Whew. We made it through another school year! It’s a strange feeling waking up this first morning of summer and reminding myself that the instinct to dash around the house waking kids, packing lunches, signing homework sheets is no longer necessary. I’m also mourning the passing of time as I realize my children have all advanced to the next grade: what was our “normal”, in a single dismissal bell became our past. The last few weeks of school are chock full of fun festivities. From school picnics at the elementary school, to a lip sync battle at the middle school, and all the graduation hoopla at the high school. On the last day of school, I really tried to be present and savor the last moments of the school year.
The kids all devoured their yearbooks, and it was fun seeing the events from the year the searching for their pictures, their friends’ pictures, and reading what their friends signed.
I took advantage of that an unexpected window of time at home and did a full house clean while Emma slept. I also set up our “Be the Light Awards” ceremony. I was really grateful for that time to reset the house before everyone stampeded home, and we venture into summer. With 20 minutes to spare before I picked up William from school, I knelt down and prayed to Heavenly Father to watch over our home. With kids home more hours, I prayed that I would be strengthened and our house could a house of learning and joy and love. I also prayed that our kids would recognize the Holy Ghost more readily because of how our home feels. It was a very spiritually uplifting experience that I will hold on to as I navigate the chaos of Summer.
Matthew got to go to his friend’s afterschool party so it was only William at the elementary school, then we scurried to the high school to pick up Cate. We had a window until Johnny’s dismissal so we went and grabbed Dutch bros smoothies with Cate’s gift card. Once we picked up Johnny (who took forever, he’s so social), we went to In and Out as a special treat! We then swung around and picked up Matthew and had our end of school celebration. The kids got the following awards:
Cate
The Perseverance Award
The Companion Award
The Compassion Award
Johnny
The Humorous Award
The Optimism Prime Award
The Leadership Award
William
The Courageous Award
Sir Care-A-Lot Award
The Self-Motivation Master
Matthew
Mr. Friendly Award
The Good Example Award
The Book Worm
I presented their awards with the little excerpt I wrote about them and they gave their acceptance speeches and it was a really positive experience. The kids ate the school bus cookie and the snacks from their goody bags while we watched our traditional last day of school movie: The Goofy Movie. That night John took the boys to a friend’s house to watch the Celtics game and I took the girls to watch Cate’s basketball tournament games! We came home late and made mac and cheese, then everyone under 2 and over 15 and older crashed and went to sleep while the boys stayed up watching a movie.
We did it.
Johnny walking into his last day of 7th grade! Johnny killed it this year. He played football, basketball and ran the 800m/threw discus in track. He played Superman in his lip sync battle at the school between teams. He loves the trumpet, often practicing in the band room during lunch. He even had a solo this year in one of his concerts! Johnny got the Bravery Award at the MACadamy awards (only 6 categories are given per team so it was a huge honor.) I couldn’t agree more with that recognition. Johnny really jumps in with two feet and leans into nerves. His best friend moved half way through the year and Johnny really put himself out there establishing a strong friend group at school. He was on the Math Team and joined conditioning club. This year, Johnny was known as the “big jelly fish” because of a hand shake he did with everyone, he is definitely a class clown with a pretty delightful sense of humor. What I love most about his humor is how he uses it to build others and create a happy environment for everyone. Johnny got straight A’s this year! If I needed to volunteer at the Elementary School, Johnny often would go with me so he could see some of his younger friends and enjoy the traditions there. He soon realized he had outgrown that school, but it was a bewildering experience- I don’t think he ever would have thought it possible. He has been serving as President of his Deacon’s class and has really taken the reigns in leadership. He will often go with his friend, Lucas to the temple to do early morning baptisms.
Cate, William and Matthew: the early morning crew. We would drive Cate to seminary at 7:15 am then swing the boys over to the Elementary school every morning. The last few months Cate has been the primary driver as she is trying to get her hours in.
Cate’s last day as a Freshman! Holy cow, it is crazy she has crossed off that first year of high school. I am really going to miss Freshman year! Yes, there was a lot, A LOT, of driving her around; but, I really enjoyed that time bonding together. Cate participated in varsity XC, JV basketball and JV softball. She got the MVP award for XC too! She also participated in choir. She not only made all state choir, but also placed first at the conference solo/ensemble completion sending her and her friend, Roan to the state competition (placing 8), she has loved choir and I feel like watching her sing is her happiest most authentic version of herself! She was also Freshman Class secretary this year. As a member of Leadership she ran a lot of events and had a great head start getting involved in high school. She led her class to get 2nd place at the huge lip sync battle for the spirit cup. This was something very outside her comfort zone, but every day she went in at lunch teaching students the choreography and helping their class prepare. She also performed in a Poetry reading competition making it to conference finals. Cate took all honors and AP classes this year and really worked hard to meet the demands of these challenging courses. I was really impressed with her work ethic, often coming home from practice and doing homework late into the night after practice and then waking up early to go to seminary or the temple. It has been an honor watching her navigate the throws of high school, she gives her best effort in every endeavor, and I feel like she planted some good seed this year.
The Brudders, the Brassell Boys of elementary school.
Matthew rocked 2nd grade this year! He had multiple play dates every week, and truly loves spending time with friends. Every month, the teachers high light a different quality and Matthew received the cooperation award in May for his good example and for jumping in and helping friends or his teacher in class. He won the Jog-a-thon for his grade! At recess he created a gang called The Bananas, and he was titled “The Banana King.” It cracked me up. I was able to volunteer a couple times in his classroom, and every time Emma was the most popular girl and he loved showing her off. Matthew played fall and spring soccer this year with a couple friends and every Wednesday they would come over and play all afternoon until practice.
William this awesome in 4th grade and is ready to enter his last year in elementary! William played soccer and basketball this year. This is the year William was able to be a an original settler and he was assigned Peter Britt, which William loved since he was probably the most influential man of his time. He got to walk around and see where he worked, lived, and was buried. William plays soccer at recess. He is an independent worker and doesn’t need to be reminded to get homework done. He has a cute group of boys that he’s been lucky enough to have since kindergarten. This year also performed in the musical at the Peter Britt amphitheater, and he loved it. He made a few dioramas for school and it was fun to go and watch him present his information.
Here is Emma at the elementary school picnic earlier this week. She has been my little buddy this year and I’m so grateful to have her joy in my life!
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