Last Day of School!

Well, we actually made it!  We successfully completed our first, full year back to school since Covid came in and messed everything up back in March of 2020.  I thanked Heavenly Father every day in my prayers that our children had the chance to return to full-time school this fall and that all three of them made this transition so smoothly in comparison to so many other students who didn't.  I am so grateful that all three of them were able to participate in all of the sports and after-school activities that they wanted to do and that nothing was shut down during the massive spike in Covid during the winter months.  And, lastly, I am so grateful that Lia's participation in Cross Country saved her junior high experience this year.  Since we made her go to the school up the hill instead of the one downtown where all of the students from her elementary school went, she literally knew less than ten kids on the first day of school and, of these ten students, none of them were really good friends.  But thanks to starting XC on week #2, Lia quickly met four wonderful girls who quickly became her closest friends at her school.  Three of them had her same lunch which was such a blessing as this gave her a small group to sit with and eat lunch with every day.  In addition, she had friends to run with during both her XC and track seasons which made participating in these sports so much more fun for her.  So, overall, this past year was a success and I am so grateful that my three older children had the chance to return to some sort of normalcy and that Emmett and I finally had the opportunity to have some one-on-one time on a regular basis for the first time in 1.5 years.

Lia heading off to school on her last day of 8th grade.  Although she is technically starting "high school" next year, she will be at her junior high school one more year for classes, but will be competing at the high school for XC and track.

 

Lia flashing me a smile as she walks down our driveway on her way to school.  I couldn't help but compare her happy countenance on this day as she heads to a school that has become a comfort zone and a place with friends to her first day of school back in September when she was so nervous and upset about going there.

Logan's last day of 4th grade in Ms. Arnett's class and Ella's last day of 2nd grade in Mr. Strand's class.  They both loved their teachers this year and had some close friends in their classes.  I just love their elementary school and the wonderful experiences my children have had every year attending this school.

Emmett wanted to join the last-day-of-school photo, too.  Since we were running behind schedule (as always), Logan was not happy about stopping to take the time to have his picture taken which explains his very grumpy facial expression in all of the pictures.

Logan (with his Harry Potter book in hand) and Ella posing for one last picture before running off to their classes for the last time ever!

And although this doesn't really have to do with the last day of school, I still wanted to include so that Logan has it in his blog book one day.  Every year, a small amount of children's artwork is chosen from each of the elementary schools in our district to be put on display at the Spring Fair.  Lia's artwork was chosen in third grade and then rejected afterwards when she learned that only two of the four pieces of artwork from her class made the final cut which was so disappointing to Lia and infuriating to me.  Then Ella's artwork was chosen to be displayed at the same place her kindergarten year before the pandemic cancelled the spring fair.  We then struck out a third time when Logan came home with this beautiful watercolor of tulips the last week of school with a ribbon and award.  After asking him what this was all about (and Logan not having a clue), I emailed his teacher to try to figure out what this all meant.  Apparently, our bad luck had continued.  Logan's artwork was chosen with 19 other students out of the 600 plus students from his school to be displayed at the district's annual art show (that was held at the Karshner Museum instead of the Spring Fair) on May 18th where his painting earned an "honorable mention."  Although the school claimed they sent home an invitation, we never received it and, as a result, we did not go see his artwork on display that evening.  I was so disappointed about this and was really annoyed that the school didn't do a better job of communicating this invitation to us.

Logan's ribbon and award that he won for his painting of tulips.  Although we never got to see it on display, I am still so proud of him for being chosen as he has always been an incredible artist since his PreK year.  Good job, Logie!