School's out for summer!

What a great time of year! The school year is over and everyone can relax a bit. I always love seeing how my kids have grown and changed over the past year.

Here is Carson on his first day of 3rd grade last summer. He still had such a "little boy" look to him.
And here he is today. Not so much a "little boy" look anymore. :( It's been a rough school year for Carson. Lots and lots (and lots) of homework (and we often had to agree with him that the homework load was a bit intense for 3rd grade.) Trouble with motivation, especially with homework! Carson, for the record, Mom and Dad already passed 3rd grade (in fact, we've passed 18th grade when you take into account grad school) so we're NOT really as dumb as you think.

The other big change this year (besides the enormous appetite, lovely fashion sense and the need for daily showers!) involved noticing girls and claiming a "girlfriend." In 3rd grade! He even came home today with his "girlfriend's" address. Not really sure how that will help him since he lacks, um, a driver's license. But, the 2 girls he has liked this year both move to new schools next year and they won't meet up again until high school. I think there will be plenty of other girls between now and then...and I'm sure I'll be equally UNprepared for each one to come!



And here is Elise on the first day of Kindergarten last summer. For the life of me, I could not get a smile out of her. She was one nervious nelly about going to school. She HATES new situations. And even though she had been in a pre-K classroom in this school for a year, this qualified as a BIG CHANGE.

And here she is today. She has made some good friends and kids in the class really seem to take good care of her. One boy in particular is, let's see if I can get the wording straight..."totally in love with me."

Elise has grown more confident in herself and her ability to communicate with others. She's all girl. She loves, loves, loves learning. She gets excited when she sees her sight words in everyday settings. She already seems to have a strong ability in math. While she watched us struggle with Carson's homework, she anxiously did her worksheets every night and was disappointed when she didn't have "homework" of her own.

My big fear this year was how she would do socially. Being naturally shy and having a speech disorder (which often makes the shyness more pronounced), I was worried about how she'd get along with her classmates. She had a great group of kids in her class this year and we couldn't be more pleased with her widening circle of friends.

She also HATED getting in trouble. She only had her "clip" moved twice during the year (both times the teacher was giving her a warning for talking too much...go figure!) Heck, Carson would often have his clip moved 2x a day when he was in kindergarten so I'm pretty darn impressed! I doubt I'll ever get a call from her principal. :)

Perry has to go into school for a few hours tomorrow, so summer break for the family officially starts at noon tomorrow. :)

And, I started a flex time schedule today for the summer. In exchange for extending my hours a bit daily (which I often do out of hide anyway), I get one full day off each week to get in some much needed family time. Truth be told, I've always wanted this type of schedule. I love my job, but it's often hard in the summers knowing I'm the only heading out to work each day (although, honestly, some days, that's a pleasure!)

Here's to a great summer and some great family time.