2017 School Year Wrap Up!

School wound down and headed into summer,

but not before we had one more after school friend.

Joe and Evan had fun around the house, despite the rain shower outside!

They had their masks from art home and tried to creep me out.

 Indoor soccer

Last few days of school, remembering the elementary folder ...

And we got these sweet notes home from his testing days...

I am so glad that he gets that we are his biggest cheerleaders.

We are behind our boys all the way!

And dad made it a point to attend Joe's classroom's Poetry Slam.

It was a Friday morning at 10am, lucky for us their was rain and it made it easier for our farmer to attend!

Joe's poem was about balls in the hallway - DH recorded it and took me a couple of pics.

Including this gem, we are thankful for Mrs. Truelove and her encouragement to Joe through the year.

The following Monday was field day and also the Battle of the Basement whiffle ball game.

Joe's team color was purple - that was a tough one.

But, I was thankful for my large "rag" bag where I found an old purple sweatshirt of mine!

We made a headband and wrist cuffs. He was pumped.

His team did not win, but he said they had fun.

And our budding STEM guy made the school's twitter page and was retweeted by the superintendent.

He made a bridge at home that supported 62 lbs of school books.

Love this boy and his inventive spirit!

Some of his classmates with their volcano!

Joe also was awarded an opportunity to throw a pie in the face of his principal.

He was in the 100 pt AR club and 2nd in his grade.

A little out of order...the volcano erupting!

Sam had a big week as well, but isn't loving mom's camera right now and I didn't have any to steal from twitter.

He did enjoy a trip Dairy Master for incentive points.

He told me his friends stayed to play outdoor games, but he didn't want to miss a chance at Dairy Master ice cream - smart guy!

All of the week's activities caught up with the boys - they crashed the night before the last day of school...

They sleep the same way. Love it.

And they did give me a smile for the last day!  Here we are headed into 6th and 4th grade!

Picked up our guy and he had his book all wrapped up from his teacher.

This is a book I have each of their teachers write in every year  = special memories for their senior year!

Boston Tea Party Trial

Today was a great day for Sam and his classmates.

They have been participating in a program at school all year called iLead.

It was originally sponsored by Purdue but they have stopped supporting the program.

Our school has decided to continue it due to its value to the students.

I TOTALLY agree.  Sam has mentioned many guest speakers in the law and court system this year.

This program has provided these kids with practical knowledge of our courts etc!

It has taken a lot of work from our local probation department and our teachers

 to keep the program going.

Today, the students traveled to our local courthouse and presented their mock trial for the teachers and parents. It was followed by a visit to our old courthouse and also a tour of the jail.

Sam was a part of the defense team.

Drew was the lead prosecutor.

I got a great picture of Drew and Connor from the prosecution.

Sam and Isaac around Brandon (the defendant)

The trial was on the Boston Tea Party (brilliant, we all learned a lot)

(there were 2 groups, second group did Boston Massacre)

The judge talked to the students informing them about court behavior and proceedings.

Drew did an amazing job in his performance as Lead Prosecutor.

Future in Law?

Isaac as a Defense attorney

Connor as a Prosecution attorney

Brandon sworn is as defendant, Samuel Adams.

And a very confident Sam as a defense attorney questioning the lead witness.

He suprised me - was confident, and had his part memorized.

He didn't have his script at all.

The defense WINS!  

And friends in the second trial, Judge Reis

Lead Defense Attorney, Luke

(I noticed Sam playing with his cheek all morning, but I couldn't figure out what he was doing - 

he came home with a tooth out after school, ha)

Lead Prosecutor, Leighton

Drew also won a prize for his essay about the iLead program.

They all did so great. So much confidence - great group!

One Blessed Mama.

I enjoyed the kind of Mother's Day I always dreamed of...

the kind that makes me reflect on how lucky I am to be a mom.

I didn't spend my day in bed or get dressed up fancy like some.

I spent in at the ballpark on a beautiful May day.

I hope I have more Mother's Days just like this one.

I had one eager boy give me his handmade gift before we left for the weekend.

Isn't it beautiful?  I cannot wait to find it a perfect frame.

And I had one boy who worked hard on a hand made card while I was at work.

He forgot he had made it though, dad had told me and I asked him for it when we got home Sunday.

It might well be his most precious words to me.

Sam doesn't express his words a lot.

He doesn't always ask hard questions about his adoption.

He is Sam, he is ours, we are his, and that is enough for him.

But, somewhere in there...there was this.

And it is enough for me.

These are treasures for sure.  I couldn't have asked for better gifts.

How I treasure these boys, would drive to the end of Earth for them.

Literally, oh wait, we did that - ha. 

And learning to know them day after day and year after year, we would do it all over again.

To top off Mother's Day, my transplanted Iris from Grandma Jean bloomed,

my peony from Aunt Lucille's blooming

Our strawberry patch is still alive (others already have berries, but ours are alive!)

And my Rhododendron is still alive.  My mom was so good

at these so I bought a new one (yep, lost one a few years back)

and we are still going good.

And the icing on the cake?

My boys washed my van for me after school on Tuesday.

One blessed mama.

Seymour Bomber Weekend.

We spent our weekend in Seymour for Bombers baseball.

It is not always Sam's favorite, but I remind him that Joe has sat through a lot for basketball games

of his, he has a while to catch up!  He was a great sport this weekend.

I love spending time together.

We are all together, we are outside, we are supporting each other as a family!

A little lunch time treat for Sam set our day off right on Saturday.

Sam is a pizza fanatic.  He could eat it every meal.  He love Little Ceasar's commercials.

His normally shy self walked right up to the counter and ordered a "Pepperoni Hot and Ready"

I'm figuring on a nice personal size pizza to go.....

I paid $5 plus tax and we left with this pizza.

I had no idea it was a large.

We laughed and laughed - him at me for not knowing it was a large.

We shared with dad and Sam did not ask for one single concession item all afternoon...

large pizza for the win!

Our Bomber had a fantastic weekend.

He hit, he scored, he pitched, he played defense (catching a fly ball to end a tough inning).

So proud of how much he has improved this season.

He struck out to start the day, but didn't get down and was hitting by the end of the weekend!

His bomber pitching debut.  His coach was a little reluctant, but was pleasantly surprised

at his consistency.  He does a great job and fielded on for an out!

He is slow and steady - not a ton of speed, but does quite well throwing strikes.

The boys went 2-0 on Satruday and didn't allow many runs earning them the number one seed

for Sunday's games.  They were rewarded with BDubs wings.

We were a rowdy bunch - good times.

And our 11am start time meant plenty of time for night swimming.

They loved it.

Look at that sweet boy of mine.

He did great hanging with this crew when they weren't playing.

Sunday games gave us more challenge.

They won game 1 in true 9U comeback fashion.

This is where my big boy spent game time, in the shade

behind the dugout with his Ipad or a book.

Love him.

And they geared up and fought hard mounting a comeback to 8-7 but lost in the semi finals.

Love the grit of this team.   Would love to see them clench one this season!