I am struggling to realize that it is MAY!  I feel like just yesterday Christmas break ended.  The last five months have flown by.....one minute we were starting a new semester in school and now here we are finishing up the semester!  Let's see.....

Colin, who has learned to love school a little too much, only visited home twice since he began his spring semester in college!  Ugh.  Growing up is great yet hard for this mama.  He was due home the weekend of Mother's Day so that we could all enjoy a restful weekend of lake camping.  However, MK became the latest victim in our house of the stomach virus so we changed all of the above plans and made new ones....and Colin stayed at college.  He was due to come home, all in one piece on the Tuesday after Mother's Day BUT on Monday, he texted and had injured his foot.  Ugh.  He is leading one of the campus ministries on his college campus and they were all on a retreat at a friend's lake house.  He had a competitive game of basketball going on, jumped up to dunk and then came down wrong on his left foot.  Two days and some bruising later, the doctor confirmed he had broken one of the metatarsal bones in his foot.  He came home, sat down for dinner in his cast, looked at us and said, "Great.  I am just now realizing I broke my foot on the very first day of summer." Cue....poor guy.  He has persevered and is now working two jobs for the summer!

Pryce, our soon-to-be high school graduate, officially finished his senior year today with his AP Statistics exam.  His classes ended over a week ago so he has definitely enjoyed his share of down time.  He's also been kept busy with working at our church doing the sports ministry and playing golf with friends.....and he worked his first stent at the Augusta National over Spring Break.  Many once in a lifetime memories made during that week! I continue to be thankful that he is ready for this next step in life.  He said it was so strange to walk out of school for the last time.  His last few days at school were followed by Senior Honors Banquet, last day class parties, and his graduation celebration with two of his childhood friends.  Pryce has handled all of the above in stride and I can see the confidence in him as he looks ahead in life.  

MK.... she was presented with High Honors for 8th grade today.  She is a girl who can do anything she puts her mind to.  She loves school, loves her family (sometimes) (most times), loves her friends (always), walks away from drama, she is kind, she is strong....and she is gorgeous too!  She is a good friend to all and always likes to be busy.  I am so thankful her 8th grade year was able to be one of somewhat normalcy.  She went every other day for a few months but then started back to school full-time around the Thanksgiving holidays - you have never seen a more happy teen than the day she read the announcement that school was going back full-time.  She would have worn three masks if necessary but our social girl needed to be back in her social world!  Proud of our MK....she stepped out of her comfort zone and tried our for cheer.  She is amazing....she had not done one bit of tumbling in a year but she set her mind to making the team, practiced at home, self-taught herself the tumbling needed, tried out and made the team!  And that is our MK....anything she sets her mind to, she succeeds.  

Maddox...she successfully finished her 5th grade year and first year of homeschooling!  We have had the best time being together (Maryn too!) this year.  The decision to homeschool was made prior to Covid even being a name and one that has proven to be good for all of us.  Homeschooling provided me the opportunity to spend time with my girls that I missed when they were in school full time.  Our lives are so busy in the afternoons with dance, dance, and more dance.....I wouldn't have it any other way except to say that I was truly finding that there would be days that I didn't see one or two of the girls.  This year Maddox tackled IEW (Institute for Excellence in Writing)....the boys did this program and thrived so I knew Mads would excel as well.  And she did!  She loved her classes each week and I never once had to proofread a paper - she just knew exactly what was expected and took charge! She was also able to take private dance lessons each week....so much fun!  She is a petite little thing so we wanted to be sure her technique was just as it should be so as to prevent her from potential injuries.  She has built so much strength during this year.  Some of my most favorite moments have been our daily workouts together.....Mads is much more coordinated than I have ever been so she gets a lot of laughs as she watches me attempt some of the exercises.  She tried something new this year as well.....she added in tap and jazz to her dance lineup.  She has learned so much and really can't wait to continue ballet, tap and jazz next year!

Maryn....second grade looked so good on this girl!  I had the best time with this little one being at home.  We read together, we laughed together, we played a lot of tennis together, we walked together, and shared many park days...just a good time to be with this little one!  She, too, has taken on learning some new things.....in addition to moving up to two days of ballet, she also took on jazz and tap just like her big sister!  And she found a love for the game of tennis....she is quite the player.  She reminds me a lot of MK....she is one determined little girl and she doesn't like to be second in anything - the competitive streak is fierce in this one!  Though homeschooling has been a success, she has missed her friends and school time.  We have enrolled Maddox and Maryn in a university model school for the 2021-2022 school year.  They will attend school M/W/F and be home on T/TH.  We are hopeful this will be a good fit for our family!  I am not ready to let them go full time so this seems like a great compromise - and, the school does much of the same curriculum we have used at home this year!  

Chapman....goodness, what a year of growth we have had with this little caboose of ours!  She is cuddled up beside me now as I type....if I could keep her little forever, I would!  She loves her mama (but is quick to tell her daddy she loves him too!), she is the sweetest, kindest, most innocent child ever.  And, she is FUNNY!  We all find ourselves laughing with Cha daily....she doesn't always mean to be funny but she is!  She is engaging and people are just drawn to her.  She finished her year of 1/2 Day Kindergarten just a few weeks ago and she is all set to attend full day Kindergarten at our neighborhood school for 2021/2022.  She will tell you that she is "a wittle bit nervous about this cause they do tricky stuff" there but we are all super excited for her!  She will have a whole cheer team there to carry her through each day.....from the office staff to the specials teachers to her own classroom teacher, she will have such support....she is known by many and she is loved!  Chapman is our baby ballerina, our little pool fish, and our comic relief.  She will do big things!

What a crazy year but one that has brought many blessings as well.  Time is a bit of a thief!