Last day of school--Anna

I cannot believe the school year is over!! Anna has had a fantastic year in first grade and is so excited about second grade. She had all A's on her report card in the subject areas and good conduct as well. She really enjoyed the Accelerated Reader program and was awarded one of 2 awards in her class both semesters for having the most points and high accuracy. She really loves to read. She loved Mrs. Brown and we have been blessed by awesome teachers every year for her. She's ready for the fun times of summer.

anna loading up on food during her end of the year party

anna and cody speed....she's sweet on him and he is an awesome boy! he won the citizenship award in the class and his mother is the room mom. we have known the family for three years and have enjoyed watching the kids grow up!

some of the girls from anna's class


anna with mrs. brown, such a sweet woman and awesome teacher

Cozy Coupe Derby

During the snow/ice days last week, the girls found many ways to entertain themselves. One activity they started doing was by having Cozy Coupe races. One of the girls would ride atop the Cozy Coupe and the other would push it up and down the entry hall. So, I guess I win Mother of the Year for allowing my girls to do this. We even shot a video of it and posted it on facebook. They had a blast. They resurrected the game today while I was on the phone with Gary's mom. Gary was over at a friends' house working on his bike. Suddenly the laughter and giggles that I normally hear when they do this turned into a scream and lots of tears coming from Anna. Caroline was oblivious. I told Mary I would call her back and went to go and assess the damage. Anna's lip was swollen, blood on the floor and SHE LOST A TOOTH!!! Now I really win Mother of the Year honors!!! I remained calm so Anna would stay calm. This was a tooth that was already loose. I called my mom to come over and help keep Anna calm and Caroline out of the way while we got Anna cleaned up and the floor as well. Once Anna realized she was going to be ok she was pretty excited about it. She told me last night she thought her tooth was never going to come out and she was going to have it when she turned 8 years old!! Anna was excited to tell Gary when he arrived home and is anxiously awaiting the tooth fairy's visit tonight. She claims she gets more when there is an "accident" involved in losing a tooth. So far, Anna has lost 3 teeth. I pulled the first....she swallowed the second unknown to any of us at the time and today the floor knocked it out. Wow...what's next??

the calm after the storm....she is thrilled to have a smile with a gap!!
the cozy coupe....resting quietly after the derby

Lunch with Anna

Gary and I both had the opportunity to dine with Anna at her school for special occasions. First, I joined her for the annual Mother's Day Luncheon. It is a catered lunch for all the mothers that is very, very good. The tables are set nicely and the children make us a gift and sing us a sweet song. Our gift was a cute polka dotted picture frame with a great photo inside. The song is so nice and it makes me cry every year. I look around and some moms cry and some don't....I guess I am a pretty emotional person. We had a great time and Anna was so proud of everything.

enjoying our yummy lunch

The following Friday was the annual Father's Day BBQ lunch. Since Father's Day does not fall in the school year, Harding does a great job of recognizing the dads during the school year. They have a nice bbq luncheon and the children make great gifts and then sing a different song. Gary thought it was great and Anna was lucky to be able to leave half day and join Anna at the Expo at the Memphis in May Triathlon for the afternoon.

anna excited to see her daddy before the bbq

Anna is so sweet. She is caring and she really put so much into the gifts and learning the songs. She makes us so proud!!

Number badges and Book Club

In senior kindergarten at Harding, the students earn number badges by writing the numbers leading up to that number. For example, writing from 1 to 100 earns the student the 100 number badge. Anna's teacher helped the students earn 100-500 together as a class. Then, the students were on their own to earn up to 3,500. At first, it was an all out competition for Anna. She would wear home two or three badges a day and it was fun for her. Well, then a classmate surpassed her and she lost some of the fever!! She slowed a bit but was very driven to finish and earn all the badges up to 3,500. She did complete her goal and we were super proud. This week the kindergarten students got to wear ALL of their badges to school. I pinned all 35 badges on a t-shirt and it was so cute. Below are front and back views of her badges.

Also, to prepare the students for their kindergarten readiness tests, the students were challenged to read 100 books. They earned "gumballs" to fill their gumball machines on the bulletin boards. Anna was super excited about this challenge because she LOVES to read. Each book read by the students was recorded on a log. A book with over 20 pages counted twice. Of course she was always picking 80 page Dr. Seuss books, but we were so super proud. She was the second student in her class to reach the 100 book milestone. She earned a medal for reaching her goal which she got to wear home from school.

Anna is almost finished with senior kindergarten and we could not be more proud of her success and all that she has learned. We can't believe in a few short months she will be starting first grade!!! She is a smart girl and know that she will end up being something special when she "grows up"!

What's in a name??

Here is a transcript from a conversation I had last night with Anna while she was in the bathtub:

A: Mommy, what is my name going to be when I grow up?
L: Anna
A: No, mommy, my LAST name.
L: I don't know Anna.
A: Why don't you know?
L: Well, honey, it depends on who you marry. You have your husband's last name.
A: Really?
L: Yes.
A: Well, I am going to find somone with a GOOD name and one that is easier than Zyriek.
L: That sounds like a good plan.
A: Maybe I can have a name where I won't always be last.
L: There's something to having a unique name, Anna.
A: That something is called being last.

Hilarious. She was so honest and forthright in the conversation. Gary and I have had lots of conversations with Anna about having a name that is at the end of the alphabet. Not much "cool" spin we can put on being named Zyriek other than it is unique and if things are in reverse order you are first!

Who knows....maybe she will marry the owner of AAA Moving Company or someone with the last name of Aaron and then she can always be first!!!

Anna, the reader

Anna is doing a fabulous job this fall of learning to read. While she had picked up on some of it this summer, she has exploded with reading since beginning kindergarten. Each week her teacher sends home sight words which we keep in a Ziploc bag and review every night. She is now up to about 50-60 sight words. Her class started the Accelerated Reader (AR) program a few weeks ago where the kids check out a book and read with their parents and then take a short test on the computer at school about the book. The kids earn points for each test they successfully complete. Right now Anna's class does one book per week. Each Friday she brings home a new book and this week it was "Are you my mother" by P.D. Eastman. She can read the entire book on her own which not only makes her very proud of herself but Gary and I are super proud parents. Caroline helped tonight by holding the book and turning the pages!! By Monday of each week Anna is ready to take her test and wants to bring home a new book....maybe after Christmas she can do more than one book a week! Such exciting times for us as parents of our new little reader. No more "spelling" words out to avoid Anna knowing what we are saying.

Soccer season is underway

Sunday marked the beginning of Anna's second fall soccer season. Gary is her coach and has "quite a team" this year. Anna scored her first goal last year in the final game of the season. Anna can be a fickle player enjoying "taking breaks" and sipping water from her water bottle. I had to leave town on Sunday before the season opener to head to Atlanta for work. I received a call shortly after the game was over and here is how Anna relayed the details of the game:

1. I scored a goal!

2. We scored 6 and the other team scored 4 which means we won.

3. Daddy is a great coach!

She was super proud of herself and her team. To clarify, in her league at church, they don't keep score but I guess Anna has learned to do it on her own! I'm super proud of her for scoring a goal and for having such a great coach! Below is a photo of her before I left and she put on her shin guards.