Busiest Week In The Books

The minis posing with the all school mural in the school yard. Also the best picture I could get of all three.

The end of the school year means attending A LOT of school functions. Kids get to show off the things they've learned all year long, there's meetings for next school year, end of the year parties, activities.....needless to say, it's easy to get overwhelmed this time of the year with just the kid's schedule. Add in my own craziness (that just happened to fall in the same week as the mini's craziness) and you've got a recipe for a potential stressful week. 

Thankfully, I was able to keep my head on straight, pace everyone, and do as much as possible.

The minis had TWO Fine Arts Nights at school: one for the lower grades and one for the upper grades. Since we have a first, third, and fifth grader, we got to attend both nights. I loved hearing the songs the teacher chose so they could demonstrate what they learned all year in music class. Then we got to see the school art show, where every child had a few pieces showcased. Again, I loved to see what they worked on all year long. Middle of the week was costume night at dance, where we get a glimpse at how crazy recital week is. The biggest thing of the week was Middle School Orientation (which I completely forgot about and forgot to put on our calendar, so we had to scramble Monday night to make our schedules work so we could attend). On top of all this, and our regular jobs, I had meetings or writing assignments to complete after all activities. How we all didn't collapse when Friday night rolled around is beyond me!

Elizabeth and her stars.

Each student in the school colored a feather for this art display.

Harrison got to sing Yellow Submarine. Elizabeth sang right along with the third graders as she sat in the audience!

Thankfully the minis got to bring all of their art pieces home at the end of the week. I was able to thoroughly look at them and read their descriptions. That turned out to be my favorite part of the week (I'll explain later in the post).

The look I got when I asked for a picture of all three.... I also didn't get one family picture or one picture with the kids and I. 

Dance costumes have arrived! There were tears about her ballet costume (on the right) because it has pants with it and Elizabeth doesn't feel pants are "very much like ballet. They're weird." She's petitioning to cut them off.

Due to scheduling issues, I missed out on middle school orientation. I sent Hubs and Max (future middler schooler in just two weeks) with a mission for two things: to gather all of the important info and to take a picture in front of the school sign. The failed on the second one so I had to settle for a picture with his new school magnet. When this school year began, I was dreading the end of elementary school days. Now I'm beyond excited for him and the next adventure!

Daycare was busy too, with bug week and making Mother's Day gifts.

Friday night, long after the minis went to bed, I thoroughly looked at their drawings they brought home. First, we'll go with the top picture drawn by the middle mini. It's entitled My Family. The description is: this is my fake family who I love so much. Ask me about them. So, I did. What we have is a family of such diversity (Jamaican grandparents and dad, Asian sisters and mom, three white but actually Mexican sisters (straight from his mouth), and one Jewish brother). My first reaction is "where does he get this from??" Then my heart was bursting with pride. I have always raised my children to be open, to love everyone, and accepting of all walks of life. It's always amazing to see how my own teachings making an impact. The fact that he doesn't think twice and fully accepts this could be a family makes me so happy. Race, religion, or anything else makes no difference to this kid and I couldn't be prouder of him.

The middle mini also drew this picture of stars in Oklahoma. Next month we leave for our longest road trip to date: 18 days through Ohio, West Virginia, DC, Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. There's been many, many "oh my gosh, should we really do this??" moments as it nears. On top of  this, we also made more travel plans as we received the school calendar for next year, so there were even more moments of "how insane are we?" But, as I read the description of the stars he drew, I remembered why we travel whenever we can. Much like the picture of diversity this kid drew, I have always vowed to give my children experiences, adventures, and to find happiness in the little things. In two pictures, one of my children showed me that I'm not completely failing. I am giving them everything I wanted. At the end of a busy week, this was what I need most.