"Beth, smell"- Wordless Wednesday

Beth's Kindergarten year in review

During this school year, Beth grew 3 inches (from 45 to 48 inches) and gained about a pound(from 44.4 to 45.6 pounds). I think she also gained some wisdom and perspective, dealing with other kids who are different and behave differently than she does. She is still a tender-hearted, empathetic person. God is growing her every day!

playing on the school playground, 2 days before school ended

The thing I like best about school...

writing in cursive

Who are your best friends? What do you like about them most?

Faith and Nadia

I don't know (whining)

Why do you like your teacher?

She liked us. She taught us new things.

When I grow up, I want to be...

a teacher, just like her

After school, I like to...

play at home

My favorite sport is...

gymnastics

My favorite book is...

The Lighthouse family series- The Whale

My favorite tv show and movie is...

My favorite movie is Cinderella

My favorite cartoon character is...

Snoopy

Some of my favorite songs are...

I'm thankful to be an American

The Price of Freedom

(can you tell her choir is working on 4th of July songs?)

What makes me laugh is...

Daddy

My favorite hobby is...

color

I amaze everyone when I...

tell them I'm saved
(more about this coming in another post)

On weekends, I like to...

go to church

What was your favorite thing that our family did together this year?

my birthday party

What are you looking to about first grade?

Meeting my new teacher (she already knows her, but still...)

Whew!!

My goodness, the end of the school-year is nuts! Beth finished up her kindergarten school-year last week. First of all, it's hard to believe it's already over. Secondly, that makes her officially a first grader. Oh my! I love that I have been able to attend every field trip and special event with her, Jacob along too. And, thanks to the flexibility in Kevin's job (and access to him through technology), he's been able to join us too. What a blessing to be part of the fun!

At the award ceremony, Beth was presented with an award for Excellence in Reading. I'm so proud of her. She absolutely loves to read! She's soaking up books about snakes, dinosaurs, Titanic, tornadoes, volcanoes...not to mention great stories. I'm so proud to have a reader. That's the nerd in me. I guess she took after me in something, if not her looks. :)

Beth earned a field trip to Peter Piper Pizza for accomplishing her fundraiser goal of selling 15 items. Turns out, of the 12 kids who earned it, 7 were from her class. Wow. So, a morning away from school, learning how pizza is made, playing games and then eating the pizza they "designed" (picked out their own toppings).

Another great activity was Family Fun Day. Wow! That was some day. Every class had a shirt color. Family members were invited to the school for the day. It was really neat to see some parents wearing the class' color. There were TONS of activities- water balloon war, bubbles galore, bounce house, water "park", and a few carnival type games. After all that fun was lunch with burgers and hot dogs. Thankfully, the big storm held off until after Beth's class got through the lunch line and into the building. Jacob had a great time too. I really love that Beth's classmates are so kind and welcoming to him.

On the last week of school, Beth's first field trip was to a local campground, that just happens to be part of the Jellystone park group. So, a morning on a new playground, then a hayride with Yogi Bear. Sadly, most of the kids didn't know who Yogi Bear was before that trip. Since then, my kids have watched a Yogi cartoon. Yogi sang songs with the kids, and they were quite impressed that he knew "Jesus loves me". Then, a picnic lunch (away from Yogi, so he didn't take them). Those kids were a hoot- moving their seats, boys away from girls, sit-by-me-no-me issues... all for kindergarteners! Full bellies, some extra silly behavior and a BIG skinned knee later, it was time to go home for naps.

It's been a great year. She loved school. We can't wait to see what adventures 1st grade will bring!

Other posts of end of year fun coming soon:

Graduation

Last Day Zoo trip

Treasures found!- Wordless Wednesday

Party time!

Ok, so yet another post I failed to put up a month ago. Can I be forgiven since I'm doing two posts in one day?

Beth had her 6th birthday party at Buffalo Nickel- a putt putt and arcade place in town. SO much fun! It gets kinda old going to the same bounce houses and pizza places. I'm so glad she was up for going somewhere new.

Everyone played putt-putt (except me- cuz you know Mommy had to be hostess).

Some were more serious than others.

But, everyone had a blast!

We came inside to cool off and play in the arcade.

Then, cake and present time! Woohoo!!!! Beth had picked Care Bears for her cake and even offered to give Jacob the boy Care Bear toy.

She had so much fun- everybody did, really. Those 4 of you who read the blog, who also happened to be there, thanks for being a part! There's nothing like celebrating another year of her precious life with precious friends and family.

The perfect day for an outing

We headed to the newly remodled Fort Worth Museum of Science for the day.

Ok, so that was a month ago. Sorry it's taken so long. Umm, it's not like I have anything to do besides blog, you know :)

Ok, back to the story. We'd tried to go to the museum a month ago but couldn't find a parking space. Beth was quite disappointed that day. So, today, no problem with parking, she was thrilled. Beth has been very interested in learning about dinosaurs lately. How perfect that there's a fantastic dino exhibit! Beth was ready with her notepad and pencil to do "research".

This museum is really more like a children's museum, with all the interactive stuff. We measured bones, looked at fossils in a microscope, put together dinosaur bone puzzles.... Jacob wasn't too pleased to get into the footprint replica (found in Texas!)

But, the best part of the dinosaur fun was outside. A fossil-dig! We had "shovels" and paintbrushes to dig and brush away the sand until we uncovered a bone. So cool!

Then, back inside for more adventures. In the children's area, we played with trains and grocery shopped, walked an "obstacle" course and spun tops. In the tinker area, we built a musical pinball course, used wind to push a sail-car and played with tinker toys. In another interactive area, we chose the craft room. Jacob tried stamps and marker toys and then just enjoyed attaching tissue paper to his page. Beth made a birthday hat (supposedly in honor of Jane Goodall's birthday).

After a stop for lunch in the cafe, we headed upstairs to the western area. How can a museum in Texas not have a tribute to cattle and the western fronteir?

Tucked into a little room were "horses" to ride while you herded cattle into the pen. Both kids had a blast on these!

At the end of the exhibit was a display about what products we use that come from cattle. I'm quite amazed. Needless to say, no part of a cow is wasted. Then, down the hall, we found the temporary exhibit- CSI. I love the CSI shows. Not for the gore, but for the nerdy scientist part of the show. It was fun, for a little while. We had tired kiddos, so we didn't finish the investigation. A last stop at the gift store with their Easter money. I couldn't believe that Beth didn't find anything she had to have. She chose to spend her money at Target later. Jacob found a giant snake and a spaceship. Perfect ending to a great day out as a family!

It's good to be the mommy

My sweet little artist has been very busy with her artwork. It usually centers around the upcoming holiday. Since Mother's Day is next, I've been getting lots of sweet cards. These are the best parts of them!

Despite the tough days, tantrums, illnesses, long nights, and all the other things moms have to deal with, I wouldn't trade my job for the world. It's these sweet moments that make it all worthwhile. The hugs, the snuggles, the unprompted "I love you", the laughs as they discover the world and try to explain themselves. Life is good! I'm so blessed to be a mommy!