Farewell to Elementary School

Oh my! I completely dropped the ball on Austin's 5th grade culmination post. I had typed out the entire thing, and only needed to do a final edit. Tonight, four months later, I discovered I never published it! Sorry little buddy!

*** This post was written on June 30th, 2013.

September  5, 2006, Austin's first day of pre-K.

June 7, 2013, Austin's last day of elementary school.

 As I look back at Austin's pre-K picture, I only see traces of that pint sized boy. In his place I see a budding young man who consistently desires and strives to conduct himself as a child of God. I see a boy who can handle himself when he is wronged or overlooked, a boy who chooses to do the hard (and right) things, a boy who stands up for others, and a boy who always manages to see the good in others. Often times, Austin has been the one to encourage and convict me, and I am reminded of how often God uses our children to sanctify us.

In just a few short months, I'll be entering new territory, and I've been informed, or better yet, warned, that changes are a coming. Puberty, peer pressure, girls, and who knows what else being the likely culprits. Moms have cautioned me to avoid holding hands, kissing on the cheek, and hugging within a five mile radius of his middle school. It's going to take a significant amount of restraint on my part, but I'm telling you now, if I can get away with one or two, or three of the above without ruining his reputation, I'm going for it!

As I look toward the future, I am filled with hope and excitement for what God has in store for Austin. I don't expect the middle school years to be a breeze, but I know God will use that time to bring us closer to Him and to each other. In the meantime, I'm going to spend our brief summer before middle school squeezing in as much hand holding, kisses and hugs as I possibly can. :)

June 6, 2013
5th Grade Culmination

We were so proud of Austin on his culmination day. Not only did he receive the Young Scholars Award, but he also received the Gold Presidential Award for Educational Excellence. He worked very hard all throughout his years in elementary school, and had an amazing seven years. More than his academic successes, I have always been so extremely proud of the ways in which he has shown himself to be a person of character and integrity to his friends, their parents, and the staff at his school. Congratulations Austin! We love you so much. 

Preschool 2012-2013

Technically, tomorrow is Bethany's last day of school, but we couldn't have little sister miss her big brother's 5th grade culmination now could we?

So today she said goodbye to her teachers and friends, some of whom will be back again next year, and some of whom will be moving onto kindergarten. I tried to explain to her that it was her last day of school, but to her it was just the end of another day. Hopefully she won't be too disappointed when we don't go back all summer. 

I can proudly say Bethany's first year of pre-school was a success. She had a great team of dedicated teachers, teacher's aides, and specialists helping her every step of the way, and it shows in the amount of progress she has made. She still has a lot of work ahead of her, but I'm confident she will make great strides in the year to come.

Congratulations Bethany on completing your first year of preschool.

We are so very proud of you!

My Final Days As a Chaperone

Today marked the very last field trip of Austin's elementary school years, and I was so thankful to be able to go one last time. For the past seven years, I have been fortunate enough to be a chaperone on most of Austin's field trips, and have always looked forward to sharing those special times with him.

It all began with his first field trip to the Underwood Farms when he was just shy of turning four, to our final field trip together this afternoon at the ripe old age of ten.

I don't know if I'll have opportunities like this in middle school, but if I do, you can count on me to be there!

October 2006 - Underwood Farms

April 2013 - Los Angeles Music Center

First Day of School!

On August 14th, both of my kiddos had their first day of school. Austin started the 5th grade, and my baby girl officially entered the public school system as a Preschooler.

It was an exciting morning, and an exhausting one, as we had just returned home from vacation the night before (that's another post for another day).

 

Since they both started school on the same day at two different schools, we decided that I should go with Bethany, and Sam would go with Austin. I realized then that this is what it's like for other moms with more than one school aged child.... you can't be in two places at once. :-(

I had never missed any of Austin's first days of school, so I'll admit I was disappointed. On the other hand, I was pretty excited (and nervous) to take Bethany to school. She recognized the teacher from last year's afterschool speech class, so she walked right in and turned to me, and said "bye." I didn't want to mess with a good thing, so I gave her a hug and kiss and went home.

She was only gone for two and a half hours, but I spent most of that morning looking at my watch. At pick up time, I was so relieved to find a happy preschooler waiting for me.

A few hours later, we went to pick up Austin. He was a bit sad about not being in the same class with most of his close friends (i was too), but much to his credit, he made good of what could have been a bad situation, and has been enjoying school (minus the homework). ☺

Happy first day of school to my precious babies!

2+2=?

I am living proof that all Asians aren't good at Math. I never lived up to that particular Asian stereotype. I never liked Math, and never excelled at it. If anything, Language Arts has always been my strong suit, and I have my SAT and GRE scores to prove it.

My son Austin is a different story. He is quite the mathematician (and his Language Arts skills aren't too shabby either). A few days ago, we received a letter from Austin's school stating that he had been picked to participate in the first ever Mental Math Showdown for 4th graders. Each teacher picked their top five math students based on class performance and scores from the California Standards Test. A total of 26 students took part in the "showdown".

The kids were so nervous, but who could blame them? Their fellow classmates, teachers and parents were all watching. As several rounds of questions were completed, the number of students on stage dwindled down to six.

Austin was up next, but was told his answer was incorrect.

Some of us in the audience were pretty certain his answer was correct, so one of the parents went to tell the Math coach. After some deliberation, they realized they had made a mistake. Much to his relief, he was called back on stage.  Woo hoo!

Down to the final 3.

 

When all was said and done, Austin placed 3rd, and I couldn't be prouder. 

Way to go Austin!
And way to keep the Asian stereotype alive and kickin'! ;)

First Day

No first day of school would be complete without our annual picture taken on our front steps.

Not only did Austin grow a few inches this past summer, but you can also tell he's grown up by the absence of a character backpack. His days of Thomas the Train, Star Wars, Pokemon and Bakugan backpacks are over. Although I've never been a huge fan of character merchandising, except for Hello Kitty of course :), it's sad to say goodbye to that part of his childhood.

But, I have a fourth grader now, and it's time to move on to bigger and better things.

I was happy to see many of his friends from last year in his class again. He has a very experienced and wonderful teacher whom I know from my days of teaching at the school. I know it will be a challenging year, but I'm confident it will be a great one. 

After school, Bethany and I had a little something waiting for him in the car. It's something I've always done for Austin on the first and last days of school since Pre-K, and I'm looking forward to doing the same with Bethany. :)

I don't know what Bethany was more happy about - having big brother back home, or the balloons. :)

Back to School

My little man finally went back to school today. 

He started the day with one of his favorites - chocolate pancakes.
(he was so tired from waking up at 6:30am)

Ready to go off and conquer the 3rd grade.

I can't believe how quickly the years have passed. It made me think back to his other first days of school so I thought I'd take a trip down memory lane and share them with you.

Pre-K

Kindergarten

 1st grade

2nd grade 

 

We hope you have a wonderful year Austin!

We love you so much.