Star of the Week

Last month, it was FINALLY Samantha's turn to be Star of the Week in kindergarten. The kids go alphabetically by first name so it has taken until almost the end of the school year for her to have a turn. Star of the Week is when you get to fill out a special poster with pictures, drawings and information all about you! Your whole family is invited to attend your child's presentation where they talk about their poster, answer questions from the rest of the class and share a special treat of their choice. 

Samantha wore her fancy ponytail that day ;)

And kicked the morning off with cinnamon rolls for breakfast. 

The kids asked all sorts of sweet questions. It was like she was at a job interview. 

After her presentation, each of the kids filled out a sheet on why they think Samantha is special. 

My favorite part is that Samantha sat down and began to fill one out for herself! 

I agree!

Samantha brought juice boxes and Trader Joe's Joe-Joe's cookies which meant mom didn't have enough time to bake something on her own…..(whoops!) 

After treats we went back to the classroom and I loved to see Thatcher plop right down on the floor next to Sam like one of the big kids. 

Here's a sample interview question. The audio isn't so great but Ashley is asking Samantha why if she only had one wish would it be to read 1000 books? And the answer: She likes to read. This along with several other of the most random questions I've ever heard were asked for about 10 minutes. 

And this book is a keeper with all the things the kids said about Samantha. 

T-Ball

FINALLY it is time for this little guy to do an organized activity.

Although I am not sure how organized the YMCA T-Ball is….

Thatcher's having fun though ;)

I think.

He gets told to be in his "ready position" and Thatcher has the best "bum on a bucket" stance I've seen. 

He's like a statue. 

First game!

The best part is that Jack is on the team with Thatch. (Not sure I could survive these practices or games without the Paskin crew) ;)

Look how enthusiastic these two are?!

The Dodgers (we had no say in the team name….)

Snacks and high-fiving the other team at the end of the game is what Thatcher says is his favorite. 

Picture Day! Which by the way his photos will be interesting when we get them as the night before picture day he fell off the top of the play structure at preschool and bruised and scraped up his face pretty bad. 

Here's some video of practices and games. The games are a comedy of errors. I am not sure what rules they play by but it is good practice for your first year and definitely cute to see these kids have so much fun even though they pretty much have no idea what they are doing ;)  You will hear in the actual games a lot of, "GO GO GO GO GO!" "THROW IT TO FIRST" "GET BASEBALL READY", "TAG HIM" and my favorite, "DON'T FIGHT, WE ARE ALL ON THE SAME TEAM"!!!

Kindergarten Jog-a-Thon

The jog-a-thon is one of the bigger fundraisers at Peabody. We are talking a six-figure money raiser! Leading up to the jog-a-thon there are assemblies, contests and constant reminders/pressure to raise like a zillion dollars. I know this because I am on the sports committee that puts it on ;) 

Samantha's class team name was the Red Ninjas and guess who designed their shirt logo?!  Her dad, of course ;)

Pre-jog-a-thon silliness with Mason. 

All the Red Ninjas 

And they were off! 

All the grades run for 40 minutes except K does only 30. 

Samantha just kept running and running.

Our jog-a-thon is no joke as the kids are all wearing timing chips that electronically tracked their laps each time they ran under the balloon tunnel. 

Samantha just kept running and running and running. I soon realized that she had a pretty good chance of winning.  

Finished!

Thatcher in front of some of the sign sponsors which as part of the sports committee was my job to help get. 

At the end of the day, Samantha learned that she ran 26 laps. The most in her kindergarten class. What she didn't know (and what I knew because I am on the committee and saw the results) is that she ran more laps than anyone in kindergarten, both boys and girls. 1st out of 100 kids. 

Some video of my little runner

An all-school assembly to present the awards. 

Video of her receiving her 1st place medal!

The sweetest part was that the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place girls were all close friends and fellow soccer teamates from the Rainbow Sharks ;) 

Thank you to all of Samantha's friends and family for donating to the jog-a-thon!