AZ Study Program & Spring Piano Recital

Whitney was able to complete the 5A level of the Arizona Study Program this past school year.  Her teacher, Mrs. Linda Johnson presented the awards to her participating students at the spring piano recital.  Whitney earned Superior with Honors once again.  The songs she memorized:

Minuet in D minor BWV 132 by J.S. Bach

Sonatina Op. 3b, No. 3 by Clementi

Douce Plainte (Tender Grieving) by Burgmuller

Blues Tango by Vandall

Whitney was Linda's only student to earn a superior on all four of her songs. I was a little worried that Whitney might not do as well this year as she was not able to practice as much due to her busy schedule. I had shared this concern with Chris.  His reaction: to tell Whitney I did not think she would do as well and that if she earned the highest marks again, he would reward her with a special something!  Linda says Whitney, "Is quite the performer!" Nerves seem to work in her favor.  She plays her absolute best when performing.  Whitney the Wonder Girl!

Whitney tickling the old ivories.

Kind Kid

At the last assembly of the school year Gavin was awarded the Kind Kid award of the year.  They usually let us know when the kids are receiving awards at school. This time they didn't and I was sad that we missed being there.  They did send home the a page with what was said about him though.

Gavin Weaver is a very caring and kind student.  You may not know him by name, but you probably recognize him from all his kind deeds around our school.  He is always helping others, whether they are struggling with their work, need help on the playground, or simply need a friend to sit with in the cafeteria.  He always acts in a very kind and respectful way and is always careful to guard the feelings of others.

Some people report that Gavin is especially courteous to others and always maintains a pleasant manner, no matter what the situation.  Whether helping a fellow classmate in the classroom, or assisting on the playground, Gavin acts without being asked.  He is simply a wonderful person and intuitively nice young man.  We are proud to have him at our school.  Gavin is definitely a "Kind Kid!"

Truthfully I was not surprised by this award.  Sweet and kind have always been two of the most common things I hear people say about Gavin.  He often puts others feelings and needs ahead of his own.  A perfect example of his thoughtfulness:  Gavin received a $10.00 gift card to Walmart for earning the third highest reading points in his class.  When I took him to the store to spend it, the first thing he did was select treats for his siblings.  Only after those things had been chosen did he then think about what he might like to get.  I am so proud of my sweet Gavin.  He's a giver!



A Lost Tooth For Ashlyn

Typically most kids loose their first tooth in kindergarten.  All year long Ashlyn had been waiting (impatiently) to loose her first tooth and make it onto the loose tooth chart at school.  Ashlyn got her teeth very late so I knew she would be late loosing them.  She had tried sawing at her gums with dental floss picks until they were bleeding to try and loose a tooth.  We had several cases of wishful thinking where she convinced herself her tooth was loose.  There was much gnashing of teeth over when was she going to loose one. Reports on who had recently lost a tooth.  And extreme envy of those who had lost multiple teeth. So on May 21, 2012 when she said her tooth was loose I did not even check. 

I was surprised when the very next day she came home from school with a missing tooth!  With only two more days of school left she was cutting it close for making that chart!  I figured she had been wiggling that tooth all day long.  When I asked her if she had been wiggling it she said, "I wiggled it all day long!"  This was quite the turn around after Whitney and Gavin who could literally have a tooth dangling by a thread and refuse to pull it out.  I was happy for her sake that she got to loose one during kindergarten.

Big Boy Pants For Landon

 

Why is it that your child becoming potty trained always seems like the most unattainable goal? Even though Landon is my fourth child I still felt like it was never going to happen!  I am happy to report that there will be no more diapers at our house ever again!  I was afraid to even acknowledge that he was potty trained for fear of jinxing myself for almost 2 weeks after the fact.  Like all my kids he was fully capable long before actually deciding he wanted to do it.  About a week before his third birthday, Chris said no more diapers and put him in underpants.  I was not home but Landon pooped in his big boy pants.  That's when he and his Dad had a come to Jesus meeting, as they like to say in the South.  This little boy LOVES his Daddy so much that he potty trained purely to please him! No accidents from that day forth!  For the next couple days whenever he used the potty he would say, "Daddy are you happy now?" It was really kind of pitiful...but I'm sure glad he decided to finally do it!

 

He always wants to wear his underwear backwards so he can see the picture on the bum.  When I said I wanted to take a picture of him in his big boy pants he wanted me to get the rear view.  It is a perfect profile shot too.

My parents gave him these Batman PJs for his birthday.  I did not think he even knew who Batman was but as soon as he put these PJs on he thought he was Batman...I mean he really seemed to believe he was Batman!  He was running/flying around saying, "I'm Batman"!  We need to get this boy a super hero cape ASAP! 





NJHS Induction

Whitney was inducted into the the National Junior Honor Society on May 8, 2012.  I did not even know they had a junior chapter so I was suprised when she came home with the invitation to apply for membership.  Our Ms. Smartie Pants sure makes us look good!

 A litte info about the organization:

The National Honor Society (NHS) and National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) are the nation's premier organizations established to recognize outstanding high school and middle level students. More than just an honor roll, NHS and NJHS serve to honor those students who have demonstrated excellence in the areas of Scholarship, Leadership, Service, and Character (and Citizenship for NJHS). These characteristics have been associated with membership in the organization since their beginnings in 1921 and 1929.