another school year bites the dust

I always look forward to the last day of school when we start our summer break from routine and schedules. What I don't particularly love is the crazy schedule that happens in the weeks leading up to the last day. Oh, it's all fun stuff...selling yearbooks, awards assembly, 8th grade party to celebrate moving onto high school, 1st grade camping cookout in the classroom, meetings to make some decisions about next year's fall fundraiser, beach field trips (this year I had two, one with Kyle and one with Jillian...it turns out the beach is less relaxing with a hundred 5th graders...who knew?). The last day of school came and went, we got it all done and now the kids are officially on summer break, hooray!

This was my first year ever with all 3 kids in school full-time. Here they are, first day of the school year and last day of the school year...1st, 5th and 8th grade are now officially finished for these kiddos of mine.

September 2014

June 2015

Leah - she had a great year in first grade! Her teacher is incredibly sweet, and I was always impressed with her fun plans (seriously, a week long camping cookout theme for the last week of school including crafts, stories, hot dogs and s'mores!). Leah wrote the sweetest thank you note to her teacher and even decorated it in a Mariner's theme because that's her teacher's favorite team. Overall it was a great year for Leah - she consistently did well in all areas, her report cards were fantastic and she did some testing in the spring which means now she will be in a class next year that will be a great fit for her academically. Leah started piano lessons in the fall and has enjoyed learning many songs. And she still loves gymnastics as much as ever, she participated in 2 small level one competitions within our gym and will continue her lessons throughout the summer.

Jillian - I don't think this blog is big enough to list all of the cool things Jillian did this year but I will try. In addition to doing well in the classroom, Jillian joined quite a few fun clubs at school...running, circus arts (she learned how to ride a unicycle!), climbing, volleyball, yearbook, yoga, lego robotics and drama club. This year Jillian also decided she wanted to take up tennis like her big brother so she has started tennis lessons. In the fall Jillian started piano and has taken off like a flash, going through her books fast and doing a great job at the local music festival where she got 100% all of the testing. She also started violin in the 5th grade orchestra. It's a bit harder to get Jillian to practice violin than the piano, but she did learn quite a bit in orchestra class and it was fun to go to the 5th grade band and orchestra concert at the end of the school year. We've taken a break from her true love, horseback riding, in order to fit all the other fun things into her schedule.

Kyle - Kyle also had a great year academically. There were some ups and downs, study habits are still a work in progress but Kyle is smart and always kept his grades up high. His work habits have improved leaps and bounds when I think back just a few years so I'm happy to see he is working harder. Kyle was in the video game programming club at school, he still plays tennis at the local tennis club, but of course his favorite pastime is still playing on the computer. It has been a nice way for him to keep in touch with his friends in Toronto. Kyle earned the Presidential Academic Excellence Award which involves maintaining a high GPA and doing well on standardized state testing. He seems ready to start high school in the fall!

a glance at what's to come

With a ten year old daughter you start to get glimpses here and there of a teenager. Often it's in some emotional outburst - "*I* wanted to sit at that spot on the couch, but Leah is sitting there!!". Or throwing this gem at me on a regular basis - "YOU JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND!". I'm sure I'll be hearing more of that one in years to come because as we all know, parents really don't know anything at all.

Then, there's the glimpses of the young woman she is becoming. Watching her patiently work on an intricate craft, seeing her sit down at the kitchen table to get homework finished as soon as she gets home from school (she is definitely my most responsible child in terms of schoolwork!), listening to her play piano. I can't help but be amazed at all the areas where Jillian excels...school, piano, participating in activities at school, drama club, robotics club, picking up sports quickly, art, crafts...the list goes on and on. Jillian is so creative and adept at picking up skills quickly, it's fascinating to watch her learn something new.

This past weekend Kyle was at a birthday party so Jeff and I took the girls to a local state park for a hike. Jillian was a bit upset at the beginning of our outing, a miscommunication that she took personally. We had a discussion about why there wasn't a need for her to be unpleasant to her sister.  For the first part of our hike Jillian opted to walk quietly, she went on ahead of us to have some peace and quiet. About halfway through the hike she started chatting with us again, being more playful and engaging. 

Then we took a short break on the rocks on the shore of Lake Washington and I finally caught this in a picture, Jillian's beautiful smile. As I looked at the picture after we got home I was struck by how grown up she looks, another glimpse into the future when Jillian will be 15 year old, 20 years old. For the most part I am excited to see what is ahead for my little over achiever, my child who is willing to join every club, make friends with everyone and is a quick study. But there is a small part of me that is finding it difficult to imagine her not being a little girl anymore. I'm happy for now to have a glance now and then, it reminds me to appreciate the here and now because I'm sure the next 5 years will go past in the blink of an eye.