Elementary Graduate!

Here is Curtis on the morning of his first day of kindergarten. 

And here he is after school on his last day of sixth grade. 

On the last day of school, the sixth graders walk down the hallway one last time as their younger classmates cheer from outside their classrooms. These walks always make me so emotional - especially when one of my own kids is walking! 

That evening was the graduation ceremony.

My mom was able to drive down for the occasion!

While she was in town, we did some shopping. While Bella was looking for scrapbooking supplies, the boys did what they could to entertain themselves. 

We also scored the best seat in the house at a local coffee shop. 

A random shot of Mabel sleeping. 

Bella had a few friends over one night. I wanted to give them space, so I took a photo from inside the kitchen. 

Summer is officially here!

Storms and Banquets

The sky got dark, the wind picked up, and the thunder cracked. Mabel and Graydon looked outside to see what was going on. 

It’s hard to tell from these photos, but a lot was happening on the other side of the window. 

A tree from the backyard fell over and got blocked from completely falling by another tree. Good thing too otherwise this tree would have fallen right on top of Bella’s van.  

Lots of limbs and a whole tree down in the front yard. 

Every outdoor surface looked like this. 

This branch fell from a tree and literally stabbed the ground!

Lots of people were without power for over 24 hours as power companies worked round the clock to restore power. Thankfully, ours never went out.

That evening was Bella’s FFA Banquet. 

More awards for this girl! 

The FFA program at our school is fantastic and does a great job of developing leadership skills in these kids. 

Spring Band Concert

The boys had their final band concert of the school year on the lawn outside the school and a hot, windy Friday evening. 

Graydon’s buddy, Corbin, is becoming an honorary member of the family!

Both boys won the “Most Improved” award for their grade levels!

One step closer to summer break! 

May Days

The end of this school year was so fun. We were able to do things that COVID had taken away from us the previous two years. One of those things was the Students vs. Staff basketball game. All of the sixth grade boys and girls who played on the school basketball teams were invited to play in this game. Curtis was one of them. 

As a staff member, I was invited to play; but I had no desire to embarrass myself or Curtis, so I joined some other staff members as a cheerleader. 

The next morning, Curtis and I had a 4:30am wake-up call. We needed to be at school for a 5am departure to participate in the Indy Mini 5K. We had both joined a school running club and had been training for this 5K since March. 

Curtis and I ran in different groups. My group finished in about 35 minutes and Curtis finished in just over 30 minutes!

Here is our whole group!

These are some pretty flowers that a school family game me. Tulips are my favorite! 

The kids don’t always do spontaneous activities together, so when it happens I try to document it! 

This was us on Mother’s Day just after leaving the movie theater. We saw the new Doctor Strange movie in a theater with reclining seats - and now I can never watch movies in a regular theater again. And suddenly my kids are all my height! 

I took the boys bowling after school one day. Curtis wasn’t sure if he wanted to come at first, but he ended up bowling his best game ever! 

Check out that score. At the end, he bowled five strikes in a row! 

The end of the school year brings awards ceremonies. I went down to the high school assembly to see Bella and she ended up winning every award she was eligible for! She works so hard and it’s great to see her get recognized for it.