Discovery Station Report

The 5th graders have been working hard on their "Revolutionary War" projects this term and got to present at the local children's museum called "The Discovery Station" on Tuesday, May 23rd. 

Abby's project was on Deborah Sampson, a woman who disguised herself as a man in order to fight in the Revolutionary War!

She did a great job explaining all about her project to her classmates and their parents.

Her "hands on" projects was this homemade journal and then she had some supplies for people to make their own miniature journals to take home!

Middle School Family Night

Western Heights Middle School, the Magnet school where Abby will be going next year for theater, had a Family Fun Fitness Night on Monday, May 22nd. We had a rare night where we had nothing else on the calendar so we were able to go. They had a nice healthy dinner for all of us to enjoy, lots of fun raffles (we won some bowling tickets!), and some fun games and obstacles for everyone to try.

Nolan loved trying out his climbing skills here. That little guy made it all the way to the very top!

They also had a fun inflatable to run and jump through as well as this huge Velcro pad complete with Velcro suits for the kids to wear to try to stick themselves to the wall!

It was actually quite hilarious to watch!

Nolan was so small that he often had a hard time "unsticking" himself!

It was a really fun night for the whole family and it made Abby a little more excited about going to Middle School next year. She is a little worried about going to a new school so we've been doing a lot of work to help her get excited!

Game Ball

On Friday, May 19th, this boy had an amazing baseball game! He pitched 3 great innings, had several great defensive plays including a rundown on 3rd Base and an out at Home. He also had two solid hits. He definitely earned that game ball tonight!!

Talent Show

Abby had another great performance at her school's talent show on Thursday, May 18th. She sang "How Far I'll Go" from the Disney movie "Moana." She was the final act and enjoyed the experience so much. She is a little sad that her talent show days at Paramount are over, but I am sure there will be many more performances in her future!

Let's take a walk down "Talent Show" memory lane...

Kindergarten (2012): Singing "A Whole New World" from Disney's "Alladin"

1st Grade (2013): Singing "When Will My Life Begin" from Disney's "Tangled"

2nd Grade (2014): Singing "In Summer" from Disney's "Frozen" along with Avery, Sydney, and Amanda

3rd Grade (2015): Singing "Shake It Off" by Taylor Swift with Sydney and Amanda

4th Grade (2016): Singing "Part of Your World" from Disney's "The Little Mermaid"

This girl has quite the talent for singing and I can't wait to watch her develop it even more as she gets older!

Garden Time

Nolan's Kindergarten class has been busy planting a garden at their school. Nolan was quite fascinated with the worms they dug up and they turned the garden over.

Planting and watering time!

We'll be sure to check back this summer to watch all these plants grow!

Field Trip

On Monday, May 15th, Landon headed to Baltimore with all the 3rd graders from Paramount Elementary to go to the Museum of Industry. While this museum's title may not inspire much excitement, it is actually quite fun and Abby had told him for many weeks beforehand how much he was going to enjoy it.

They learned all about commerce, production lines, and the industrial process. Landon even got to be the boss for the day!

He did a great job overseeing the production line!

It is a pretty fascinating place and the kids really do learn a lot.

This week, they will be working on their own little economic projects in their classroom. It's a great way to apply all that knowledge from this field trip!

Mother's Day!

Ahhh....Motherhood!! The hardest, most wonderful, most difficult, most joyful, the grossest, and most enjoyable job I have ever done!!

I love these four children of mine so very much, even if there was quite the uproar when I asked to take some pictures with them this morning. I did have to use a bit of a guilt trip to get them to agree to it, but hey, it's Mother's Day...I should get what I want, right?!?!

I know that Mother's Day can be a very difficult holiday. I remember it being hard as a single person, wondering if I would get married and have a family of my own. It was hard when I was married, childless and having just experienced two painful miscarriages. It was difficult as a young mom thinking I was so far from a perfect Mom and surely didn't deserve all of these motherhood accolades when comparing myself to other moms. And it is especially hard for me now thinking of my Mom who passed away in 2015. Last year was especially difficult as I experienced my first Mother's Day as a motherless child. At least that is what I chose to focus on, which honestly made for a pretty miserable day. This year, I decided to focus more on the wonderful memories that I have with my own mother, cherish the moments of my own motherhood. and express gratitude for all the amazing women in my life, both with and without children who have strengthened and uplifted me and countless others. Women are amazing and I enjoyed relishing in that womanhood that makes us all mothers, healers and nurturers no matter how many or few children we may have. I think that's how my Mom would have wanted me to celebrate it anyway!