In early May, Anna’s fourth grade participated in Patriot Day at school – the culmination of a month-long project.  Each fourth grader chose a patriot that was an active participant in the Revolutionary War, then researched, wrote an outline and a five-paragraph paper, created a display board, found a costume, and wrote a short speech to deliver on Patriot Day.  This is the first student-led project Anna has done and is part of what marks the fourth-grade year at our school.  The guidelines were sent home and parents were asked to help the student as needed, but for the most part, students were expected to handle the project on their own.  

Anna did a great job and discovered the highs and lows of working on a long project over time.  Learning to make a plan and stick to it rather than procrastinating.  And how to persevere when it feels like you’ll never finish.  Kenny was a great help to Anna with her display board – listening to her ideas and helping her find a way to make them happen.  

Anna chose Patience Lovell Wright for her project  – a new name to all of us.  Patience was the first American sculptor and was also a spy in the Revolution.  She hid messages in the busts she created and shipped them to her sister, Rachel.  Anna painted a picture of the house Patience lived in and included a portrait she drew of Patience in art class.  

On Patriot Day the students not only presented to their class but also set up their boards in the atrium and created a Living Museum.  The students created a button for visitors to push and then the student would begin their speech.  Parents and other classes visited the museum and the students ended up saying their speeches many, many times.  The morning ended with a tea party and scones in the classroom.  

Anna’s 1st grade Titan Buddy listening to her speech.

Anna, we’re so proud of you and all you accomplished and learned with this project!  

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!

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!