Father's Day

Today we celebrate our Fathers:  Johnny, Rafael, Bob, Jose, Steven, Isaac.  It is a day where the Dad's are special (and then tomorrow it's Monday and they're back to taking out the trash!)

Johnny and Bob enjoying their cigars

Tata - Jose Luis - Johnny and Rafael

Grandpa's Angels

Isaac's First Father's Day

Katie and Alina

Alina's Mommy

My Daddy on Father's Day

Tracy and the Chocolate Cake surprise

Our neighbors Jason - Denise and Kaiden joined us for Father's Day

And ending the day in the most special way of all - holding his children on his lap

 - when they are all fresh and clean

LP Picnic

After the afternoon at Dave and Busters it was off to park for one more celebration. The parents at LP arranged for a pot luck party at the park. About 100 parents and students spent the evening reminising about the school year, talking about plans for the summer and enjoying the sounds of happy kids running around. I mean, really - is there a sound more fun than that of kids who know they have 10 weeks off of school!??!

Now, there are no photos of the boys, because (1) they were never still long enough for me to get a shot and (2) they would have been embarrassed at mom the shutterbug snapping away.

Mom and Katie:

Katie and some of the other little brothers and sisters enjoy some ice cream:

The La Purisima Class of 2020 ... or easier said, it's newest Preschool Students ... Brendan, Katie and Diego. Ironically, these are all the 3rd child with 2 older siblings already at LP

Dave & Busters

After school was over and all the awards safely stored ... we took the rest of the day to celebrate a great school year at Dave and Busters. First we had a yummy lunch

Followed by playing games and winning lots of tickets. Zachary was really good at the spin the wheel. You have to hit stop at a spinning light and if you hit the one lone ligh bulb that is the jackpit you get 1,000 tickets. He hit it about 5 times!!

They had fun on the race cars, and I had fun just watching them. Their joy at being free for the summer was infectious

Last Day of School

The last day of school is a bittersweet day. The kids are excited to have a summer break - no classes, no homework. But they also don't get to see their friends and do all the fun school stuff. And, as they truly like their teachers, they are saying goodbye to a special person.

Nicholas finished 1st grade with a bang! He had so much fun in Ms. Chipman's class this year. I was one of the room moms and had fun too. She is such a special teacher, one of those individuals who is so passionate about what she does, and really loves the children in her class. His learning and growth this year was awesome to watch, we are so proud of how much he has achieved in first grade.

Here he is with Miss Chipman She puts together a DVD video, which each student gets to take home, of pictures of all the students and their activities throughout the year. What a special treasure that is for us. To have this keepsake of my precious child, created by a favorite teacher, means a lot. After the video show, which the parents are invited to watch with them, we gave Miss Chipman and Miss Lawson a photo album that we put together of more photos of the class for them. Here they are opening the gifts



The room moms got gifts too - my friend Grainne and I had a great time with this class this year. These kids are so great, and really good together as a group. I am glad Nicholas will have these special children in his class as he grows up at LP. And as we reminded Miss Chipman, Grainne and I will be back with her in 4 years, this time with Katie and Brendan!
After some tears by just about everyone they were rushed by the whole class to give a group hug. It was really sweet to see how much these little guys really loved their teachers. Nicholas started crying the last week of school, and sobbed almost the entire day ... as did most of his class, boys and girls alike. I think they would all repeat first grade again to be with her one more year.

Now, 6th graders aren't quite as emotional as the little ones. These kids are on the verge of becoming teenagers (yikes!) and are more excited about the prospect of no school or homework for a few months. They also will see the same teachers for the next two years while they continue on in middle school, so the good-byes aren't as dramatic. Zachary will still see Miss Lopez in Spanish, but just not everyday in homeroom and religion. He had a GREAT first year of middle school, and except for that nightmare of a backpack, really got the hang of lockers, changing classes, etc.

Here he is with Miss Lopez
Zachary and Bailey are best buds .. these two are the most goofy/silly kids I know, but with the biggest hearts around
Now onto the most exciting part of the day: The awards ceremony. At the end of the year, each class gives out a few awards ... perfect attendance, Consistent Effort, Christian Citizenship, and Most Outstanding. There is also the induction into the CAR Star Hall of Fame. CAR points are given for reading books and taking a comprehension test on each. All the students do this as part of their reading grade, but those who get over 100 points in a year join this group.

So this year - again, both Zachary and Nicholas received awards!!

AND THE AWARD GOES TO...

• CAR Star Zachary ... 331 points - the most in the WHOLE school!! He is a reading machine


• Perfect attendance Nicholas


• Christian Citizen of the Year for 1st grade - Nicholas


• Principals Honor Roll - Zachary


• Most Outstanding Overall 6th Grade - Zachary

WOW

Could we be any more proud?! These boys just rocked it - I thought my face was going to crack from the huge smile all morning.

Here is Nicholas getting his big award ... with the principal, Father Vincent and Deacon Tony

And Zachary getting his:And pausing to pose with Father and Deacon Tony With the other kids on Principal's Honor Roll (which is 3.7 GPA or higher and a bunch of other requirements). Zachary had achieved this every trimester he has been eligible to. His goal is to do so every trimester until he graduates. You go Zachary!

So all in all, a wonderful school year. We are excited for summer, but I am looking forward to watching these amazing sons of mine continue to thrive and learn.

Mud Run

The Mud Run 10k at Camp Pendleton is the funnest race I have ever done. Who would've thought that I would get a kick out of running 6 miles through mud, over walls and through a river? But it seriously is such a great time. We get up really early (not the fun part) and caravan down to the Marine base and run through the trails and obstacles they have set up on the course route. It does take some training, as the first 3 miles are up some decent inclines. But there is a spirit of fun and excitement that takes over from the moment you get off the shuttle, that it makes the physical part seem secondary. Then when it's over, we have a BBQ and party to celebrate!

Before the race the group is nice and clean - we wont stay this way for long!

At the start line waiting for the gun to go off - and clean!

The event sells out within days each year - and you have to register in January. It's hard in January to think of running in mud in June. There were a ton of people there, and at times when the course was a small trail, it got backed up and we had to wait to herd our way through

But finally we were able to run through one of the first river crossings -

Then it was time to climb over some of the walls

Which dump you in a mud pit
And eventually you end up crossing this lake. It's a trip to swim fully clothed and in your running shoes ... but it sure cools you off!

So here is the end of the race ... see - told you there would be mud. But as you can see, I plan ahead and wear brown - just because I am muddy doesn't mean I still can't coordinate!! (LOL)

And finally after the shower (an event in and of itself) and changing, we are ready to celebrate a great race and share stories - and can't wait for next years race.