Graduations!

Our family celebrated at three graduation ceremonies this year. Lexi graduated from preschool; Gavin from kindergarten; and Tyler from elementary school. That's a lot of pomp and circumstance for children simply moving from one grade to another, but I was glad for the chance to celebrate the milestones and the children achieving them!

Lexi was first. Her graduation ceremony was May 21, and it was held in our church building since all the kids are LDS and the number of attendees was more than could fit in Ms. Rachel's preschool space. Lexi was adorable in her little mortarboard and received her diploma without her usual shyness. I'm always happy when she can overcome her fear of being in front of people and enjoy what is happening around her. She will miss her little classmates but will probably continue to see a few of them.

Tyler's 5th grade "continuation" ceremony was on June 2, the night before the last day of school. Sadly, Garry was out of town for work so he missed Tyler's and Gavin's graduations. The ceremony was simplified since last year, but Tyler still thought it was really special. He has had five wonderful years at Academy Endeavour, and we are so grateful for his good experiences there! After Continuation, I took Tyler to Cheddar's for dinner (he ordered shrimp!) and gave our gift to him: a book signed by all of Tyler's teachers. He teared up a little as he read the messages. What a tender soul. We plan to have the book signed by all of his teachers as he gets older, so hopefully it will be a treasured keepsake when he graduates from high school. We are doing this for each of our kids.

Gavin graduated on the last day of school. His dimples just slay me. Isn't he the cutest?!?  Gavin has had a great year full of so much learning and growth. He absolutely loves school and has done very well. It has been fun to see his reading and writing improve so much, and to see his horizons expand as he has been exposed to art and technology and culture and higher-level thinking. Gavin is a big almost-first-grader now!

During his graduation ceremony, each student read a "When I Grow Up" page he or she had written. Gavin's was great! The school also provided a free picture of Gavin in a graduation cap. So cute.

Zach didn't have a ceremony for finishing sixth grade, but it's a milestone nonetheless. We have all survived our first year of middle school! I, for one, hope that 7th grade is smoother! But we ended on a high note: Zach got all A's except one B+. Go Zach! He came home on the last day as a human yearbook. I rolled my eyes...

Here's a photo of all of the kids on their first and last days of the 2013-2014 school year. Gavin and Zach were grumpy...I guess that's just real life! So much has changed, and yet so much has remained the same.

All of our school-aged children have been blessed with wonderful teachers this year. I have finally arrived at being glad that school is over for a while. I look forward to a more relaxed schedule and more free time. Ask me again in a few weeks, though...I might be making a paper chain for August 18th.

Mother's Day

I have been waiting to publish this post until I captured a picture of my children all together. Clearly this was a monumental feat, as Mother's Day was 2.5 weeks ago. 

I confess that I have not been a fan of Mother's Day for a while. Like my birthday, this holiday is a day of reflection for me. Another year has passed. What have I done? How have I improved? What is going well? What is not going well? I seem to get stuck on the first question and the last, focusing on the ways that I fall short, particularly as a mother. The list is lengthy. So this year, instead of having a bad attitude about not being the mother I want to be, I decided to make Mother's Day like my birthday, and make sure my kids were glad, for one day, that I am their mother.

So I bought each child a journal that I intend to write in. I'm thinking of letters on their birthdays, at milestone events, or when I think they might need a boost. I want them to know that they are loved. Even if they don't feel that right now, eventually they will. That little project made me feel better and I thoroughly enjoyed "my" day when I shifted the focus elsewhere.

On Mother's Day I spent some time with the kids, cleaned up the kitchen (hopelessly messy with the remnants of Tyler's "business" assignment for school), and let Garry sleep in. I taught sharing time. Garry fixed a fantastic meal for dinner (it's not often that a new recipe is a hit around here). The kids gave me a necklace and a set of earrings and, ironically, a journal where they all wrote notes to me instead of giving me cards. I love it!! What fun traditions we are starting!

I also celebrated Mother's Day with Gavin and Lexi at school. They both had little programs for the moms, as well as lunch! At Lexi's school, the teacher provided the food, and at Gavin's, I brought a picnic that we enjoyed together.  Both kids gave me sweet treasures, along with the memories of being with them at school.

Lexi's class and art work:

Gavin's class and art work:

I love my kids and sure hope that they know it!

The latest Landshark

It is FINALLY Gavin's turn to participate in the school's running club, the Landsharks. Oh, man. He has waited years!

From Zach and Tyler's first season in 2009, when he was just a wee lad....

...to our most recent in 2012...

...Gavin just could.not.wait for his turn to officially run with the Landsharks. Yesterday was the first race day, and he was pumped!  He ran a quick 50-meter dash with his fellow kindergartners, followed by a 400-meter race later on. He ran toward the front of the pack in both races, grinning and waving at spectators the whole way. Gavin had a great time!

Hopefully in the coming weeks I will have the presence of mind to take a nicer camera and really capture his running experience. Go Gavin!

The kids lately

Blogging feels like a chore lately, but I can't quite let it go.  I feel an obligation to our family history. I am sure I will be glad for the effort down the road when I am reading our memory books with fondness.  Perhaps this is how I will become the grandma who is kind to mothers struggling in grocery stores and wrestling children at church.  "I remember those days...let me give you a hand." Yep, that's how I'm going to be when I grow up.

Speaking of growing up...these children of mine get bigger every day.  I'm not quite sure how that happens, but the boys' pants are too short and the girls' hair is below their shoulders, which is an obvious mark of the passage of time.  Oh, and Garry had a birthday, and mine is coming up, and those days surely affirm a fast-spinning globe, because there is no way I'm old enough to be this old.

So. Here's a little run-down on our hooligans, from first to last.

Zach is now 5'6" tall. Yep.  Four inches taller than his mother and taller than all of his friends. OK, not all of them. But seriously: tall! He recently attended the Priesthood session of LDS General Conference with Garry, and then enjoyed their now-traditional burger and shake after the meeting.  Zach is quite fashion-conscious, and recently spent a month and a half of paper route money on the perfect pair of Nike shoes (which were on clearance).  Zach has some good guy friends (one in particular), although I sure wish the silly girls at school would leave him alone! The other night Zach was struggling with a math assignment full of quadratic equations.  I sat down to help him and he explained the concepts to me. Then he realized he knew what he was doing and finished quickly. He's a smart kid but doesn't believe in himself all the time.

Tyler is doing a science fair project that studies people's favorite color of soda pop.  After pack meeting last week, he collected data from most of the attendees when they tasted a variety of colors of soda (all lemon-lime, dyed with food coloring). He's also excited that he is finally invited to a birthday party. We'd really love for some boys to move into the neighborhood so he'd have more friends! Tyler continues to be very sensitive and affectionate. He is also excited to start making plans for middle school. He's a little smarty pants and is happy about his math and reading placements next year.  He wants to join the band.  I'm trying to convince him to take up the piano again. This week Tyler was my date to a high school musical (How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying) and we had a great time together.

Gavin is ecstatic to be running in the Landsharks running club. It's finally his turn! Having practices and meets on Monday is a real pain in the neck (Tyler has scouts and Zach has swing dance lessons on Monday afternoons, too), but it's only for a few weeks. Gavin's reading is improving, although I don't spend as much time reading with him as I should.  He is a very conscientious student and loves to please his teacher.  During General Conference we pulled out a big box of LEGO blocks that has been in storage.  He really likes building with them, so I'm glad we have held onto them. This photo says so much about Gavin: his adoration for snow boots, his desire to take stuffed animals outside, his need to snack outdoors, and his dirty face are all quintessential Gavin traits.

Miss Alexis has been very spunky lately.  Lots of attitude and drama...so she's taking naps sometimes and going to bed early sometimes...more sleep is always the answer, right?  Lexi loves playing with her friends.  Having Lucy and Kaela in the neighborhood has been so fun for her, and having Lucy sleep over while her mom had a baby was extra fun!  She continues to love school and is making progress on her reading and writing.  She loves to color, play "family" (it was called "house" when I was little), dress up her dolls, and ride her bike.  Oh, and fix her hair.  I am not allowed to do that unless it is Sunday, and even then she is very particular.  It's not a battle I fight anymore.

Kate. Oh Kate. She makes me laugh every day. Her latest adventure is wearing "unnerwears" and refusing a diaper. So far she is 100% consistent; she always pees in the potty and she always poops in her pants. So we are going through bags of M&Ms...her reward for successes and my consolation for her accidents. Also, Kate is obsessed with wearing leotards. We have four, which last about 2.5 days because she can't keep anything clean.  I only do laundry on Mondays, so when they are all dirty she asks approximately 67 times if her leotards are clean.  Last time I pulled one from the dryer, she put it on immediately, wore it the rest of the day, overnight, and all the next day until she spilled cereal on it (afternoon snack...haha). Leotard 2.0 emerged shortly thereafter. Just as a side note, leotards and unnerwears are a tricky combination, but the bike helmet she wears all the time is an awesome accessory.

There's not much to report about the grown-ups in the house.  This was Garry's super busy week at work (end of quarter). He continues to lose weight, which is why I gave him a new shirt and slacks for his birthday. And also he has spectacular bed-head.

I'm practicing accompaniment for an Easter song that a friend is singing at church. My resolve to avoid dairy is weakening since my skin hasn't improved one tiny bit in two months, except that I am losing weight, and breaking into my stash of smaller jeans is a great motivator. (Sorry, no pictures; she who holds the camera chooses the subjects.)

So there ya go: the Bartles lately.