The Race of Height

When you have a house full of boys, that are close in age, there seems to be a competition for everything. Even something that can't be controlled, like height.

Per doctor predictions, Capps with be the tallest (5' 10"/11") and Mac will be the shortest (5' 7") and Tavis and Daegan will probably be about the same in the middle somewhere (5' 9").

We periodically measure on the door frame in the kitchen. I know that the ages of the boys means they are going to grow like weeds for a little while, but this seems a little crazy to me.

In the last year:

Mollee grew a 1/2 inch
Tavis grew 4 1/2 inches
Daegan grew 4 1/4 inches
Capps grew 3 inches
and Mac grew 3 1/2 inches

In the last THREE months, Tavis and Daegan both grew 1 1/2 inches. WHAAAT?!?

So, at the end of May 2016, here are the heights recorded:

Mollee 5' 2 3/4" (she wants to say 5' 3", but I'm not allowing it)
Tavis 5' 5 1/2" (passed Mommy)
Daegan 5' 1 1/2 " (almost passing Mollee)
Capps 4' 10"
Mac 4' 2 1/2"

Tavis in DC, per Tavis

Picked up my boy tonight.  It was good to see him, but it was also good to hear how much he enjoyed the trip. He said it was incredible!

The first thing he did when he got home was have a bowl of cereal. Ha! He said no cereal was offered all week.

They went to DC for five days and then up to Gettysburg the last two days, so the trip home took 11 1/2 hours.

He was tired, but not too tired to talk my ear off the whole way home.

They did so many great things, but he seemed to like walking the battlefields of Gettysburg the best. We gave him an old iPhone to have to play games on the bus ride and take pictures as he wanted.  This is DC, via Tavis...

He said church gave him a headache because they were burning incense.

He also said he woke up with swollen eyes each morning because the pillows were feathers (his only allergy) but it was a small price to pay for incredible comfort. DUH!

Tavis and Josh being goofy, in their new "controversial" hots.

 He also said the war memorial was extremely moving and a somber experience.

 When we decided to give Tavis the iPhone (about four hours before he left), we couldn't find any old cases. I assumed the phone would come back broken. Apparently, he bought this case:

 And these were his other tokens of tourism

Glad to have him home, but so, so glad he got to experience this trip. Especially, with such an awesome class and great group of chaperones.

Apparently, sleeping on the bus attracted pictures...

 and selfies.

Tavis in DC

The 8th grade class left for DC on Saturday morning at 4 AM.  With social media, keeping up with the group has been fairly easy. I am so happy for this trip, all the things they got to see and experience, and the fun with friends prior to summer.

These are the pictures I was able to steal off of Facebook for the trip. Of course, Tavis only called once...on about day 5.

A few pictures, but no faces, dabbing gets in the way of that.

 Group shot!  This is really a great class!

 At the White House with his group.

 They also have a fancy 8th grade dance on a boat on the Potomac River. These are the photos I stole from that.

Capps' 5th Grade Graduation

And, just like that, #4 is moving up to Middle School (NOT JR HIGH!). When this kid started kindergarten I cried more for him than any of the others. He was quirky, extremely difficult socially, and had some borderline autistic tendencies.  

His kindergarten teacher was a perfect match, Mrs. W, and helped him break out of his mold. He is still quirky, but socially, he is who he is and doesn't care what others think. He has far exceeded anything I could ever imagine for him academically. And his heart makes me tear up every time I think about how sweet, compassionate, and kind he is.  Yet, still extremely loud, crazy, and fun!

To Mrs. Sikkema, who has also worked with him a lot this year! You are one of the best teachers available!!!

 The 5th grade walking the halls and getting high fives from parents, 4th, 3rd, 2nd, 1st, and kindergarten students!  A great, emotional for me, tradition!

 A little recorder playing for graduation.

 Coach Visser (recently have surgery and in a cast) was the graduation speaker.

 Capps getting his "diploma".

 Ms. Dahnke, we will miss you!

 Mr. Lubben, Capps advanced math teacher, two years in a row!

 Mrs. Tallent, pushing my boy to explore his reading options!

 And, Mrs. Sikkema...

 You rock!!!

 I love the cousin friendship between Capps and Elanor that has bloomed this year!

 A special guest, Aaron Lazor, because he came with his boss for a work break. :)

 Capps and Mommy (I guess soon that will just be Mom)

 And, two other amazing friendships this year!

Israel, a new friend that seems like they've been together forever.

And, Whit, a friend for life!

Last Day of School

We had to do this picture in stages because Tavis' last day was last week.

Today was the last day for the other four.

The Mollee Face

Before she deletes this from my phone, I'm putting it here. This is absolutely, "The Mollee Face".