Student of Today Award

A few days before school was out, I received a call from the Principal Streets, who is the principal at Maddie and Micah's school.  When the caller ID showed the school number, I immediately thought that Maddie must have been sick and that the nurse was calling.  When the caller identified himself as Principal Streets, I started worrying that Micah was in trouble.  Then I realized that it was already afternoon and Micah was playing in his room.  So I waited to hear what Principal Streets had to say and I was obviously extremely delighted when he told me some good news: Maddie had been selected to receive the "Student of Today" award, which is an award given out each year by the Masonic lodge.  They choose one girl and one boy in third grade to give the award to and Maddie was the winner this year.  It is chosen based on academics, social achievement, attendance, and other qualifications as well.  We are so proud of her - this is a big deal!  Love this girl and the way she keeps on achieving!

Happy Birthday to Maddie

I can't believe that my girl is celebrating her 9th birthday.  Just crazy.  She is truly a blessing and a joy to be around.  She is still extremely active - loves to play softball, ride her scooter, ride her bike, play with her friends outside, swim, and just about anything outdoors.  But she is defintely all girl at the same time - she loves to dress up, loves to wear dangly earrings and anything sparkly.  Pink is still her favorite color.  She excels at school and loves to read.  But, she is certainly not perfect.  She is extremely emotional and can cry at the drop of a hat.  She isn't always as responsible as I would like her to be.  But overall, she is an amazing kid and I feel so blessed to be her Mama! 

We didn't do any big parties for birthdays this year - just family.  Her piano recital was on Mother's Day and we decided to do her party that evening as well since grandparents would already be around and available.

On her actual birthday, she took the cutest donuts to school.  But the day started out with donuts too.  Usually on somebody's birthday, they get to pick the restaurant for dinner.  Her birthday was on a Wednesday though, which meant there was no time for a big dinner out.  So the boys and I took her to one of her faves on the way to church, Coney Island.

 Birthday Donuts

I think Mason liked the birthday donuts more than Maddie :)

 

 Donuts for school

 



The birthday girl all ready for school

 

I know that it will be the blink of an eye and this girl will be turning 10.  However, for now, I think that we will just try to enjoy 9.  Happy Birthday to my sweet girl!!!!

First Piano Recital

Maddie just participated in her first piano recital.  Bizarrely, it was held on Mother's Day but it ended up being just fine.  She did great.  Only because I have heard her practice her song so often, I recognized a spot where she messed up just a bit, but she recovered perfectly and I doubt anybody else would have even noticed.

Back in April, Maddie participated in a piano competition, obviously her first ever.  We didn't have any clue what to expect because we had obviously not done it before.  We learned quickly that there were several groups of kids, based upon their level.  Each child played their piece and was then given a score.  After all the kids played, the top three performers from each group were invited to a special concert.  The highest score from each level got to play their piece at the concert, but the other two were recognized and received a trophy.  We were pleasantly surprised to learn that Maddie was the number two player in her group, so we got to go to the concert.  It was very exciting for her and a huge honor.  As always, we were so proud!

All ready to go in a play at the competition

 



These are the second place winners from each level

Little Ball Player

Watching Micah play ball has been quite a funny experience.  He has actually done really well, as far as paying attention and doing what he is supposed to do.  But, he is a 5 year old boy so there has been plenty of playing in the dirt.  And plenty of picking flowers.  I wanted to try and capture a few of those moments on camera, and I did, but I also got some really cute pictures of Micah doing what he is supposed to do.  Sometimes Micah can be a handful (well, okay, most of the time!), but my goodness, he has to be the cutest child that ever was born.  Other than his brother and sister - they are equally cute :)

 

 

 

 

Pre-K Fun Day

Well, Micah was supposed to have Pre-K Fun Day and Maddie was supposed to have Field Day.  On the same day.  But the day was freezing cold, rainy, and completely yuck.  So Field Day was postponed and Pre-K Fun Day was modified a little.  Originally, the kids were going to sing some songs for us and then we were going to go outside for bubbles, sidewalk chalk, face painting, popsicles, etc.  But you can't go outside when it is so nasty (even if it is May!!!!) and so they just did a little program indoors and that was all.  Micah did a very good job with his singing and motions.  He is a little unpredictable about that kind of stuff, but he did his thing!

For some reason, the videos are being difficult so I will have to post links instead of the actual videos.  Here they are:

http://youtu.be/v1LPcezfRZw
http://youtu.be/UTwsYP3k9eE
http://youtu.be/kwK5xIwMQe4
http://youtu.be/JOUWdF1Mwtk
http://youtu.be/28KqEJd4kak


It was disappointing that Micah didn't get to do the extra fun stuff that was supposed to happen, but it was still a fun day.  They did have popsicles in the classroom and they were presented with a Pre-K completion certificate.  We also got a portfolio of some of their best work as well as a Mother's Day gift.  Of course, there are still a few weeks of school left but things are definitely winding down.  Overall, this has been a good year for Micah.  He has had a few struggles toward the end of the year, but he has also had lots of good days along the way.  His writing has improved, although he still has a long way to go.  He has a little bit more endurance for coloring and completing assignments than he did at the beginning of the year.  His reading skills have completely taken off and he is most definitely way ahead.  I would consider him a reader at this point.  He impresses me with his ability to use context to figure out unfamiliar words.  He is most definitely ready for Kindergarten.  I'm already praying that he will get a teacher who can challenge him academically, and who can help him begin to master self-control for discipline issues, with a kind and gentle spirit. 

It is hard to believe that he will be in Kindergarten next year, but we are almost there!  Good job Micah - you made it through Pre-K!!!