Helping a Friend Celebrate

George has such a great baseball team this week. We made it back into town and were able to attend one of his teammate's birthday party. Those boys had such a great time helping their friend celebrate! Although George was a blurry streak the whole time, I was able to capture G & L who are always ready to jump and have a good time. 

Travel: Santa Rosa Beach

Lauren, Grace and George have been working so hard this year, and we know that the last nine weeks are going to be challenging. Therefore, we took the opportunity to take a quick trip to the beach for a few days over spring break, and we invited my mom - Grammie - so that she can take advantage of the spring temps. 

We arrived on Sunday, and headed to the HUB for lunch. The family is pretty excited because they will get to do some biking, what with a combination of furnished bikes and couple of rentals. (Otherwise, transporting five bikes is difficult.) 

Although the water is still chilly, the tough trio ventured into the cool water long enough for a quick swim the first day.  

They are finding it refreshing and a nice change from the classroom.  

Happy Birthday, Poppa!

We got together to celebrate Skip's Dad's birthday - or, Poppa, as he's known by the trio - a day early. 

Happy birthday, Poppa!

National Puppy Day

Throwing it back four years... when Pixie was four months old... and adorably high maintenance.  

Grammie's Birthday

My mom had a really busy week this past week, and we had planned to regroup with her for her birthday celebration. However, we were pleasantly surprised when she was able to carve out time (HA!) for a birthday dinner. Instead of going out, she asked for a grilled hamburger. Even when we offered the option of a grilled steak, she stuck with hamburger. 

Also, we had a family favorite: coconut cake. 

Happy birthday, mom! We sure love you lots!

The Groomer

Lately, Pixie's groomer has been busier than usual, requiring that she stay there a little longer while waiting her turn. As a result, she has been coming home pretty wiped out from the experience. Afterward, she is pretty wiped out. 

2019 Bulldog 5K

George participated in his school's sixth annual 5K recently. He was super excited, but maybe a little nervous. Last year was his first 5K at school, but he had his sisters (and their cool guy friends) cheering him on. Or, as he said, "It's going to be a lot harder this year because I won't have 'D' helping me..." George reminded me that "D" ran his last lap with him last year. Lauren and Grace were very bummed about not being able to attend, but we all assured George he was going to have a FANTASTIC run!

As a second grader, George ran with the K-2 group. Skip was there to cheer him on while I helped volunteer at the finish line. All of a sudden, a friend gave me the heads up that George was on his last lap and heading for the finish line. We were all so surprised that he finished so quickly. George ran through the finish arch at 26:32, finishing first in second grade and posting one of the top times school-wide.

George, we love to watch you run and are so proud of how hard you worked!

PS: Remember past school 5K's?

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

Discovery Club, Second Grade

William George participated in Discovery Club at school this year. This group of volunteers come to his school each Thursday afternoon, and share about Jesus. George had only attended Discovery Club a few times when he asked to say the sinner's prayer and ask Jesus into his heart. Although he was on the brink of that decision, we are grateful to Discovery Club for watering the seeds that have been planted. This program has become dear to us, and they had such a great group of kids this year.

The club wrapped up this week, but George is looking forward to attending again next year.

Countdown

Leaving for the bus stop before sunrise

Y'all.

In the past we have joked about "counting down" the days until summer, but honestly we only ever did that beginning in May, when there were approximately 18 - 20 days or so left. And even then, counting was mainly due to the inordinate activity that was occurring over the remaining days.

Baseball? Check.

Dance photos? Check.

Dance recital? Check.

Baseball team party? Check.

Graduation/year end parties? Check.

Here is a huge confession. When school resumed after the Christmas holidays, I manually wrote out a countdown in my planner of school days remaining. There has been soooo much work this year, and the fact that it is only going to be progressively more work with each coming year doesn't help.

I made a promise to myself NOT to mention the to the trio countdown before spring break. I don't believe in wishing days away or anything like that, but we are really ready for a break. A nice long summer break.

Just so you know, after summer break, the Lindsey countdown to summer will immediately commence.

The countdown will begin much earlier this year.

Weekend Update

Happy Monday, friends.

We were feeling celebratory, what with Friday marking the end of the trio's third, nine weeks of school. Plus, George had done an awesome job with his Living Museum project, and the girls had crushed some tests and projects last week. The girls had had some tough homework nights, and we were ready to take it easy Friday night.

Not so fast. Lauren arrived home with a homework assignment. Apparently, some kids had talked in her class that morning, and her teacher assigned some punitive homework, consisting of 45 questions (seven of which were essay). She arrived home at 4pm, and the assignment was due at 8pm.

We have some friends whose children attend their school, and luckily, I was braced for this type of occurrence, having seen their mom's Facebook outrage over a similar assignment. In that instance, the punitive homework was received on the Friday night of their home school's homecoming, meaning that the student has to miss the game and festivities.

The school affords many privileges, but also has its strict side. We decided not to let it dampen our mood. Lauren completed the assignment quickly, submitted it electronically, and we set about enjoying our weekend, which meant the trio got out their bikes and got some much needed time outside.

Saturday morning brought more bike riding, and then we excitedly packed up to go to George's baseball practice. It's that time again! With 9U, George is on the "big" field, and he's really excited to play. After an hour and a half of practice, we left just as a downpour began. Naturally, we went for shave ice, and then headed home.

We had church on Sunday, and then, because we have been cooped up by the rain for weeks on end, the trio rode bikes again.

The trio have the lucky break of being out of school tomorrow for a professional development day, and then the countdown to summer will officially begin. We are beyond ready for a break and will welcome long days at the pool.

How was your weekend?

Read Across America

George was super excited for Dr. Seuss's birthday and Read Across America Week. On Hat Day, George had a school field trip to the symphony, but sported his support of the Tide with his hat.

Cat in the Hat Day: Wear your own hat!

Fox in Socks Day: Wear crazy socks!

Crazy socks!

Wacky Wednesday

Dress as your favorite character

I am not going to get up today! Pajama Day

George loved celebrating reading this week, and we are never too old to celebrate Dr. Seuss.  

The Living Museum

William George's class presented a Living Museum today. George performed as Michael Phelps, and he has spent the last few weeks researching Phelps. We now know the details of Phelps' training schedule and his diet, as well as the physical attributes that give Phelps such an advantage in competitive swimming.  

We also got to put together a costume. Although Phelps wore Nike athletic gear during the 2016 Rio Olympics, George preferred his 2004 Athens games look with Adidas. George wore navy, kind of messed his hair up to give it that "out of the pool" look and wore 24 gold medals. Technically, Phelps has earned 28 medals, 23 of which are gold. But we opted for a pack of 24. When people asked him if Phelps really won all those medals, he clarified, "This isn't all of them!" 

The class each draw a portrait of their character, and George did really well with his. We also used his extra research for a trifold.  

We loved seeing George at the museum, and he did a fantastic job.  

One thing we learned with the girls is that they present their speech several dozen times throughout the morning. The museum lasts from 8:30am - 11:00am, and they perform their speech each time someone approaches their exhibit. 

The museum was open to the public, and the entire school passes through as well. 

After seeing George a couple of times and seeing the rest of the performances, I left around 10:30. George had performed for two solid hours and was exhausted. He was tired, hungry and thirsty from saying his speech over and over, but he still had a smile on his handsome face. 

The Living Museum is one of our favorite activities of elementary school, and we are so proud of George and his entire class for doing such a wonderful job. 

Living Museum: Michael Phelps from Cathi Lindsey on Vimeo.

PS: The girls' second grade living museum seems like it was just a few weeks ago instead of four years ago. Grace was Eleanor Roosevelt, and Lauren was Susan B. Anthony. 

Pinewood Derby

Last Saturday, George (and the whole family) attended his first Pinewood Derby. Skip and George had worked on their car all week, and had some last minute adjustments Friday night. They were ready for the 10:30am race time Saturday morning. George (and Skip) were there bright and early and were the first car to be inspected. 

George and his buddy J were eager to inspect the track. 

Lauren, Grace and I got there just in time for the first race. The Tigers were up first, and we waited patiently for our Wolf's turn. 

William George had a couple of great runs, finishing first on one run and second on two other runs. His final placement was second, which is not bad at all for his first year. (He finished 9th, overall, out of a Pack of about 30 cars.) 

These ladies were super supportive. They worked on some things for school during the downtime. 

After the races, the pack had lunch and an awards ceremony. 

(George is the red car, in position one.)

George's car received the "Exploder" designation. 

...and he proudly took home a second place trophy. 

George had a great time at his first Pinewood Derby, and he is ready to build more cars.  

Update: George's Pack had it's regular meeting last night, and the Wolves performed a skit. 

I'm sure he would rather be racing cars, but skits are fun, too.