Farewell Little Bear Tea Party

It was such a joy to get to honor Mrs. Henry and Mrs. Webb this morning. Unfortunately, Covid put the nail in the coffin for this legendary kindergarten team. Kay initially had no plans to retire, but after a scary bout of Covid this spring, she made a last minute decision to retire and relocate to Colorado Springs to be close to her daughter, where she will await grandchildren. Ashley's son graduated last year, and without the tuition discount it's really a ton of work for just a para salary. Kay said she's lucky she convinced Ashley to stay on for one more year. These women have been a tremendous blessing to our family. I’m so thankful to have three “little bears” of my own. All of my kids but Wesley are little bears, and once a little bear, always a little bear! We rounded up some fellow little bears for one final little bear tea party at Lavender 'n Lace. LCS will never be the same. We will miss you, Mrs. Henry and Mrs. Webb!

 

Tate got to sit with his best buddy Jax. I'm so grateful for the Hughes, Powers, Norris, Cooper, Clements, Varnum, Fung, Luke, Remmer, Sirianni, and Paul families for coming out to help us honor our beloved kindergarten teachers. 

Mrs. Webb with Angela, Lily and Veronica Sirianni and Stephanie Paul with Sophia (AK's kindergarten buddy) and Lily Striker's sister Bryn. Carigan, Kennedy, Kerrigan & Selah shared a pot of tea:

Sarah, Tiffany & Lauren Remmer with Kaleigh Fung. Anna Kate and Olivia sat with the tribe... me, Sherry, Heather and April. Abby is out of town.

Barb Luke with Eva, Bryn & Sophia. Michael ran over from his office to take a group picture for us while we were waiting for our entrees. Everyone signed a frame matte so we can present the picture to them. 

Tate (with Jax, Susan and Van Hughes) brought his favorite bear. -BELOW- Roz Powers and Brianna Fung with Isabella & Ayden Norris, and Tonya Norris with Christy Fung, her mother, & Sarah Powers.

The twins! Tate with Veronica, who was in the room when he was born (inside Angela's tummy). 

Even Mr. Wiechmann came! He said Mrs. Henry is the best hire he ever made during his time in administration. 

Carigan brought the little bear that Mrs. Henry gave her to take with her into surgery years ago. She also brought the little bear she picked from Mrs. Henry's classroom last week (the one Kennedy is holding). Kay let all her little bears that wanted to come by her classroom pick one out to keep. So precious. 

Then & Now... my little bears. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Last Day of School!

Last Day of School for the rest of my crew! Goodbye 1st, 7th, and 5th grades!

Comparison from first day of school. You can't really tell from the pictures, but they're all a lot taller now! The kids were so impatient and uncooperative this morning, that I didn't realize until they had left that I never got individual pictures of them. I needed an individual last day of elementary picture of Carigan, but she was going home with Alondra to spend the night. So I texted Miss Young and asked her to take a picture for me. So here's Carigan's first and last day of elementary at LCS:

Last day of 7th grade is a fun day, and Anna Kate got to choose between bowling, Family Fun Center, and a movie in the REAC (since the real movie theater is still closed). She went to Family Fun Center, and Janiyah took lots of selfies to document the occasion. 

Anna Kate, Ava, Bella, Alejandra, and Janiyah enjoying the shade in the putt-putt cave. 

Annoying a boy named Mason.

Janiyah, Anna Kate, Bella, Ava & Alejandra suited up for laser tag. And a mirror selfie with Ava Love, Lillian, Lily Striker Alejandra, Anna Kate, Bella and Ava:

The girls posting with Mrs. Ortiz, Anna Kate's math teacher. Carigan got to go home with Alondra following their last day of school. Alondra's mom has had to be extremely careful this year due to being pregnant and having an infant during a pandemic, so this sleepover has been looooong awaited. Carigan adores Baby Ian and sent me cute videos of him all night long. 

Stella even got the girls matching pajamas! Screenshots from our FaceTime call:

Happy Summer!!!!

My Final First Grader

A lot of things have been really different this yer with Covid, and I haven't been able to be a part of Tate's first grade year at all. No centers, no parties, no guest reader, no bringing treats on his birthday. It's been tough for a sentimental mama like me. But Mrs. Palm always takes photos throughout the year and makes albums for the kids. She didn't make albums this year because so many events were cancelled, she said she just didn't have enough content. But she did print some pictures and sent them home in an envelope. So here's the only sneak peek I have into Tate's first grade year behind the restricted walls of LCS. 

 

Scarecrow Day was closely followed by Cowboy Day, where he wore almost the same outfit. Although his scarecrow makeup was really good in the morning before he rubbed it all off. 

Back Row: Hallie, Ryleigh, Norah, Parker Ray, Brantley, Reed, Carter, Remy and Cameron. Front Row: Parker Rideout, Elliott, Stephen, Sherlyn, Tate, Arwyn, Natalie (in Elsa braid) and Caroline. 

 

Tate with his best buddies Reed and Remy.

Tate wrote a letter to Michael to practice his letter writing. I asked if I could keep it and he said, "No, it's for school!" And Tate failed to tell me that he was supposed to bring a blanket on Pajama Day. He never said a word, so I wasn't aware of the Mom Fail until I got these photos from Mrs. Palm. Tate seems pretty content pretending to sleep on the cold tile floor. Not from Mrs. Palm, but I found things like this around the house all year that cracked me up:

 

Tate was proud that he got to make a poster for Mrs. O'Byrne's son Cameron for the Senior Walk. I wasn't allowed to come to the end of the year party, or the awards ceremony. Tate earned the top AR Reading award. I hope he had a great year, and will retain some memories of first grade, despite not having the Mom Paparazzi following him to document.