Hello Summer, Goodbye School!

First of all, people, I got a new camera and I am thrilled.



The end of a school year is bittersweet. Brooke is all-around sad. School is so fun for her and she will miss her friends.

Kennedy will not miss her homework, and she will see most of these girls this summer.


Kennedy's teacher is having a baby. I coordinated a group gift which included a little tiny t-shirt with our school's name on it!

Brooke's teacher is enjoying the scrapbook that very nearly killed me. :) No, in reality, these scrapbooks turn into a labor of love. This one is especially special because Ms. Diehl, unfortunately, is one of the teachers who is losing her position at our school due to the stupid "budget cuts". Don't get me started on that...the fact that this teacher, who is fabulous but has only been teaching two years, gets bumped by a more seasoned teacher who will make more money and cost us resources in interviewing and hiring. The position is not gone, they are just putting someone else in it. Someone who makes more money. So, tell me, how is this a budget cut?

Anyway, Brooke has enjoyed her first grade year and her teacher is very special to her.

I made a Shutterfly book for Emily and Hera, the after-school program teachers. They cried, I cried. There was a lot of crying this week.

Kennedy's grade cried a lot, too. Several children are switching schools next year. This grade is a tight grade. The girls leaving will be missed.

After school, it was off to Subway and Yogurtland. Then to Safia's for a swim! The girls had fun in the sun, spending time with each other, laughing, and playing.

Brooke liked Safia's new puppy.

Then they made a girl pyramid. Then everyone went home.

And now, OFF to our first little vacation of the summer! Hearst Castle and Sequoia National Forest, here we come!

Ketchup

Ohmygosh, where to begin? So many events have happened in the last few weeks...it's been a constant whirlwind of activity!

I begin two Mondays ago when August brought his electric guitar and amp to school for Monday Morning Assembly.

Max, from Kennedy's grade, likes to talk to August...August is cool...



Brooke was happy when Gemma got to school!



"All you need is love"...love is all you need...

Indeed it is...

Then our after school program had a bowling party (which occurred right after a Brownie event, thus the snazzy outfit...)

Oh how we love Miss Emily.

One week ago yesterday was the first grade's Multicultural Day. I took the day off to watch the parade and assist with crafts. It was way more fun than work.

"My name is Brooke Zadra and my ancestors come from Italy."

This is the tip of the iceburg, but I think there are only so many pictures one post can handle, so I will close this one and let the last week of school have its very own post! It deserves its own post, since it very nearly killed me! :)

If you will it, it is not a dream

What I learned last week:

1. Leaf mold is not toxic, therefore the $3400 remediation/repair that was originally quoted to us was a scam. Some people are not 100% honest.

2. Buy a new mattress, end morning back ache. Turns out that was a better use of our hard-earned money.

and

3. If you will it, it is not a dream.

Guess who is so cool even when he's not slicking his hair back and wearing leather jackets and riding motorcycles?

Seriously, people, that's me WITH THE FONZ.

He came to the girls' school and read an excerpt from one of his books, but most importantly he TALKED to the kids. He walked among them, took their hands, and told each one of them that they were SPECIAL. He said "if you will it, it is not a dream".

He co-writes books about a boy with dyslexia, because he grew up with it himself. He had such a special message, and he was funny and engaging. Our school enjoyed his presentation.

And, I TOTALLY MET THE FONZ!!!!!

Reading, Dancing and Sit-Upons

Well, well, well. It's Monday. And it sure feels like I could use a day off. Even though I just had three days off in a row!

I took Friday off for school-related fun. First thing was the Young Author's Fair. Children in every grade from Kindergarten to 8th write a story or a poem and then groups are formed. I facilitated a group, and was lucky enough to have both girls in the same group!

Here Brooke is reading as Kennedy looks on (with great excitement, might I add).



Here Kennedy is reading as Brooke looks on.

She read a poem that she wrote about friendship.


Proud authors...

After this, I had a few hours. I just couldn't decide what to do with myself on my Friday off, so I went to the grocery store. Then I packed a bag for Brooke. In fact, I packed two bags!

One bag for our weekend trip to Big Bear with her Brownie troop, and another bag for that evening. You see, our Brookie was in the school's talent show.

Brooke and these incredibly cute kids rocked the house...

They were the 3rd act. The boys sang "Since U Been Gone" by Kelly Clarkson and the girls danced behind. You should have heard the audience's reaction. When the curtain opened, there was a collective "Awwwwww", because - look at the picture again - that's a whole lot of cute going on. Then the boys sang (AWESOMELY!) and the girls danced (ADORABLY!). They got loud, loud, loud applause and when they came from back stage to take their seats, that whole side of the auditorium cheered for them again! They felt a little bit like rock stars!

Miss Emily came and sat with our family. Brooke loves her so much...

Here she is in true rock star fashion slapping hands from stage after the show when all the kids from the performance came up to take a bow...

Ummm, really? REALLY?????? This might be too much cute for this early in the a.m.

Then we went to dinner. Then we got home late. Then we slept (not enough of that). Then we woke up and drove to Big Bear to meet the Brownie troop who had left the night before.

She swam in a cold lake...

She was one of the few that swam to a floating dock and climbed up.

Strike a pose! The girl in the orange ended up stranded. She could not bring herself to jump back in the water. Her mom stood at the edge of the water encouraging her to come. Probably the child would still be there because none of us moms had any intention of getting in that cold water to swim over and help her. Lucky for her there was a life guard on duty.

They made sit-upons that afternoon...a girl scout classic craft!

That night after dinner, they gathered 'round and waited for s'mores. What an awesome experience!! It was great to spend time with all the moms (moms I don't know that well because the kids all go to different schools).

Yesterday we drove home. August and I bought a much-needed mattress (delivery today, hurray!! No more back ache!) and I went to pilates (ow) and we had dinner and the girls took bathes/showers. Story time, lights out...and today it's back to work.

Looking forward to Friday already...

It WAS fun, just like she thought!

Kennedy is home, sleeping in her own bed, tonight for the first time since Tuesday. Did we send her for a trial run at a boarding school? Did we sign her up for one of those "swap your kid for one from another country" programs?

Nope! Wednesday morning, she left on a big yellow school bus for a place called Astrocamp. She was excited to go. We got to school and all the kids checked in and got their cool t-shirts.


And they dropped their luggage on the sidewalk.

It was a lot of luggage.

I finally relinquished the camera. Kennedy took the picture of the moms standing on the sidewalk. Moms who were not going to leave until the bus drove out of sight.

It was a four hour bus ride. They seem to be in good spirits.

The accommodations are probably not five-star, but they were together...

I should let Kennedy compose her own post, but I loved these pictures so much I had to post them tonight.

Here she is getting ready to do a "vine walk". Or perhaps they are training to be in the circus. I'm not sure. Probably some of them need a Plan B, just in case, and the circus is always an option.

She's ready...

Climbing the big tree...

Whoa! Scary!!!!!

Whew! She made it!

Is it my imagination, or does she look relieved?

They came back Friday night...but Friday night was another story! The bus, after a four hour ride home, pulled up, she jumped off and jumped into her friend, Samantha's, parent's car and off they went to the Staples Center to the Taylor Swift concert.

She's been busy, but now she's fast asleep in her very own bed.

Ah, I like it that way much better. :)

Manic Monday

Last night, while in the bath, Brooke says "I wish it was Saturday". Boy howdy, so do I! I wanted it to still be Saturday so we could have have one more lovely weekend day.

Brooke, however, wanted it to be Saturday so we could take her to Build a Bear.

That was random. Like, who just up and goes to Build a Bear? In Brooke's mind's eye, apparently we do. If it had been Saturday, that is.

But instead it was Sunday, so today is Monday...and today I can sing "wish it were Sunday, cuz that's my fun day".

Anywho...I have just a couple of things to report.

1) we are preparing for the LAST GARAGE SALE OF MY LIFE. I loathe garage sales...don't like going to them or having them. I spent the weekend in the garage getting stuff organized.

2) the dog is spoiled. And shedding.

3) last Thursday was Open House. Kennedy was very excited to learn that her science group won FIRST PLACE for their presentation on propane! And her science/math teacher told us that the children gave each other scores, with a score of "5" being above and beyond, and she was the only student in both classes to receive that score from her peers.

So proud, the heart could burst sometimes.

still on Open House here... and Brooke, oh Brookie. First grade cutie pie. She took us to the class that she goes to for Language Arts and showed us the house that she and her group built, and back in her homeroom she showed us paper after paper from her folder on top of her desk. All perfect scores, she was proud, we were proud.

What does one do when one's heart bursts, anyway? Because surely one day soon this is going to happen.

4) I am winding down working on the yearbook...it's due to be completed tomorrow night. I love working on the yearbook for our school, and it ensures that my kids are adequately represented on all the event pages. Do you remember flipping through your yearbook, so excitedly, looking and looking for your picture on all those candids pages and being so disappointed when you could only find yourself on the portraits page, or in a tiny group shot? Well, my children will not have to suffer that! No sireeeeeee!!!!!!

Hmmm. I think that's it! All the news that is news! And it's just another manic Monday, so live it up!! Only five more days until the weekend! Garage sale countdown...oh joy.