Little Gym Showcase

On the very last day of classes-- almost 2 months ago now!--the little gymnasts got to show off their skills.  Here are a few pictures from the boys' showcases.

Luke doing a forward roll

Front support

(into a front flip)

Receiving his medal.

I LOVE that smile.

.

And with his teacher, Ms. Harley

 

I am really, REALLY glad that Luke did The Little Gym last year.  It was good for him to have a structured activity that was both active and social.  He improved in his ability to listen to and follow directions, and I think his motor planning and gross motor skills also improved.  He had fun and felt proud of himself.  So it was a good experience.

Micah had a good experience with The Little Gym also.  He began in a parent/child class, but he moved to an independent class after a few months.  He struggled in the independent class.  He was clearly the one who struggled most listening and following direction.  And staying on task.  And keeping his hands to himself.  Okay, he was the naughty kid!  But his teachers were very understanding, and despite his challenges, they really liked Micah.  And though he was a handful, he did make a lot of progress throughout the year.  Here are some of the pictures from his showcase:

Jumping over a stick with 2 feet

Stopping to smile!

Lifting up to a front support--

Gotta brag.  He was the only kid who could sustain the front support!

With his medal

And with his class and teacher, Ms. Tasha

For all we had a great experience last year, I'm not sure if we will be returning to The Little Gym.  Luke REALLY loved swimming lessons (more on swimming later!) and decided that he'd rather continue swimming year round.  Micah will be switching preschools to one with slightly longer hours, so I think he will only do school next year.  We put him into tumbling for a social activity, but he will get plenty of socialization at school.  All the same, if you are looking for a good tumbling school, I would DEFINITELY recommend The Little Gym.

First Field Day

Field day, at Luke's school anyway, didn't mean the same thing it did when I was an elementary kid.  There weren't any competitive races against the other classes.  Instead it was more like a school carnival with different events.  It was divided into three sections: outside games on the PE fields, inside games in the gym, and free play on the school play ground.  I was volunteering at the basketball game in the gym, but I did sneak outside to get a few pictures of Luke.  His favorite game was the water balloon toss.  I don't think he tried any other outside games.  This is his first go:

And then he found his favorite friend and asked him to play again.

Inside, Luke tried bowling.

And a scooter race.

He also did a cup stacking game, but I didn't get a picture.

And field day was finished off with a snow cone.  Yum!

It was fun to see Luke enjoy himself.  He stayed mostly to himself, but he tried lots of activities and had a good time.  As I've said before, I count the year a success!

Kindergarden Graduation

Luke was so excited the week of Kindergarden graduation.  He had been singing the grad songs at home, and I was excited to see if he would actually sing them during the program.  Graduation was the week before school got out.  I guess they did it early because the last week had many award ceremonies, especially for the fifth graders, and I think they just couldn't fit everything into the last week.  On the day of the graduation, when Luke woke up, he told me, "I feel like today will be a special day!"

The children were supposed to come in their Sunday best.  Luke wanted to wear a tie, so here he is!  The classes entered to "Pomp and Circumstance."

Luke was on the top row, 2nd from the end.

Luke scanned the room for awhile before he finally found me!

The boy Luke was standing next to was a bit silly during the waiting.  Luke kept telling him to be quiet.  If that isn't a case of the pot calling the kettle black, I'm not sure what is.  Although, to be honest, Luke did great up on the stage.  The kids sang a few songs, and then they filed back off the stage, and the students were called up one by one to receive their diplomas.  

The children were introduced with their name as well as their future occupation.  

This is Luke Wilkerson, future first grade teacher.

Our proud graduate!!!

After everyone received his or her diploma they sang one or two more songs about moving on to first grade.  That was so cute.  Luke got really into it.  He was pretty excited.

Luke was jumping up and down, so the picture is blurry.

Luke's wonderful teacher, Mrs. Lewis

Luke had a good year in kindergarden.  I was so nervous at the beginning!  To be honest, I worried through the whole year about how he was doing.  His teacher kept reassuring me that Luke was doing just fine.  He had his challenges, but he really did great.  He stayed in the top reading and math groups during the year.  And he made a LOT of progress socially.  He interacted with friends at school, and he seemed to be well liked by his peers.  His teacher had high but realistic expectations.  She was a great fit for Luke.  We are thankful that he had Mrs. Lewis, and so glad that Huggins was a wonderful fit for Luke.  We are very proud of our graduate!!!

Micah's Last Day of School

Micah started school in October.  We put him in primarily for the socialization and structure.  Micah struggled quite a bit.  He had a hard time following the rules and sitting still, but he still had a good experience.  

The aide-- Ms. Tina

Micah's teacher-- Ms. Laura

Ms. Laura was a great teacher for Micah.  She was firm but loving, and she set clear boundaries.  Most importantly she liked Micah and viewed him as a child that "had a harder time" instead of a "bad kid."  Perspective makes a HUGE difference, and I think Micah blossomed quite a bit.

Socially he made great progress!!!  His favorite friend was Mina (above), but he played pretty well with all the kids in his class.  Around Feb we started doing weekly play dates with Mina, and they played well outside of school too.  The first time I saw him grab a friend's hand and STAY TOGETHER while they played, I kind of teared up.  That was in January.  And since then he has continued to progress socially.  His teacher implemented a color system for Micah (and just Micah) per my request, and that helped his behavior quite a bit.  Micah was happy to go every school day.  So I'd say school was worth it!!!

Mother's Day

My family isn't very into surprises.  We know what we want, and we want what we want.  So this is how we do holidays-- we tell the person who will give a gift exactly what we want to be given.  I know that probably ruins the day for the gift giver (if they are someone that likes surprises,) but it is nice for the one on the receiving end.

This year I told Jared that I wanted to have a pool day as a family, and I wanted him to help me organize the garage.  So that's what we did, and it was great!  I love that we aren't tripping over things in the garage anymore.  And I love afternoon family dates.  Jared also took us all out for dinner, and it was pretty much a perfect day.

So glad that I get to be the mother of these 2 wonderful boys:

My Other Mother

This mother's day my family got to celebrate with my other mother.  I know many of you have heard me talk about Debbi Herrera, and I wanted you to see the beautiful woman I am talking about!  Jennifer and I have been best friends since 2nd grade.  So Debbi has known me for a long time.  Jennifer and I have given her grief for the past 22 years, but I think we made her laugh enough to make up for it.

She has been an important person in my life for many, many years.  One of my favorite memories of her was when she came with me to the big Mother/Daughter dance team event my senior year.  My sister had just had her first baby, and my mom had to be with Megan (of course!)  I was glad that I had a wonderful woman to step in and fill my mom's shoes for the afternoon.  As part of the event the seniors modeled formal dresses and exchanged letters with their mom.  I was happy to exchange letters with Debbi and thankful that she was so happy to do that for me.  I have many memories of Debbi, and there are many things I admire about her.  But the thing I admire most is also the thing I remember and cherish most-- she notices people.  She listens with her whole attention, and always looks for ways to serve and uplift.  More than just 1 event or day I will always remember how she made me feel: special. I love you, Mom H!

21st Century First World Blessings

A few weeks ago now, both my boys got sick.  Luke woke up screaming in the night with an ear ache, and Micah was running a fever (AGAIN!) for three days.  Usually on day three I go to the doctor.  This time I took both boys.  Luke had an ear infection, and Micah had a throat infection.

I thought about the miracles of this modern age.  First, before we ever went to the doctor, I controlled Micah's temperature for 3 days with Tylenol and Motrin.  He was a bear when the medicine wore off.  I am soooo glad I didn't have to suffer through 3+ days of whining.  I suffered through an hour of it until the next dose kicked in.  Not too bad.  

Second, we went to the doctor.  She emailed or faxed a prescription to CVS which I picked up on the way home.  Within 24 hours all symptoms were gone!  Aren't antibiotics amazing?!  I am so glad that I live when they exist.

Third, while my kids were sick and cranky we had TELEVISION to keep them happy, as well as lots and lots of BOOKS.  I don't even want to speculate about how those sick days would have gone without Peppa Pig.

Fourth,  we had a stash of cool craft supplies from Grandma Debbi, Grandpa Terry, and Aunt Jennifer.  

Luke and his butterfly

Micah's lobster

I am so glad that I live now and that I live in America.  I think in an earlier time or a different place Micah probably wouldn't still be alive right now.  And Luke sure wouldn't be the boy he is either.  Counting my blessings!!!

Baseball

This spring Luke played baseball.  It was his idea, and since he's NEVER expressed any interest in sports before I felt like we had to say yes.  Micah didn't want to be left out, so I signed him up too.  That was a bad idea.  Three years old may be too young to start sports.  In any case, Micah wasn't even close to ready.  He hated it.  After suffering through two games, we just gave it up.

Luke, however, played the whole season.  He whined a lot about outfield, but he liked batting and running.

Luke was lucky to have a great coach, Coach RC.  At the first game Luke played first base.  He didn't understand his job at all.  He followed the runner, and tagged home at least 8 times during outfield.  It was pretty funny.  The second game he wandered all over the field.  The third game he stood at first and ran to tag the base every time a runner was coming, even though he never had the ball.  I thought the best thing for him would be to stand near the coach, so during most of his turns in outfield he stood with Coach RC.  

But not always.

Luke had some special visitors for his last game.  Michael, Grandma Debbi, and Aunt Jennifer came to see him play.  Luke was very excited about that.  There was a rough patch in that game when Luke got hit with a ball, but he did bat one more time after "the incident" and was excited that so many people he cares about were there to see him hit the ball and run.  My camera was on the wrong setting during the game, so my pictures didn't turn out well.  Hopefully I'll be able to post the pics that Jenn and Michael took soon.  Theirs turned out much better.

Overall I think it was a good experience for Luke, but he says he doesn't want to play again.  I guess we'll just have to see how he feels next spring.  

Dress Code

This is Luke working at his "office."

Apparently "Business Casual" has reached a whole new level.

Easter Eggs!

The boys were very excited to dye Easter Eggs this year.  We've done it every year since Luke was 2, so he remembered doing it before.  I don't think Micah did, but he saw Disney Collector dye Easter eggs in one of her videos.  He was very excited to be like Disney collector.  She kept using the words she used.  "This is the coloring tablet!" (as he dropped it into the vinegar.)  "This is the egg rappits!"  (which is the way Disney Collector said egg wrappers.)

And it was even more exciting that Libby Rae got to dye eggs too!  

After we finished dyeing the eggs Jared and Michael hid some in the back yard.  The kids-- and Griffin!-- liked finding the eggs.  While the kids wouldn't eat them, Griffin loved them.

On Easter Sunday we had dinner at Michael and Cara's, and then we had a platic egg hunt in their front yard.  I love seeing little kids hunt for eggs.  My kids were cute, but Libby and Beckett were the best!  And the older kids were so good to help the younger ones find eggs.  We ran out of time for a special Family Lesson on the meaning of Easter.  I know the kids all had lessons about it at church on Sunday, but on Monday night, cousins came to our house for dinner and then to do a special Family Home Evening.  We read "The Sparkle Egg" and then made our own sparkle egg to remember that because Jesus was resurrected the tomb is empty.  And because of his Atonement our sins can be forgiven.