Finishing Up First

May 2012 - The end of the school year was really busy for us!  That is probably part of the reason it took me so long to get this posted on the blog...  So busy at the end of the year and then the kids were home and summer was going so it was even more busy!  Anyway, Logan had a FABULOUS year in first grade.  His teacher was amazing and he was in such a good class with lots of his little friends.  I was sad for it to change.  They did lots of fun end of year activities.  I thought I should just dump them all into one post, but then it ended up getting really long, so that probably wasn't the best idea... 

May 21 - The whole first grade had a special Drive-In movie day where they got to sit in little cars they made and watch a movie on the big screen in the gym.  They all got to make their own cars.  Logan has been really into cars lately, which makes his dad so excited and so they worked on this project together and built a pretty sweet Ferrari.  My favorite part was the little spoiler.  I'm not sure who was more excited...  What a great daddy!!!

Watching Daddy paint the car

The finished product!  Daddy added the little Ferrari symbols and the NINJAGO license plate and Logan LOVED his car!

 

May 25 - Logan had one last reading assembly at the school and he got another award.  He got the rank of apprentice because he had 100 points.  He did great earning points during the year and for 2nd grade, he has the goal to move up a rank to knight and earn 250 points.  He has found so many series of books he likes to read - Magic Treehouse, Cam Jensen, A to Z Mysteries and even some dinosaur books! Here he is running up to the stage... 

Getting his award! 

Showing off his certificate

May 29 - Since Logan has a summer birthday, his class celebrated his birthday the last week of school.  I went to his class and read a story to them since that is what they do for birthdays.  Logan picked the book What happened to Patrick's Dinosaurs.   His first choice was to take his HUGE dino dictionary, but I didn't think that would be the best idea or make for a very entertaining story time....  Here is his cute little class ready to read the story. 

After I read the story, Logan's teacher read his spotlight.  He LOVED having so much attention and wanted to keep making little comments and tell stories.  Logan loved to tell stories about himself.  He was really excited to tell about when he was little and was shooting basketball in the snow and got stuck in the ball bin in Grandma Webber's garage!  He tells stories with such detail and animation!  I love listening to him!

Here are some of the things in Logan's little spotlight.  Some of the things he came up with were pretty funny!  The teacher let him call on people to guess some of his answers and he LOVED that part.
Something special about my name is....My middle name is after my Grandpa Boman and my dad
I was born in....  Las Vegas, NV
When I was a baby, I liked to ----  Always hold onto someone's finger.  When I got bigger, I loved to play with any kind of ball.  I was shooting on my little hoop before I was 2.  (this is when he told the story of being stuck in the ball bin...)
In my family, I am the Oldest.  
Some things my family like to do together.... Go on vacation, Play in the yard, Play Kinect, Visit Family, Go to Aggie games, Watch America's Funniest Home Videos, play games, have movie nights
If you could have ANY pet, what would it be?  Utah Raptor because I would train it to play fetch and race with me and it would make me run faster, like up to 50 mph
Favorite thing to Eat?  Ice cream - Vanilla
Favorite Drink?  Lemonade or Chocolate Milk
Favorite Holiday?  Easter and Christmas because I get to celebrate Jesus and think about scripture stories.  (He made sure to explain to his teacher that MOST kids say those holidays because they get presents, but his was about Jesus.  So funny!)
I am Good At....   Reading, Remembering Things, running, Playing Computer, Beating my Dad at Kinect, Helping, Not telling surprises, Riding my scooter
If I had 3 wishes, they would be:
1 - To have a pet dino - ALL the ones I could think of!  (He then started listing them and most of them were names I've never even heard of!)
2 - I wish I could be magic and do cool tricks (He showed an example of making someone in his class disappear and reappear)
3 - A Million Dollars - I would purchase something to make me fly, buy the Lego fire temple and share with the poor.

There was also a note from Mom and Dad.  It said, "Logan, we are so glad you are our son and that you are our oldest child because you are so kind to everyone, including your sisters.  You always try to be nice to everyone and make sure they are included.  You are so smart and remember everything you read.  You know more about dinosaurs than anyone we know.  We love you and your enthusiasm for life!  It makes our home more fun and happy.  Everything is so exciting to you and it makes life so much better!"

Afterwards, I joined Logan for lunch.  This is something Darren and I have tried to do quite a bit throughout the year, especially at first and we have loved doing it and Logan still likes for us to come.  We don 't embarrass him....yet....

 Logan and his buddy James eating lunch with me.

 May 30 - Logan's class has a special Student led conference at the end of the year where the kids shared their writing portfolio and told us what they learned and the work they did that year.  Logan wrote some pretty great stories!  We loved seeing all his work.  (Funny little fact...  When I walked into Logan's classroom and saw what he was wearing, I almost died!  I had slept in that morning because I'd been up a lot with the baby, so Darren had gotten Logan ready and off for school.  He is great to do that!  The only problem...  This shirt is a PJ shirt!  They were brand new pajamas so Darren didn't recognize them and it was pretty good looking...for pajamas.  But...yep!  He wore them to school all day and I couldn't get him to change it for the program that night!  Oh well....)

Anyway - They also shared the snake dioramas they made.  There was even a bowl full of questions for us to draw from to ask him about snakes and he knew them ALL!  There were some pretty detailed explanations, too.  He is a snake expert!  He was pretty proud of his the cobra he made!  It had some awesome fangs and even had eggs!  His paper about his snake said - My snake is a Cobra.  Its name is Venom.  It lives in a Savannah.  It likes to eat Mongoose.  Cool Fact:  Its eggs feel leathery.

Logan's cobra - Check out those fangs!

After the conference, it was lunch time.  The teacher told us that we could stay and eat there with our students or check them out for lunch.  We let Logan choose and he wanted to go out.  (YEAH!!!)  He had a hard time choosing...  At first it was Chick-Fil-A, and then Pizza Pie Cafe, but we ended up at Noodles and Co.  YUMMY!  It was so fun to have a little date out with just Logan.  Our kids love one-on-one time with us, but one-on-TWO time is even better.  We should try and do it more!  (Actually, Bronson was there, too, but he just slept in his car seat...)

Our handsome Logan - Can't believe he is done with FIRST grade!

Logan and Daddy - My men! 

Logan and Mommy  - I love this sweet little boy!   (and my salad which was completely delicious and seeing it is making me want to go there and have it again...)

That night, his class had a special little program for the parents to show some of what they had learned.  It was really fun.  These pictures are terrible!  My camera doesn't have a zoom lense and I was trying to wrestle both girls and handle Bronson who was fussy because Darren had to work late.  Anyway - That is Logan on the back row in the grey colored shirt. 

Not sure what he is doing here... 

Logan's teacher prepared a little letter for each of the kids to read about them and some of their best qualities and what she thought they would be when they grew up.  It was really cute of her and I'm sure took a lot of time.  Here is Logan's turn...

Here is what Miss Smith said about Logan:

Logan is an exceptionally bright child with a unique passion for learning.  He catches on rapidly when we learn new concepts and he remembers EVERY detail of what is taught.  His comments are always insightful and clever, and I am continually amazed by his ability to make connections between ideas.  Logan has a witty sense of humor, and a ready laugh, and he is a master at inventing imaginative games.  Logan strives to be cooperative in the classroom and on the playground, and I appreciate how genuine and light his heart is.  Logan, when you grow up I think you could be a paleontologist.  I'm so glad you were in our class this year! 

Anyway, the program they shared a couple nursery rhymes they had learned and the cool raps they learned to go with them.  Logan's teacher was so great and had lots of little fun songs and things to help the kids remember things.  They did fun hand motions and "cool" little phrases and they were so fun.  Logan's favorite was Humpty Dumpty. After they performed their nursery rhyme, their teacher showed a really cute little slide show of the year (she made one for each of them to keep!) and there were some refreshments.  It was such a fun way to end the year! 

Logan and his teacher after the program
(Still sporting the PJ shirt...)

 This is the card that Logan made for his teacher.  I thought it was so cute.  I loved how he wrote "comments".  It is just a Logan thing to say.

 His card said, "Dear Ms Smith, my first grade year was good.  Second grade year is going to be fun too.  thank you that you taught me that I liked science, Logan

 This is the picture he drew of her...  She has really short hair and she is wearing her school spirit shirt.  When I went to pick him up on the last day, he was having everyone in his class sign the card to give to her.  He is so sweet! 

 Last day of first grade! 

We LOVED Miss Smith and we will really miss having her for a teacher next year. 

And one more...  Logan and Miss Smith on the VERY last day of first grade!  (June 1) Can't believe how quickly this year went by!  I ran to the school to take a picture of Logan there and pick him up and got there and realized I had no battery in my camera!  Luckily, Miss Smith took a picture with her phone and sent it to me.  Logan adored Miss Smith and had such a fun class this year.  He is having a hard time leaving 1st grade behind.  I hope things go as well in 2nd grade!