Last Day of School

Thursday was Christian's last day of school and I am a little embarrassed to say that tears were shed.  I spent the morning up at school with Christian.  I had some last minute papers to pick up and wanted to be there to give Mr. Pasqua his gift, plus one of the moms took donuts for the class.  When I walked over to his class, they were headed to p.e. so a few of the moms and I sat and chatted.  We had early release all week and I needed to do a few things before getting Christian so I left to get back in time for pick-up.  Mr. Pasqua walked Christian to the car, gave him a huge hug, and when he opened the door actually had tears in his eyes.  I told him what an impact he had made on Christian this year, etc and when he closed the door I actually had a tear in my eye too.  Christian immediately said he was going to miss Mr. Pasqua next year and then said he did NOT want this school year to end.

This is what Mr. P wrote in Christian's yearbook. So sweet.

It seems like the past 8 years have gone by with the blink of an eye.  How I have a 3rd grader and kindergartner now is beyond me.  Christian has been blessed with three of the most amazing teachers while at the elementary school and I only hope that Carson does too.  

Our little graduate

Thursday was GRADUATION DAY!  The day my baby boy becomes a "big boy" and says goodbye to his pre-school days.  I can't believe the past five years have gone by so fast and that he will be entering kindergarten in August.  Life as we know it will never be the same.  No more Friday play groups like we have done since the boys were two years old, no more special Mommy and Carson time while Christian is at school, no more funny conversations, pictures and dancing in the car between 2 and 3 pm while we wait in the carpool line for big brother.  

Thursday morning we all gathered in the sanctuary to get a good seat for the ceremony.  Like always, our family took up the entire pew. :)  The single file procession began at 11:00 am and as you can see Carson was all smiles!  He looked absolutely adorable in that red cap and gown!!!

The graduating class

The ceremony brought tears to my eyes.  The kids sang a few songs and just seeing Carson up there made me reminisce days gone by as well as project what it would be like in 2024 when he is in his orange cap and gown and graduating from high school.  It scares me how fast it will be here.

Carson and Mrs. Kitty

Our little graduate!

Gracie and Carson

Carson and Cason

The fam

The diploma

Mommy sneaks a smooch

Proud parents

Daddy decided to give a smooch too

4 Generations on each side of the family

After I insisted on taking 9 million pictures, we made our way to the reception for cookies and punch, said our good-byes, gave teachers hugs and walked out of pre-school for the last time.  We then went to Palios for lunch.  I asked Carson if he wanted to go pick up Christian on the way, but he said no.  This was his day and I was sure to have some explaining to do when we did pick Christian up later as he really wanted to come to Carson's graduation.  Carson opened cards from everyone and even scored some graduation money!  After lunch and ice cream he wanted to go with dad.  Let the birthday begin!!

A Sweet Little Surprise

I found a sweet little surprise in Carson's cubby at school Thursday morning.  When I glanced in his cubby I found some art work and a piece of cute scrapbook paper.  I picked it up to see what it was and to try and figure out who it belonged too.  When I flipped it over my question was answered as I found this....

It was not signed so I secretly went and asked Mrs. Kitty if she knew who had made this for Carson and she did!  This is a keeper!  Too cute.

A picture worth a thousand words

Awanas Awards Night

Christian's friend Scotty invited him to Awanas back in November and Christian absolutely loved it.  I will never forget how excited he was when he got in the car after that first night.  He talked about Awanas for days, practiced his verses and often said he wished they had Awanas every night!  Christian was hooked on Awanas after that first night and insisted on going every week.  There is nothing like hearing your child recite bible verses they have memorized.  

After months of Christian going to Awanas we finally realized that Carson could go to church on Wednesday nights as well, in the Cubbies program.  One night in probably March we dropped Christian off at church and Carson was upset because he wanted to go to.  As we rounded the building we saw Jennifer with Ben and Henry getting ready to go in.  That night Ben invited Carson to go to Cubbies with him but he had jumped in the car with no shoes and you know how the old saying goes...no shirt, no shoes, no service!  Carson cried all the way home, so I promised I would take him the very next week (the same week one or two of his other friends started going as well).  Carson did a great job catching up to get his Cubby book finished, although Christian did not think it was fair his verses were so much shorter.

Here they are in their cute vests headed to the end of year awards night. 

See Christians green patch above?  I actually sewed that on myself with a needle and thread.  Shocking I know.

Carson and Joshua before heading in to the sanctuary.  

Carson spotted me!  I'd say he is proud.

Christian volunteered to recite one of the bible verses he memorized.  

Getting his book award. 

They are already asking when they can go back!

Q and U got married!

Yesterday morning I got a call from one of the kindergarten teachers asking if Christian would participate in the kindergarten wedding of the Q and U the following morning.  Remembering back to when Christian was in kindergarten I knew just what she was talking about and quickly agreed that he would be able to serve as the U in the upcoming nuptials. When I picked him up from school yesterday he said he saw some email on Mr. P's computer asking to borrow him for a wedding the next day and he wanted to know what that meant.  As soon as I told him the details, he smiled and said he would do it.  (He was kind of already committed).

This morning I laid out his full uniform and put his jersey on his shoulder pads.   He acted cautiously optimistic but he could not hide his smiles. He was excited that he got to get out of class to participate in a special event and was proud of the fact that he was the one boy picked in the whole school.  I'd be lying if I said I was not a pretty proud mama too!

Carson and I went in to school with Christian and listened to the announcements before heading down to the cafeteria for the big event.  The kindergartners looked adorable in their procession down the hall.  The girls all dressed as queens in their finest dresses and paper tiaras and the boys all dressed as quarterbacks wearing jerseys, paper bow ties and boutonnieres.  They were precious.   Time for the ceremony to begin!

Mrs. Covington welcomed the grade to the QU Wedding and read the QU Wedding Story.

The music began and they began the walk down the aisle.

The flower girls tossed q-tips before everyone stood for the Q and the U

Mrs. Covington read each letter their vows and had them say the "QUAH" sound instead of I do.  She then asked if any letters in the audience objected. Since everyone had letters on their tiaras and bow ties. It was really cute!

They even exchanged rings

In front of the wedding cake "donuts"

Carson can't wait to come to kindergarten next year

Oh my goodness.  

Sure enough when I picked him up from school he had not changed his clothes.  He thanked Mrs. Covington and Mrs. Lacy several times for picking him to be the U today!  What a fun 2nd grade memory!

Fishing with the Schrammes

I love, love, love, love, love our family of friends!  They are the best and I so look forward to the lifetime of memories we will make with them.  Saturday after we left Mr. Pasqua's house we went to a ranch in Ponder to go fishing and enjoy the outdoors.  We all hoped Chad would join us but he had too much work on his plate and was not ready to take the day off.  Instead, the boys and I loaded up with Chad, Misti and their three boys and away we went.  We stopped at the Bobcat on the way out of town for drinks (that were spilled in the parking lot) and Chad surprised the boys with beef jerky that came in a snuff shaped can.  Christian loves beef jerky but has never had it like this before, he thought this was pretty cool.

When we got to the ranch house we discovered one of the dogs had five puppies with her.  The five boys each selected and named their dog for the day and spent a great deal of time the rest of the afternoon messing around the yard with them.  Christian provided the biggest shock of all as he fell in love with his dog for the day "Mud Ball".  Christian normally is not a dog lover so to have him begging me to take this dog home and see him like this was a big surprise.  

Brock and Christian

The gang!

I think I hate iphoto.  Does anyone else use that software and have problems when exporting from iphoto to another program? These pictures are great on the camera and on the computer until I export them and now they look blurry and do nothing justice.  I am irritated.

The main house and yard was such a great back drop for pictures.  It was like taking a step back in time and kind of reminded me of the old west.  The boys were having a blast and all I could think of when looking at them all out there together was the Lil' Rascals or something.  Super cute.

Christian loves to fish!  We don't go fishing that often but anytime we do, the boys have a blast. Today was the real thing...their was no worms or bologna in the bait bag.

 By night fall I think Brock and I had caught two fish and Chad, Misti and Christian had each caught three fish.  Christian was bound and determined to catch the most and insisted on staying out there until he caught one more fish and could take a picture for the background of his itouch.  

Misti and I left a little after 8 with the rest of the boys while Brock, Christian and Chad fished a little while longer.  Mission accomplished because when Chad got home he said they each caught one more fish.

We wish our Chad could have joined us but the boys and I had a great afternoon making memories with cherished friends!