The Lee Family: Sofia's Last Day of 1st Grade!

It's here! Sofia's last day of 1st grade! In some ways, it seems like the school year just started, and I know I'm excited for summer and all the fun (and some sleeping in past 6am) ahead. I still am not sure how Sofia feels about it and think she might be happy but also sad to say goodbye to Mrs. Schultz and her friends. In the past few days she's been more emotional than usual, but otherwise she won't tell me much in how she feels about the end of the school year. I'd offered to host Sofia's class for a pool party from 3:30 - 5:30 as a little celebration and just about everyone RSVPed yes!

I decided to use our idea from last year to thank Mrs. Schultz for being such a great teacher to Sofia. Sofia absolutely adores Mrs. Schultz and was sad at the start of both Christmas and Spring Break knowing she wouldn't be seeing Mrs. Schultz for a few days. So, we bought gift certificates for Starbucks, Luke's Locker, Pottery Barn, Barnes and Nobles, and Market Street. Then, Sofia wrote "What will Mrs. Schultz do over summer break?" and "Enjoy a cup of coffee/tea with her family" (Starbucks), "Buy a new yoga top" (Luke's Locker) "Spend the day shopping" (Pottery Barn), "Read a good book" (Barnes and Nobles), and (Drink her favorite iced tea" (Market Street). Then she finished with "Thank you for being such a great teacher......" I told her she could write and thank her for being the best teacher, but she said she didn't want to "make the other teachers feel bad, since there are other great teachers in school." So sweet!

On her very last morning of school, I made the girls french toast and got ready to go to school for the last day of 1st grade. We were running a bit behind but I was able to get some pictures of her and Olivia. Olivia and I took Sofia to her classroom to give Mrs. Schultz her gift and also to be sure that the gift card and thank you note for Mr. Chreno made it's way into Alexa's backpack so he would get it. I took a picture of Sofia with Mrs. Schultz and Sofia stayed quiet and reserved which makes me wonder how she feels about it all. For their last day, the class had a party in the classroom and also watched the 5th grade class take on the teachers in volleyball.

Olivia and I picked Sofia up from school and took a few pictures of her in front of the school. We raced to the grocery store for ice and then headed home so we could host her class for an end of year pool party! Twenty of the twenty-three kids in her class planned to attend the pool party, as well as a few siblings. We had water and juice boxes for drinks and cold watermelon while other moms who came brought cookies, cupcakes, chips, goldfish, fruit, etc. It was an easy party to host and the slide was a huge draw! For the entire two hours there was a line of kids climbing the stairs to go down the slide! Everyone had a great time! Of course, Olivia wanted to swim so after I diverted her with snacks as long as I could, I got in the pool and she jumped off the side of the pool and swam to me, over and over.

For a "graduation" gift, we got Sofia Bare Books, which are blank books that can be written in, so she can create her own stories and illustrations. We talked about it a few weeks back at bedtime and she was so excited at the idea that she stayed up thinking of all the possibilities! We also got her a summer enrichment workbook that Mrs. Schultz suggested she work on whenever she gets a chance so she doesn't loose her math and writing skills. We decided to give her her card and gift either Thursday night or Friday morning since CK was pulled into a meeting in Las Vegas Wednesday night through Thursday. I can't believe 1st grade is over, but we look forward to a fun summer ahead!

The sweet gift card thank you card for Mrs. Schultz