"No More Teachers, No More Books..."

Today marked the end of the school year. Reese's class celebrated with a party with their 3-grade "buddies". Her teacher was surprised with a scrapbook that was made by one of the moms that included a page for each child and some pictures from various parties and field trips.

Emily's class marked the end of 4th grade with a very extended recess at the park. They watched movies and consumed an enormous amount of junk food.

Emily and her teacher, Mr. Phil

Reese and the gap where her tooth used to be. 

Kid Humor

Some things that my children said to me today:
Emily-"I'm not a drama queen, I'm a beauty queen."
Reese-After a long discussion about how we need to treat other members of our family I made the comment that our goal was to do at least 3 nice things per day for others. To this, Reese replied, "Then can we be mean to them?"

Kindergarten Field Trip to the Zoo

Yesterday, I helped chaperone Reese and some of her friends on their field trip to the zoo. Noelle was able to accompany me, so it was a fun day for all involved.

On a teary note, this also signals the end of kindergarten for Reese. School is out next Wednesday and then she will officially be a First Grader. She is really excited because she will most likely have the same first grade teacher that Emily had and she gets to eat in the cafeteria. If only life were still that simple...

Reese with 4 other classmates on their field trip to the zoo.

Noelle with her friend Brianna at the zoo. 

Sand Dunes Camping Trip, 2005

This past weekend was spent on our annual camping trip to the Great Sand Dunes National Monument. The weather was great and there were no major accidents. 3 other families went with us and there was a total of 12 kids ranging in age from infant-10 years. The RV did really well and we only needed to stop twice to let it rest. 3 cheers for Georgie Boy!

Noelle, Emily and Reese pose at the Sand Dunes.

Jeff, Elle and Magnum making the first steep climb. 

7 of the 12 kids in our group. 

Reese and Emily after a hike up the Dunes. 

This picture, which we have named Running Horse Cloud, was taken just south of Colorado Springs while on our way home. 

Emily has her smile back!

On May 8, 2004, Emily suffered a mishap on our annual Sand Dunes camping trip. Now, just in time for us to return to the scene of the accident, Emily has a new smile!

It has been a long, hard road that has been a year in the making. She started out with a root canal, wore braces for 6 months, endured painful gum surgery and has culminated with a cap that will no longer leave her with a lop-sided grin. Directly below is a picture of her tooth one day after being broken. The next picture shows her with the new smile, courtesy of Dr. Callahan.

The broken tooth.

A full smile. 

4 Times Around the Track

Emily has been participating in the Running Club at school and this is a picture from her first track meet. She choose to run the mile and did very well for a first-timer. She finished with a time of 7 minutes, 43 seconds. She placed 6th overall in the girls division and came in first for Prairie Hills Elementary.

Emily running the home stretch of her 1-mile race.

Happy Birthday, Reese!

Today, we celebrated Reese's 6th birthday with a few friends, some pizza and a bounce house. Everyone had a good time and the monkey theme was a hit.

Reese and her friends pose for a group photo.

Reese blowing out the candles on the cake that she and her friends decorated.