Awards Chapel

The girls' school has an awards chapel near the end of every school year, and a couple of days beforehand the administration sends out an email to each family to let them know if their child will be recognized in the assembly.  We were really excited to get an email, and the morning of the chapel service I talked with the girls about statistics and tried to prepare them for the extreme possibility that only one of them would receive an award.  We talked about being happy for our siblings and friends and not being jealous or sad if we weren't recognized.  Soon after the service began, Cille received a Top 10 Accelerated Reader award, so we took a quick video and thought our family's portion of the ceremony was over.  You could have knocked us over with a feather when Cille's name was called again as Eagle of the Year for her class, and our jaws were on the floor when Stella was recognized with the Servant's Heart Award for the second year in a row.  Even our adopted sister from across the street brought home honors with her second consecutive Eagle of the Year award.  We are SOOOOO proud of these special young ladies...

They worked hard all year long and we're so blessed that they are growing spiritually as well as intellectually.  Thank you, Jesus, for a kingdom-focused learning environment!

Stella's Field Trip to Honey Island Swamp

Stella's 3rd grade class enjoyed their final field trip in Slidell's Honey Island Swamp.  These two have been besties since Pre-K...

This group is full of energy...

I carpooled over to the field trip with Ms. Tiffany and another mom, so we all enjoyed our friend time at the field trip...

Selfie as we embark down the Dead River of Doom...

This child can do a SPOT ON Donald Trump impersonation, and her Melania isn't too shabby, either...

This is how we field trip in South Louisiana: floating by the gators...

Sneaking up on the snakes...

Coaxing out the coons...

And hand feeding the hogs...

Don't worry...those are not our hands!

Check out that little porker posing for his picture in the background...

This was probably not an approved wildlife interaction, but hey, what happens in the swamp should stay in the swamp, or at least go no farther than your family blog...

We had a great time in the Honey Island Swamp!  I can't wait to go back when Cille is in 3rd grade!

Watts' First Day of Swim Team

Since Watts was a baby, he has been hanging out poolside and watching the big girls have all the fun on swim team.  Well, no more!  Watts is finally old enough to be a Dolphin this year, and he was super excited for his first day of practice...

The water was so cold and he is so secure in his masculinity as a guy with 3 sisters that he chose to wear one of their hand-me-down wetsuits.  The color scheme was not thrilling to his father...

And guess which cute baby sister insisted on wearing her swimsuit, attending practice, and even putting on goggles to be just like the big kids?  Your turn will come soon, Corinne!

Global Wildlife Field Trip

Greetings from Global Wildlife!  

Cille's first grade class had a wild time on their last field trip of the year...

This sweet girl was all smiles even though the morning was a little chilly...

Those of you who know me well know that I am decidedly NOT an animal person.  I voluntarily gave my two feed cups to Cille, but as it turns out, she kind of takes after me and was a little shy about feeding the animals.  Her sweet teacher noticed and came to help her out...

She ended up with a hand full of slobber.  Talk about no good deed goes unpunished!

Check out the reach on that tongue!

Cille finally found an animal that she enjoyed feeding, and promptly poured her two remaining cups of feed into his mouth...

He was very patient...

And that's no bull! (sorry, I couldn't resist.)

I was not sure about taking my eyes off this guy, but we needed a selfie together... #socialmediagoals

Back at the pavilion, Cille enjoyed a picnic lunch with her friends, and then chose a surprise from the gift shop for all of her siblings.  We had a great day at Global Wildlife!

Mother-Daughter Tea

The GA's at our church hosted an end of the school year Mother-Daughter Tea, so we got all gussied up to attend...

Mrs. Erin taught us all about drinking tea the polite and fancy way, and we had a great time fellowshipping with the other GA's and their moms...

Tumbling Tigers Show Off

Watts' schedule was just full of extracurricular activities this year, and one of them was Tumbling Tigers.  Stella was a Tumbling Tiger with Ms. Courtney when she was in Pre-K, so you can check out baby Watts enjoying Stella's showoff here.  But this was Watts' time to shine, so here's our little man Flippin' at the Movies...

Corinne enjoyed the show, and a ride on Daddy's shoulders...

And Watts earned another trophy to add to the family collection...

Corinne refused to be in the support team photo.  😒

Great job, Watts!  And a big thanks to his teachers for helping Watts develop athletically this year!