Kindergarten Graduation

I can't believe Pearl has graduated from Kindergarten.

It's going to be really weird not having her with me at work everyday. I'm sure I'll freak out the first few days when she goes to "real" school. It will be sad and I feel bad I didn't take more time to go down for breaks with her now that it's really going to end soon. I will miss knowing she is just downstairs from my office. And I'm going to miss knowing she is with teachers and friends who have known her since she was three months old. 

Ahem. 

Before I get all teary-eyed, the real intent of this post was to brag about how smart Pearl is. She finished Kindergarten with a perfect 4.0! Ok, so it's not a GPA but seeing that 4 sure made me smile big! She takes after me, obviously!!!

This year's kindergarten graduation ceremony was filled with fun songs and lots of tidbits on what the kids had been learning. I'll tell you one thing, those kids know more about animals, habitats, planets, numbers, and the way the world works than I do. Pearl had her part memorized weeks ago and was very excited {and a little nervous} about saying it with the microphone. It wasn't as memorable as last year's part {O is for orbit...} but she was very excited that everyone got to yell "Thank you" after she finished.

Each kid got a packet with a report card, their writing book, a certificate showing how many books they had read, and all of their school projects. We were very proud of Pearl. She read 64 books, with most of them chapter books. And her class read the most books of any class before... 1,004 books! She loves school and I sure hope that continues for the next 12+ years!

Pearl was also very excited that the class voted for chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. We were still in Yellowstone on the day they voted but luckily that's what she would have voted for had she been to class that day.

Pearl and Ms. Penny.

I love the self-portraits of all the kids. And their class portraits are hilarious. Pearl told us she wanted to have a colorful hat for her picture. 

Pearl has a sense of style all her own. When all the other girls in her class wore skirts or dresses to celebrate their accomplishments, Pearl chose to wore a tee-shirt, cut-off shorts, and flip flops. What a goober!

Good job Pearl! We are so happy to have you in our family! You are smart, kind, thoughtful, sweet spirited, funny, and just a "gem" {I couldn't resist} to have.

Occupation Day

It was occupation day at school last week. Not job day. Not career day. Occupation day. Or as Pearl called it "occudation" day. But definitely not job day. Sheesh mom, get it right!

Since our dress up supplies are limited and she was supposed to dress up as her dream occupation, Pearl told us she wanted to be either a cheerleader or a sandwich girl. 

We're glad she's aiming high. It makes us feel good as college educated parents knowing Pearl thinks a career - excuse me, occupation - at Subway is the way to go. Since her cheer leading outfit was a little too short to wear to school, that first choice was out. And after some discussion with her dad about her future aspirations, Pearl decided to be a professional baker instead.

She did make a cute baker. Maybe we can combine all three occupations and Pearl can get a cheer scholarship to college and then work at Kneader's to make ends meet.

Popsicles

When our neighbor boy, Trevin, came over for some fun tonight, we all petered out because it was so blasted hot.

So we busted out the Popsicles. A lot of Popsicles. I think at this point we were each on Popsicle #3. But it could have been #4. I'm not sure.

And when Popsicles weren't enough, Cole and Trevin took it upon themselves to figure out how to get every square inch of their clothing and shoes soaking wet without actually getting in the pool.

Summer evenings are the best!