No More Braces!

Esther got her braces off this week!  The orthodontist have her a balloon, pencil and gum, which we thought was a cute idea. She is excited to be nearing the end of this phase of orthodontics!

 

Last Day of School!

Today was the last day of school for the kids.  It has been a fabulous year in 4th grade, 2nd grade, and kindergarten.  This was Esther's last year at the elementary building, so they did a very beautiful blessing/send-off for them in chapel and all the 4th graders sang a blessing song.  It was very touching and meaningful, and a wonderful way to end the school year.  They had a half day, so Peter went to a birthday party for a classmate at noon and the girls and I celebrated with lunch at Olga's!  It was a lovely day, so we enjoyed our lunch outside.

I have to work 2 more days next week, and then we are looking forward to lots of summer fun!

Miriam and Mrs. Sytsma.
She is retiring, so we feel blessed that Miriam
was in her last class this year!

Esther's 4th grade class

Esther and the awesome, funny Mr. Koop!

Special friends!

Peter and the other boys in his class left right away for the birthday party, so I didn't get a picture of him with Mrs. Persenaire.  She was the perfect teacher for him, and he loved being in her class.

Olga's!

Critter Barn, Take 3

Today was our last kindergarten field trip to The Critter Barn.  I always love this field trip, and even though it was a rainy day, we had a great time.  Miriam is our animal lover, so she was very into all the animals and wanted to hold and pet everything possible.

Fun at the Zoo

Today was my last free Tuesday with Miriam before summer break (and her transition to full time school in the fall).  In order to get over my sadness about that fact, I told her she could choose whatever she wanted to do today.  I gave her a few ideas and she chose the zoo.  It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun exploring the zoo and seeing all the animals.  We even went all out and rode the Funicular up to the top and took a camel ride.

After a couple hours of exploring the zoo we had a picnic by the pond with some geese and their adorable little goslings.  We played on the playground at John Ball Park for a while until a huge field trip group of kids invaded it.  Then we attempted to go to Sweet Mellisa's for ice cream, but they weren't open yet (we were an hour too early), so we headed to Jersey Junction instead.  We finished our fun day with a little bike ride through the neighborhood.  Boy am I going to miss my days with this girl in the fall!

Happy Birthday Casey, Renee and Nick!

Today was Memorial Day and we also celebrated Casey, Renee and Nick's birthdays.  Casey and Renee's birthdays were yesterday and Nick's was today.  We had a nice afternoon/evening with Casey's family and also his Uncle Bob and Aunt Anita and his parents' neighbors.

4th Grade Extravaganza

Esther and the rest of the 4th graders had a special afternoon of showcasing their talents.  They started with an open house display of their lighthouse projects.  It was fun to see the creativity that the students put into making their various lighthouses.

The second part was a Michigan VIP/Wax museum event.  The students had to research and prepare a speech about a famous person who had ties to Michigan.  They dressed up and had props, and when parents pushed a button (made of paper and set on the floor in front of them), then they would come to life and give their speeches.  Esther had Annie Etheridge, a Civil War nurse.

The final portion was a recorder concert by the entire 4th grade class.  They did a great job, and it was fun to listen to them!

Letter People Parade!

One of the highlights of kindergarten at our kids' school is the Letter People Parade.  Esther didn't do the letter people when she was in kindergarten, but Peter and Miriam did.  This week was the big parade, so each kindergarten student could choose a letter person and dress up like that person.  Miriam chose Miss "A" for her letter.  Since Miss A has a big "Achoo," Miriam hung tissues on her letter A signs and carried a box of tissues.  She said she was going to pretend to sneeze during the parade, but I think when she saw all the parents lining the halls, she got a little shy.  It was very cute to see the creativity of the various costumes and props that the students had for different letters.

Kindergarten Field Trip

I was able to go with Miriam on a fun field trip on Friday.  We went to Ludema's Floral and Garden and checked out their children's garden area.  Then we went to Mrs. Sytsma's house to see her garden and eat lunch on her deck.  She showed the kids a bit of her house and then had them draw a picture of their favorite kindergarten memory on her driveway with chalk.  As a kid, seeing your teacher's house is so cool, so the kids thought this was just great!  It was a fun field trip with a very nice bunch of kids.

Miriam drew the life cycle of a butterfly.