Last week of school

The last week of school was quite busy for the youngest Barnetts. Wil enjoyed several days of playing at Pre-K. One day was outdoor fun and it actually looked like they had brought Pump It Up to the Pre-K Center! Avery's last week was a flurry of activity. On Tuesday, they had an awards ceremony for P.E. Olympics, Mrs. Waddell's class won the Tug Of War award and they were the 3rd grade over all winners. Wednesday and Thursday, Mrs. Waddell let everyone bring board games. Avery was excited to take Mystery Date to enjoy with her friends. Thursday was also the Academic Awards. Avery got an award for the "A Team" for the Spring Semester (All A's) and a certificate for being on the A and B honor roll all year long. Friday was Fun Day at VPA. All students took a snack lunch and got to play outside, learn a dance or two, see a talent show put on by the teachers and listen to the Blue's Lady in concert. Avery was quite sad for 3rd grade to end. She had a wonderful year. We were very blessed for both our children to have the greatest teachers this year! Included in this post are a couple of pictures from the awards ceremony of Avery and her friends, Mary Beth and Mackenzie.

Thankful Thursday on Wednesday

These days I never know what I will be doing. I have time to record my thankfulness today, so here goes:
1. I am thankful for the new bunk beds for the kids. They love them!
2. I am thankful that the new bunk beds are forcing me to clean and rearrange the upstairs. It needed to be done.
3. I am thankful the plumber was able to come today and fix the sink. Note to all reading this: Drano can eat through pipes!
4. I am thankful we are eating out tonight, because there are no clean dishes. (See #3)
5. I am thankful for Clorox wipes. They really are my cleaning tool of choice!
6. I am thankful Avery is old enough to help around the house and she normally does it with little complaining.
7. I am thankful for the wonderful school year both children have had. We have been truly blessed.
8. I am thankful for the school year I have had (for the most part!) and for getting to co-teach with my sweet friend, Ronda, for two years. I am so happy she is getting to be our counselor next year!
9. I am thankful for the chance to go to church tonight.
10. This is a given, I am SO THANKFUL that we have only 2 days of school left!

Pre-K Graduation

Wil graduated from Pre-K yesterday! What an event! It took place in the cafeteria at the Kindergarten Center with 100 graduates. They marched in, through the crowd, to "Pomp and Circumstance" and Wil waved the whole way. Once on the stage, he did very well. He appeared to be a little sleepy. He would sing for a while, then yawn for a while. After a few songs, we went back to the classroom where Mrs. Christi handed out certificates and we enjoyed cookies. It has been a wonderful year. We are so happy with our decision to keep him in Pre-K another year, it has made a huge difference and I know he is excited for next year.

Mother's Day at Six Flags

For Mother's Day, Blake and the kids took me to St. Louis to visit Six Flags and one of our favorite hotels. We had a great time! Some of MY favorites from the trip were stopping at Dairy Queen on the way down Friday night for dinner and ice cream, riding Avery's favorite ride (the Colossus, a giant ferris wheel) , eating funnel cake, and Wil seeing his favorite character, Hawk Girl. Wil thought she would remember him from our last trip and he went up and said, "It's me, Wil Barnett, do you remember me?"!!! It was precious! We had a great weekend with great weather. It couldn't have been more perfect (unless you could remove the horrible allergy attack I had on Saturday!).

Miracle Worker

I guess you could say that Avery is now a community theater veteran. She just completed her first play at the Forum. She played the part of a blind student in "The Miracle Worker". I can't begin to tell you what a positive experience it was! She truly loves theater! Last week was nothing but practice and performances and I don't remember a single complaint! All the older kids and adults in the play were so sweet to her and such good role models. The students weren't on stage much, so in between their part and curtain call, a couple of the older "students" spent time curling her hair and putting extra make up on her. I think she was like a real live doll to them! We are sad that it is over, but looking forward to what is to come. The next show up is "Beauty and the Beast." While it doesn't have parts for girls under age 15, we are looking forward to going to watch some of our new friends. Next school year, they will do "Snow White" and Avery is already planning for what she would like to be!!!!

Wil's Spring Musical

Jonesboro Pre-K had their Spring Musicals last week. I got to go see Wil perform on Wednesday. It was so cute! They entered the room all wearing penguin hats. Wil wore his for all of 2 seconds and took it off. I was glad to see they were only wearing them for one song anyway. I, as always, picked the wrong seat, so the pictures aren't terrific. There are a couple from after the show that are cute. His favorite song from the performance seems to be the one titled, "The Mud Puddle Jumped On Me!" Ask him to sing it for you sometime!

Happy Easter