Honor's Day

 Both Olivia and Owen have had really good school years.  They have been blessed with good teachers and have performed well academically.  Their accomplishments were recognized this past week at their respective Honor's Day celebrations.  Owen's Honor's Day was on Wednesday.  He received awards for having all A's, perfect attendance, for having the most AR points in his class, and for having the highest grade on the end-of-year language arts assessment in his class.  He also received the citizenship award.  To me, this is the most important of all of the awards.  

Owen was excited that his grandparents were able to come to his awards ceremony.  Olivia's was on the following day, so Gigi, Papa, and Granny Mel had to come to the school on two consecutive days.  What dedicated grandparents!

 

Olivia's Honor's Day was on Thursday.  It was set up differently than Owen's.  Instead of being organized by the type of award being received, each student was called to the front where they received all of their awards at once. The things they were being honored for were read aloud and were also displayed on a screen.  Olivia received awards for having all A's, for having the most AR points in her class, for the various academic teams that she participated in, and for her Young Author's story.  

 There were a few "special awards" that were given at the end.  Olivia was also called up for this where she was recognized for having the most AR points in her grade.

The kids work really hard all year on their school assignments.  It's really nice that their effort and successes are recognized.

The Burgess Nuptials

 Quincy and Chase's wedding was just lovely.  Quincy looked absolutely beautiful and Chase was very handsome.  They were surrounded by friends, family, and other well-wishers.  Owen donned a tux for his job as ring-bearer, and Olivia finally got to wear the fancy dress that her Nana bought for her.

I know that after organizing four weddings, Mama and Daddy are happy to have done this job for the last time.

 The wedding reception was also lots of fun.  Quincy had arranged for a band to play prior to the entrance of the bride and groom, and then a DJ picked up with the music afterward.  All of the kids got on the dance floor early and we had to practically drag them off.  The festivities lasted well into the night.  We, however, headed home early. It was a happy day for everyone.

Wedding Ready

 Last weekend my baby sister Quincy got married to my wonderful new brother-in-law Chase.  We have been looking forward to this event for some time now, and it was an absolutely wonderful weekend.  The festivities began with the rehearsal and dinner on Friday.  Aunt Libba has been the stand-in at the rehearsal for myself and all of my sisters.  This is the last time that daddy gets to "walk her down the aisle".  Actually, this is the last wedding that Mama and Daddy have to plan- and they couldn't be happier about this fact.

 Following the rehearsal, the families of the bride and groom and the large wedding party (16 bridesmaids and a bridesman!) went to Blueberry Hill restaurant for a meal.  The rustic restaurant was decorated for the event, and their was a great piano player who kept everyone entertained.

 The kids were excited to see their Quarnaccio cousins from Texas.  The kids' tables were full of activity.  It's rare that we get to see this side of the family, so we had to take lots of pictures.

The rehearsal dinner was wonderful and it was a great way to kick off a fantastic wedding weekend.

Rebounderz

We did something a little different for our end-of-the-year Blast celebration this year.  Instead of renting inflatable waterslides like we normally do, we took the kids down to Rebounderz- an indoor trampoline arena- in Jacksonville. The kids got to jump in the big trampoline arena, play dodge-ball on trampolines, jump into the foam pit (a popular activity with all of the kids), play trampoline basketball, do the ninja warrior course, and they each got a pre-loaded video game card. They were also able to choose two additional activities among bowling, laser tag, and laser maze.  The laser maze was the most popular of these activities.


We had a party room rented for three whole hours- and we still had to drag the kids out of that place.  They had a ball.  It was great to see these sweet kids have fun after a year of working hard at Blast

Blast

The kids had a great time participating in the Blast program at church on Wednesday nights this year.  This year's focus was on learning about the twelve disciples. Each month, the kids focused on a new disciple (or disciples) and had a new mission project.  Some of this year's projects included raising money for Stop Hunger Now, sending cards to our servicemen overseas, donating food and supplies to Hooves for Freedom therapeutic riding, making homemade doggy biscuits for service dogs, making crayons to be used as stocking stuffers for the Sycamore Tree families, and collecting cans for the local food bank.  They also "adopted" a great white shark. We are so blessed to have wonderful ladies leading the program.  The kids really did learn a lot this year.  The last Blast night was this week and the kids put on a performance telling what they had learned about the disciples.

Olivia's Wild Adventures Field Trip

 Olivia's class field trip this year was to Wild Adventures.  She was chaperoned by her uncle Sam who enjoyed "watching kids get on a ride and instantly regret it". Olivia was not one of those kids.  She rode all of the rides- including the Twisted Typhoon.  This was the first time that she's been tall enough to ride that.  She's says that it is "the funnest ride ever".  Olivia and Sam had a great time.  When they got home, they both looked like they were ready to collapse.  It was definitely a fun day.

School Miscellany

Since returning from spring break we have been busier than normal due to all of those miscellaneous end-of-year school activities.  Here are a few of the things that have been keeping us on our toes.

Swim lessons:  This actually took place the week before spring break.  Each second grade class in our county gets a week of free swim lessons at the local YMCA.  Although Owen has made some progress with the swimming, he still has lots of room for improvement.  These lessons were much-needed, and I could tell that they paid off.  When we were on vacation I noticed that he was swimming better and more confidently than he had been prior to having the lessons.

 More Young Authors:  Since Olivia won the Young Author's competition for the RESA region, she was invited to a reception at the local RESA office.  There, she and the other winners were presented with a book containing their stories, a certificate, a medal, and a check for $50 (!!!).  Where were these kind of awards when I was in school?  The reception was really nice.  The people at the RESA office went above and beyond to make this a great experience for our kids.  Olivia is certainly motivated to continue writing.

Cancer Walk:  This isn't school related, but I do want to mention that the Toys R Us crew have been busy with their annual booth at the cancer walk, and this year they won 1st place.

Academic Boosters:  Our school system has an awards ceremony for those who participate in academic clubs and activities.  Olivia was honored for her participation in math club, robotics team, and battle of the books team.  She also received awards for placing or being on a team that placed it the Sum Dog Math Competition, Young Authors, Tech Fair, and Robotics Competition.  She has really enjoyed being on these academic teams this year, and she wants to do more next year.  Owen is looking forward to being in 3rd grade next year so that he can join some of these teams

 AR:  I am fortunate that both of my kids like to read.  I don't have to stay on them about their accelerated reader (AR) points because they take care of that themselves.  The school rewarded those students who reached 100 AR points for the year with a t-shirt and a game of glow-in-the-dark dodge ball.  The kids loved this.