Last Day of First Grade for Atticus

Well, he did it! It was a great year for Atticus; he loved going to school, loved learning, loved his friends, and loved his teacher. However, the last day, he had a hard time. He got into the car after school and burst into tears. When we got home to have some one-on-one time (he did NOT like Grace asking him what was wrong in the car while he cried), he told me he was just so sad that he wouldn't see his teacher or friends again. He has the most tender heart at times and while he will see them all this fall, he just loves his friend and teacher and it bothered him. I love that about him; he is so thoughtful and really does know the importance of certain situations. When he got home, he looked at this entire ziploc bag of stuff that his teacher gave him: a certificate, a picture of him and and his friends, a letter she wrote to him, and some other special things from his first grade memories. He cried each time and just needed some snuggles. It had been a REALLY busy, exhausting month with so much going on and less sleep, and I think the emotional part of realizing 1st grade was over hit him. After a little bit, he was ok and by the time we went to our Last Day of School dinner at Torchy's, he was fine. And then he remembered how great summer was, so he has been fine since. Here is his last day:

This was his class photo this year. 

 So, Atticus decided he wanted to buy his teacher 10 giant bottles of Diet Coke for her end of year gift, because he said she would love that much Diet Coke. We bought her 1 2 liter and a gift card and then he wrote her a note. I loved it so much; he wrote a draft on a different piece of paper and then wrote the card and while I originally told him to write her something nice that he learned or remembered from 1st grade, I gave no other instructions and was so surprised to see this! Some of his language and some of the things he included just made me laugh and smile!

 Last Day of First Grade!

And this was about a week before, but here is his teacher, Mrs. Payne.

 We did this last year, because who wants to cook on the last day of school? And now we made it our tradition! Torchy's Tacos for dinner!

We are ready for summer!

First Grade Book Character Day and Field Trip to P-6 Farms

There's always something fun going on in First Grade and I thought I'd share these two fun days! Every year around Halloween, instead of dressing up for the holiday, Pebble Creek does Book Character Day. They dress up, bring their books, and have a parade around the gym. Last year, Atticus was the Tickle Monster from the book The Tickle Monster and this year he was Flat Stanley from Flat Stanley at Bat. Well, you know me - I think I need to get creative for costumes, but I always envision something and then have to figure out how to make it work. What I envisioned was slightly different, but this worked. Here is our little baseball player!

 I was trying to get him as flat as possible, even though clearly Atticus's little body is 3D! :) So, I planned to somehow put cardboard all the way down his body, under his clothes, but it was tough enough just getting something to fit into his shirt. But, we made it work and he was cute! And he loved wearing baseball gear to school!

Also, this month was their first field trip of the year. They went to P-6 Farms. I got a fun ride with other moms (so that means fun visiting!) and then spent the day watching Atticus play and do all of the activities with his friends. And his teacher, Mrs. Payne, is SO much fun; she lets them have a great time and be wild and crazy, as long as they behave overall of course. I always appreciated this with Mrs. Downs as well. She let them have FUN on days that were supposed to be fun. I think his favorite part was the apple launcher where they tried to hit a target in the field with apples. But, there were pig races and slides and rides and a corn maze and lots of fun things to do. My favorite pictures are the bus pics of he and his friend Cameron - wide awake on the way there and dead asleep on the way home!