Big Awards

Ethan and Emily had their 1st Grade award ceremony this past week at school. I was so proud of them. Emily earned a very special trophy for reading and earning over 50 AR points. I think she had around 63 points. Out of all of the first graders (well over 200 of them), there were only 7 students who received this trophy. Emily SHOULD HAVE been very proud of herself. However, while she was on stage with her award, they made an announcement that there was one child in her grade that read over 100 points, and the look of total disgust on Emily's face almost made me laugh out loud. Talk about competitiveness. It was almost like she couldn't enjoy the moment of getting her special award because there was somebody there that read more books than her. I could just see everything that was going through her little mind while she was standing on those risers. I even had to call out to her to smile (we were sitting on the front row) so I could get a picture of her. On her way walking back to where her class was sitting, she came over so I could congratulate her and she immediately mentioned to me how the other girl got over 100 points. I told her how awesome she did and how proud I was of her, but I don't think she cared about all of that. Then I looked at her and said, "Okay, Emily, now you know who you need to beat next year and how much more you need to read." THAT was what she wanted to hear. Goodness gracious this child is competitive! And I wonder where she gets that from... Ha-ha!

As the award program continued, my pride increased. Both of the kids received the Superintendent Award, which is a medal for getting straight A's all year long. I've got to mention how great it is to see Ethan receive this award in his class. He is the only boy in his class to get straight A's. And both of the kids also received awards for receiving excellent conduct grades all year long. Ethan was so cute, though. When he got that award, you could see the look on his face like he didn't understand why he received it. As we were walking back to his room he even asked me about it. I told him it was because he has received G's all year long in conduct and is so good. He looked kind of shocked and sad, and said, "But I didn't." I said, "Well, do you want to tell your teacher and give the award back?" You see, Ethan had a rough couple of days during the first couple of weeks of school. This was before he was diagnosed with ADHD. He has had perfect conduct the entire year since then. The teacher saw Ethan's distress and she asked what the problem was and I explained his concern that he was afraid that he didn't deserve the award because he didn't earn G's all year. She kind of laughed and said that those couple of days in the beginning were forgiven because of the circumstances and he has been so good since then. So, Ethan went home with a clear conscience knowing that he really did deserve and earn his award. Ha-ha! I was also given some of the best news from Ethan's teacher. She gave Ethan a Star test to see what is his current reading level. When she started telling me, I could see how proud she was of him. Ethan tested at 3.8. Basically that means that he tested at 8 months into the 3rd grade year, so almost at a 4th grade reading level. When he started 1st grade, he was just at a 1st grade level and he has improved so much that he has jumped up several grade levels in that short of a time span. Wow! That is amazing!

I still can't believe that I almost have second graders. It seems like only yesterday when I was holding my tiny little preemies in my arms. We only have two more days left of school. Since it was the end of the year, I fulfilled a promise to Emily that I made to her a long time ago. I let her have an end of the year slumber party. It was a total last minute decision. I didn't know if we were going to be able to do it because we have had a lot of stuff going on, but we ended up not having plans this weekend and I wanted to be able to do this for her. I called her friends' moms and luckily they were all able to come. Emily was so excited!!!! Maddy, Molly, and Gracie all spent the night at our house. Those girls had a BLAST!!!!!! At first Ethan did not want to be here, but he changed his mind. He was stuck in a house with four girls and he ended up having fun, too. The kids danced and sang with Emily's Hannah Montana stage. They played in the playhouse. They ate a TON of pizza. We baked a cake. They painted their fingernails and toenails. We roller skated through the house. They just had all kinds of fun. I'm so glad that I was able to do that for Emily. I love seeing the friendships develop at this young of an age.

Next weekend is another big weekend for us. We will be heading up to Lake Martin for our annual Magic Moments Family Camp weekend. We had to miss it last year when Ethan ended up being hospitalized at the last second. We are very much looking forward to going this year!!!