Spring Sing & Author Celebration

On Friday, the kids' school held their annual Spring Sing, where each class sings one song.

Nate & Abby always love this day (because it's free dress too!), but Nate was especially excited because this is when the 3rd graders finally get to showcase their recorder skills :)

The 3rd graders opened the show, and performed 9 songs on the recorder.

 Click here to hear the final song.

During the school year, every time they mastered a new song on the recorder, they got a colored belt for their recorder, similar to the belt system in karate. You start at white and move up to black. Well, Nate and 1 other boy in the class were the first two kids EVER to make it all the up to double black belt!! We were so proud of his hard work and impressed that he was able to learn to read music so fast. We credit his amazing music teacher at school!

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Next up, both 1st grade classes collaborated with the 5th graders to perform "Can't Stop the Feelin." It was so cute! Click here to watch that.

Each child had to come up with an "ending pose" and this was Abby's! She just wanted to hug Indya :)

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Then, it was time for the 3rd graders to return to the stage to sing "Brave." They did a great job, and I was surprised that all the boys especially were really into it, hand motions and everything. They are still so cute & innocent! :) Click here to watch them sing.

Chandler, Nate, Mason, Jake C, Andrew

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After Spring Sing, we headed to Abby's classroom for her "Author Celebration." Earlier in the year, each student had written & illustrated their own book. Additionally, they each contributed one page to the class book. The Author Celebration was a chance for each child to read aloud their book, and show off their drawings. Abby's teachers had refreshments for the all the parents as well. It was so nice!

Abby's book was titled "The Things That Make Me Laugh," and she chose to read her favorite page aloud. It was all about how she loves family game night and how once, when she played Reverse Charades at her grandparents' house, her Nanny was really, really bad at the game!! (So funny, especially since Nanny was in the audience listening!)

 Then, Abby read her contribution to the class book, titled "I Wish I Had a Pet." Click here to hear that. She talks about her mean ole parents who "do not like pets." Ha!

After all the students read their books, they got to have lunch in the classroom. And a few treats from the teachers.

 Such a fun morning, and Abby was thrilled to have Nanny & Poppy in town!

Abby's Spring Choir Concert

The choir had their Spring Concert on Friday, and they all did such a great job singing 6 songs!! They had been practicing for months, and Abby was super excited to participate in the concert.

Click here to watch/listen to "Today My Spirit Sings."

The last song of the concert was Abby's favorite! Click here to watch/listen to "Old Dan Tucker."

 This was the first year that 1st graders were allowed in the choir (normally, it's just 2nd-6th graders). But, Mrs. McClendon took a chance and welcomed the 1st graders this year. I'm so happy she did! She asked them "Who is a first grader?" and Abby proudly raised her hand :)

So proud of our little singer!

Happy girls after the concert :)

Nate's Field Day

Nate had been looking forward to Field Day even more than Abby, if that was possible! Because once you hit 3rd grade, there are a few new events you get to do. You know, "big kid" stuff :)

Greg spent the morning with Nate's class. He helped with the potato sack race and the tire roll (a new event). Greg said Nate was the only one who listened to the rules for the tire roll, and therefore, he did the best. No surprise there!

 I was actually on the backfield with Abby's class when Nate's class did the 3-legged race (also a new event). This was soooooooooo funny to watch! The kids got so excited and twisted and could not stop laughing. Nate was a great partner both times he raced, and I honestly don't think his smile could have gotten any bigger :)

 Then, they got to play on the ginormous bounce house/obstacle course for the first time! In years past, they could only play on the 2 smaller units on the front field. Yay for being a 3rd grader!

 After a snack, they had a few more events on the back field before their allotted Splash Dash time....

Tug-of-war

100 yard dash

Front field bounce houses

Mrs. Smith's 3rd grade class!

 Finally, it was time for the Splash Dash!!!! They were *SO* excited to get wet since it was really hot outside.

Water blaster station

Nate's buds loved it too

Very serious runner :)

Spray tunnel

Greg spared no one at the water blaster station; even poor Chan with a cast on his arm!!

 After the Splash Dash, the class got sno-cones and poor Nate was still wet when we inside to eat lunch. He was shivering once inside with the A/C blasting!! Next year, I need to bring him a change of clothes for sure. The class had lunch in their room, and watched half of a movie.

Then, it was time to head out for more activities. They did the shoe change relay in the gym (a new event), plus "Bump" which is a basketball-type game they play in P.E. all the time.

Last up was the soccer challenge and then kickball!!

Soccer Challenge

Kickball

 I ended up playing kickball for a bit because one of the teams was short-sided, and it was SO much fun! I haven't played that game in 20+ years! At one point, it was just me and 2 other adults against the kids. I think they were impressed at how good we were :)

It was a great way to end the day, and then I checked the kids out early around 2:30 because both classes had skipped their last events. Everyone was pooped!

(Including me!)

Abby's Field Day

Field Day was originally supposed to be held Friday the 5th, but when James Spann predicted a "blustery January day" forecast and a 55 degree high, we got it rescheduled. Thank goodness! So, it was held on Wednesday the 10th. Abby and her class made tie dye shirts for the occasion and looked oh so cute!

Erin, Mia, Jonesy, Abby, Cate, Indya

Since I'm Abby's Room Mom, I was with her class most of the day. I tried to hop over to Nate's class a few times, but luckily, Greg was there to help with the morning shift.

Abby's first event was in the gym - the basketball relay! She is surprisingly a really good shot :) And I love how her classmates were so happy when she scored!

David *hates* pictures, so this was the best I could get! Ha!

Fun on the bouncy houses!

Parachute & cage ball

Morning snack - fruit!

Mrs. Strickland & Mrs. Gi's first grade class. A great group!

In years past, the kids have had a "Fun Run" on Field Day. This is where we ask family & friends to pledge money based on how many laps they run. It is a huge fundraiser for the school, but in my opinion, was getting a little old. The kids got bored just running 35 laps around a course made from cones. So..............we decided to switch it up this year! I was on the planning committee and we came up with the "Splash Dash." The course was around half of the football field, and at each corner there was a water "obstacle." (Which is why it was *SO* important that we had a nice, sunny day for Field Day!!) The starting line was this big rainbow obstacle, and it shot out water from the bottom. Really, it was more like a light mist. The kids loved it!

And they're off!

The second obstacle was water blasters. There were a few too many parents that had fun blasting water at their kids!! :)

Abby didn't get too wet, but her friend Jonesy sure did!!

Next obstacle: Bubbles!

Then, the spray tunnel!!

This was by far the kids' favorite. It started getting a little slippery/muddy towards the end, so we made them walk instead of run through it.

Daddy decided to give it a try!!

Not too bad :)

Besties :)

The two faces of Abby: Happy & Serious !

After everyone was good & soaked, it was time for sno-cones!

My drowned rat :)

Abby's class spent the next 30 minutes on bounce houses, so they dried quickly!

Then, it was inside for a little break and lunchtime. Greg ate with Abby's class, and I ate with Nate's. The kids got their second wind, so we headed out for a few more events. First up, the passing relay in the gym. I think they played this 10 times!

Dribble Relay

I switched to Nate's class a bit in the afternoon, so I missed Abby in the potato sack race and tug-of-war. She said the potato sack was her favorite event of the day, besides the Splash Dash :)

They finished out the day with a yearbook signing. This was too cute! Nobody wrote a message; they just signed their names :)

Such a fun day with my girl!!