End of School Fun

Violet's class participated in the third-grade end-of-year water play party, which had a Hawaiian theme. She dressed for the occasion with her print dress and lei. At breakfast, while I was braiding her hair, she bit into her bagel and her top tooth popped out! Woohoo!

The party started with popsicles - shouldn't all good summer parties start that way?

Games involving water balloons ruled the afternoon.

Also on Thursday, the 5th graders had popsicles or ice cream sandwiches. This event constituted their end-of-year party. Kind of boring, but next year, as 6th grade draws to a close, they'll have more than enough fun to make up for it.

(Not that I want to think about 6th grade ending - or starting! - yet!)

Violet came home from school buzzing about Pokemon cards. Her classmate Sebastian gave her one, and she sounded like she knew all about the different powers and values and whatnot. She also was very anxious to go out and buy a pack of cards for herself, so she could trade on Friday, the final day of school. Oh dear! Pokemon! Stace was a fab daddy and drove her around to a few stores to find cards she could afford.

And then Friday came - the last day of second grade and fifth grade for Violet and Cora. Another year has flown by!

I had a final Friday walk/coffee date with my friends, and then got ready for an afternoon of fun.

After picking the girls up, we stayed at the park for a bit for the end-of-school big picnic, and then took the girls to the movie theater. We met up with a bunch of friends to watch The Incredibles II.

From the front, we have Wylie, Kameron, Cora, Jake, Travis, Cooper and Charlie - I expect we'll be hanging with these guys and their lovely mamas a lot this summer.

(If only one of two of these families had a younger sister for Violet! Alas...)

After the movie, everyone came to our neighborhood for swimming and an easy poolside dinner.

Happy Summer!!

Miss Charity's Dilemma

One of the joys of being in Dr. Porter's class is performing a melodrama she wrote called "Miss Charity's Dilemma, or The Perils of Greed."

I fondly remember Cora's turn in it, when she had a role in a funny commercial.

Violet's turn in the play came on Wednesday - it was a big day, with three performances. She, along with all the kids, had several bit parts: Violet was a narrator, and a town council member.

Best of all, she had a brilliant role as a disgruntled buyer of a cure-all tonic sold by a traveling salesman. Her assertion that the tonic made her cat go "BALD - COMPLETELY BALD!" brought laughs from the entire room.

In fact, when I went in to watch the third show, parents we knew who were leaving stopped me to say that Violet stole the show and did a fabulous job.
 Enjoy the video below of her best part in the play.

Stace and Cora were able to watch the show, and even Auntie Mel. Grandma and Grandpa were out of town for a few days, though.

After the show, the actors were treated to a special lunch, with chicken tenders, corn, tater tots and watermelon.

I know that, with the Wizard of Oz, this was a highlight of Violet's year. She came home so excited on the days that the class had time to practice the play.

Week in Review

Our school was honored as one of California's Distinguished Schools, and we had a little celebration on Monday morning. It's hard to see, but the Distinguished School banner is hanging in the background.

We are so blessed to have such an outstanding school within walking distance!

On Thursday, I had a facial - thanks, Mom! - and then a lunch date with the ladies. No, my life is not all facials and lunches out; this was a pretty stellar day!











After school, Grandma took Cora out for some one-on-one time, so Stace and I took Violet out to dinner at the California Fish Grill at the mall. Vi loves her fish and chips, as does her daddy. We'll definitely be back!

On Friday morning, Violet's class "built" the set for their upcoming classroom play. Violet and her little team were assigned the Town Hall.

It was fabulous watching these little groups of second- and third-graders working so well together. Violet has had an outstanding year with Dr. Porter, who is a stellar teacher.

Violet wanted a person to be inside the Town Hall, looking out the door. So cute!

Week in Review

It's been a momentous few weeks in Cora's life - for the first time, she owns her own video gaming system.

She had enough money saved up to purchase a PlayStation 4 system, and she now can play Minecraft and Fortnite and Star Wars Battlefront. With the online capability and a headset from Sophia, she can play with her friends. It's a big deal for Cora, and she's really excited about it. It took all of Cora's long-term savings, which she's been collecting from her chore money since she was four.  Stace and I helped a little, because the PS4 can play Blu Rays and DVDs and we haven't had a Blu Ray player. We're proud of Cora!

But though Cora does love her new gaming system, she is still a reader at heart. We stopped by the library this week, and Cora has been a happier camper with her big stack of books.

Violet formed an art club a few weeks ago with some of her classmates. They get together Wednesdays after school, while Cora is at GATE Musical rehearsal.

This week, Colleen had a meeting she had to attend, and Lucas and Liana had a minimum day at their school. They played at our house, and then Liana got to participate in art club, too, for a bit.

On Friday, the second graders took part in a marketplace, where each one brought in something handmade to sell. The goal was to learn about creating and marketing a product.

It was great to watch and listen to the 7-and 8-year-olds advertising and selling their homemade magnets, bookmarks, bracelets and slime. Violet created keychains from clay "Bricks, Blocks and Beads" she made. The Lego shaped ones proved very popular.

Camryn bought a keychain, and Violet bought one of Cam's bookmarks. All the money raised went to charity; items were all priced at less than $1.

Celebrations: Pioneer Club and School

Somehow, another year of Pioneer Club has flown by. The girls had their last night Wednesday, with the closing ceremony and celebration. Christina was a fabulous teacher for Violet's class.

Here's Cora's class - she had such a great year, too! I wish I had remembered to take a photo with Cora and her teachers - they are excellent!

After the ceremony, we all ate ice cream and chatted and the kids ran around and played. Until September!

The girls' school had its Open House on Thursday night, where we enjoyed seeing their classrooms and some of the highlights of their work from the year.

Here's Violet with her Whingdingdilly.

I realized that I didn't have any photos of Violet with Dr. Porter this year. I made sure to remedy that at Open House. Dr. Porter is such a fabulous teacher, and such a blessing she has been to our family.

I loved Cora's artwork here, and her goals. Behind her, above her head, is her excellent work on the southern colonies.

The girls were eager to play on the playground after showing us their classrooms. I'm appreciating still having children young enough to play on a playground!

Week in Review

 Our exciting news of the week was we bought a new car! We traded in our Hyundai Veracruz, which we owned for five years, and bought a five-year-old Mazda CX-9 with fewer than 40,000 miles.

It's a lovely car, with light tan leather interior, a sunroom and a third row option for when we have extra friends with us. Our Veracruz had reached the point where we weren't sure of its reliability, so the time had come. Welcome to the family, Mazda!

 The school's Volunteer Tea was this week, and along with eating yummy food, we got to find our portraits by our children. Violet's cracked me up.

I loved Cora's too; I look like a superhero!

 On Thursday, Violet's class had an artful afternoon, and parents were invited to help. The second graders made Whingdingdillys, a fun animal character from a children's book.

Violet had fun creating silly characters, too. She loves laughing, and making other people laugh.

Here's her feathery creation, with a panda-like head. The curriculum has changed since Cora was in second grade. When she had Dr. Porter, the Whingdingdilly project was a big at-home event, and Cora spent hours on her creation.


Violet also had her 8-year well check Thursday, and Dr. Brockett was so pleased that she's grown 3 inches since her 7-year appointment. That growth hormone treatment is working! She's back on the growth charts, around the 3rd percentile for height at 46 inches. She's also reached the 50-pound marker, putting her in the 25th percentile for weight.

School Wind Project

Violet's class had a fun project this week. After learning about the effects of wind on various buildings, the students were placed in groups, given a variety of materials, and created their own wind-resistant buildings. 

Here's Violet's team with their clay castle. The design went through several major structural changes as the girls dealt with the challenge of heavy clay and a weak substructure.

But, they persevered.

Then, Dr. Porter used a fan to test out the designs. The castle stood strong!

I love that even though Dr. Porter has been teaching for many years, she still brings in new projects and challenges for her students. We're so happy Violet has been in her class this year!

Wizard of Oz

Our little Scarecrow shined like a superstar this week in the school's traditional production of The Wizard of Oz.

 

Wizard is now an after-school program for second-graders, rather than an in-school activity for first-graders, as it was when Cora took part. Cora's first-grade teacher, Mrs.Vasquez, runs the whole thing, teaching two casts after school for the past two months.

Violet has loved her experience, and practiced after school twice a week because the main characters went to both weekly practices.

Violet really did an outstanding job as the Scarecrow. She performed her lines well, stayed in character, and sang with her solo with a sweet, clear voice. We are so, so proud of her!

After the play, the children received the bricks we helped make - Stace cut and painted them all, while I and the girls helped a group of moms and kids with pasting on the photos and tying on the tags.

Here's the cast from Violet's production!

The children did a dress rehearsal for the school on Monday, and Cora was very proud of her little sister! All this brought back happy memories from Cora's time in Wizard, when she was Dorothy.