Personal Best!

Each 9 weeks CS has a award ceremony and the first 9 weeks our sweet Caroline received the Personal Best award for her class!  We are so proud!

So Sweet!

How sweet is this?

Cute Teacher's Gifts!

I just have to take a moment to show you the super cute teacher's gifts that I made.  I got the candy corn dish in the bins at Target ($2.50/each) and then made a yummy batch of Pumpkin Butterscotch cookies!  I was so pleased with how these turned out!

In Mid-October, Nicholas got to take an 'intersession' elective at CS. Intersession is the first week of their 2-week fall or spring break. Teachers offer various elective classes that are strictly fun learning - no grades!  Nicholas took a class called '5, 4, 3, 2, 1...Blast Off!', which was, naturally, all about rockets!  The big draw for the class was a field trip to the NASA Space Center in Huntsville, Alabama for the day.  Check out these awesome shots from the NASA Space Center!

The Chick-fil-A 5K!

This past Labor Day, Nick ran his very first 5K ever, and he actually finished!  He started running this summer, and ran mostly on treadmills in the rec center on campus.  He made a few attempts at a moderately hilly loop around the neighborhood, but never made it 3+ miles.  The heat put a damper on his running, but he managed to get just enough in.  His time was 37 minutes and some change, which was very exciting.  He was joined by friend/co-worker/fellow Memphis band director Albert Nguyen and his wife Amy, who were precious in sharing his first 5K with him...they encouraged him along the way, and literally helped him make it through. They could have run much faster, but stayed with me to the finish.  After that, they ran several more miles around downtown before calling it a day. They've run marathons before, and will again soon I think.  For now, Nick's quite happy with a 5K...Here are some neat shots of the trio in action!

Before the start of the race!  Look how happy we are!

Running down Historic Beale Street in Memphis (Nick's the green blur)

Heading down Beale, about to turn towards Autozone Park

At the finish @ AutoZone Park...Look how happy 'they' are!  Nick said he was about to die in this shot!

The New School Year!

Posing by the Flag Pole!

Every year, we take several photos of the kids and their first day as a new         grader! This is the last year to take pictures of Nicholas at CS!  Sniff Sniff...

Caroline posing by her 'hook' in the 'booth'!

Her first desk this year...they change a lot!

Nicholas with his Language Arts Teacher

Posing with Science, Math, & Homeroom teacher

One of our favorite shots...side by side at Nicholas' desk doing homework!

Sharing Jerseys

Nicholas played football again this year, and again worked his way up to quarterback!  They had a rough year (winning only 1 game), but Nicholas learned a lot, and really grew as a quarterback. For one game this year, his special friend Caroline Duncan got to come to see him play. She had tried to come to a couple games last year, but couldn't work it out. Nicholas wanted Caroline to wear his jersey, to which Caroline politely refused (she had to several times actually).  Eventually, Caroline's twin Grace finally said "I'll wear it, give it to me." Caroline instantly changed her mind, and put it on.  Here's a shot of the two of them, ready for the game...