Second Grade Awards

Today was the day for awards to be bestowed upon students in the second grade and Owen stole the show!

All the kids made their own folder to hold the awards.  In spite of not spelling awards correctly on this special folder, the boy is an excellent speller and received an award for his spelling abilities.  :) 

He was quite pleased with himself every time he got called up to the front.

Owen received an award for the AR (Advanced Reading) program and another for being in the top three in his class for most AR points earned.  This boy read a ton throughout the year and the number of points proved his comprehension of all the books he finished.  Go Owen for being an excellent reader!

This one is for being a Math Superstar.  Our boy is smart!

And a bit of a class clown.  I think he was surprised and disappointed when that award went to another child in the class.  I could tell by the reaction of some of his friends that they were surprised, too.  

Owen received the award for best sportsmanship that was voted on by all of his classmates.  Now that was an honor to be noted for fairness and good sportsmanship!

Owen also made it on the Honor Roll with all O's (Outstanding, which is the top grade and comparable to an A) for the entire year.  The O's were received in Math, Spelling, Reading, Social Studies and Science.  Our boy also received all S's for conduct and participation in Music, Gym and Art. What a way to finish the second grade!

After the awards ceremony was finished, we sat down together at Owen's desk to look through some of his best work that was pulled from throughout the year.

Meet Ernie!

One of our karate friends mentioned to Todd that he had a neighbor searching for a new home for their ferret.  Todd relayed that to Kelley, which was taken as consent.  In less than a week, we had a seven year old ferrety boy named Ernie joining our family.

Ernie has adrenal disease, which has robbed his tail of any hair.  He also has neurological issues, so his back end gives out on him while he's walking.  But he is the sweetest boy who is content to nap in a lap and give kisses to the hands that pet him.

Afternoon at the Creek with Friends

We invited several families over from Tae Kwon Do to go to the creek and then grill out on the homefront.  The kids had a blast at the creek striking poses on one of the fallen trees.

They also had fun running and splashing in the water.

I love that the older these two get, the better friends they are becoming.  They genuinely enjoy spending time together and we hear more and more giggles from them when they play.

Our sweet boy.

Our little fish.

This boy doesn't feel the need to play non-stop and took a break to chill in one of the chairs.

Two of the kids had fun pouring water over the other and then shaking it out of their hair.

On the walk back to the house before we grilled dozens of burgers and hot dogs, we saw this little copperhead along the trail.  The kids were interested in him, but he made me nervous even though he stayed curled up tight.

This was such a fun weekend all around and ended with promises from friends to get together again soon to go to the creek again.

Soccer Awards

What a fun-filled day!  Dunking karate instructors and now playing at JJ Biello park with soccer friends, cake and trophies.  Good times!  Chloe was happy to swing.

And slide down the hill on leftover cardboard boxes.

It was a gorgeous evening.

Each team was called to the front of the pavilion while the coaches gave short speeches and recognized each player with a special trophy engraved with their name. 

The kids were so proud!

They wanted to show off their trophies and held them up as high as they could for everyone to see.

After the second grade ceremonies were over, we hung out on the hill with our friend Paul for a little while longer so the kids could play.

By the time we got home, it was close to 9pm and we had two tired kids!

Tae Kwan Do Summer Splash

The karate studio had a Summer Splash party this afternoon, complete with a dunking booth.  Chloe had fun tossing ping pong balls to try to land one in a bucket for a prize.  But the balls were just too bouncy to make it in.

The kids had fun trying to move Nilla Wafers from their foreheads into their mouths without using their hands.

Almost there, Owen.  You can do it!

Way to go, Owensk!

Chloe had a harder time getting her cookies into her mouth.

There was a shoe toss where they had to kick off their shoes and get them to land on the table six feet away from where they stood.

This was the closest Chloe got with her attempts.  The rest all went flying beyond the yellow tape!

Owen tried next.

And made it on his first try!

The kids both liked this game where a karate belt was used to tie on a kleenex box filled with ping pong balls.  

They had to shake their bottoms to make all the ping pong balls fly out.

Shake your tail feathers, Owen!

This game intrigued Owen more than his sister.  He had to tilt the tennis racquet carefully to roll a marble into a certain square.

Owen and his friend Paula enjoyed a little taster cup of frozen yogurt while waiting in line at the dunking booth.

The kids could choose their favorite instructors to dunk when they got to the head of the line.  Chloe chose Miss Sykora, who had remained dry up through the first hour of the Summer Splash.

If the kids mad contact with the target, but the instructor didn't fall....they got help from a sidelines instructor to make sure the one in the tank fell into the water!

Owen chose Mr. Engelmann, who was also dry up until that point.  Mr. Engelmann had been in his World Champion white uniform, but had to go change while Owen waited patiently to dunk him.

Owen's pitch wasn't quite strong enough to drop the seat, so Mrs. Jones helped him get a leaping start on the target!

There might have been a threat or two to soak Owen with a water gun later.

The kids liked this balancing act where a painted ping pong ball was rolled down a measuring tape to land in the mason jar.

Chloe chose Ms. Kandrick on another turn, who was the only remaining dry instructor.  Ms. Kandrick had been quietly hiding, hoping people would forget she could be dunked.  

Chloe is good at making sure no one is excluded!

You can tell she's rather pleased with herself for dunking Ms. Kandrick on her first pitch, too!

Love the seriousness on Bean's face as she's trying to roll that ball down the measuring tape.

Way to go and get it in the jar, Chloe-loe!

The kids had so much fun at all the different game booths, as well as jumping in a bouncy.  They were bummed when their cards were all crossed off for number of times to play each game and were already looking forward to the next Summer Splash when we left to go home.