School’s Out!

Fourth-grade and Seventh-grade are in the books!  The kids sure have changed since August. 

1st day of 4th & 7th grade – August 2021

Last Day of 4th & 7th Grade – May 2022

James and all the 7th-grade students and teachers spent the last day of school enjoying the nice weather and time together at a nearby park.  

Some of James’s projects from Art class…

Anna’s class had an ice cream party and then played “Let’s Make a Deal”.  A few of the parents did an excellent job planning and setting up the game for the students.  

Anna & her teacher, Mrs. Rogers

Anna’s Gothic Cathedral from Art class

Anna’s Taj Mahal from Art class

Let summer begin!

Monthly Goals

For the last few months, I’ve neglected to post about monthly goals so I thought it was time to think about that.  I’ve still been working on things but it helps to have a short list to motivate me.  Each month I try to highlight the top several things that are most important.  

In March my goal was to get the oil changed in the van before our road trip and find a new mechanic near our new home.  I also continued to work on hanging wall art around the house.  

For April I took a donation load to Goodwill.  After the move we’d been collecting random things we no longer needed.  The other big goal was to finish hanging things on our walls.  Mid-April marked six months in the new house and I thought that seemed like a good deadline to finish by.  I didn’t make that goal and have since done away with giving myself a deadline for this task.  In some areas of the house, it’s taking living in the space for a long time to decide what should hang there.  I was the only one creating this deadline, so decided to show myself some grace, remove the deadline and work on hanging things as it comes.  

I did hang James & Anna’s first-year frames and finally found the school-year frames I’ve been wanting for them.  They look great all hanging together.  I can see all four frames from our bedroom, and sometimes they just remind me of how little time we have left with the kids.  I see only a handful of empty spaces for their school photos and I’m reminded to make the most of our years with them at home.  

For May I hosted a dessert night for my Village Mom’s group in early May.  I’ve been a mentor mom for this group this school year and I’ve so enjoyed our time together.  I’m just a bit older than these ladies and a step ahead with the ages of my kids which is what qualifies me to be a mentor mom.  I have definitely felt unqualified from the get-go and have learned just as much from them as they have from me.  It’s been such a wonderful volunteer opportunity and I’m looking forward to continuing in the fall.  

My other May goal was to get our summer planned.  We already have vacations and dates when friends and family are visiting, but needed to sit down with the family to plan the other activities.  We have a master list of summer ideas – a very long list – and each summer we choose a handful of things to incorporate that everyone wants to do.  We’ll  add a few goals for the kids for the summer too. 

For June I plan to wash all of our winter gear and get it stored away for the summer.  I’m so glad I didn’t do this in May!  On May 20th we had the biggest snow we’ve had all winter – almost a foot of snow (you can see the ruler sticking out of the snow on the patio table).  I know that we often get snow in the spring, but every time it happens it still surprises me.  We are very, very grateful for the moisture however it comes, and ask the Lord to protect our city and home this summer from fires.  

In June I also hope to go through the kids’ artwork & schoolwork from this past year and decide what to keep and file away.  I also want to go through all school supplies brought home and store what can be used again in the fall.  

Snow Ice Cream!

Our Track Star

We’re so proud of the way James has tried new things this 7th-grade school year.  Track was something brand new for James.  In fact, it was something new for a lot of 7th-grade kids.  About 80 students went out for track.  In addition to the 20 or so 8th-graders, the junior high track team was pretty large.  Their head coach, Mr. Means, was James’ 6th-grade teacher so it was nice to see a familiar face. 

 

The beginning of the season was hard work with practice every day after school.  Early on Kenny and I were attending a funeral after school and James asked if he could go with us to get out of practice.  But eventually, the running became easier and James discovered he was pretty good at it and enjoyed it.  

 

The season lasted seven weeks and the kids participated in six track meets.  All track meets were in town except one held in Elizabeth, CO, about 45 minutes away.  We attended all of James’ meets and so enjoyed watching him and the team and learning about track and field.  James tried the long jump, triple jump, and high jump.  He ran the 400-meter, and the 200-meter dash.  But his favorite events were the 4×100 and 4×200 meter relays – trying different combinations of the order of boys to see what brought the best results.  

The first track meet in early April was very cold and I froze wearing my winter coat.  At other meets, we lathered on the sunscreen and wore short sleeves and hats.  James quickly learned too to come prepared for all kinds of weather.  

Mr. Means cheering on his athletes

At the first meet, I teared up watching James run.  Between crying, cheering, and trying to take a video I was a mess.  I so enjoy watching our kids try new things.  

By the end of the season at the league meet, James and his 7th-grade relay team took first place.  At the track banquet, he brought home a ribbon, and we managed to catch a picture of Mr. Means holding the trophy the school will display.  Pretty cool!

Mr. Means and the other three Jr. High track coaches 

James, we’re so proud of you and your efforts this track season!