Schools out for the summer!!!!

This school year has really been a weird one. It seems like just yesterday we were taking the kids to school for their first day but then the end of the year seemed like it went on FOREVER! Lets just say that Rae's 2nd grade year has not been the best. The first half of the year she really had some problems with reading. She always wanted to "get ahead of herself" when she was reading. She wanted to pay more attention to the pictures than the words. Thankfully with a lot of hard work on her part, her reading has gotten so much better. She will take a book with her just about anywhere we go and read some. I love to read but just never have the time anymore. Rae has made some really good friends this year that I hope she takes with her through out her life. They'res a couple of girls that she talks about all the time, Mallory and Sianna. She really enjoys these girls.  Mrs. McCollum and Mrs Harville were her teachers this year and she also had Mrs. Hayes for her Discovery teacher. She got to do alot of neat things in Discovery. They studied the ocean, wrote their autobiographies, learned alot about Japan. They even had a Japanese lunch one day.
 

Rae and Mrs. McCollum

Rae and Mrs. Harville

Rae and Mrs. Hayes

Brady seemed to really enjoy the 5th grade. Mrs Barton was his homeroom teacher. She is a HUGE Ole Miss fan so she scored major points with Brady when he found that out. Brady has always been a good student. School comes easy for him. He has always been on the all A's honor roll and has come in close to the top of his class every year that he has been in school. During the awards program he was awarded Student of the Month for the month of April. Do you think that he told us he had gotten this? Nope.  That is one thing that he has gotten really good at this year, forgetting to tell us stuff or forgetting to bring stuff home.

Brady and Mrs. Barton

Brady getting his awards

 I always try and give the teachers a gift for all their hard work that they do through out the year. This year I made the teachers aprons. I made my sister one for Christmas this last year and she seem to like it so I decided to make one for them. The kids last day of school was on Tuesday the 24th. When did I start sewing? Sunday night the 22nd. I was able to get the first one done really quick but then decided to make a different one for the second apron. I had never made this one before and the online pattern didn't look that bad and it really wasn't but it was more time consuming than the first one. Before I got the second one done we had to go to the ballfield and watch our nephews play ball so it was late when we got back and even later when I stared on the third apron. I wanted to do something different for all the teachers. So the third apron was a combination of the first two. I should have stuck with a pattern that I had made before because when I try to make something without directions it is never good. But in the end it turned out pretty good. It might even be my favorite one of the bunch.

Aprons wrapped and ready to go

Rae modeling Mrs. McCollum

Rae modeling Mrs. Barton

Rae modeling Mrs. Harvilles.

 All in all the kids had a pretty good school year. But I think that we are all glad that it is finished. We have 9 weeks before school starts back (Can you say earlier and earlier ever year!). So we hope to make the most of the summer. Both kids will be going to church camp this summer-although I'm still not convinced that Rae will go- and I plan on them both doing the summer programs at the library.  But for now--SCHOOLS OUT!!!

Trying to catch up

This blogging thing is not as easy as I thought it would be. I guess life got in the way. I really hope that I will be better at keeping the memories of my family.  We have just ended the AWANA year at church. Brady and Rae both seem to really enjoy AWANA but Brady, I think, is getting really ready to move on up to the youth department. He is starting to come out of his shell some, as noted by the band form that I signed yesterday for school. He told me that he wants to play the snare or quad drums in the band. I was really shocked but very happy that this is something that he wants to do. I really want the kids to be involved in something but I don't want to force them to do anything. He played baseball for several years until about two years ago and then the just lost interest. So hopefully he will really enjoy the band and I have no doubt that he will be really good at drumming. He usually is good at anything he puts his mind to. But back to AWANA. He will start his last year of AWANA in August and has always done very well with it. He got a certificate last night but wasn't able to finish his book to get a book award.  Their is alot of work involved in AWANA.  Many weeks their are many verses that have to be memorized. One of the goals of AWANA is for the kids to know the verses in their hearts and not just for the chance to pass off a section.  Rae did very well this year also. This was her last year of being a Sparky. In the three years that she has been in the Sparky club she was able to finish all three books and earn a Sparky Award for doing so. She was one of two people to do this. Her friend Rachel was the other one. I am so proud of both of my kids. At the first of the program last night the kids took a paper chain that they had made throughout the year and wrapped it around the sanctuary of the church twice! Every time that a kid said a verse they got to write their name on a strip of paper that made the paper chain. That is alot of verses that all the kids learned throughout the year.

Rae and Bro.Jim

Brady and Bro. Jim

 We also had the AWANA Grand Prix. This is something that we have done the last couple of years at church and the kids(and dads) really enjoy it. Last year Rae won best in show for her car and she did the same this year! She went back and forth about what she wanted her car to be and finally decided on an Ice Cream Sandwich. It looked really good. Daddy did a great job cutting it out and she did a great painting it. Brady decided that he didn't want to race this year. He just enjoyed watching and visiting the concession stand.

We had our annual Presley family reunion on May 7th. We started this a couple of years ago. I can remember as a kid having to go to family reunions and dreading them. All these people that I didn't know, talking to and about me. All I wanted to do was go home. I'm thankful that my kids have kids their age to play with at family reunions. Some cousins that we see all the time and some we only see one or two times a year. We also celebrated Papaws 84th birthday that day. He is such a amazing man. He is a true leader of this Willis family.

Rae helping me make cheesecake balls.

Papaw and all his kids

Blowing the candles out for his 84th bday

Boys doing what they do best.

The newest family member Jacob

 Our nephew Cade and out great nephew Preston started playing t ball a couple of weeks ago. It is so fun to watch kids that age playing ball. I remember when Brady was that little playing ball. Sometimes I wish he was still that little.

Cade

Preston

 

Mothers Day was the 8th.  And as always I had a great day. Every Mothers Day the church always gives the mothers a gift. The last couple of years we have gotten white carnations but this year we got pink coffee mugs.  Phil got a blue one a couple of years ago and it is just about the perfect coffee mug, right size and shape.  I so appreciate my church www.beldenbaptistchurch.net and all that they do for us.  After church Phil and the kids took me to Los Toros for lunch. This is the BEST Mexican restaurant in Tupelo.  After we got home I got to take a great nap.

I kinda did this entire post backwards but at least its done.

Until next time.

Karen