2nd Grader In The House!

I can not believe how quickly the last two years have flown by.  It seems like only yesterday that I was registering Savannah for kindergarden… second grade snuck up on us fast.  She was so excited to be back at school… she loves her teacher and has friends in her class.  All is right with the world.  I can already tell that this is going to be a great school year.

#Minivanselfies

If you follow my instagram account, you know that Ryder and I take a lot of selfies.  Typically while we are waiting on sister to get out of school.  On a normal day we show up 20 minutes early so that we can get a decent parking spot.  Occupying a two year old boy in a car can sometimes be a little tricky.  He loves when I pull the phone out for pictures though… it's my secret weapon.  Last year at the end of the school year I posted all the #minivanselfies Ryder and I took throughout the school year.  Soooo, I thought that in honor of another school year coming to a close I would do the same.  These really are some of my favorite pictures.  They are a very accurate depiction of how silly my little mister is.

Incase you are wanting to reminisce, here is the link to the post from last year:

http://savannahelizabethhaynes.blogspot.com/2013/06/my-little-mister.html

On Her Way To 2nd Grade

I still can not believe that we are already wrapping up the school year.  This is Savannah's last week of school, and let me tell you… she is ready for a break.  If I'm being honest, so am I.  This has been a long year for all of us.  First grade was a lot more work than kindergarten… kinds makes me think that it just keeps piling on as she moves up.  Therefore, we really deserve to enjoy ourselves over the summer break.  I say "we" because, well, I am exhausted from all the school work, and reading, and math, and calendars, and meetings, and packing lunches… Ryder is probably exhausted from being up at the school with me, tagging along with whatever I have to do up there.  So yes, WE are all ready for summer!!  Savannah had another fantastic year, both academically and socially.  She made so many new friends and came out of her little shy shell more than I expected.  I really am proud of the little lady she is becoming.  It goes without saying that we are also very very proud of how well she is doing with her academics as well.  She is excelling and loving school.  On Monday first grade had their end of the year award's assembly.  Savannah received several academic awards and a handful of good behavior awards.  It was the perfect way to kick off the last week of school.  

This banner is pretty fantastic, and pretty sad all at the same time.  Thinking about her graduating high school makes me sad… and thinking about the year being 2025 just makes me feel old.

Receiving her awards from her principal.

Savannah's frist grade class.

Savannah and her wonderful teacher.

Out of all the certificates she got, Savannah thought that this one was the coolest.  She really thinks that she is a member of some special Texas Reading Club.  Kid cracks me up.

And in honor of our smarty pants little girl, I took the fam to the snow cone stand!!  

A Quick Recap

Lots and lots of things have been happening.  I have a ton of pictures to share and stories to tell.  The kids are both changing and learning new things every day.  Ryder is talking so much now... he is finally communicating in a way we can understand (most of the time, anyhow).  Oh and Savannah, she is excelling in school.  Her enthusiasm for school makes me so happy and pushes me to work even harder with her and her studies.  These last few months have been some of the craziest of my life, and some of the best.  

Savannah brought home this masterpiece from her art class at school.  I am in love with it.  It is a self portrait and I think she nailed it.  Beautiful Savannah.

We also had our first major homework assignment of the year... a community diorama.  Each kid had to choose an establishment in their community that they wanted to build a diorama of.  Little miss chose the library... and not just any library, a rainbow library where princess go to read.  Perfection.

We somehow managed to squeeze a trip to the State Fair in.  Same ol', same ol'... rides, fried food, animals, and lots of tractors.  Ryder loved all the tractors, especially the little ones that he got to ride on. Happy happy boy.

There hasn't been a whole lot of time for new house stuff.  The only two rooms I managed to get done are the kids' rooms.  Ryder's was easy... we just did a light grey, nothing fancy.  Savannah's was not so easy.  She wanted a whole new color scheme than her old room and I wanted something that was bright and bold.  This is what we ended up with.  It turned out fantastic!

Savannah before school one morning.  Every day I swear she looks older and older.  She is also getting better with the whole dressing yourself thing.

Post family pictures... a quick snapshot of the kids.  We haven't done pictures as a family since Ryder was born, so I was very excited about this session.  I can't wait to see the proofs.  

He is still doing well in his big boy bed.  As you can see he brings everything he possibly can to bed with him.  Boy loves his stuffed friends.

One of my favorite parts of Halloween... the carving of the pumpkins.  Savannah was a huge help cleaning out the pumpkins and choosing what we should carve.  Ryder had no interest at all.

Insta-Friday

School is out for the summer!  This last week was pure craziness.  Savannah had something almost everyday at school.  I am so ready for some chill time.  Only two more days and we are out of here!

Water play day at school with her BFFs.  Not sure what these girls are going to do without each other this summer.

The iPad has been my best friend this week.  I typically do not allow a whole lot of continuous time on the iPad... exceptions were made this week.  I had a lot of packing and cleaning and sewing to do, so Ryder got a lot of iPad time.  You gotta do what you gotta do, I guess.

Disney Headbandz game = totally AWESOME!  Can't you tell by the goofy grin on her face.

Savannah, Ryder, and their cousin Cheridan swinging together this past weekend.  At one point they were all going so high that the whole swing set was shaking.  Pretty sure that we were pushing that swing sets limits to the max.  Thank goodness it didn't break.

Sunday morning Home Depot run... in a bright pink tutu, of course.

She no longer fits well in a kiddie pool.  You should have seen how tight it was when I tried to squeeze in there with her.  It was hilarious.

No Longer A Kinder Grad Hater

Generally speaking, I have never really understood the whole graduating from kindergarten thing.  I understood last year's preschool graduation... made sense to me... saying goodbye to "baby" school and hello to "real" school.  Kindergarten though, they aren't even switching schools... why the big to do??  I totally understand it now.  The last year was extremely challenging in many ways for Savannah... lots to learn, lots to keep up with, big kids everywhere, girl clique drama (yes, it starts early)... she is literally not the same little girl she was on that first day of kinder.  I mean that in the best way possible.  The last year has very effectively eased her into big kid status.  I 100% agree with why the end of kindergarden is celebrated with a graduation... these little ones have survived a year long overwhelming transition period and are now ready and prepared to be unleashed amongst the rest of the elementary population.  They absolutely deserve to have as many people as possible telling them how proud we all are of them. I know that Eric and I are crazy proud of Savannah and her enthusiasm for school.  First grade is going to be awesome... she is going to be awesome, I just know it.

Savannah with her BFFs and their amazing teacher.  So thankful for the job she has done this year.

Savannah and Olivia with one of their teaching assistants.

The kids loved this stuffed bear... infact, I'm sure most the parents did too.  I however thought that he was a little (a lot actually) creepy.  When we were setting up for graduation the day before and one of the other moms brought this HUGE bear out and propped him up on the bench I immediately thought "this bear reminds me of the movie Ted"(if you don't know what I'm talking about, google it... you will agree).  The group of women that I was working with to set up the stage apparently saw nothing wrong with the bear, because when I shared my observation not one of them knew what I was talking about.  The bear seriously looked like he stumbled into the graduation after a long night of drinking and then passed out on a bench.  Made me laugh that the kids were posing next to the creeper bear... hugging on him and having the bear put his arm around them.  I really do not believe that I was the only one in that entire auditorium that was thinking this.  Come on, people.