Last Day of School

For Hailey and Josh's last day of school they wanted me to take pic.'s of them with their friends. Josh had a "water fun day" so you will see him throwing water balloons, and going down a slip n' slide. Hailey's last day was a bit more traditional. She had a pizza party after a discussion on "Charlotte's Web" which they have been reading this last quarter. In Hawaii, the grading curriculum is.. well.. unique. I personally don't like it, they go by a "GLO" system, where they are given ME's, MP's, DP's etc. (Meets to exceed expectations, meets proficiencies, difficulty on proficiencies,etc) basically, there are no "letter grades" in elementary school here. What is also tricky is that they do not have the classes listed, for example, Hailey got a MP in "critical thinking", and a ME "spelling grammar". It is actually quite confusing, and to me not an accurate way to "grade" someone per say, nor when we move to the mainland, I don't think other schools grade this way, do they? But, her teacher did tell me that her "Lexile" reading level when she started 4th grade was rated at a 2.3 (2nd grade third quarter) reading level, and now she is at a 4.2 (4th grade 2nd quarter) reading level. She came up almost 360 points. So a big "Hooray" for Hailey!! I now officially have a Kindergartner and a BIG 5th grader=-) Have a safe and fun summer everyone!!


Hailey and her teacher Ms. Matsukawa..

Hailey and her "BFF" Julia..

No Sleep Sundays...

This is what happens when we don't take our naps during the week, like Mommy would like..our mommy finds us like this on Sundays....

Wouldn't it be nice if Mommy and Daddy could sleep like us; anytime they wanted?

Graduation

My little Joshy graduated from his 1st year of Kindergarten today. He will be doing his 2nd year next year. (Hawaii does a two year program of Kindergarten since they have mandated it. It is for anyone born after the first day of school through the 31st of December is considered Junior K for the first year and then regular K the 2nd year). They did a really cute program and his teacher made us a DVD with music to a whole bunch of pictures she took throughout the school year! You will notice they are in "Aloha" clothing, it is tradition here in Hawaii to "celebrate" the weather and the beautiful island on special occasions. It was a really nice surprise and it makes me cry (for once in a good way this past month) to see my little guy grow-up and change. They performed two songs, one was really about the sun and how this island is their "home" and the other was a Polynesian song. I hope this video downloads, it is too adorable to miss! (it is a little blurry due to the humidity..my camera couldn't adjust it all the way).

On another note David's Uncle passed away this morning in Chicago, so it is a somber time for the Sobek family. Josh is also having surgery on the 8th of June for his adenoids and tonsils, so he will have to stay the night in the hospital. (It is protocol for Tripler to keep them when sleeping and breathing can be an issue. (sleep apnea)) All in all it is a busy, chaotic, sad time in our household, but we are getting by with prayers and humble thoughts of the ones watching over us from up above. I love and miss you Dad, Happy Birthday tomorrow=-)))))))

PCC Field Trip

Josh's Kindergarten class when on their final field trip of the year to the Polynesian Culture Center. It was a lot of fun. The park was closed to the public, so it was neat to see the little kindergartners there from all over the island. They got to see Tahiti, New Zealand, take the canoe tour, and watch the IMAX movie (HIGHLY not recommended to see the Polynesian Odyssey with little children, VERY inappropriate, especially coming from the church, they should know better!!)

It was really cute to see Tahiti and watch them try to teach the little kids how to dance! For those of you that know Josh~he LOVES to dance, and of course he was the first one to volunteer is talent..tongue sticking out and all=-) the canoe tour was my favorite, they didn't have all the commentary like they do when you are on a "tour" instead they told you facts about every building, and when Fiji, Tahiti, and New Zealand became a part of the PCC etc. The only "downer" of the day was the horrible show they decided to play. It has been in the past, a film on the coral reef and how it is being polluted, etc. Well, this time they decided to change it up a bit and play something they haven't shown in a few years. Gee, I wonder why! The very first scene is of a woman giving birth, and Josh exclaims "Mommy, that baby is bleeding, why do they want to hurt the baby??" and he started to cry! It gets even more graphic as the movie goes on for 50 minutes!! Afterwards the teachers commented on how disappointing that was, and wished they had their 50 minutes of time back to do something else.

Overall it was a pretty good day and a nice way to end Josh's first year of Kindergarten!! Enjoy the pictures!

Isn't he tooo cute??? I love my little guy!!!

B~Ball Bloopers

Hailey has started Baseball this year, and she has never played baseball only tee-ball when she was five so this is a new experience for her. It is team pitch, so she has already gotten hit a few times. Luckily, it was in the helmet and it just bounced right off. Another time David caught of picture of her in the outfield catching "butterflies" but it looks like she is trying to "catch" something else in her nose! This past game Hailey stole second base, someone had a hit so she went to third, and then the pitcher threw to second instead of home, so Hailey got to score for her team!! Even though they do not technically keep score, we as parents of course always think our kids are winners! Way to go Hailey and team "sidewinders"=-)

This was when it bounced off her helmet when she was up to bat...

This one looks "questionable" to me!!

Outdoor Fun

This past weekend, our neighbor and us had an "outdoor" day of fun! We rigged the sprinklers and had a slip and slide, plus a pool for the kids to have a day of it. It was really cute to see them splishing and splashing around. It was even better when we decided not to cook either! We had a lot of fruit, and pizza, the best part of course was the kids went to bed without a peep. They were truly pooped=-)

Happy Mother's Day

I hope everyone has a very special and memorable Mother's Day! I am looking forward to NO cooking and relaxing with my kiddos and some good friends. I will have pictures to follow, plus some from Hailey's b-ball game. Love and miss everyone!!~ By the way the pix up top is of one of my twins...can you guess which one??