Summer Break!

I hope that you don't think just because it is summer time you could avoid me...lol! I never posted a few last pictures and wanted to send them your way. Gumby will be shipped off to Iraq on Tuesday. I plan on e-mailing you all Bobby's address. I also want to send a huge, "Thank you!" for the notes that were delivered to me at Huber's...He will be so excited to receive them!

Our Father's Day mugs...After we traced their hands using paint markers and writing their names...I took them home and baked them to seal the paint. You place them into a cool oven and turn it on to 400...bake for 45 minutes. Next, turn the oven off and allow them to cool completely inside the oven before removing them. This is supposed to make them dishwasher safe...but I would hand wash them! I absolutely LOVE the poem I added, "Walk a Little Slower Daddy" ...brings tears to my eyes each time I read it! Happy Father's Day daddies!! 

Time to walk to our favorite ice cream place...Berry Twist!

What a wonderful last day of school! I will miss each of these sweet faces...please stop by my room next year so I can give out hugs...to the little ones of course! :) Enjoy your summer!

Look for updates on Gumby's adventure over seas! I will e-mail when I hear from Bobby!

Butterflies and Mamas...the world is a more beautiful place with them both!

A fun and busy week (I seem to say that each week!)! This week marks the end of our full week...we only have one more day left. This week I finished assessments! I can't wait for you to see how much these sweet and smart kiddos have grown! We also focused on one of the most important people in our life...our moms! I sure hope you all enjoyed your sweet gift they made you (next week we will focus on another awesome person...our dads!) We also worked on the life cycle of a butterfly and talked about insects. Lots of fun math came with learning about insects!

Please forgive me and the lack of pictures this week. My mind was on assessments and portfolios!

Thursday & Friday:

Our last week with Gumby! I also forgot to snag a picture with another sweet kiddo! Shame on me! I will get him next week!

Ok...we have some sad news. I retired Gumby with the broken arm. My son decided to take him in. Well...at the Big Four Bridge...Gumby was dropped or he jumped...maybe he felt his adventures were over now that he was retired...either way he now lives in the Ohio River.  My son drew this tragic picture...he was devastated. I tried to tell him that Gumby will have many more adventures in the water than in his room! 

This is the new Gumby. And now we have some good news! Gumby has decided to go and visit my brother-in-law, Bobby in Iraq. So his adventures can continue. I will be posting any pictures he sends me of him and Gumby protecting our beautiful nation on our Blog. I thought this would be a fun way to continue it over the summer. I will also be e-mailing you his address. He would LOVE pictures from kiddos. It gets kind of lonely over there I am sure! And mail of any kind will brighten his day!

B is for Bumblebee! They had to tear stripes for the Bee...and color him yellow. This was done independently. I gave the simple 2 step directions and they were all successful! Of course it worked on fine motor skills as well!

making self-portraits for their portfolios!

great job sweet buddy!

Telling me about how wonderful her mama is!

Insect or not an insect...that is the question!
We learned that insects have 3 body parts (head, thorax, and abdomen), 6 legs, and 2 antennae. This was great for working on sorting and 1:1 counting!  

Our super sweet gifts for our moms! They were made with fabric paint...so you are able to use them!

Noodle butterfly life cycle!

Super job sweet girl!

We also worked on gifts for our dads! They will be sent home on Thursday!

Derby Week...

I have learned to embrace the Kentucky Derby and Oaks this year! We had many fun activities and talked about the traditions of the event itself...even I learned a lot. We also began our end of the year assessments. I am amazed at how far these kiddos have come this year! So I apologize in advance for the lack of pictures...I believe it is under 100... lol!

Thursday:

Gumby's adventures continue with this sweet girl!

And with this sweet boy! Gumby will be sad when his adventures end! 

Time for some nontraditional Derby hats

Super cute...the horse is pretty cute too!

Every hat needs some sweet stickers...I am sure by this time of the school year you know how I feel about sticker peeling! 

Perfect! One of a kind Derby hats! Mom's you could have totally borrowed these!

Horseshoes for good luck! 

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/11/5f/7c/115f7c2f217ccf339d85e0e1493b27a6.jpg

Friday:

The Kentucky Derby is all about the roses! We made our very own roses using a stalk of celery!

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/194147433908700962/

Time to make ponies of our own! These 2 parents were suckered into helping last minute! I was so grateful for the extra help!

A master with this powerful hot glue gun!

Our favorite jockeys!

Thanks to a wonderful mama who cut all of the felt ears out for me! I also used leis for the mane rather than yarn or felt. These turned out super cute!
http://www.creativemamaonadime.com/2013/05/yeehaw-simple-pool-noodle-horses-its.html

Derby Time

And they're off!

The winner is....EVERYONE!

We also made these super cute horse hand prints. For some reason I don't have any pictures. We did the grass differently to make it look more "grass like" I had special paint brushes and added some green paint...the kiddos then twirled them around making the grass spike up! They weren't dry enough to send home on Friday...so you will see them next Thursday!
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/251427591666699687/