end of school year

Three years ago when Ben was in kindergarten, I helped his teacher put together a scrapbook for each of the kids in his class that told a story about their school year. That was back in the "olden days" when people used to print out pictures, buy scrapbook paper and glue, and actually make a physical scrapbook. Since then, the teachers have gone digital, and they put their own books together throughout the year on their computers.

There is something about your kindergarten teacher that makes you remember them the rest of your life...I had Mrs. Rodriguez in California, and I still remember her to this day. I know Ben will always remember and love Mrs. Canning, and Jake will be the same about Mrs. Zabriskie, or known affectionately to her class as Mrs. Z. I will have to agree with Alisha that she is hands-down, the best teacher we have ever had!

I volunteered to take pictures for Mrs. Z's scrapbooks at the beginning of the school year, so I have a ton of pictures of Jake and his class activities, but not so many of the other two boys. It won't always be like that, just this year. I had so much fun getting to know the kids in Jake's class, and they were so cute and fun, and I absolutely love Mrs. Z.

Starting with the kindergarten assembly in mid-May, it was a crazy month. For the assembly Jake was chosen to portray George Washington, and his friend, Devin, was Abraham Lincoln. Jake actually fit into the costume I had just gotten for Ben to be Benjamin Franklin. I love it when that happens. It was the cutest assembly with all their funny songs and cute sayings!

The next Friday was Spring Day, starting with Field Day in the afternoon for the lower school kids. Once again, Jake wasn't feeling too great that day, but he managed through it after taking a small break to go into the sick room and rest a few minutes.

I snuck away from Jake's class to go across campus and track down Ben's class.
After school got out was the country fair, held out on the quad. We lucked out with good weather for field day, but when the country fair started, the clouds quickly came together and the rains came down!! Still, the kids had fun with their friends, including Ben with Zahiana. (They both like to make their own books!)

Next was the kindergarten animal reports in preparation for going to the zoo. Jake was given the giraffe to study, and we had fun learning all about it--for instance, a giraffe's tongue is 20 inches long, and they only sleep 5-10 minutes at a time (standing up) a few times a day, for a total of about 30 minutes! I'm tired just thinking about it. The boys got me this stuffed giraffe for Mother's Day, just in time for Jake to take to school for his oral report.
And then the trip to the zoo, where we had to find the giraffe first thing.
Will came along to the zoo as well, and they teamed up with Tillie for part of the day. Will insisted on wearing his Indiana Jones outfit...

This was my favorite picture of the day, and perhaps the whole year! The class was egging Mrs. Z to come sit on top of the lion's head, and she just went right over and hopped up on it. I love this picture because the kids have this look of surprise on their faces that she actually would do it! I have grown to love Mrs. Z, and although she is moving up to first grade next year, I have it on good word that Jake is not in her class, which I am totally bummed about. The scrapbook she made for Jake is a real treasure, and I'll show it to anyone who wants to see it.
Since the zoo is so close to Daren's fire station, we tracked him down after our picnic at the park. He and his crew were out testing fire hydrants, and for a short time had a few extra helpers.

Ben's final music concert was at the end of May. The name of the concert was "A World of Music," and it was my favorite concert so far. They sang songs from all over the world. He was soooooo excited to play the finger cymbals for the song, "Sakura," a song from Japan.

It occurred to me towards the end of the song to have Daren video the song with the camera on his phone, so even though it's not the best recording, it gives you an idea of the song.

Will was on the traditional schedule as well, so he got out of school the same day as his brothers. Diagnostic kindergarten was a blessing for him--the class was small with a teacher and plenty of aides to help him along. He got the attention he needed, and has done very well this school year. Next year we will mainstream him into the local elementary school with friends from the neighborhood and church so he will actually know some of the kids he is in class with. He still struggles socially, but he has a great teacher next year, at least that's what I've heard from everyone, and I think he will get along just fine.

I went with him on their one field trip to the library, and then we came back to the classroom for a few minutes before class was over. Of course, he spent his short time there drawing a picture of the Titanic!
These three have been amazing with Will: Miss Ambrook, Mrs. Smith, and Miss Judy. I think Will was a real bright spot for them; he always had stories to tell, and would entertain the class all year with his facts about the Titanic. Miss Judy was always drawing pictures of the Titanic for Will, and they all truly cared for him. We will forever be grateful for their efforts in Will's behalf.

Finally the last day of school came. For the boys, they were excited about the after school parties, but also a bit sad about leaving their teachers and friends. These three musketeers (Josh, Reggie and Ben) gave Mrs. Andrach a run for her money, but they also absolutely loved her. Ben really settled into school this year and did so well. His favorite subjects were art, history and science. Seriously, where did he come from?!

We dropped Ben and his fruit tray off at his party, and then I took Jake and Will to Jake's class party, where they went swimming at Leo's house.
This is Devin and Jake, aka Abe and George (they still had kids calling them that right up until the end of school--Jake just rolls his eyes and sighs real loud when I call him that, but it's fun)
After a lot of swimming, Will just wanted to settle in and eat some pizza, so he covered himself and ate away!
This is how the boys chose to spend their first night of summer break--all together in Will's bed. They quickly found out that it gets a bit more squishy in there the bigger they get (notice Will's foot on Jake's back). Halfway through the night Ben went to his own bed, but to them, they started it all off on the right track, together.