Summer has arrived

As of Friday, all of the kiddos have officially entered summer. Ainsley is now an official kindergartner, Graham is now in the first grade, and Sydney is the twerp elder entering third.

Who would have thought?

It is also important to note that all of the kiddos have also received their report cards. Ainsley's performance is still a complete unknown. I am afraid we will have to wait until next year to find out where she truly stands. We have not heard a peep since her mid year review in which she base lined every evaluable measure according to her teacher. All I can tell you for sure is that she was accepted to kindergarten and that, when compared to my other kiddos at the same age, she seems significantly ahead of where they were. Ainsley does receive some special bonus points too. She made it through an entire year without receiving a single yellow sticker. That is a sign of tremendously good behavior and a feat that her older siblings never came near. For comparisons sake, both Graham and Ainsley earned about 5 to 10 yellow stickers during their pre-k tenure.

Now, I know nobody saw that coming.

Graham does not receive grades per se. He receives check marks. Either he learned the evaluable skills or he did not. I am happy to report that he is chock full of check marks. He seems to have mastered all that was required of kindergarten. This summer we will be working on reading to help create a love for books. We will reward him with math as, like his Dad, this is what he loves the most. For those of you wondering how this generation compares to my own. I was officially taught multiplication in the third grade. Sydney was taught in the 2nd grade. With teacher Sydney, Graham and Ainsley have already been schooled. Yes, believe it or not, both Ainsley and Graham are learning the multiplication tables - and with success too.

Sydney received straight As. This little feat earned her a spot on the all A honor roll for an entire year. I think this is quite a feat and I am tremendously proud. Honestly, flashback 7 years ago and we did not even know if today would be a reality, much less the fact that she is a straight A student and a junior Olympic caliber athlete in Tae Kwon Do.

That is a far cry from stage IV neuroblastoma with roughly a 15 to 25% chance to survive 2 years.

To say that I am thankful is a gross understatement.

Sydney is already pretty hard in the books for 3rd grade. She has been practicing her cursive (a 3rd grade achievement) which she absolutely loves and we will be working with her to further establish her love of reading. Opposite of Graham, she will be punished with math. Thankfully, she is a great reader and we hope to nurture that as a lifelong passion.

That leaves us with the rest of summer and the opening of the Dungan pool. Our doors opened on Saturday morning.

I think the kids are still in the pool.

I had better go check.

As you can see, the summer will be full of purpose too.