School's Out!

The girls are undoubtedly excited by the prospects of summer and all of it's glory. As a mother, it always seems sad to me when the school year ends, and not just because I'm afraid that the kids will drive me nuts over the next 12 weeks. (Which they always do.) The thing is, I have a real appreciation for the work that my kid's teachers do and I try to do all that I can to support them during the school year. I send my girls off to them every day and they become our partners in parenting for that school year.

This year we had great teachers! Holly spent a couple of hours each day with Ms. Gilliland (left), who helped her with Math, Language Arts and Spelling, and was with Mrs. Warren (right) in a regular classroom setting. Both of these teachers were nurturing, patient and encouraging.

Grace's teacher this year was Mrs. Price, and Grace had a lot of fun with her. She worked hard with the children to teach them to be self-sufficient. Grace loved her classmates this year, and especially all of the girls in her class!

We made the rounds on the last day of school and the girls gave each of their teachers pen cups (filled with felt tip pens, highlighters, scissors, pencils and erasers, dry erase markers and permanent markers) as a special thank you for a great year.

So, Summer---here we come! We're looking forward to following John on some business trips to Huntsville, swimming, sleeping in, and watching Allie's baby belly grow. When school starts in August, we'll be at a new school. They've finished an elementary school that's only ten minutes from home, which means no more 75 minute bus rides!

Roadtrip!

We got a call at the beginning of May from Rikki (Sean's wife), to say that Sean was going to be coming back early from Iraq! He wasn't due back until July, so it was a real treat. When the weekend rolled around, we gathered our stuff, boarded the hounds, and headed for Ft. Campbell.
























It was a nice weekend! We enjoyed a great couple of days with Sean, Rikki and Madison. Maddy is growing by leaps and bounds---so big, so smart! We picked up a dress-up dress for her while we were there, and I don't think that she took it off the whole time.

Thanks for having us up, guys! We're especially thankful to have Sean back safe and sound, and for the service and sacrifices that he and his family make as he serves 0ur country.