Bragging, just a bit...well maybe ALOT

My Abby is pretty darn special- you know it, I know it, and now as her year in first grade comes to a close this afternoon I am going to prove it to all of you!
In the month of March her class participated in an Iditarod reading race. The goal: to read 1,131 minutes in four weeks. When I was told about this at Parent teacher I thought to myself, we will just let this one go, we have a hard enough time getting the required 20 minutes done each night. Then I heard it was a race and I KNEW there was no way we weren't doing this!!! She took it upon herself and came home from school each day and started reading- for hours! She read through several book series like Junie B. Jones and The Littles. She finished in two weeks and took first place!! Honestly, if you want Abby to do something, tell her it is a competition!!

Next up was the music class talent show. Everyone could participate, she didn't hesitate one moment and announced she would play a piano piece. She started taking lessons in January from my mother/Aunt Marsha- she is the only student, therefore hasn't had an opportunity to play a recital. I thought this was a wonderful chance, so we picked one of her hardest songs from her lesson and she mastered it in a couple of days and played it beautifully for the class!!
Soccer- oh how she LOVES soccer!!! We finished up the season last Saturday amid the freezing temps and rain, but that didn't bother the players one bit. Abby scored 21 goals in 8 games! The team closed out the season as the undefeated champs of Northern Utah County.Sadly, this next year the league splits boy/girl so she had to find a new team. She is now part of the Celtic Storm Academy in Orem, run by the BYU womens soccer team. She has LOVED it so far.
The last two weeks of school were full of activities which I was happy to be involved in:
They read Charlotte's Web in Literature this quarter and finished by having a party and viewing the movie. She was able to wear JEANS to school-complete joy!, and we made the Pig cupcakes together for her class!
Shakespeare Week is always fun with all the costumes the school wears, daily matinees of "A Mid Summer Nights Dream", and the final celebration where they learned how to fence by real instructors and made their own coat of Arms.

She had an Icecream Sunday party in honor of her hard work in memorizing all 78 phonograms. This was the first time in school that something really challenged her and we had to study each night with flashcards until they were mastered. She had to get 100% twice in order to be invited to go.
Today was the classroom Awards day. It made my heart sing as she was presented with many awards for all her hard work academically as well as recognizing her for the wonderful person that she is in school.
Clean desk award
Presidential fitness, Mastery of the Addition/Subtraction facts, Excellence in Art, Elizabethan Writing Contest
Her teacher gave her the "Shining Star Award" she wrote:
"Abby, you are stable, self-assured, and dependable in all you do. I can count on you when I need someone with clear thinking and understanding. You were the one I looked to for a model for the class."I couldn't be more proud!!!

It really is a happy sad day for us. We have LOVED this school, it's teachers, friends, curriculum and feeling of the school. But this is goodbye for Abby, she won't get to see her Grandma and her cousin Asher everyday and she will have to start over fresh at a new school with an all new social atmosphere and friends to make. I know she will thrive, she does in everything she tries, but as her mother I am always the one that wants to protect her and switching schools is never easy.Goodbye First Grade!

With all that said we welcome summer with open arms- bring on the lazy days without a school schedule!!!