Goodbye, School! Helllooooo, Nurse.

So we all agree that May is worse than December when it comes to kids and programs, right? We had all kinds of stuff every night and all day on Saturdays. It was hard to keep it together sometimes.

I had a piano recital on Saturday, May 13. I had scheduled the library in American Fork, as usual, for a May recital. They called me on the Monday before and said the pedals on the piano had been broken when someone knocked it over (!) and I may want to reconsider having my recital there since they wouldn't be able to fix it in time. I decided I didn't need the pedals that much and to go ahead. On Wednesday the same woman called and told me some of the keys were broken too and I couldn't have my recital there. BAH. I called a few other places (and they laughed at me) before resorting to the Primary room at our church. My students' parents were very understanding about the whole thing. Brian wasn't going to be able to come because of a Scout training meeting he was teaching, but another piano Dad helped him leave a little early to catch his kids' performances. Bridget played the Barber of Seville Overture like a pro. She's done enough of these recitals that she can play through her nerves - and she knows how much she needs to practice to be able to do that. Kodi couldn't make it to the recital, so I filled in for her on the Chopsticks duet with Bridget. I love playing duets with Bridget! Emil and Colin made their debut at my May recital. Colin bobbed his head to keep time and he did very well. Emil didn't make any mistakes and kept perfect time. I've had enough students to know that being able to keep time is a big deal. :)

Emil and Colin played soccer in April and May on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The two games that Bridget and I missed, Colin made lots of goals and their team won. Emil was great on defense, but would overthink kicking the ball. He'd take too many steps and then end up kicking it with his left foot. They were on a team with Micah, which was very fun for them.

I've signed the boys up for a soccer camp later this summer so they can learn some skills. They need more skills, y'all.

Bridget was in the big Hope of America concert at the Marriott Center with all the other fifth graders in the world. Ha! Just Utah County. I covered it for the paper and interviewed the lady, Kathy McDonald, who started this big concert in 1996 (the centennial of Utah becoming a state). She had so much energy! Bridget loved being part of something so big and patriotic.

This is a terrible picture - I should have brought my telephoto lens. Five rows from the bottom of this shot Bridget and Sami are playing a hand-clapping game. They're in white and Sami has a braid down the back of her head.

This was our view. Emil said to Brian, "If they had stars in the blue they would look like a flag." AHAHAHAHAHA! Brian and I laughed and laughed at that. So close. :) The concert was long and the traffic was really bad, but it was inspiring. I love that there are people out there willing to go to so much trouble to help kids have a meaningful experience.

Emil and Colin got to come with me for a lot of cool newspaper stories during May. The coolest was Fire Ops 101. Emil put on all his firefighter gear (Halloween 2015) and the firefighters could not get enough of him. Colin wore a crazy get-up and a bad attitude. They are contractually obligated to not be happy at the same time.

We got to watch them set a car on fire so the civilian volunteers could put it out.

Emil's holding the jaws of life!

He also got to hold that ax and the hose. Like I said, the firefighters couldn't get enough of him.

Bridget had her big state report due in May. She worked on it all the time, researching all the cool stuff in Ohio. We brainstormed together quite a bit, but she did all the work herself. I was so proud of her! She had it done plenty early and when we saw the other tri-folds at the "state fair" at school, I was even more proud. 

Colin and Emil had their Kindergarten Showcase during the last week of school. They were on opposite ends of the stage and I fell into the trap (again) of trying to take pictures when I should have just sat down and enjoyed the moment. They were so cute singing and dancing with their classmates. Colin was standing by his friend Nash and I didn't know it, but I was standing next to Nash's Mom in the audience. They were pointing at us and smiling and talking to each other and I didn't know why until later. How adorable is that! "Look! Our Moms are standing by each other and so are we!!" Awesome.

I'm going to miss this version of Colin and Emil so much. I loved watching them get on the bus every day with their backpacks on. Both boys gave me a kiss as they got out of the van and then Colin would come running back for another hug and kiss as the bus came around the corner to their stop. Can you even stand it?! They are my sweethearts.

Then! It was finally time for the Dance Festival. If you read this blog, you know of my love/hate relationship with the Dance Festival. The principal talks too much, Bridget is always as far away from where we sit as she can possibly be, the boys are usually bonkers. On the other hand, I always start crying for joy and pride when I see the kids dancing together. Why? It's not like they are the best dancers I've ever seen. Maybe knowing they have no inhibitions and that it won't last? I don't know. This year, the boys could be bonkers sitting with the other kindergartners, so I thought we were home free. Then I was asked to do a story about the dance festival for the paper, so I had to take pictures of everything. And I could feel the part in my hair getting sunburned. Still love/hate, I guess.

Bridget's class sang one of their Hope of America songs and I got a sneak peek at where she'd be for the dance. Back row on the left, naturally. Standing next to what looked like grown women. For the love of all that is holy!!!

Bridget is the shortest person in her class. By a lot. She says she was absent (at Bring Your Child to Work Day) the day they were assigned their spot. Really? We can't put her next to someone who isn't a head taller? They danced to Justin Timberlake's "Can't Stop the Feeling" and every time it comes on the radio in the car the boys yell, "Bridget's song!" :)

The kindergarten kids always go last because they are the most anticipated dance. This year they did "Friends are Family" from the Lego Batman movie. Their teachers had them wear black garbage bag capes with the bat signal on the back. So cute! And so very very hot.

Oh my goodness. My favorite part is watching the kids RUN onto the field to take their places. Can you see the girls on the left who fell down and kinda got trampled by their classmates who DID NOT care what their deal was, they were getting to their spot. Colin, as always, looks like a character in a 1960s book. Hahahahahaha!

Signature move, pretending to make a call on a cell phone.

Colton is not a real super hero, so that cape got in his way several times. No capes! (I was sitting RIGHT in front and Colin was on the front row. He's in the 1.88% for kids his age. Sigh.)

Emil can really dance. Look at those fingers!

He could do that dance for you right now, that's how well he learned it. :)

Running in place, the other signature move.

I'm getting stressed out just thinking about the last two weeks of May. It was nice to check things off the list as they happened. Bridget did the rec league track this year with her bff, Sami. They went to practices twice a week and they had a meet once a week. The meets lasted for three hours. (Note to self: three hours.) Bridget ran the 4 x 100 with Sami and two other girls their age, the 100m and the javelin. That's a total of four minutes of action in a three hour meet. Where are my emojis? I need that one eye roll face...

For the first couple of meets they let Sami's little sister, and Emil's dream girl, Lizzy run in the 4 x 100 with them. Pretty adorable. Maybe not three hours of sitting on a bench and freaking out because I can't see Emil or Colin adorable, but adorable.

Toward the end of May the boys started playing T-ball. Brian had sworn off coaching T-ball FOREVER, but the moms of the other kindergarten kids in the ward convinced us that it would be awesome to have all the friends on the same team and Brian could coach them.

Front row: Micah, Colin, Lydia  Back row: Pierce, Weston, Gavin, Emil, Jett, Hazel, and Coach Dad

I love knowing all the kids' names so I can cheer for them. They can get a little crazy waiting to bat, but they all work together and encourage each other. It's sweet. Also, Emil figured out how to hit home runs off the T the last few weeks and he's pretty proud of himself.

This is as close to all of them looking and smiling as I got. (I took the team photo.) We're missing Henry and there is one other little girl who didn't sign up for the team. We have eleven kindergartners in our ward! 

Brian coaching, herding, whatever you want to call it.

Who can't find their hats? Hmmm.

After field day (the second to the last day of school) we whisked the kids away on a little adventure, but I'm going to do a separate post about Capitol Reef. That little End of School Getaway is more for Brian and me than the kids, I discovered. Sometimes you just have to get the heck out of Dodge! So long, May!