and my in-laws.

Em was so much fun in the hopsital while we were waiting for the time of the c-section. So just thought it was so funny to wear my slippers. When it came time for me to go and they wheeled me out I heard her little voice yelling for me....that just brok my heart and the tears just started....and then I am thinking I am not ready for this as we got into the operating room....LOL...like I could do something about it. Thankfully this time it was much easier than when I had  an emergency one with Miss Em.  It just took a few minutes and Austin was born. He was a skinny 7 pounds and 7 ounces and I think 19 inches long. He was such a laid back baby as you can tell in this photo...LOL.

He is such a joy and brings alot of laughter to our family. I cannot believe how fast the last 7 years have gone....I hope the next 7 slow down a bit. Happy Birthday Austin!! We love you bunches and know that God has an awesome plan for you!!!

A Night at the Musuem

The school had a fundraiser for the art program last week. They had a Night at the Musuem them and Em got to participate in the animal exhibit. She was a bit nervous but did really well. I only snapped a couple of pictures because the exhibit was in one of the classrooms and it was pretty crowded in there.

 Austin at his desk with his clay lizard that he made. We ended up having to glue the arms back on because they did not make the journey home well....LOL.

On of Em's artwork that we purchased. We did purchase all of them because they did a good job and we believe in supporting art in school.....it is sad when you think of the difference in a more rural area of what is avaliable to students with art and music then when we lived in the Birmingham metro area and they had it once a week....here they get art once a month and music starts in 5th grade I believe....but other than that the kids really do like school! :)