First Day of School 2010

School started in late July…CRAZY!! It was nice to get back to a routine, have some peace and quiet in the house…but none of us was ready to start getting up super early again. But love it or hate it, the first day of school always comes around and at least everyone looked Fabulous!

Liz (Senior!), Megan (Sophomore) & Mikayla (Freshman)...they are all attending "Early Morning Seminary" together now too.

Donovan is the last one in Elementary School! I feel old! I actually took this one at the end of the day because I forgot in all the confusion at the beginning of the day.

Donovan playing with Sophie after school...

Ashley started 6th Grade this year...her first year in Middle School! PJ is a "BIG" 7th grader this year. He's almost 6 feet tall already. I took this one at the end of the day as well...mornings are crazy.

This wasn't the first day of school...but soon after. Both PJ and Donovan picked the same shirt this year, so I had to get a picture of my "twins," and a brief moment when they were being nice to one another :-).

 

What else is LIZ up to??

Liz is one busy lady.  She will be a Senior next year and is frequently off with her friends or busy with the drama department at school.

Here are a few things she has been up to lately:

Liz was busy before Prom doing everyone's hair. She is quite talented in that area and hopes to go to school to be a beautician after high school. Above are two of her friends Alycia and Morgan -- she did a great job on their Prom Hair.

Alycia - side

Alycia - side

Morgan - back

Morgan - side

Morgan - front

Liz went to the Mormon Prom this year. Instead of going to the High School Prom, which can be overly costly, a bunch of students from her school got together for an "Alternate Prom" - a very casual, backyard party. Liz is in the front...

 

Liz and her friend Loren, who both drive trucks. "Silly Boys, Trucks are for girls."

Liz was involved in the drama club this year at school. Specifically she worked on the technical end and was a part of the Props Group. They put on the play "42nd Street."

The rest of the photos are of Liz with her friends during the long hours of getting ready for and presenting the play.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liz Nolden Singing: Somewhere Over The Rainbow – This was a recital for singing lessons that she had been taking this winter.

Donovan – Field Trip to Fernbank Museum

I love to go with the kids on their field trips.  In May I got to visit the Fernbank Museum of Natural History in downtown Atlanta with Donovan and all of the 4th Grade Classes.  Besides the exhibits, we got to see an IMAX movie about natural disasters.

Waiting outside to start our adventure: Donovan, Micah, Ezekiel, Cameron, Tyler & Jordan.

Donovan and Micah

Cameron and Tyler

Micah and Donovan checking out the interactive displays.

This was definitely the coolest room...it was a HUGE atrium room with a HUGE dinosaur. This is where we sat to have lunch.

 

Micah and Donovan

This is the group that I was in charge of during the field trip.

Ahhhhh.....a T-Rex!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posers...

...and more acting....

Some of the other kids on the field trip...

International Day at School

This year’s International Day was rained out…so it had to be held indoors…not quite the same, but still cool.  I think it is a great tradition.

The presenting of the flags.

Ms. Jeje, Donovan's teacher, and her 4th grade class (they were Nigeria).

Donovan in his Nigerian outfit.

This is Ashley with her posse.

Ashley and her friends.

Ashley and Lathan...her best bud...

Ms. Simpson, one of Donovan's teachers and Ashley's favorite teacher from last year. She always goes all out on International Day. She had England.

I don't know who this kid is...but I thought it was a cute picture.

Ms. Simpson and her "English" kids.

 

 

Donovan and his good buddy Micah...from Nigeria...

Donovan with Micah and Cameron.

Go USA....

International Day – Elementary School – May 2010  – I thought this was kind of cool.  All of a sudden all of the kids in the hallway (because it was raining outside) started chanting, “USA, USA….”  They were celebrating the significance of other countries, but showing their loyalty to the good ol’ USA!!

Field Day – Ashley & Donovan

I volunteered this year for both Ashley and Donovan’s Field Days (held on different days).  One day was morbidly HOT…we couldn’t get enough water…and the other day was perfectly beautiful…they were only a day apart…hmmmm….

Ashley

Ashley between events.

Ashley with her teacher, Ms. Hurst.

Ashley and classmates getting ready to do relays. She is at the back of that first line.

That is Donovan doing a Jumping-high-five with his buddy Micah.

Donovan and Micah doing the balloon toss.

 

Can you see the weird rainbow in the sky? It wasn't a rainy day at all...and this wasn't your typical rainbow...it was straight (or slightly curved upward). I'm sure there is a name for this phenomenon...but I don't know what it is.

Donovan is at the end of that line in the blue...they are awaiting the start of the 4-man relay race.

Donovan – Field Day – May 2010  – This is Donovan running an obstacle course with 2 classmates.

Donovan – Field Day 2 – May 2010 - This is Donovan running the obstacle course backward…pretty comical.

Ashley Field Day – Tug of War (5/2010) – Check out how Ashley lets go at the end….right before they lose .

Ashley – 5th Grade Advancement Assembly

I can’t believe Ashley is headed to Middle School next year!  Yikes!  They had an “Advancement Assembly” for the 5th graders at the end of the school year to get them ready to move on. 

 

The 5th Grade Chorus

Ashley afterward with one of her classmates.

Ashley with a few more of her buddies....she's VERY social.

And...even more...

Megan – Academic Team Competition

Megan is our resident “smarty.” She is on her high school Academic Team and travels around to competitions. I went with them to a recent Saturday outing and took a few pictures…

That's Megan...second one from the Left...but you knew that, right?

...and the opposing team...

Megan and some of her JV teammates...and their coach (on the right).

Donovan Botanical Garden Field Trip

I like to chaperone for the kids’ field trips…this time I got to go with Donovan to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens.  It threatened to rain the whole time and finally did right as we were finishing up our lunches and getting ready to go…

Above: Donovan (far left) and the other kids in the group that I was in charge of: Katie, Najifa, Cameron & Hannah.

Above: Donovan is sooo starting to come out of his shell this year.

Above: Great ears Donovan!

Above: The Botanical Gardens have a kids area where a lot of it is hands-on....it was really neat...and pretty.

Above: Donovan lounging for a photo...

Above: Katie, Hannah, Najifa and Donovan.

Above: Inside this building is a tropical forest (see next photo).

Above: Donovan and Katie in the tropical forest. (NOTE to family: Doesn't Katie look like Barbara Jean when she was a little girl?? It freaked me out at first when I would see her at school)

Above: This was at Piedmont Park where we had lunch...with some of the Atlanta skyline in the background.

International Day at Elementary School

I guess this is the 20th year that our Elementary School has held an “International Day.” It was very cool. Donovan’s class had Mexico, Ashley’s class had England and PJ’s class had New Zealand.

Above: Donovan was lucky enough to get the largest sombrero…which he loved, of course .

Above: Donovan and his class lined up and ready for the parade to start.

Above: Donovan’s class representing Mexico in the parade.

Above: I think Nayali (left) was the only true Mexican in the group.

Above: Ms. Ferry!!!

Above: You can see Donovan on the Left.

Above: Some of Donovan’s friends (you might remember them from the Aquarium field trip).

Above: I didn’t have any kids in this class…it’s just an example of the other colorful countries represented.

Above: This is Ashley’s class in the parade.

Above: Ashley got to be Queen Elizabeth….she felt very important.

Above: Her Royal Highness.

Above: Nkemji and Willow.

Above: Ms. Simpson as Elizabeth the Great.

Above: I don’t know how he did it but PJ managed to do the parade without a costume. Here he is trying to hide behind his friend Tahmeed.

Above: More of PJ’s class representing New Zealand.

Above: All of the countries were represented by their flags.

Above: PJ’s New Zealand class after the parade…you can see him hiding in the background.

Above: Part of Ashley’s class.

Above: Ashley with her friends Nkemji and Kha.

Above: The “English.”

We have to brag on Liz now!!!

We are so proud of Liz! Out of over 500 entries at her High School, she won first place for 10th grade and then first place overall for the school in a “Laws of Life” essay contest sponsored by the Rotary Club. She will now go on to the state competition where there were almost 45,000 entries.

Liz’s essay was on the Law of Life: “You never know what you’ve got until it’s gone.” She wrote about her experience of being pulled from a foster home several years ago and thinking it was just another very bad day for her, but then realizing it was one of the best things that had ever happened to her. She describes how she quickly came to know and love Karen (her soon-to-be adoptive mother) and then of her subsequent sudden death. She showed in her essay that even at her young age of 16 she has already learned, the hard way, that “you never know what you’ve got until it’s gone.” Liz truly is wise for her age and has a lot of appreciation for what she has.

This past week we attended a luncheon in honor of her and the other class winners.

Above: Liz, the 9th grade winner (he’s 6’4″!!), and Liz’s Literature teacher Julie Kimble.

Above: Liz was asked to read her essay for everyone at the luncheon. She did a great job.

Above: Just a very small snippet of her presentation…I didn’t think it was showing up well on the camera.

Above: Photo op at the end. The winner from the senior class had to leave early, so she didn’t get into the photo.

Above: With Ms. Kimble….who also happens to be one of the Young Women leaders at church…which is cool.

Above: This was an article in the local newspaper this weekend.

Above: This was the article in the high school newspaper after she won.