Surprise for Ms. B

L and her friend, M, have been conspiring for months about the year-end class present for their teacher, Ms. B. On their own, they collected about $150 toward the present from their classmates, found out what Ms. B likes and ordered two fruit baskets from Edible Arrangements. This morning M's mom picked up the order and called L, M and a boy, D, to the office to take the baskets up to the classroom.

First Ms. B read the card the kids made. She kept telling them all year, "In my 28 years of teaching I've never ..." so they put that on the front of the card - "Though you say you've never had a class like us before in your 28 years ... ."

And then, of course, they encouraged her to share the fruit baskets. L took it upon herself to dole out the fruit to her fellow classmates.

And we had to take a last-day-of-school all-class picture. They're all in their "Bye Bye Blacktop" shirts because construction starts today immediately after school.

And I got a picture of L with Ms. B and this time, L has her eyes open!! She looks a little possessed, but her eyes are open.

Fifth-grade trip

L had her fifth-grade trip today to Enchanted Castle. The superintendent has been a stickler about only allowing field trips that have "educational value" and I wish I kept the permission slip that listed all the "learning" that was going to be happening at Enchanted Castle. It was quite a piece of persuasive writing which, according to L, none actually happened. L did take her camera and got a few interesting shots of her friends.

Since B graduated, he was told his school year is over so he has two days home while L has to go to school. He spent most of the morning easing into summer:

B's graduation

Tonight was B's eighth-grade graduation. The ceremony was held at the high school and it was so crowded we couldn't even find his friends to get a picture with afterward. We did get a few shots before the ceremony.

This is what I get when I tell B we have to hurry up and get to the ceremony, then try to delay him with photos:

B was pretty casual about the whole graduation thing (except for wanting to be there on time). But then when you look at his face in this photo as he's about to shake the superintendent's hand, you can see he's pretty proud of himself. He graduated with honors, above a 3.65 GPA.

Perhaps the best picture of the night was back at home, showing off his diploma, cap off and gown unzipped.

L's send-off

L had her fifth-grade send-off ceremony tonight. After three kids and 11 years we're finally done with elementary school. E earned awards for Eagle Extras (for an art class she took after school), chorus, HAWC (an environmental club), Circle of Friends (kids who play and socialize with special ed students), Egg Drop, Academic Fair, Champion of the Indiana Dunes (for their outdoor education trip), Reading Olympics, and the surprise of the evening, perfect band and lesson attendance. Here is her entry in the send-off program:

L was honored that the special ed teacher asked her to sit with her friend M and help her through the ceremony. I stuck around after the ceremony to get a picture of L with her principal and teacher and L shuts her eyes! Ugh. And I only took one shot.

Because of limited space in the auditorium, only immediate family was asked to be at the send-off. However, B slipped in his friend, IR. They had been playing video games before the ceremony and had planned to continue the session after the send-off. It was raining and lightning when we were ready to leave the school so Andy ran home to get the car. As soon as he stepped into the house IR's dad called looking for him. We took IR home and we went to a local Mexican restaurant for a quick dinner, though L wanted him to come to dinner with us. The lightning show continued all through dinner. Andy and I gave L a pretty silver necklace with three charms on it - "dreamer," a star and a crescent moon.

B's art

B finally decided it was time for his art to come down. We've had this painting hanging in the dining room for years. There was no date on it, but it must be from first or second grade.

The kids had a lazy Memorial Day. E had two friend, R and N, over for an all-day movie watching marathon of Avatar. They even let B join them. Andy and I took L and her neighborhood friend, E, to Putting Edge glow-in-the-dark mini golf. Later in the, L brought three neighborhood friends over until we sent them home as we started to make dinner. It was a cloudy, cold day so not much to do outside. The pool didn't even open.

Another project

E has embarked on her final English project of the year - a futuristic Chicago that is taking up half of my dining room table. I told her she'll need to ask her teacher if she can bring it in early. I'd like to be able to sit at the table and eat again.

Where's B?

B brought home his class composite picture yesterday. These things are such a joke. Each kid's picture is so little and they all look alike. When E brought hers home I was thinking, why bother even printing these?

Blacktop, driving & the yearbook

Tonight was Irving's party to say goodbye to the blacktop. A group of parents have been working since E was in second grade, I think, to tear up the blacktop and replace it with grass. The school finally got the district and park district to cooperate, as well as earn a grant from the state to do the work this summer. I'm not thrilled with having the playground moved to the corner kitty-corner from the house, but I rarely hear the kids playing so maybe it won't be too bad. I think it will look nice when it's done. All the students were given these T-shirts to get them in the party mood. Here's L with her friend, J, who's sleeping over tonight.

E took her state road test today with her driving instructor and received a perfect score! Now she just has to drive enough to get 50 hours and wait till August (nine months from when she got her permit) to go into IDOT and have her picture taken for her license!

B brought home his yearbook today and he couldn't wait to flip through it with his friend IR. Of course, E and IR's sister (and E's friend), M, had to get a peek too. The comments were so interesting I had to put on my reading glasses a few times and and go see what they were talking about.

An award for B

Andy and I went to the middle school today for its annual Tribute to Excellence awards ceremony. B was honored for being on the Global Virtual Classroom eighth-grade team that won third place in the secondary division. It was great to see his two best friends be honored too - IB for Virtual Classroom along with B, and IR for receiving a first place at state for a choir contest. B did bring IR home with him so I was able to get a picture of the two of them with their medals.

The Keurig

E got her big birthday present today - a one-serve teal Keurig that she plans to put in her bedroom. She got a $100 gift and waited until it went on sale to order it. It came with a sampler set that had five coffees and one tea so E made me her first drink! It's one very hot cup of coffee.

Great America

B went on his eighth-grade class's trip to Great America today. It was a cloudy day and it rained when he got there, just about to go on the Whizzer roller coaster before they shut it down. He pulled a muscle in his neck at school before the bus even left this morning so he didn't go on too many rides, not wanting to make it hurt more. I gave him $20 for lunch so he was able to buy a burger and E gave him $20 to spend on games. What a nice sister. He came home with a stuffed Pikachu Pokemon, a Pokemon Ball and a dinosaur. B was on the fence for weeks about whether he wanted to go or stay home and tonight he said he was glad he went. That's what matters.

Law & Disorder

Andy came home wearing his firm's new softball jersey. He played on the firm's team a couple of years ago, but has just been too busy lately to even consider it. So he was surprised when the partners gave him a jersey (for free!) today. And the best part is the back:

He's not sure why they put the No. 7 on it. I joked that it's because he works seven days a week. OK, maybe he's not working seven days a week, but he's thinking about work seven days a week for sure.

Fading fast

The other day I took this nice picture of our Bridal Wreath bushes in bloom:

Today, after an overnight rain, they looked like this:

They're pretty when they bloom, but they sure don't last long.

Emerging Scholar

Tonight we went to the high school for its annual Honors Convocation. E received the Sophomore Emerging Scholar in English award. According to the program, "This award recognizes sophomores who show an exceptional enthusiasm and a true intellectual curiosity toward literary study, personal and social exploration and skill development as readers and writers. The English Division is confident that students who continue to progress in these areas will emerge as true scholars in the future." After the ceremony, we went to Jimmy's Place in Forest Park for a pizza dinner. Last year E was named the Outstanding Freshman in Physical Education at the Honors Convocation. B said next spring it will be his turn to be honored as a freshman for earning all A's. Let's hope.

Comfy kitties

Yes, our cats have strange sleeping positions. August, above, looks like he's playing dead when he raises his hands like that. He sleeps like that often. His back legs certainly make him look relaxed. Muffles, below, likes to contort his body in very, very odd shapes. I can't imagine that's very relaxing, but he does it often.

Youth Sunday

Today was Youth Sunday at Pilgrim. E had the second part of her two-day golf tournament so she missed it. B, however, was there and ushered. He looks so excited, doesn't he? After he did the offering and was taking the basket back to the altar, one of the checks flew out. He picked it back up and tossed it in the basket, but that was a funny moment.

Also part of Youth Sunday, L and her friend, N, were the two fifth-graders who received their Bibles today. Her name is printed on the front in golf lettering and they gave her a pretty bookmark with a "friend" charm on it. They said they chose "friend" on hers because L is such a good friend to N.

L wore a beautiful new dress that she changed immediately after the presentation. She went directly to N's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese after church so I knew she wasn't going to be in the dress all day. For her Bible verse, she picked Psalm 33:3, "Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts." She certainly likes to sing and shout. After church there was a kid-friendly fellowship hour with Domino's pizza, Capri Suns, cookies and cheesecake.

Doughnut season

It's that time of year again when Andy gets up around 3 a.m. to go to church and make doughnuts. At least he usually comes home with a few for me. He brought home a dozen today because L had her church friend, K, sleep over. E came home from friend A's sleepover around 7:30 a.m. so when Andy came home from doughnuts, he had to take E to work at her Girl Scout garage sale. I left the house around 8:30 a.m. to work at the Economy Shop for two hours. Andy dropped L off at the shop to peruse the toy department, then he went to pick up E from the garage sale and I took L to one of her friend's garage sales. Andy then dropped off E at another golf tournament, this one in Addison. B spent the beautiful afternoon riding his bike around town and L had some friends over to play water games in the back yard. B did go with Andy to drive out to pick E up from the golf course. She scored 99 so still met her goal of being under 100. Too much going on today.

Another Sweet 16

E went to her BFF A's house tonight for A's Sweet 16 party. They're going rock-climbing, then eating Potbelly sandwiches at A's house, then heading to Petersen's for an ice cream dessert. E will be sleeping over but leaving early to get to her Girl Scout garage sale - another attempt to raise money for their upcoming Washington, D.C., trip in June. Can you tell what A's present is? (She asked for it).

I had to convince E to make A a card. It was my idea. It could have been better but I was under a bit of a time crunch and was trying to work the Cricut myself. It only worked right when E finally came downstairs and helped me.

Cooking out

The temperatures have been close to 80 all week and tonight was the first time of the season we cooked out. Andy grilled burgers and we had corn on the cob.

A boy and his cat

Too sweet how Muffles has his paw on B's shoulder. Kind of looks like Muffles is helping B play a game on the iPad.

Go green

E brought this sticker home today from her Environmental Club meeting. That girl takes her environmental issues seriously.

Classroom visitors

L's teacher had quite the surprise for her class today. She brought in her cousin, Ron Balicki, and his wife, Diana Lee Inosanto, who are stunt doubles for movies. They talked to the students about film making and martial arts. L came home talking all about it. Her teacher sent us the picture. She took one of every kid in the class with the visitors. What a cool day!

Mother's Day

A box of Dark Chocolate Frango Mints and a couple of cards were waiting for me on the dining room table when I got up this morning. Yesterday, Andy had already given me a bouquet of flowers.

We got the kids ready for Sunday School and I was able to get Andy to take a picture of me with the kids.

After church we all visited Grandma Barbara, bringing her some chocolate, flowers, cards and, at her request, a hotdog with everything on it and fries.

That afternoon Andy and I took the kids downtown Chicago to Pizzeria Uno to get some deep dish pizza for dinner.