Sixth Grade Graduation and the Kindergarten Program

We officially have a middle schooler, and not just in grade classification. We are in full swing of emotions, attitude, and beauty.  I think God had me be a middle school teacher, just so I would know how very normal all of this is.  

First, we had a Kindergarten program. There are around 25 kids in kindergarten, but only 12 in the english side.  Maria is heading to Spanish immersion this fall - which she is quite sure she is going to hate - but I am sticking to my guns on this one.  Each student took on a letter and a character that began with that letter. Our beauty was the Penguin.  She had a little saying she had to perform into the microphone and did very well. Congrats little first grader, we love you lots.

P is for Penguin

Later that afternoon/early evening, the sixth grade graduation happened in the same gymnasium.  The school here is in a bit of a transition.  The elementary building is now a K-6 program and the high school is a 7 - 12 program so Anika will be at the high school next year.  Which means, there was the first ever 6th grade graduation ceremony in the history of MCS.  We found a dress - very late in the night at Meijer, but it works, she likes it, we are all happy. We had cousins, grandparents and aunts out for the big event. The blue lips tell you what color frosting was on the cake!

new dress, blue lips from the cake frosting, and class made hat

I still can't believe we are sending her off to high school next year!  They do separate out the middle school students from the high school students, and she is ready. I just can't believe I am old enough for this!  Congrats Anika, can't wait to see what the next years will bring!

Baseball and Soccer

A spring full of soccer and baseball.  Its been busy. I am tired of running from field to field. I LOVE watching my kids play, but I love when we have a break from it.  All four kids were on very good teams this spring and everyone but Anika's team made it to the final tournament - only the top four teams in the league in each age group make it.  Anika started the season as defense and mid field and ended the season as the lone goalie.  She quite enjoyed it and is ready for next fall  - as the goalie.  She wasn't even sure she wanted to play again because she has to move up a level and she has made some good friends on this team.  She will miss them, and have a new coach, which will also be a change, but hopefully a good one. All four had winning seasons. All four scored at least one goal this year.  All four played goalie at least once. All four play for the local rec league - Mona Shores Sailors - and there are not many people from school in the league, so they have had to get to know others, which has been good for all of us.  So, next fall will be a new adventure - new teams for Anika, Brandon and Jessica, and probably a bit of a change of teammates for Maria. And it will be a change for me on the side lines - trying to figure out which parents are on our team and which ones are from the opponent!

Great season guys!

And of course, there's baseball!  He loves to play catcher and does a great job.  He tried pitcher once and it didn't go so well.  He wants to keep practicing and try again before the season is up - so off to the field we will go!

Salmon fishing

This is the one that didn't get away.  To hear Matt and Brandon tell the story, the two that got away were much bigger. And the friend that took them fishing said this was just a start.  I for one am a happy camper as this means I will save lots of money not buying salmon at Sam's Club this summer!  Salmon is one meal that all four kids will eat. Its not Matt's favorite, but the kids and I LOVE it, so he endures.  

Anyway, this was the whopper Brandon did manage to reel in, and he is hoping for many more to come this summer!

I put a pen next to the filet to give you an idea how big Brandon's fish was without the skin and head - it was a HUGE chunk of meat! The other half is on a different pan.

The Memorial Day Challenge

don't they look warm and cozy

A certain someone in MN told us about a challenge she and some of her friends would try when she was in college.  You stand knee deep in Lake Michigan on Memorial Day and see who can last the longest.
Our winner: Anika

To be fair, everyone but Brandon has been fully diving under the waves at least once already this spring and last year didn't count as we were swimming already in March.

Jessica and Maria gave up the ghost quickly so I headed up the dune with them and helped them clean up.  Brandon 'let' Anika win, he said he was cold and wanted to eat supper!

So, congrats Anika on the first annual knee deep competition winner!

Concerts and Musicals

Anika had a band concert - she does a great job at flute and enjoys it.  She's a bit nervous about moving to the high school next year and the new band teacher. Lots of changes coming for her in the next school year.

Brandon's class participated in 'The Orchestra Rocks'.  The West Michigan Symphony sends out its musicians to all the schools in the area.  Third and fourth grades play their recorders along with the symphony. Amazingly, 1500 recorders playing with a symphony doesn't sound as bad as you would think.  Brandon and his classmates made the local online and hard copy paper.  They were sitting in the front row.

Here is a link to the pictures and the video.

http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2013/05/west_michigan_students_attend.html#incart_river_default

Whitecaps

The West Michigan Whitecaps is a minor league team for the Detroit Tigers.  They offer free tickets every spring and summer for reading minutes for kids.  All four kids earned two tickets each so Aunt Kathy and Aunt Mary were able to join us.  We had a great evening. a fun game to watch, and the inter inning entertainment was definitely entertaining.  The kids enjoyed the juggler before the game even started.

MLive again!

Brandon and some of his classmates made MLive again today.  This is Brandon's third time being photographed for the online news website!
If you click on the photo, you can see all  eight pictures - there is one of Brandon specifically after the drumline came in.  He so badly wants to learn to play the drums!
He's also pictured in the video a bit farther down.

http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2013/05/west_michigan_students_attend.html#incart_river_default