School’s Out

Yesterday was the last day for the 2022-23 school year. Now we have a 75 day summer break. In August we’ll have two in pre-k (at two different schools since Noah will still be in ECSE), one in kindergarten, one in first grade, one in second grade, one in third grade, and a sophomore and a senior in high school.

Fritz is all done his junior year. When he unloaded his backpack he saved a pile of stuff and said there was information about applying to college in there because that’s coming up quick. He took AP US History this year and while it was a lot of work he also learned a lot.

Adrian finished his freshman year. He loves DATA in spite of the long bus ride (his best friend is going to another magnet at the same school next year, though, so the bus ride will be a bonus. There were three or four fires set at their school the last few months so he did indeed learn what happens when there is arson. He said he won’t have holidays because he’ll be going to summer school for six weeks (taking art and PE so he can get all the appropriate credits to graduate because of iCSI).

Zeke completed second grade. I have no idea where he got play tennis for what he plans to do over the summer. He’ll be playing some other sports, but not tennis. He doesn’t know why he said that either.

Mayci finished first grade. Of course she said she wants to do her summer workbook this summer because she loves school and anything that looks like school. The year was a little rough due to having a completely inexperienced teacher, but we made it through! I just hope Anthony doesn’t get her next year.

Anthony finished kindergarten. It turns out the kid is crazy smart, incredibly ADHD, and a little bit lazy and stubborn (maybe more like a lot stubborn). If Nicholas doesn’t get the teacher Anthony (and Mayci) had for kindergarten I’m going to be sad because I absolutely love her. Then again, if he has the other kinder teacher we’ll have collected the whole set (when I said that once a principal said they should totally make teacher trading cards so you can collect them all).

Nicholas finished pre-k. By walker he means the way he gets home from school. I always love how little kids answer the what do you want to be when you grow up question. I’m sad that the teacher he (and Mayci and Anthony) had for pre-k is retiring this year so Joel won’t have her. The assistant principal said they hired an amazing replacement, though, and I’ll love her.

Noah has completed pre-k3. I love that he wants to be Noah when he grows up (and even very carefully spelled it out for me). He’s made amazing progress this progress this year and his teachers both said they hope to get him in their class again next year because they just love him. It’ll be nice when he’s in kindergarten and they all go to the same school and no longer have to get him on and off his bus and deal with a second elementary school, though!

And then there’s Joel who got to be the only one at home this whole school year. He got incredibly spoiled and has been my dad’s shadow (not sure who is going to miss the other more – probably my dad since Joel will be busy in school). I love that he said he wants to be a grown up when he grows up.

Touch-a-Truck

Not too long ago Haley took Zeke to a nearby church for the Touch-a-Truck event. He intended to touch more trucks than he did but he kept getting distracted.

Zeke loves art and there were some art projects available. He painted a gutter truck. He colored a picture of a truck.

He also got an icee which was almost as good as getting to do the art projects. Definitely a fabulous time for both of them.

May Owlcrate

This month’s Owlcrate is full of hits as usual. The book itself is gorgeous. Sprayed edges are just so pretty so of course as soon as I saw it I was in love.

Included in the box was another Lord of the Rings bowl. This one for Rohan. There’s a wax seal kit. The image is an open book. There are three small, translucent, and absolutely beautiful bookmarks. These bookmarks (along with tons of other bookmarks I’ve collected) fit perfectly in the bookmark tin.

This year’s fifth hinged pin is very pretty. I especially like the flame coming out of it. The words from the beginning of the book are written right in it which is quite neat.

Then there’s the book itself. Wow. It’s Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross. It sounds very interesting. I’m looking forward to reading this one! The outside of the dust jack is so pretty (I love anything purple) and the sprayed edges are amazing. It’s even got a built in ribbon bookmark which might be my favorite thing about how the book looks.

Inside, the endpapers are beautiful and the inside of the dust jacket is gorgeous. I always love the inside of the dust jackets of these Owlcrate books.

Pre-K Progress Reports

Nicholas and Noah got their final pre-k progress reports last week. They both are making progress on asking questions about new concepts and things they don’t understand. They have both mastered holding a writing tool with a functional grip, identifying their name in isolation, and taking to adults at school. Noah has also mastered drawing a person with a head, body, and limbs and Nicholas is making progress on that skill. They both engage in social play with the other children. (I have actually never seen evidence that Noah holds his writing tool correctly or can draw a person and he is only semi-verbal, but they always score him very high while Nicholas’ teacher is more realistic about what the kids can do.)