Art

It's that time of year when the kids start cleaning out their lockers and bringing home broken crayons and half-used spiral notebooks. My favorite is when they bring home their art. Above, L made this mask that was displayed in the school's art show. Below, B brought home a two-sided piece of art and insisted I hang it up - he doesn't request that too often.

L's awards

This morning was the Irving awards ceremony for the first- and second-grade students. L received awards for participation in Circle of Friends, participation in the all-school Egg Drop Contest and Good Character. I think everyone got that last one. She was pretty proud of herself.

It's really that warm

I walked B and L over to the neighborhood park today but they were too hot to play much. L came home and insisted on finding some sort of water toy to play with. We pulled the Batman Slip-n-Slide out of the garage. It was a little cold, but it cooled her off. Afterward, she went over to a friend's house to play in their backyard kiddie pool. Temps reached up to 89 degrees today and they're supposed to keep rising this week. Pool opens Saturday!!

Doughnut season

Today marked the beginning of the Farmers Market doughnut season. Andy was out of the house and at church by 3 a.m. (long before, if my guess is correct) to get everything in order as the day's first doughnut captain. He brought home some doughnuts and will spend the rest of the day trying to stay awake. This scene will replay itself throughout the summer on doughnut Saturdays.

Two stripes

E found out at her karate class today that she earned two more stripes on her orange belt. She tested on Saturday.

Player of the Game

L received the Player of the Game honor at today's T-ball game against the Athletics. She made two outs while playing second base. She received a coupon good for one small ice cream cone at Hole in the Wall, our favorite neighborhood ice cream shop. I'm sure she'll be redeeming that soon. She was so excited!

Bye, buttterfly

Today after school L found a butterfly laying on the school blacktop. She soon realized that one of its wings was damaged, possibly stepped on by another student. She picked up the butterfly and determined to nurse it back to health, carried it home. She put it in a shoebox then cut the lid to create a "window," covering it with plastic wrap and poking a few holes in it so the butterfly could breathe. She named the butterfly Violet and even tore apart a small Dixie cup to set some water inside the box. A few hours later, though, she realized the butterfly wasn't going to get better and laid it down in our flower garden. That was followed by lots of tears. There may be a nurse in our future.

Mother's Day

Andy and the kids gave me some beautiful spring flowers for Mother's Day, but I think the best gift was having Andy finally fix the front windows. I had been wanting to paint the trim for about a year now. However, he wanted to replace the wood before I painted. Today, he did it. Now I just have to paint.

Early Mom's Day present

L came home from school today with this handmade Mother's Day card and a clay pot for me for Mother's Day. She planted a flower in the pot. The flower on the card has petals that spread out saying, "Loveing (her spelling), caring, kind, good cook, cute and funny." Aaaw!