Skipping School for a Celebration Breakfast

Friday morning was a half day of school, and the final day for the 2012-2013 school year. The 5th graders don't get roll taken that day, is what we were told, so I decided to plan a breakfast at Cracker Barrel for all of them that hang together.  The best thing is that all these kids will be going to Zia Middle School together next year, too! 

 

So, after dropping off the younger siblings for the morning, we all headed to Cracker Barrel.  There were 13 brand new 6th graders and 10 moms.  I had them set up the tables so the kids could sit together, by themselves, and us moms sat at our own table, right next to them:

 Here are Jim and Colton:

 Andruw, Devin and Nate:

 Kaylee, Brelyn and Angela:

 Mckaela (who didn't go to Tombaugh for elementary, but plays soccer and basketball with most of these kids and will be going to Zia with them all next year), Taylor and Arianna:

 Celia and Ally:

It was a great turn out and a lot of fun! After that, most of us went to the Robinson's for an end of the school year/Grant's birthday celebration water day!

Last Day of 5th Grade and DARE Ceremony

 That's our boy on his very last day of 5th Grade, which is, of course, his very last day of elementary school!  Ready or not, Middle School, here we come!  Here's a look at him on his first day of Kinder and his last day of 5th:

 That really doesn't seem that long ago, but look at that baby face!  Sniff, sniff!  Here's a look at his back to school pictures I've taken from Kinder to 5th:

 When people say time flies when you have kids, boy do they mean it!! :-(  Here he is with his sister on his last day and her second to the last day:

 Last time they will ever walk to the playground together:

 Wow!  That may be the last time they are in school together at all, depending on which high schools they go to.  If they choose the same, then they will be together when Colton's a Senior and Cady's a Freshman!

That morning at school was the DARE Ceremony or Graduation.  Colin and I both were able to attend.

 First were some words from Sgt. Granados, their DARE officer, who also has a 5th grader at Tombaugh.  He was very funny and you can tell the kids just love him.

 Next was Mrs. Vaudrey, the principal, saying kind things about their class about how smart and fun they were:

 Colton's good buddy, Devin, was chosen to read his DARE Essay to the crowd and did a great job:

 Then the classes were called up and given their completion certificates.  I got pics of some of our "group", like Taylor:

 Arianna:

 And Jimmie:

 Here is Colton receiving his:

 That was followed by a fun slide show and then off to the classrooms for other awards.  First, Colton and Jimmie were honored for being chosen for the District Track Meet by their PE teacher, Coach Hanway:

 Then, Mrs. Faivre, their teacher, handed out her awards.  Each student received one and they were all named after candy bars:

 I missed the hug she gave Colton but I love this one she gave Jimmie:

 Colton got the M&Ms award for being a "marvelous and magnificent student":

 Jim got the 100 Grand Award for being great at math:

 Buds:

 Proud mama with Jimmie:

 Proud parents with Colton:

 One of the parents brought little mini mortarboard hats they made:

 Colton with some of his certificates he was given that day:

 The back of their 5th grade class t-shirt - so unreal that its only 7 years away and it made me tear up when I saw it!

 Love this picture of Mrs. Faivre and Colton:

 She had so many nice things to say about him and about their entire class.  I was doing fine holding back the tears until she broke down! :-( We will miss her!

Snapped some pics of Cady after school that day, as well.  They got their yearbooks, so here she is with Grant and Tristan while they signed it:

 Love this shot of Cady, Tristan, Preston, Joe and Grant:

 Here she is with Janelle - one of her closest girlfriends.  We were happy to find out they would be together next year in 3rd grade, too!

 It was a fun, yet emotional day!! 

5th Grade Fun Day

On the last Friday before school was out, the Tombaugh 5th graders had a fun day of bowling and outside activities as part of their 5th grade completion celebration. It started out with a trip to the bowling alley.  I was able to stop in for about an hour of the fun.  Luckily, Colton broke his left wrist and not his right, so he was still able to bowl!

 Here he is with Jimmie - ready to get their bowl on:

 Pallin' around with Devin:

 He bowled well - their group was one of the highest scoring groups:

Jim wasn't in his group, but was in the group next to him:

 Ally, Celia and Arianna are enjoying their time:

 Then, it was back to the school for a pizza party, dance (not many danced - there was a DJ playing music on the covered blacktop), and several games, most that involved water, just for the 5th graders.  Colton and his friends started off the fun with a game of Four-Square, their favorite thing to play:

 Then, there was a free for all with the water balloons (you can see Colton getting ready to throw one right behind Celia):

 Next, they raced Taylor and Arianna in the sponge race:

 It was pretty even - no clear winner!

Other activities included a sack race, cupcake walk and more water balloons.  It was a great day for the Mighty 5th Graders of Tombaugh!

Here are Jim, Colton, Nate and Devin all cooled off and feeling good:

Spring Soccer Recap

The Red Rangers were back in action this spring and we were ready for it! Colton still played forward for the most part and scored right around 20 goals for the season.  Here he is moving the ball downfield with Travis ready to assist:

 He also played goalie - until he broke his wrist:

 This was taken right before falling on his wrist and finishing it off:

 He was still able to play for the final few games, but his cast had to be wrapped in a 1" foam and then with an ACE bandage.  It looked funny and awkward, but it didn't slow him down any:

 During the last weekend, they played in their first tournament. One of the games, he played his against his friends from school,  Jacob and Nate (both in the picture below):

 We tied that game - it was a great one!

Here are the three coaches during one of the tournament games:

 Colton and Travis giving each other five after Travis scored a goal:

 Ok, these next couple of pictures are out of focus (due to the excitement!) but I still have to share. Colton is one of the few on our team, if not the only one, who does not slow down when the goalie gets near the ball, and follows through, which is good because you never know for sure if the goalie will gain possession or lose it.  Well, losing it is exactly what happened below.  Colton is running after the ball, the goalie is in position to get it:

 And the ball gets past the goalie, so Colton takes a leap over the top of him...

 ...and scores!!

 That was so exciting!

The next game, he jumped over the goalie again, but this time the goalie had the ball and Colton got scolded by the ref for almost injuring the goalie - oops!

 He had another great season, although frustrating because of his arm.  He will be ready to go this next Fall!

Cady had a great time, too, playing on the youngest of the three Red Ranger teams.  Here, she and Grady are team captains and they just won the coin toss so they are choosing which side they want first:

 Look at her go with all those girls behind her:

 She scored two goals this season and we were very proud.  She is getting a little more aggressive each time:

 She likes blocking the goal:

 She blocked this one:

 

Two of her classmates, Grant and Tristan, were on her team and one game was played against their other classmate, and one of Cady's best school friends, Gracie:



 We didn't do soccer pictures of the kids and Colin last year due to Colton being in a cast on his leg, so I made up for it this year:

 I also took advantage of not having to take too many individual shots (I only do those one season a year) and took some fun group shots because all of our teams are so close. Here are Jim and Colton - best friends at school:

 And here they are with Devin, another bestie:

 Colton, Jenna and Travis all grew up together and were attending BCDC child care when they were babies:

 Colton and Travis are still very close to this day:

 This is our group of kids from Tombaugh - from all three teams:

 The mighty 5th graders from Tombaugh:

 The U8, or the "little Red Rangers" Team:

 The U11 Team:

 The three U11 coaches and their kiddos:

 We held our end of the year party last weekend at our favorite park.  Here is Cady with her trophy and her awesome coaches, Conrad and Tony:

 And Colton with his trophy and coaches, Kacy, Dad and Michael:

Soccer keeps us busy but I have to admit that I already miss it and can't wait for Fall!!