School's Out for Summer

Ready or not, my first summer with three kids is officially here.  All of the parents and siblings gathered at the bus stop to greet the students with cheers and silly string.

Maysie and her "older" friends

When the bus finally arrived, the kids were piling off to head to the culdesac to meet the ice cream truck!

And then, after they had enjoyed their treat, Colette and Railey decided to take some down time with baby Ansley.

And to top it all off, a swimming party with all of our friends.

Second grade…here we come!

First Grade Ice Cream Social

Another year has come and gone, and I am coming to terms with the idea of having a second grader.  To celebrate the last full day of school, all of the first grade classrooms at Sope Creek have an ice cream social.  So some of the moms pulled together to help Ms. King celebrate the hard work of her fantastic fish.

Ok ok, this is a picture from Malick and Railey the week prior that I had snapped on my Iphone, but I didn't get any pictures of him on party day so just had to include this cute one!

A little break after ice cream to do the Happy dance.

After ice cream, all of the kids patiently waited to get their awards.

Railey accepting the Spree award for always finishing work in a timely fashion and keeping others on track.  At least I think that is what it was for.  The certificate has already been hidden from her sister in the world's messiest desk.

The kids were BEYOND excited to give Ms. King her present.  Since they are called the Fantastic Fish, we got her One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss and each of them wrote a personal message.  Some of my favorites were:

"You fill my bucket"

"You are the best teacher" (there were a bunch of these)

"Roses are red, violets are blue" (yep, that was it…nothing else)

Saying these kids were amped is an understatement.  In addition to the ice cream social, they had TWO birthdays to celebrate.  They were on a sugar high…I almost felt guilty to leave.

One last picture with Railey and her teachers, Ms. Debbie and Ms. King!

Stagefright

Railey had her first Sope Creek performance this week.  As one would expect, she was all smiles and happily performing in the bleachers with the other Kindergarten classes.  Then, it was the Glowbugs turn to go up on stage for their spider song.

If I hadn't been there to see it, I would NEVER believe it.  Especially after her performance with ZBB last year.  A few minutes into the song, I saw her leave the stage crying with Mrs. Irrgang....Railey got stagefright.

After school, I asked what had happened.  She said that once they started singing AND dancing, she got nervous and had to cry.

Luckily, she bounced back and was all smiles once the show was over.  HUGE thank you to Chris Crawford for taking pictures of my girl!  Mama was busy videotaping the show for Daddy since he was on the road.

Let the Rumors Begin

Everyday in Railey's class, the teacher gives them a word of the day.  They then have four tasks:  1) write the word as you think it is spelled  2) Write the word with the correct spelling  3) Make up a sentence using this word (they have to spell all words on their own) and 4) Copy a sentence using the word that was written by the teacher.

I couldn't help but share the assignments Railey has brought home the past two days....the sentences she comes up with are PRICELESS!

"My Dad is a king because we treat him like a king"

"My Dad sing and at the Zac Brown Band"

I wonder just how many people she has told that her Dad sings with the Zac Brown Band!

First Day of Kindergarten

7:07.  Last year, this was about the time that the Chanon family usually rolled out of bed in the morning.

It turns out that the Cobb County Public School System didn't get the memo about our sleep schedules.  Today, on Railey's first day of Kindergarten, 7:07 was the time that the school bus rolled up to the corner of our street to pick her up.  

Railey was all smiles and VERY excited.  We woke up and quickly brushed teeth, got dressed and fixed her hair then headed down to the bus stop for donuts and juice with the rest of the neighbors.  As you will notice from the pictures, when we got there it was barely light outside.

Little sister was there for moral support

Colette and Railey have started referring to each other as sisters.  

No tears from Mama, Daddy OR Railey!  At least I hope not since after this picture was taken I couldn't see where she ended up on the bus:)

Birthday Party - Take Two

A couple of months ago, Paul and I made the decision to have Railey's birthday party one week late so he could be home to celebrate. At the time, I thought it would be perfect to spread out the birthday activities rather than do them all in one or two days. Since Railey's actual birthday has come, I realize that I made a MAJOR mistake...I TOLD Railey when her birthday is. Rather than just waiting until Paul got back in town to celebrate, I decided to have cake with Railey and I on her birthday night and then celebrate the next day at school with all of her friends. Keep in mind, this is in addtion to the party that we already had in Tallahassee and we still have a party with all of her friends this coming week. Railey has had the time of her life. She is, as I have mentioned before, the princess.

Here are some pictures of the festivites. Pay attention to the shirt she is wearing. Not the Santa shirt that Miss Railey is wearing in March (I let her choose what she was going to wear) but from her school party. Railey's Aunt Garrett made that shirt for Railey...HOW CUTE!