the end

the end of school was completely chaotic, like always, but we made it through in one piece!!

william celebrated a day away from school with the others in his class who completed the AM (accelerated math) objectives.  they chose the mall, the arcade, and chick-fil-a for their day off!  this was one of the most fun field trips that i've chaperoned.  it was a really sweet group of kids.  or maybe it was just that there were only 8 kiddos to transport!

reed's class celebrated their end of the year at build a bear where they built a puppy dog (they were the puppy dog class).  having three boys, we have never stepped foot in build a bear.  reed had no idea how it worked.  for those who don't know, you pick out an animal and then pray over the animal's heart which you then put inside the animal and stuff it before he gets sewed up.  the workers handed reed the "skin" of his dog, and he looked at me with huge, confused eyes.  "mama, i don't want this.  it's not even stuffed."  ha!  poor deprived kid!!  he came around when he saw that it actually looked like a dog when they got through with it!

wes' class went to house of bounce, but i was busy picking up kids here, there, and yonder, so i don't have any pictures.  but in the middle of all the running around, we did have a birthday get together for him and his buddy, collins.  all they wanted to do was play wiffle ball, so we got some cupcakes and made that happen!

and we officially finished up the year with awards days.  reed and wes had their awards day together.  first grade doesn't get many awards, but reed came home with the award for dependability, the computer award, and the eagle award for performance and sportsmanship in PE.

wes got the accelerated math award, reading counts, the eagle award for performance and sportsmanship in PE, headmaster's honor roll, the citizenship award, the award for carefulness, and the fruit of the spirit award.

i hate that i missed out on getting a picture with mrs. lansdell, but hopefully i'll have one more chance when reed makes it to third grade!

william had awards day and a promotion to middle school.  they actually get subject awards after fourth grade, so william got a few more than his brothers.  (they weren't happy about that!!)  he got the president's award for outstanding academic excellence, DUKE TIP, the eagle award for outstanding performance and sportsmanship in PE, the music award, the accelerated math award, headmaster's honor roll, citizenship award for good conduct, reading counts, the highest academic average in spelling, math, language arts, science, bible, and reading, and the character award for responsibility.  he accompanied the 4th and 5th grades as they sang to mrs. golding who was retiring.  he's never accompanied an entire choir before, and he did it perfectly!  he also played a beautiful arrangement of "for the beauty of the earth" by chris rice to add a little music to the promotion program!  it was a good day for him!

i didn't make wes and reed dress up since they had dressed up the day before!

hello, summer!!!

a little tennis here and there

we've played a little tennis this spring hoping to get a few matches in before summer gets here.  there's been some cold weather, some rainy weather, some windy weather, and a few days of perfect weather!  there's even been a little success a time or two!

cleveland country club boy's 12s winner

brothers playing doubles (and not killing each other)!

alabama junior clay court state open
boy's 10s 3rd place

greenville country club boy's 12s 2nd place

william and knox played doubles together at the oxford sweet 16

oxford sweet 16 boy's 12s 4th place

a few action shots from the aquafina tournament in jackson.

reed just wanders around at all these tournaments, but he found the racket that he wants whenever he starts playing!

field day

everybody had field day a few weeks ago, but i was in charge of 3rd grade only.  so i only have pictures of 3rd grade field day!!  the other two had just as much fun, and the weather turned out to be perfect!

until next year...

gumtree winner

wes entered the gumtree writing contest this year, and he walked away with a prize!  you can't go wrong when you write about your dog!  just go ahead and place him among the literary greats!!

field trip season

it always happens that everybody has field trips all at the same time.  i don't know why they never get spread out over the entire year, but it seems like each kid has field trips in the same week.  i didn't go with william to the ole miss baseball game, but he liked that much better than the ballet that they attended!!  even if it was ole miss!  ha!

wes' class took a trip to the pink palace.  they had a scavenger hunt to find different things in the museum, and they finished in record time.  just turn anything into a competition, and these boys will get after it!

reed's class went to healthworks!  they reinforced everything they had learned about the body, and we also learned reed gets his flexibility from his daddy!

and now we are in the final countdown mode.  just a few more days until summer break!

wes is 10!

today, the middle man turned 10.  10 years went by really quickly, but i'm really enjoying each stage. well maybe not that first stage when all he did was cry.....but most everything after that has been pretty cool!!

 he wanted to make his own cake, so he got to work a day early!

he was all smiles as he woke up to presents and donuts this morning!

he spent the afternoon playing with new toys.

we usually go out to eat wherever the birthday person wants to go, but since daddy is working tonight...d'casa will have to wait until tomorrow night!

this is what i posted this morning in honor of the birthday boy:

this guy. this guy turns double digits today. it seems like not that long ago that he was crying. that’s all he did for the first 6 weeks of his life. cry. i was ready to give him away. not really….but, kind of. and now he’s turned into the most laid back kid on the planet, and i wouldn’t trade him in for anything! he’s smart, determined, and if it gets quiet…..you’d better go check it out. we could have named him george because he’s as curious as they come. every drawer, nook, and cranny will be searched in any new place! he loves MSU, the dallas cowboys, the celtics, baseball, d’casa, anything with sugar, dak prescott, steph curry, and his dog. he can build anything out of legos, he knows the NFL backwards and forwards, and he’d win a gold medal if the ripstik was a sport in the X games. he loves playing golf with his buddies, having his back rubbed, listening to 80s rock, playing sorry, having nerf wars, and beating his brothers at anything! he is an expert at getting stitches, and there is no tree, table, mailbox or other person that is safe from his hard head! he has enviable handwriting, can memorize anything, but doesn’t care for homework unless it’s reading. he loves to read. he will eat anything and everything except eggplant and quiche. he couldn’t care less if his clothes match, he doesn’t like drama, and he doesn’t like his hair to be too short. he doesn’t brush the back of his hair because he “can’t see it so it doesn’t matter.” he loves to sleep, and he likes the temperature to be in the arctic range while he does so! he is the most observant person that i know. he can tell you if a flower has bloomed since yesterday, that shirt you are wearing is new, something is in a different place, a person got a haircut, or daddy changed out the shoestrings in his golf shoes. he notices everything! along those lines, he senses the needs of others and is quick to offer a hand. he loves to pick out the perfect gift for someone! this kid has a big heart, and i can’t wait
to see what the next 10 years bring. 

happy 10th birthday, wes!!!!

piano recital

william rocked his end of the year piano recital.  this year, he played 3 songs.  these two pretty ladies (allie and lindsey jo) asked him to accompany them while they sang a duet to lauren daigle's "loyal."  we may see a repeat in years to come!!  :)

he also played fur elise (the real version), and his favorite....billy joel's "piano man."  i hear him play everyday, but it always amazes me how much he enjoys performing!  he did it flawlessly!

he had a few fans in attendance!

we are proud of you, william!  we marked billy joel off the list year...maybe we can get some jerry lee lewis next year!!