When traveling long distances in a car it is best to find a few stops for both education and stretching our legs. Our stop at Harry S. Truman’s home in Independence , MO was one of these stops. Truman was the 33rd president and hailed from the state of Missouri. We saw the small visitor center exhibits and movie about the home in town. It was where the future Mrs. Truman was born and raised and became the house the married couple lived in for their entire life. The historical perspective from the location we visited was about the home and how they used it. The “next” tour that we could join was a bit of a wait so we skipped it and moved on. The lasting effect of this stop is that the girls learned a bit more about the presidency, discovered that some houses have names (in this case the house was called ‘the little white house’), and can pick a photo of Truman out. We visited for a half of an hour.

My flowers blooming in a field of Texas wildflowers.

When we bought the girls’ backpacks, we purchased a magic version. With every 10 months of school they shrink. Here is the proof of how it works.

August 2014 –

May 2015 – See the girls are not hiding as well behind each backpack because they shrank. Washing, rain, and dirt have no effect and can not stop the process.

If you are interested in buying your own version of this backpack, just let us know and we can point you in the right direction.

The end of school is finally here … is it really here? The girls have had a great year and will actually miss school over the summer. They love interacting with their classmates most, but they do love to learn.

Emily has loved her teacher. Ms Racey has things organized in her class with cute and clever labels. This fits well with Emily’s personality. While she wants order, she allows Emily to express her opinions and is patient to listen to Emily’s stories. Emily always has something to say in class. The class reads a book together after lunch. When Emily figured out we had a copy of one of the books at home, she had to read ahead.

Several students and friends in her class have moved away during the year and this has been a sad thing. Change is a hard thing. Emily has continued to be my rule follower. The fact that not everyone follows the rules still bothers her. If she could police it and change the world (or at least her class) she would.

Julia has enjoyed her teacher and class. She is also a rule follower in class. During the first few months of school, all she would talk about after school was who got in trouble in class. She was a world class people watcher. Figuring it all out was important to her. It was so important that she had trouble staying focused on her tasks, although this improved throughout the year. She made several friends in her class. Mama wishes she could be a fly on the wall in the class sometime to see how Julia interacts in class. When she is in the hall she is quiet and always in line.

Ms Brinkman sends home lots of crafts that they have done in class. Julia loves to put lots of detail into her work. As the year has gone on we have seen Julia start to get the idea of reading. It has been fun to watch. She will continue to read with Grammy to speed up her reading and retention. She had spent most of the year behind in her reading, but as school finishes up she is reading at grade level.

We could not be more proud of the citizens that the girls are in their classes. We are pleased with their love of learning. Humbled by Emily’s passion for reading. Joyful at Julia’s new experiences. Thankful for the friendship and mentoring that occurred this year. Pleased that Mama got to spend so much time in Emily’s class and got to know the kids. And grateful that we are on this journey with the girls!

Now, lets have some fun and play for the whole summer!

This year we celebrated the end of school with a party for both of the girls’ classes and friends. We met at the park and played with friends and classmates who joined us. There were toys available to play with and fruit and cookies snacks. The weather was sunny and clear and we enjoyed our afternoon of play! It was so much fun we will try to do this every year.

My blue eyed almost 3rd grader.

Blue shirts were the color of the day. You would think the girls had phone calls to arrange it, but they are so good they didn’t need to.

These two both have mischievous streaks, bet you could not guess.

A swing that is big enough for two.

Snacks on the snack table, toys in the background.

Tire swinging 2nd graders.

Tire swinging kinderkids.