Eddie, age 7

Eddie continued to be a ray of sunshine in our lives this year! He did great in 1st grade--he tried out soccer, started reading chapter books and taking piano lessons, and made new friends. He wins for best Wernet kid at going to bed on his own every night and bouncing awake every morning. Eddie tends to be quiet and chill and we love him to pieces! Even though he won't let me hug him before school anymore. I'm fine.

On the first day of summer break, Eddie woke up down a tooth...

and played in his first baseball game

How do you feel about being seven?

Awesome! Well, amazing, sort of.

What kinds of new things do seven-year-olds do?   

Be more awesomer and can learn more things, like some multiplication and cursive at the end of the year.

What are you most looking forward to in the next year?
I'm looking forward to learning harder math. I'm looking forward to having sleepovers with Otto.

Who are your best friends?

Otto, Ben, Aidrick. 

Who are your favorite people to play with?
Still Otto, Ben, and Aidrick. When I'm not at school, I like to play with mostly DJ a lot.

What kinds of things are you good at?

I have to say playing video games. There's no way I'm not putting that on there. I'm also good at doing flips on the bar. My teacher would say I'm good at reading. [What do you think we would say you're good at?] Math.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Is it okay if I say something that's not forever? Like a college job? I would be an Olympics rock climber if I could. And then when I grow up I will totally be a video game designer, probably.

Why do you want to be an Olympic rock climber?

Because I'm really good at rock climbing and I think it's really fun.

What’s your favorite song? 

The Super Mario Bros. theme song.  

What's your favorite food?
Pizza. The kind we just had on my birthday, my special pizza. Pepperoni, sausage, and pineapple.

Favorite movie?
I don't really watch that much movies. I'm not really a movie person.

Favorite book?   

Can it be a series? I think the Riot Brothers books because the chapters are not too long and not too short.

Favorite color?   

GOLD.

Favorite place to be?

Home. 

What are your favorite things to do?   
I think I should do a couple. One: video games, of course. I really like video games. Two: I also really like to ride my bike around.

What is your favorite birthday present that you received this year?
Super Mario Kart Live Home Circuit.

Is there anything else you want us to know about you?

My favorite subject at school is writing. My favorite birthday year was when I turned six. My favorite part was getting Mario Maker.

It takes a village

Here are the things to do and places to be on Thursday: 

Go to work--the last day of school! 

Plan for a morning PD session the next day

Attend Nellie's last and only concerts for band and choir at 9:30 and 2:30 

Celebrate Eddie's 7th birthday! 

and 

Take Kevin in for shoulder surgery 

Because all of those things happened with or without me...I have a lot of people to thank! 

Thank you to my colleague and friend Katie for helping to plan all the fun parts of the PD (our annual "PLT Jamboree). 

Thank you to my mom for attending both of Nellie's concerts and sending me pictures and updates. 

Thank you to Jenni for working extra late at school so she could drive the kids home when the surgery was pushed back to the afternoon. 

Thank you Katherine and Chris for helping me think through discussion prompts when I couldn't seem to get them quite right. 

Thank you Roger for making an emergency trip out to school on Friday with the flamingo cookies I forgot to pick up on Thursday. 

and 

Thank you Nellie and Annie for making the cakes for Eddie's birthday party on Friday! 

It was a challenging, though appropriate, end to the 2020-2021 school year. We all needed to depend on each other a LOT to make this year happen, so although stress levels were high, it was a relief to watch that village in action. We're really looking forward to some summer fun, relaxing, and recovering!

We got up extra early so Eddie could open his presents - happy birthday, Eddie!

Last day of school for the four of us. Also, we have a puppy! Lafayette kept licking DJ when we were trying to get a picture.

Choir concert. As I told Nellie, by favorite part was hearing her solo. My second favorite was Dwayne Johnson watching over them!

Nellie and friends--she had a great year even though she wasn't back in the building until March!

Mothers Day 2021

Since Mother's Day did NOT start out with a child with broken bones, hospitalization, and surgery, it easily beat out 2020!

These kids have my number. Here's a bit of what they gave me.

The kids picked this card out together. They know why it's funny! It is 100% my life. Mary Cate will find this card and read it until Kevin or I yell, "WHAT?" Just like the card says.

Eddie made this little book at school and this is very sweet but oh so accurate. He wrote, "I feel proud when you work hard." Sweet. Then the illustration has Mary saying, "Mom, get me some milk already!" To which I reply, "Mary, I can't do everything at once!" Accurate.

And then there's this little thank you note from DJ.

His note inside says a bit about life this year.

"Dear Mom and Dad,

Thank you for helping me be able to go to school. I thought it was very fun to see my friends again. I would also like to thank you for helping me with my homework. Before you started helping me with my homework I had a really hard time with writing. Now, I still have some trouble coming up with things to write about, but I'm a lot more confident.

Love, DJ"

It's been a lovely year together and I love these little artifacts from the kids' perspective.