End of school 2018

This year we had five boys in school.

Leland was in preschool.

Declan was in kindergarten.

Rylan was in 5th grade.

Payton was in 6th grade.

Avery was in 8th grade.

The last week of school was BRUTAL. Completely and totally brutal.

Jason jet setted off to California for a work conference leaving me alone with the chaos of the week. I had three promotion ceremonies (Leland, Rylan, and Avery). The end of a marathon at the elementary school (Leland, Declan, and Rylan). And right in the midst of it all two little people decided to potty train (Thayer and Freya). It was the hardest week I can remember in recent years!

Marathon day for Leland, Declan, and Rylan. 

They had run 25 miles prior to this day, then the last mile was that day! They had participated in the after school running club to rack up their miles, many days knocking out 1-2 miles each. I am so proud of how they all did! Declan and Leland have been watching big brothers run for years and this was their first chance and they rocked it! Rylan gave it his all and pushed himself out of his comfort zone and was so proud!

5th grade promotion for Rylan. He was in the talented and gifted magnet school this year and it was the best decision we ever could have made for him. It was rough in the winter months making the drive to their school but it was an opportunity we couldn't pass up for his last year of elementary.

He now moves on to middle school in the fall. 

As chance would have it Leland got into the preschool program at the same school that Rylan was attending, so he had an amazing year there. I cannot say enough positive about his teacher. He was learning and growing so much, having experiences like churning butter, picking high bush cranberries and making them into jam. He loved every moment of it! Here's his preschool graduation! 

Avery. Sigh. 

He leaves middle school behind now. He promoted receiving the presidential award for his GPA maintaining above 3.5 all three years there. He walked with ribbons. He was a member of the national junior honor society. He was in the jazz band, and actually had the honor of playing in not only the Mat-Su honor band for the third year, but also being in the Mat-Su honor jazz band as well. 

He was accepted into the high school of his choice for this fall where he is following the engineering pathway. 

His middle school promotion was an emotional day for sure. 

 Declan was the first of my kindergartners to NOT have a graduation ceremony. His big brothers all wore caps and gowns on their last day. I'm kind of relieved that I could skip the inevitable tears of that, and just enjoy the smiles of his last day as a kindergartner! He loved his class, loved his teacher, and loved learning. I'm excited to watch him continue to grow in 1st grade!

Payton's last day of 6th grade.

It's hard being smack dab between brothers with graduation/promotion ceremonies, but Payton rocked it. He quietly ended his first year of middle school in great spirits. It was a rough year for him, finding his place, but he eventually did and finished on a high note. He found a love for percussion this year, after dabbling in both flute and clarinet but not enjoying either in elementary school. And he developed some great new friendships this year!

Also in this batch of pictures: end of the year track meets for our two runner boys Avery and Payton. 

And Mother's Day tea in Leland's preschool classroom. He was the sweetest of the sweet, served me orange juice and a muffin, he had made a hat for me to wear, and gave me a plant.