A Family Drama :: Literally...

One more thing about Noah's 6th grade graduation and then I promise I will move on....I had this idea to celebrate his elementary career with skits from Kindergarten thru 6th. We have some family famous moments that we talk about from time to time and I even went back thru the blog to pull some funny moments. Lucas played Noah for grades K-2, Eli was 3rd & 4th with Autumn 5th & 6th. The kids and I came up with our favorite memories and put it together in one evening while Noah was at a Royals game with Scott. The Royals game was his actual gift and I won dug out seats from the KC Biz Journal and the boys enjoyed the seats very much! They were so close they could hear the players....so while he was bonding with daddy, we practiced and worked out our skits...

We highlighted things like:

• the first day of school for every grade and how his enthusiasm waned thru the years...

• the time in K when he punched a bully (to protect himself per daddy) and they became friends...

• the conversations that started with K and lasted thru 6th when he just didn't understand why girls were mean to him...

• the year he started learning guitar

• the time he split his lip open, his siblings cried nonstop and I almost passed out in the ER room

• his first rock concert where he fought over a drum stick and won

• his 5th grade heroes project

• his coolness

and many other memorable family moments....

Noah loved it, Daddy couldn't stop laughing and the kids did a great job performing! We decided this will have to be a new 6th grade graduation tradition and might even show up again when they graduate from high school. What better way to show your children you are proud of them than to celebrate who they are and how they got there? Try it! It's awesome! :)

Noah's 6th Grade Celebration Party @ The Lake...

We decided to do something special for Noah for his 6th grade graduation. There was going to be an end of the year party for all the kids but it didn't work out so we let him invite two friends to spend the day with us at a local lake over Memorial Day weekend. Because we let Eli bring his best friend too, we had 7 kids with us....and it was awesome! We started our day by renting 3 paddle boats and TRYING to paddle across the lake to our favorite dog park. Scott took the puppies there while we tried the boats. The wind was blowing sooo hard against us that it took a good 20 minutes to get there. Lucas was my partner in crime, while Eli, Autumn and Alyssa and another boat. Noah was with his two friends and guess who made it across the lake first? Me and Lucas!

We met Scott at the dog beach, said hi and then had to jump back in the boats to get back to the dock. We were all out for about an hour and our legs felt like rubber when we were done! After we tired everyone (including the puppies) out we had our cookout. The boys played football, frisbee and climbed everything in sight. The girls hung out with Eli and they just relaxed in the grass. It was really windy but we were so glad to have a reprieve from the rain for our graduation party! We had a great time!!

Lucas and I sailed last...in the blue boat while Eli, Autumn & Alyssa were right in front of us (on the port side of our boat) The boys were already going in circles by this time....literally.

Who's that in front? Why, Dawma & Lucas of course! The last to get in a boat! :) Our destination was way off to the far right and around two bends...

Grandma waited under the shade and took these shots of us coming and going...this was an hour after we took off...

Eli was quite the gentleman and pushed the boat out into the lake from the dog beach...and almost got stuck but had a great attitude the entire time. He just cracks me up! 

This was one amazing workout!!

The boys decided to bring Lady Bug back with them and she only jumped out of the boat 4 times....but let's just say a certain someone with the intials...TONY....threw the ball into the water...and Buggie was just doing her job! But the first time she did it the boys freaked out (though she is a great swimmer) and Noah jumped in to rescue her. At least we were close to the dog beach shore when he did it....boys!!

This is our hungry, hungry group....man can these kids eat!! 

Noah, Eric & Tony....the newly minted 7th graders! :) Oh ya! Tony spent the night on Sat. and I died his hair blue while Noah had his bleached and the tips died blue...very cool although Noah's blue only lasted thru the weekend...

I LOVE it that the kids' friends want to hang out at our house. Both Tony & Eric like to hang out with Scott while they are here and we seem to be the "cool" parents....how long does this last? :)

Here is grandma in my cute pink car. I think I have named her Sophie...we name all our cars...

The cool kids of the party....

I seriously can't believe how big these kids are!

Best Buds....

And more besties...

Our plan was to go to the Celebration at the Station but after 6 hours at the lake/park Scott, Grandma and I were exhausted. We opted to stay home and relax but we still got to see the fireworks display from our art room window. What a great way to end another day of celebration!

Eli's Birthday Party

We celebrated Eli's birthday our first long week of summer and had a nice little family party. Scott took on the cake so I could run errands and he made quite a masterpiece. Autumn picked out a Lemon & Confetti cake and Scott made a 4 layer extravaganza with a delicious fruit layer and cream cheese icing. It was fantastic! And impressive!!

The big present of the day was a digital camera. It has a cool CHEESE setting that will automatically take your photo if you smile wide. It's pretty awesome!

The inside of the cake masterpiece....Yum!!

The best present of the day turned out to be the photos that I printed for Eli. He wants to put photos of us all over his room and wanted some baby pics of Aslan too. We spent a good hour going thru the pics and talking about all the memories we had. He got photos from 2004-2011. It was a good little celebration with a nice family day at home. Still can't believe my little Eeps is 11!!

Happy Birthday Eli!!

Scott & I took Eli out for his annual birthday breakfast to celebrate his 11th birthday...and I know I say it every year but I just can't believe he is 11! My babies are growing up soo fast! Thankfully, even though Eli is 11 he is a very lovey, goofy, silly and affectionate boy. He has a huge heart that just wants to love everyone. He and I have had so many great conversations and I am just so proud of who he is. He is a great big brother to Lucas and they spend most of their free time pretending some elaborate game. When Autumn is home, the two of them are inseparable and I love those moments when Eli teaches Noah something or I catch them wrestling and making each other laugh. Eli is just an amazing kid! I really have the best bonus kids ever!! Can you tell I'm proud? :)

Happy Birthday Eli! We love you!

6th Grade Graduation

It's hard to believe but our "little" Noah (who has passed me and is 5'8") has finished elementary school and is headed for Middle School! How in the world did that happen?!? His class had an interesting 6th Grade graduation ceremony that included many musical numbers but my favorite was the STOMP version. They played office sized water bottles, pvc pipe, water barrels, car brakes, pots & pans and various household items. It was very long but very cool.

Here  is the graduate nervously awaiting the start of the ceremony... 

They finally called his name!

His awesome teacher giving him his certificate. 

The happy graduate...

A couple of cute spectators...

The 6th grade graduating class performing their first song for us...

Noah played the hand drum towards the end of the program...

Another cute spectator...

Ta Da.....

Introducing our happy happy 7th grader.

I can't believe he is moving on to Junior High!! He had a good year, learned a lot and developed some great habits that will help him stay organized next year. We have already walked thru the middle school website, read all the rules and school info and discussed his organizational techniques thoroughly. He is excited and ready for 7th grade and so are we! Happy graduation Noah! We are so proud of your hard work!

Emma's Graduation

In my married life, I have had 7 children/teens in my home. We had a German exchange student in 2005/2006 and a Japanese College student from 2006/2007 and my sweet Emma has been in my life since she was 2. She use to stay with me every summer and worked at the coffeehouse with us too. The kids love her like a sister and they are always asking if Emma can come over to play....well that little Emma is now 18 and just graduated high school! It just doesn't seem possible...they grow up so fast...sniff sniff...

The boys and I went to her Graduation party (right after the ballet performance) and had a good time hanging out with all of the kids. There are 6 kids in Emma's family and our kids are really attached to Emma's younger (16) sister Libby and her oldest (21) sister JoHanna. I have watched them all grow up at camp and I just love it that our families are connected!

Happy Graduation Emma! We love you and can't wait for you to come home and play!

Our Little Ballerina....

Autumn had her annual Mother's Day ballet recital this year only there was a little hiccup in the schedule and it wasn't on Mother's Day weekend. While that was a little weird for us it worked out really well because the boys' got to see Autumn perform. This year, she was "Money" and her outfit was sparkly, green and beautiful. She is a beautiful young woman!

 

She is just so elegant...

And I am embarrassed to say that I didn't get her photos posted from her performance last year so I wanted to show you her Dancing Candy Cane outfit too. She just loves ballet and does such a great job!

The last concert of the year....Choir, Band & Chorus

Our last concert of the year was a nice mix of 5th & 6th grade chorus, band & strings. The boys worked really hard this year with early morning classes, honors band, clarinet, bells & snare drum performances and lots of practicing. They both did a great job!

Eli did a great job on the snare drum...

Noah did a great job on the clarinet...

The 5th & 6th grade choir sang some funny songs...

Twinsies....

Best buds...and who is that peeking from behind?

This is our "4th" son Tony. He loves to sneak into our school event shots so now we make "official" photos...he's awesome...

Noah's 6th Grade Olympic Field Day

Noah's 6th grade class had their own Olympic Field day at a local HS with all the area 6th graders. I was only able to take off work that morning and saw him run the 100m and the 800m. He kicked butt in the 100 and came in first...sunglasses and all. The 800 was quite a shock for him and after giving it his all in the beginning he slowed his pace but finished the race running strong. I was glad to see him run!

This is the 100m...I think it's funny that the other kids are angled and giving it their all while Noah seems to be taking his time and jogging...

More jogging...I don't think he realized how fast he could really run...

Here he gets a little more serious....

And the winner is.....Noah!

This is the 800....on his first full lap.

Good form....

This is his second lap where he picked up his pace...

And finished strong...

It was a beautiful day for his last Field Day of elem. school....