Shades Cahaba Comes to an End for Bennett

B's last day being a 10 yr old

It is hard to believe our baby girl turned 11 years old and graduated from SCE on the same day.  Bennett has had a great time at the elementary school, but she is ready to move on and up to the middle school.  Her time at SCE ended with a bang, from her class wide field trip to Camp Cosby, band tryouts at HMS, her final Spirit Day, 5th Grade Recognition, and finally her class pool party!  She made lots of wonderful friends, had some terrific teachers and overall had a wonderful experience!  Here are some of our favorite pictures from her VERY busy last week of school.

Mrs. Day's 5th Grade Class

Bennett and Mary Caroline

B, Katharine, Annie, Hollis and Mary Caroline

Cali, Annie, Becca and B before canoeing

Diva!

Me and my girl at the closing ceremony

top: B, Ella, Cali, Abigail and Tate

bottom: Jozie, Annie, Laken and Caroline

Camp Cosby was an all day field trip with team building games, lunch, canoeing, swimming and jumping on the "blob."  The kids ended with dinner and then a closing ceremony while they snacked on s'mores.  It was a beautiful day, and I was thrilled to get to hang with Bennett and all of her friends for the day.

On Monday night of the final week of school, Bennett and I went up to the middle school for band tryouts.  She went in not sure what she wanted to play, and did well with so many of the instruments!  At first, she was giggling while she blew into the instruments, but when she listened to the very patient instructors, she realized that she could do it.  At the end, she had her choice of several instruments.  However, she ended up selecting the French Horn!

They require a 20 or above to play that instrument.

Mary Caroline and B cooling off with shaved ice

Tuesday, May 22nd was Spirit Day!  I co-chaired the event, so I was up there all day with the kids.  Both kids had a blast, as they always do, with their friends.  Nothing like some friendly competition running the 40 yard dash, doing tug-a-war or the obstacle course.  Always a fun day at Shades Cahaba!

all smiles!

Boone, Ty and Pres

Pres racing Luke

SCE Class of 2025!

Mrs. Day's Class

The 5th grade recognition was held in the morning.  Afterward, most of the kids were checked out of school so they could go to brunch with friends.  A group of Bennett's friends went to Big Bad Breakfast, which was a lot of fun.

We are so proud of Bennett, and she looked beautiful!

Mary Caroline and Bennett

MC, Juana Grace, B, Annie, Anna and Ella

Girls at Big Bad Breakfast

Beautiful Girls

(Tania, Cali, Katharine, B, MC, Laken, Annie, Jozie, Becca, Caroline, Tate and Carmen)

Mother-Daughter Picture

Last but not least, the infamous pool party!  A group of us parents planned a great party with the renting out of the Homewood Pool and Coach Sills as DJ!  Thankfully the weather was perfect, and the kids enjoyed swimming, dancing and snacking on pizza and cake.  What a wonderful way to wrap up such a fun six years at Shades Cahaba.   Your futures are bright kiddos!

Katharine, Annie, Hollis, B, Jozie, Laken and Cali

SCE Class of 2025!

Last Day of 5th and 3rd Grade!

And lastly, Bennett and Preston's last day of school and Bennett's final birthday celebration with her BFF, Mary Caroline....dinner at Gian Marcos!  They had a blast!  Whew, what a busy week!

The girls before dinner at Gian Marcos

What a Year in Blue Door

Class Picture, Blue Door, Sept 2017

Walker spent 10 wonderful months in "blue door" at All Saints.  He had two wonderful teachers, Leah Smith and Kirsten Morrow.  They loved him, disciplined him, joked with him, helped him learn his alphabet, helped him write his name, taught him the "Pledge of Allegiance," read to him and took a ton of pictures of him!

In addition, Walker made lots of friends and had a lot of fun at school.  He never once said he didn't want to go to school.  What a blessing to have fabulous people (both big and small) to spend 5 days a week with our boy!  Here are just some of the pictures from Walker and his 3-4 year old classmates.

Sept -2017

Doesn't Walker look so old here?  On his way to school - Fall 2017

Dec 7, 2017

Marley Rain and Walker before Christmas Program

Walker at his Christmas Program

We will always love how he holds 2 fingers up!

Walker and Winston

Walker's girlfriend, Kate

Coolest art projects in Blue Door!

Walker's leprechaun compared to one on the internet :)

Lots of dress up - he was always in capes or dinosaur tails

David Wallace and Walker (sadly his buddy moved to NOLA)

Walker in Leah's lap with Kirsten

What a memorable year for Walker!  It is hard to believe he only has one year left in preschool.

Mother's Day and Father's Day with Blue Door Kids

Parents only get the opportunity to be truly spoiled once a year, Mother's Day and Father's Day. Around here, Mother's Day is always a great day, where Steve and the kids let me sleep in, they make me a big yummy breakfast and they try to all behave well.  However, this year I got an extra special treat....lunch with Walker at his school.

It was beautiful day, a perfect day for a picnic with my little guy.  I brought my own lunch, and then Leah and Kirsten, Walker's teachers, provided the dessert.  They also did a great job making it special for us.

Each child had to answer a set of questions about their mommy, and then they read the answers aloud while we guessed which child wrote those answers.  Walker had a few dead giveaways, and I must admit, he knows his mother well.

Walker's portrayal of me, blue eyes and black hair as he always says.

His portrayal of Steve with black hair and brown eyes

But I wasn't the only one who got some special one on one time with Walker.  Steve and the other fathers also had a special Father's Day celebration in the spring.  This time, all of the kids painted ties for their fathers.  In addition, Walker answered questions about his father.  Let's just say that this little boy is VERY perceptive!

We love him BIG!

Walker loves his Daddy!