Sofia Graduates 5th Grade!

Today was Sofia's graduation from 5th grade and elementary school! She has had some very mixed emotions about this day and actually cried last night when I tucked her in bed knowing that 5th grade is over. She has had such a great year and really wishes it could continue, as much as she's looking forward to summer. Not only has she loved this year at Glenhope/Aspire Academy but she's also very hesitant to start middle school since there is no recess. She said they work so hard in class all day that they really need recess to play and not focus on work. I know it will be a big change, but I also know that she'll be great!

Stacy offered to take Olivia to school since they would be having a "summer reading party" in their classroom with books, a beach towel and pool floaty that each kiddo brought to school. She was super excited for the reading party at school and I was really thankful for Stacy to take Olivia and her huge donut pool floaty to school.

For her graduation day, Sofia planned to wear the dress she wore to Giselle and Andrew's wedding over the weekend and wanted me to do her hair exactly the same! I kept trying to convince her that she would be over-dressed and to wear something a little more casual and comfortable, but she wasn't going to budge. So, she came downstairs in her beautiful dress and I did her hair before she had breakfast and we left, late, to school. Since the graduation ceremony started at 8am, I parked on the street and we walked into school together. I gave Sofia a hug as she headed to her classroom for the last time and I went into the cafeteria to get a good seat. I actually ended up getting a decent seat in the 3rd row.

A few days before, the girls made their thank you gifts for their teachers. We decided to get each of the teachers gift certificates for McAlisters, T.J. Maxx, Michael's, and Starbucks and put them in a gift with "What will Ms. Hayes/Ms. Feaster do this summer?" on the front of the booklet. Sofia has done this a few times for her teachers, but this was Olivia's first time making a thank you booklet. The girls loved writing it all out and drawing pictures for their teachers. On the last page, the girls were able to write a private message to their teacher. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of Olivia's cute booklet, but loved that she wrote "Ms. Feaster, Of all the teachers, I would pick you! You are the best! Love, Olivia" She loves Ms. Feaster! Sofia took her time drawing on each page and it turned out really cute. She was really excited to give it to Ms. Hayes!

The ceremony started and each of the classes entered and took a seat in front of the audience, facing the stage. Dr. Griffin, the Glenhope principal, welcomed all of us and spoke about the year. Next was Mr. Fingers, the Cross Timbers Middle School principal, who gave a great speech about how the kids are crawling out of the swamp (since they are Gators) and will be moving to land and joining the wolf pack (as Cross Timber Wolves). He then had all the kids practice their howl, which was really cute. All of the kids at Glenhope will be going to Cross Timbers, so it was great to have Mr. Fingers welcome the kids! The 5th grade student body president offered a few remarks, and then it was time for Dr. Griffin to present the kids' certificates of graduation! Ms. Hayes' class went second after Mr. Boykin's class.

When it was Ms. Hayes' class turn, Sofia and her classmates lined up to be announced by Dr. Griffin, receive their diplomas and each student's greatest accomplishment as well as the award they are most proud of for the year. Sofia's greatest accomplishment was "I am most proud that I made a bunch of friends." and the award she was most proud of was the "Gator Great Achiever in Kindness" award. I love how connected she feels to her friends in school. She shook Dr. Griffin's hand, accepted her diploma and walked over to give Ms. Hayes and each of the 5th grade teachers a hug. Poor Ms. Hayes was a mess throughout the entire ceremony. She's really going to miss her kids and I know they will miss her too!

After each of the students were given their diplomas, we got to watch the 5th grade slide show, which was really well-made and fun. Since this is Sofia's first year at Glenhope, there weren't a lot of photos of her, but there were a couple. The slide show ended with a baby picture and a current photo of each of the kids. It was pretty interesting how some of the kids looked exactly the same as when they were little! Then, Abby Brown presented the class gift, which is a learning screen that will be installed in the garden.

Finally, the closing remarks were made by Coach Maupin, the PE teacher who Sofia absolutely adores. I've never really interacted with Coach Maupin much before, so I was interested to hear his closing remarks. Apparently, he started as the PE coach when the graduating class were Kindergardeners, so he was pretty emotional about watching them graduate. He gave an awesome speech, which was very funny and entertaining, as well. He talked about several life lessons that the kids need to remember as they leave these halls. The main one that resonated with me, was to enjoy the moment. Life will become more complicated as each of the kids gets older, and there will be new and different challenges, so it's most important to enjoy the moment we are in. He gave a great speech!

It was then time for the parents to leave and head out into the hallways so the 5th graders could come through the halls for high-fives! I went to the Aspire hallway and it was great to see the 5th grade graduates walk through! They did it!

After, we took a few photos and then I gave Sofia a hug as I left to meet Casey for a quick pedicure! Then I picked up Olivia, who convinced Casey to have her over to a playdate. I went to Glenhope to pick up Sofia. The 5th graders enjoyed some splash time in the back of the school after graduation, so she was wet when I picked her up, but had had a great time! Of course, she was with her buddy, Liam and his family when I picked her up. We said goodbye to Liam and Sofia and I headed to Trio for lunch together. It was a great ending to a great day! Super excited to see how 6th grade goes for Sofia and 2nd grade for Olivia!

Olivia is ready for her last day of school!

With the gift for Ms. Feaster

With a hawk feather in her hair and an overly-dressy dress, she is ready to graduate 5th grade!

Sofia and me on her last day as a 5th grader!

The thank you booklet Sofia made for Ms. Hayes

Love all of her creative drawings!

Sofia's message for Ms. Hayes!

The 5th grade graduation program

The ceremony agenda

Coach Maupin during his great speech!

The Glenhope Gator!

Here come the 5th graders!

Sofia!!

Ms. Hayes

Ms. Hayes with Sofia and Liam

Sofia with Frankie and another friend after graduation

Sofia and me!

She did it!!

Sofia's certificate of achievement

Olivia's certificate for being an awesome reader!

Sofia, Liam and Liam's sister Amelia

Olivia's Fun Days (and Sofia's 5th Grade Project)!

The morning started off with Sofia showing up downstairs for breakfast wearing her astronaut costume and homemade space helmet that she wore for Halloween! She said Liam and she would be presenting their 5th grade project which they did on the Cold War. Of course, she hadn't mentioned this at all and they worked on it entirely at school. Ms. Hayes and Mr. Boykin's classes would be displaying and the students presenting each of their projects at 1pm. I was really interested to see what they had done and told her I would be there to see it and hear all about it. Meanwhile, Olivia was super excited about her Fun Day at school. The entire school would be involved in different athletic competitions against kids in each of their classes. The first graders would be competing from 8:30am until noon, when the kids would stop for lunch and then go inside so the kids could change into dry clothes and relax.

I dropped Sofia off at school and she jumped out wearing her regular clothes, space socks and her homemade space helmet we made for Halloween. She had her astronaut outfit in her backpack and said she would be wearing it during the presentation. The girl follows her own rules! I then walked Buddy and arrived at CES around 8:30am and went to the concessions stand where I'd offered to work for an hour. I figured it would be best to get it out of the way early in the day and it likely wouldn't be popular to buy candy and junk food from 8:30-9:30am! Boy, was I wrong! We had a wave of 2nd and then 3rd graders would went crazy buying candy. I had one boy show up and say "I have $12, what can I get?" Everything on the table was $1! I tried to convince him that he didn't really have to spend it all. I missed a couple of the kids' events while I worked at the concession stand, but there was still plenty to watch.

I finished up my concession stand work just as Olivia and her sweet friend Cora found me at the concessions stand. I told Olivia to pick out a water and a treat and I'd pay for it. I hadn't given her any money that morning, since I knew I'd be at school. The girls picked out snow cones and then headed over to the Water Relay, which is always one of my favorite activities. Plus, the kids get wet, which I'm sure would be fabulous on this hot, humid day. Olivia had a smile on her face the entire time and had so much fun passing along the wet sponge. She and Cora would take breaks after they collected water to take a few bites of their snow cones.

After the water relay, the 1st graders headed over to do the 50 yard dash. Olivia is surprisingly fast, and she was super excited to race against her friends. She ran the 50 yard dash at least six times and did a great job! Charlie, a fellow first grade girl, was crazy fast and won nearly every 50 yard dash she ran in! Olivia ended up laying down on the grass after her last race, since she was so hot and tired! I gave her some of the cold water I had and she revived to do the Sack Race, which was the first grader's last event.

Again, Olivia had such fun in the sack race and jumped like a bunny across the field. She also likes to jump with her tongue out, just like when she plays soccer! After all of the kids did the sack race, they then were able to use bouncy balls. Olivia loved it! She bounced like crazy and even fell off at some point, although she laughed the entire time. The kids were all getting tired and it was the perfect time to stop for lunch, go inside to their air conditioning and relax. The kids had so much fun and I loved how involved Olivia was throughout each of the events. I gave Olivia and Cora hugs and wished them a fun and relaxing afternoon. They both looked like they could take a nap after cooling down!

After Olivia and her friends went inside, I went home for a quick bite of lunch and then headed to Glenhope. I was still hot and sweaty after standing outside for most of the morning watching Olivia and her friends. I meant to change my shirt, but completely forgot. I arrived at Glenhope and went to Ms. Hayes' class. It was full of kids, parents and other visitors. I found Sofia and Liam and their awesome Cold War display! They took turns reading the different Cold War facts and then answered questions. It was great. They had made a tin foil moon and a rocket out of a pencil. It was really creative and they were very professional. After they had explained it all to me, I walked around to some of the other displays and listened to her class mates. They were all really well researched and the kids all did a great job presenting. I headed home so I could pick Olivia up from school and wait for Sofia. I was so impressed with her Cold War work!

Our little astronaut off to class

Olivia and her buddy, Cora

Olivia and the water relay

Olivia wringing the water out of her team's sponge

Loading up the sponge with more water

Olivia in the 50 yard dash!

Love this girl's effort!

Hot and worn out!

Olivia is ready for the Sack Race!

Ms. Feaster getting a lot of love from her Firsties!

She's off!

Love how much hight she gets!

Ready for the Sack Race on a bouncing ball!

She's off!

Liam and Astronaut Sofia present on the Cold War!

Their moon and rocket!

Talking to someone's grandpa about the Cold War

Some of Olivia's class mates