Wrapping up May

As of now, my "little" boy is a first grader. Where did the time go? I got to show up on the last day of kindergarten just in time for the end-of-the-year party. Will saw that I had my camera and was anxious to pose with his friends. The two boys with glasses on each side of him are Jace and Kain; they have starred in most of the sweet stories Will has told us about through the school year. The other kids gathered around when they saw the three boys posing.

This is Mrs. Smith, Will's teacher. They have had a mostly great relationship as far as I know. She has had MUCH more patience with his clowning around and talkativeness than I may have had, and I suppose that's why Will loved having her as his teacher.

I brought Will home early after the party (I'm sure the teacher encouraged the parents who were there to take the kids because she loaded them up with fruit punch and cupcakes.) We came home; said goodbye to our sitter, Christina, for the summer; loaded up the car; and headed to Nana and Papa's for Memorial Day weekend. Saturday, Ben started with a fever. While he slept, the rest of us got to meet Beckham. Maddie, Jon, and Will took turns holding their new little cousin, who is not quite a month old. When Ben woke up, he still had a fever so Allen and Ben went to the pharmacy for some meds. We did let Ben peek at Baby Beckham, but he didn't have enough energy to notice much.

Saturday evening, Maddie, Ben, and Jon got to picnic at Sonic with Nana and Papa. Will had earned enough good-behavior points to make a special dinner request: Medieval Times. We decided to make it a special occasion for him, so it was just the three of us: Will, Daddy, and Mama.

Will had a BLAST at the dinner theater. He loved watching the jousting and sword fighting, and he really got involved with the cheering and booing (the Green Knight was the bad guy). When Allen copied Will's enthusiasm, Will looked at him, frowned, and said, "Dad, quit being so weird." Then Will went back to the cheering. Will really wanted a souvenir, and the castle's waiting area was filled with items for sale: costumes, swords, shields, 42-ounce fishbowl margarita glasses, and other over-priced eleventh-century-inspired items. We convinced him to wait and spend his money more wisely, so we stopped by Toys-R-Us on the way home. He chose a set of two swords and shields for the price of one of the swords at the restaurant, so we all felt better about the purchase.

Sunday, the whole family met at the pool at Uncle Jason's neighborhood. There were very few people there, so the kids got to splash and enjoy themselves and I wasn't nearly as on-edge as I was this time last year. The little kids were tall enough to stand in the kids' pool, and they were getting pretty comfortable with the water. All of us napped in the afternoon. Monday, Shelley and I got a little shopping in away from the kids and guys. The quiet girl-time is always refreshing, and I got some pants, a jacket, and blouse at great prices. Our family got home in time to order pizza for dinner. Now for summer. . . .