Wrapping Up Fifth Grade

Today wrapped up Grant's time at Longview. Bittersweet I tell ya. We've had a great 6 years at this school. While I'm thankful to watch him grow and move on, it's always a bit of a double edged sword. I like the comfort of elementary.... I know it. I know the people. I know the kids. In any case, here we go! Fifth grade graduation was tonight and I was happy  to snag ONE picture of Grant and his best bud Cooper. Grant is so anti picture right now and it drives his picture taking mother insane! 

I grabbed another when it wasn't too embarrassing (which was when we got home but I still got a lot of whining). Grant snagged the President's Award which means straight As all through elementary. Pretty impressive if I do say so myself! 

I did get to snap some pictures on picnic day so I could document who he was spending his fifth grade days with. Eli, Cooper, and Spencer were pretty much his crew. 

Kayli, one of his good girl friends. Two words there. Different from girlfriend:)

Friends.  

Breck. 

Boy and Girl Crew. 

Elaina joined me for these last days of school. This will be her last tag along time since next year she'll be a kindergartener! And, it looks like she's got plenty of people to pay her attention! 

Best Bud Cooper.

Girl bud, Sophia.

Awww. Me and G:)

Fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Moss. Mrs. Kofahl wasn't around to get a picture:(

Fifth grade has been an exceptional year! Middle School here we come! 

Fifth Grade Picnic

Grant finished out 5th grade this week with a class picnic at school. It seems that school always ends with a bunch of nonsense days but when I look back on it, they will be some awesome days that G will always remember. I can remember my own 5th grade end of the year party...it held more significance than Grant's since I was moving to another state and wouldn't really see my elementary friends anymore, I suppose. In any case, we sweated out the day hanging one last day as elementary kids. This was his gang of cronies this year: Eli, Cooper, and Spencer. 

Kaleigh has been a friend to Grant for a few years now and she's also a neighbor down the street. 

I was trying to get Grant to participate in a picture with some of his girl friends...(read that girl (pause, pause) friends...not girlfriends :) ) but he was being ornery and made his boy buds get in the picture AND between the girls and him. Gah. Anyway, Tyson, Reagan, and Olivia. Grant and Reagan "liked" each other for the better part of this school year and last but don't tell anyone that I said that:)

 Grant and his buddy Breck. It is here that I notice that G really need a mowing on that hair. The spikes have grown quite tall. The end of the school year is so busy! Who has time for hair cuts?

Friends. 

Elaina hung with me through several hot picnics and what-not for her brothers. As you can see, she had a terrible time and never got any attention from anyone.

Cooper has been Grant's best bud at school for several years. Cooper is a kid that keeps me laughing. I love that kid! 

I made G's friend Sophia stop for a picture. They did a lot of playground playing and would hang at church together. 

Oh, and here's me. I was at the picnic too:)

Grant loved his teachers this year. Mrs. Moss was his homeroom and he traveled to Mrs. Kofahl's room for math and science. Cade had Mrs. Kofahl too and we loooooved her. I have no idea why I do not have a picture of her because I KNOW I took one:/

Fifth grade has literally flown by. I think this may have been the fastest school year we've had yet. I cannot fathom that kid #2 is headed to the middle school already. I'm thankful though....thankful that God has given me so many healthy years to enjoy them and watch them grow, and thankful that they are maturing and developing into their own people. Fifth grade's just about a wrap. Only the graduation ceremony to go! 

Eleven!

This week we got to celebrate G's ELEVENTH birthday! He woke to his birthday crown (how long is he going to let me do that? I love it:) ) and coffee cake which is one of his favorite breakfasts. 

His two requests (which have not deviated for several years now) were grandma's chocolate cake and a sleepover with his besties. Grandma came through once again with an awesome baseball cake! 

I guess this is Grant's "I'm too cool for all this singing stuff" face or else he's the saddest kid ever on his birthday which I KNOW is not true:) 

Make a wish! 

I tried multiple times to get this crew to pay attention for just 5 seconds so that I could get a good picture. They literally couldn't stop acting nutty. I snapped this one quickly ( and of course one person had to blink!). 

Before they scattered I was able to snap off one more but again, not everyone was cooperative with a nice face:) Ah, it is what it is. I still love all of these boys! 

 Happy eleven years of living, Grant! I have loved every year with you and I can't wait to see what new things this year brings you. 

Spooky Spooktacular Monster's Ball

This year for our yearly friend party we decided to bring back the costumes and host a Halloween party. I had plans for a scavenger hunt but freezing outside temperatures made us change our minds. Instead, everyone showed up in costume, we ate, and we played a game that had us all crying with laughter. I love spending quality time with the friends I love! 

Bobby and I were Mr. and Mrs. Bone Jangles. 

 Followed by Fifty Shades of Gray

Angela and Ashley teamed up to be a very large, ahem, in a bikini. 

We had Britney Spears from the 90's paired up with Uncle Si. Not sure how that pairing ever came to be. 

What I am sure of is that this is an image that I unfortunately will never be able to erase from my memory! 

Ashlee had a sick kid but came anyway and she came as.......Ashlee. Carrying french bread. 

And, oh, have mercy. Jeremy showed up later as a Barbie gone horribly wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong.

Looks like the Gilley's and Angela and Ashley were like minds. What are the odds? Two bikinis!

Super Bat heros, Mike and Kelly.

The Hills totally cracked me up with their "old people" costume. The wheelchair just made the entire thing. I have to give Allison props. She wheeled herself around in that thing all night! 

 Pharaoh and Queen of Persia.

 Oh mi gah! You won! You totally won!!! Publisher's Clearing House is alive and well!

The Shakes rolled up in a costume you had to think about: dressed up as KISS and carrying french bread= french kiss! What a clever duo! 

The Tedders rounded out the party as Bonnie and Clyde. Complete with guns in her purse and wads of cash! 

We had a great night of laughter and good company. You can't ask for anything better when you have a mixture of those two. We love partying with our friends! 

Swim and S'mores

As it's the end of September, this is probably one of our last swim days. Having a heater in the pool was a great idea so we could stretch our pool days out a little longer. We invited a few friends over and did some swim and s'mores. An excellent combo! 

 There may have been dancing on the wall. With Rhett around....yeah, you can be sure there will be dancing on the wall!

 S'mores in the fire pit. 

S'mores on the face:)

Bye, bye summer! We've loved you!

Annual Fourth of July Extravaganza Jubilee Celebration!

This year's Extravaganza, unlike last year's dry spell, was threatened by persistent rain. It just has not been in the cards for a great fireworks show in years of late! We kept the party on though because we're party people and rain or shine, the show must go on! 

Here is our yearly Sistas from another Mista shot:

And Elaina and I in our Fourth of July best. Mine is vintage dating all the way back to 2011:)

There was a break in the rain so Bobby set out for his usual street fireworks. 

The loud popping had most of the little people covering their ears....

or hiding.

I love looking back through my pictures and seeing the kids' faces!

Garrison was thoroughly impressed:)

But these jokers don't appear to be enjoying themselves at all. Grant looks like a sad kid and Callan looks.....I don't know....inquisitive. I think I caught them in a down moment. I don't think a kid has ever left the Extravaganza saying, "Well, I'd rather watch paint dry than do that again...". 

This year the pool added a new level of entertainment for the kids. It also adds a level of anxiety for me....not only do I need to make sure no one loses a limb from fireworks, or runs in the street, but now I have to be hypervigilant and make sure no one drowns!

I think these guys must be watching parachute guys or something since it's still a little light in the picture. Who knows. Maybe there was a flying saucer or something.

 We took a peek at the radar and it seemed that the Lord was shining His face upon Bobby's fireworks show. So, out came the table full of explosives he had been collecting for over 2 years! 

 It proved to be a great show this year despite the less than stellar weather! 

 Meanwhile, inside some of us gals were doing our darndest to get a good handstand picture. This turned out to be the best one. I am bound and determined to be able to hold a handstand for more than 1 second!! Practice makes perfect......or at least a little better:)

Annual gals pic. Please note that we'd been standing in drizzling rain the entire day. None of us were at our best. 

 The fireworks were grand and once again I'm so thankful for the freedom that we celebrate this time of year.

 I'm also thankful for a slew of great friends to celebrate with. God has blessed us abundantly!