It's About Time...

And time is REALLY flying!!!!  I mean...YIKES!!!  Seems like I blinked and the school year just zoomed by and summer vacation was suddenly in full swing!  Seriously...it's crazy!  Is time flying like that at YOUR house?  Or is it simply a Tucson, AZ phenomenon?  There has been SOOOO much going on!  I almost don't even know where to start!  And so...I will just jump in with events...pray they are in some semblance of order and let her rip!

First of all...Sometime between the last post with my itchy, allergic ears and this post, my amazing and talented daughter WON FIRST PLACE in the DARE essay contest for the Amphitheater School District!  Every single 5th grader in the district was required to write and submit an essay explaining why drugs did NOT have a place in their future. Out of ALL of those hundreds of essays, MY BABY GIRL won FIRST PLACE!!!!!!  I was just bowled over!  So happy and surprised for her! SHE was totally surprised and shocked!  The best part?  My girly won BIG prizes!!!!  She won a beautiful certificate and a gift card to Outback Steakhouse.

And she won a BIKE!!!!  Holy Cow!  Was she ever SHOCKED!!!!  And delighted!!!  What a prize?!!!

And doesn't everyone who wins a new bike park it smack in the middle of the front foyer?!  Talk about wrapping up elementary school with a bang!!!  Way to go Clara!!!


The end of the school year was not all bikes and games though.  No.  There was definitely work to be done.  A few dreaded projects that needed wrapping up.  And I DO mean dreaded.  Mostly because I HATE taking on overly creative projects that require huge amounts of my time and brain power.  I feel I have so little left after birthing and caring for these three kids...every morsel is precious.  Thus...I was totally distressed when her teacher sent home a notice of a "Living History Wax Museum".  It seems Clara's class was chosen especially for this project.  The other 5th grade classes got a pass.  They all simply had to write a report on their historical figure.  But not girly's class.  Oh no!  They got to go over and beyond.  A full written report.  Followed by a costume dress up presentation...and the icing on the cake?  A backdrop of refrigerator box size to support their character AND a special parents night at school to view our child and all the OTHER 48 historical projects.  Try not to jump out of your seat with jealousy.  Contain yourselves.  This joy is ALL MINE!  You may find it interesting that Chris Roberts, magically, yet again, managed to be out of town for this historical event.  Imagine that!  Ahem...I digress.  Anyway.  Back to our historical project.  Oh yes.  Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross.  That was Clara's figure.  On the bright side...she only had to memorize a new LAST name for her speech and presentation!  She wrote her paper/speech.  She memorized all two minutes of it.  We gathered her costume and created her backdrop.  And, just as I feared, it was quite the headache and more effort than I EVER would have wished to put forth right at the end of the school year.  But alas...the night arrived and with it...Clara's finished project!

Clara Barton in front of her Red Cross tent.  

It was a truly riveting night.  One where I got to wander from booth to booth hearing two minute speeches about more historical figures than you can imagine.  I listened to Marilyn Monroe, Michael Jackson, Elvis, Einstein, Sacawagea, Audry Hepburn and many, many others.  Like...MANY, many, many others.  But the pain wasn't all mine.  Poor Clara had to give that poor speech of hers over and over and over and over again, only catching a break if a group of parents happened to stop in instead of just one at a time.  We were both exhausted by the end of the night and I was so full of newly acquired historical information that I hardly knew what to do with myself.  We went home and I promptly gave thanks that THAT was over.


In other news...I have new hair.  New color.  New cut.  Lost several inches in the back this go round...but it's all good in the end I think.

Jump ahead again and we find ourselves at the VERY LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!!  Can you even believe it?  My goodness, but time has flown by!  It seems like just yesterday I was looking my baby jumping off the bus at the end of her very first day of 5th grade!  And now...here she is on her very LAST day of 5th grade!  And her last day EVER of elementary school!  WOW!!!!!!!

First day of 5th grade!

Last day of 5th grade!!!

 The last day of school festivities were a blast!  We had a huge picnic on the grounds with all the students, teachers and families.  This is Clara with her homeroom teacher.  We ADORE her and will miss her terribly!!!

 After our picnic, we went into the auditorium for the 5th grade awards ceremony.  Clara received a VERY big award!  She was presented with the Presidential Achievement Award.  In order to get this she had to have had straight A's throughout 3rd, 4th and 5th grade on her report card.  There were only FOUR Students in her school who achieved this!  It was SUCH a proud mama moment!!!  I cannot tell you how excited I was to hear her name called and see her head up to that stage and get that award!

Collection her Presidential Achievement Award and certificate signed by Obama!

 After the awards were all wrapped up, the goodbyes began.  Some were heart wrenching!  There were hugs all around!

 And flowers!  One MUST have flowers when one graduates the 5th grade!

 And more goodbyes!

Clara with her language arts and math teacher.  We LOVE this lady too!  How blessed we have been this year to have such awesome teachers in Clara's life!

And now that school is out, we are officially on summer vacation!  It's looked a lot like this....

And this...

And swim team is going in full force...so it's also looked a lot like this...

Cooper continues to keep us on our toes, getting into any and everything that he can find!!!  The baby gate we recently put in the pantry to keep him from 1) getting locked in there by accident and 2) to keep him OFF the shelves is obviously not working real well.  Mister Mischief strikes again!

We are still volunteering at least once a month downtown with the homeless.  These are shots from last week's adventure.

Clara and Max served the drinks.

Benjamin learned how to make the biscuits!!!  

They taught Max how to make gravy!  Did I mention how GREAT this experience is for my kids???!!!  I LOVE that they learn some new things while we are there serving!

In other huge news...Benjamin now has his learning permit and is legal to LEARN how to drive.  I call him "Need for Speed" after a comment when he told me he was a great driver because of how he drives on this certain video game.  I can tell you that after our first driving lesson...Need for Speed has plenty of room for improvement and will be needing every hour he can collect behind the wheel!  Pray for this mama as this boy is a bit heavy footed with the pedals.  It's a little scary really!

And finally...here's my girl in her team swimsuit.  Isn't she just the cutest?!  They are the Pusch Ridge Pirates and I am digging their flashy new suits for the season!  Love the metallic skull and cross bones!!!  Yes...I do indeed love this particular little pirate!!!!

And now...you are officially caught up on life here in the desert!!!! SO sorry for the long post and the LONGER time in between posts!  Must do better!  Yes, I must!