Emily's Arbor Day poem

Emily is having an excellent school year. Not only did her science team win 1st place in the nation for the Lexus Eco Challenge, she was chosen to read her poem out loud for the city and mayor at the Arbor Day celebrations. Congratulations Emily!!

Aaron school work

Some sampling of Aaron's first grade work. Nevermind the misspelling on his name ;-) 

First day of school

And they are off. First day of 7th grade for Kyle & Emily and 1st grade for Aaron. Here's to a great year ahead!

We still get to take Aaron to school on his first day. 

Last day of school

The one and only year the kids will be all at the same school has come to a close. Aaron finished Kindergarten and Emily & Kyle finished 6th grade. 

Post year end concert

Kindergarten field day

Aaron and his teacher. 

End of year awards

Battle of the Books

Emily and her friends at school entered the battle of the books competition. They were school champions and advanced to the district competition. They had a great time showing off their knowledge of all the books they had read and advanced to the finals. Ultimately, they finished 2nd by 1 point on the last question. It was a lot of fun to see these kids show off their book smarts. What's even more, at the end of the competition without any prompting, Emily went over to shake the other teams hands in a great show of sportsmanship. She initiated it and it made us so proud to see her lead like that and show such grace and great competitive spirit. Go Emily!

First day of school

The kids started their 4th elementary school today (started K in Madison, then through 2nd grade in San Diego, Raleigh 3rd - 5th and now Utah for 6th). Aaron starts Kindergarten next week because apparently it's a think for K to start a week later. The first day also coincided with the eclipse. We were about 90% totality here so it didn't get quite as dark as we thought it would but was neat to witness solar / lunar history. 

School carnival

Kyle & Emily's school had their annual carnival on campus. This was the first year we went. Bounce houses, slides, rock climbing, soccer goal thing, obstacle courses, etc. Loads of fun for the kids to run around and play with their school friends. 

Kyle & Emily jog-a-thon

Kyle and Emily had their jog-a-thon at school. It was a beautiful day out, but they had already made weather contingency plans to have it indoors. Nonetheless, the kids ran their hearts out and did a great job. Both were among the top runners in their class for running the most laps. Good running!

4th grade

And just like that, Kyle and Emily are in 4th grade. Yes, year round school sorta stinks for having much of a summer vacation. Not to mention they changed tracks so their projected mid-August break became September. Thankfully, this year they are in separate classes and both LOVE their teachers. What a drastic change from 3rd grade. 

Oh and it just happens to be their birthday today. 

Last day 3rd grade

Today is Kyle and Emily's last day of 3rd grade. This has been a challenging year of school getting used to a new system and way of doing things in North Carolina. Kyle and Emily did very well all things considered. 

Em homework

Emily brought home this gem of homework today... 

Use banquet in a sentence. 

I would like to drink champagne and eat fruit at a banquet. 

How we school

Emily had a rough night coughing and didn't get much sleep so she got the day off school. So we had school at home and Aaron got in on the fun as well working on his letters and colors. 

Taking the kids to school

Aaron is so cute when we drop the kids off at school. He truly loves Kyle & Emily. Most days I walk them in to school. Some days we are running late so we have to do a drop off. It's super sweet when they are getting out of the car and have to get past Aaron. He wants to give them love and hugs too to start their school day off right. 

Hot chocolate

Emily & Kyle had hot chocolate and song festivities at school on Friday. Parents were invited to join in on the fun. What was most heart warming to me was how Emily and Kyle chose to sit together during it. They both have their little groups of friends at school, but it was nice to see them choose one another. 

Jogathon

The kids had their jog-a-thon at school today. They both ran very well and were near the top lap runners in their grade. 

First day of school

Happy Birthday to me! Happy First Day of School to Kyle & Emily! This year the kids are in different classrooms. For being in separate classes, we couldn't ask for two better teachers, and they are both happy with their assignments, despite the fact that each of their best friends are in the other one's class. But their classes overlap at recess so they have school time and after school to play together. Hard to believe they are already in 2nd grade!! Everyone says time flies, but boy does it ever!

Last day of school

And today was Kyle and Emily's last day of 1st grade. I don't know where the time went. I'm sure I'll say that every year, but man oh man it went FAST!! They had a great teacher and a great class and learned a lot. They both made some great new friends and continued friendships with some great kids from last year as well. We were certainly very pleased with their school year this year. Congratulations on another year well done Kyle and Emily!