Montessori Primary - that's a wrap!

It's official! Max has completed the first cycle of Montessori schooling -- Primary (ages 3 -6). This fall he will be headed to the second Montessori cycle: Lower Elementary (ages 6 - 9), which is in a different building on the other side of the parking lot. It's a bittersweet time and we're so grateful for the experience of the last three years, and excited to see what the next three years has in store.

The teachers at MASS (Montessori Academy at Sharon Springs) truly care about Max, and many seemed a bit choked up and teary as we gave hugs, took photos, and celebrated this special time. Lots of things have surprised me about motherhood, but seeing people who don't "have to" love Max (a.k.a. non-family members) love him has been one of the biggest and most meaningful joys of being a mother. Of course we all think he is pretty incredible, but to know that others feel the same way and truly love him and find joy in him has been really special.

Here are some snapshots of graduation day, or "Bridge Ceremony" as it's called at a Montessori school. The students walk through the arbor to represent "bridging" from one level to the next. At the end of their walk they receive a certificate and tree from their teacher and the Head of School, then they shake hands with the teachers of the next level.  It's a really sweet ceremony!

Kindergartners preparing to sing a song.

The Blue Room kindergarten graduates! Left to right: Yajur, Evelyn, Riaan, Max, and Ms. Mili. Evelyn will be joining Max in the Lower Elementary classroom at MASS, and Yajur and Riaan are moving on to the public school for first grade.

Max's teacher, Ms. Mili, went to sit with the Blue Room kids while the kindergartners from the other classrooms were being recognized. We could tell she was fighting back tears and kept putting her arm around Max. So sweet!

All the kindergartners and their teachers!

Max and Ms. Mili, his lead teacher.

Max with his best friend, Riaan (Riaan's mom got a back-up certificate from Target - haha!).

Max with Ms. Liana who will be his teacher for the next three years in Lower Elementary! We wanted to take a photo of "the beginning" so we can take the same photo when Max graduates from Lower El in three years. :-)

Max with Ms. Rawla who was Max's teacher the first two years of his Primary Cycle (she moved up to Lower Elementary as an assistant teacher this year -- after teaching Primary for 15 years -- and will be taking a break next school year to get her Lower Elementary teacher certification.)

Max with Ms. Nancy, the curriculum director. (We also wanted to take a photo with the Head of School, Ms. Debbie, but she'd had an injury the night before and went home immediately after the ceremony.)

Max with Ms. Marla who runs the school... I mean the front desk. :-)  If you ever have a question, Ms. Marla knows the answer! One morning when Ben was dropping Max off at school he overheard Marla say, "It's going to be strange not having Max in our building anymore!"

Ms. Rubbina has been the assistant teacher in Max's classroom the past three years, and she and Max have a really close bond.

We all LOVE Ms. Rubbina so much and she has been a big part of our "village" (as in "It takes a village to raise a child"). We were all teary eyed giving hugs! Here is an excerpt of a really sweet email she sent me (in response to a thank you email I sent the teachers for putting on a nice Mother's Day program):

The last 3 years have been such a pleasure watching Max grow into the wonderful young man that he is now. I remember the little things he does often and how he has become someone who I am so proud of. He is completely reflective of the parents that you and your husband are. Not all parents appreciate the work that we do and it means so much for your love and support. I can’t wait until Max goes to Georgia Tech...he said that he will give me his phone number then and we will keep in touch :) so much love to you and your family on this blessed Mother’s Day. 

Love, Rubbina 


Proud parents with our boy!

After the ceremony the school had a nice lunch for the graduating families, then we went on a tour of the YMCA summer camp Max will be attending this summer (no photos, but it's awesome!). After a couple camp-related errands we took Max out for an ice cream!

Our big boy is apparently only so big because he conked out in the backseat while we were out. :-) 

We had dinner at home followed by a special popcorn and movie night (we watched "The Incredibles 2") then off to bed. 

Here are a few videos (if you are viewing this in your email you may need to click through to the blog website to view: http://lillyfamilylife.blogspot.com/):

We didn't quite catch them announcing Max's name, but here he is doing his special walk!

The kindergartners sang a sweet song: 

April 2019

April was a fun month! Warm weather (finally!) seems to be here to stay and we had lots of family adventures.

Silly face!

Max and I had a "Mommy and Max" morning one Saturday (when baseball was cancelled due to rain.... again!), and we went to a workshop at Home Depot to build a birdhouse. Lots of fun!

We got free tickets to a Gwinnett Stripers baseball game (it's either a AA or AAA team). The kids got to play catch in the outfield before the game, and run the bases after the game. Fun!

You can't totally make it out in this photo, but Ben got on the big screen when he and Max were playing catch. Famous!!

Max's one request was to get a popsicle and he even brought his own money!

"Hey Mom, want a sticky kiss?"

Headed to the field to run the bases after the game! (Max is toward the middle in a red shirt and gray shorts.)

 I found this paper crumpled in the pocket of Max's school shorts one day. The top says "Max and Evelyn's Decktiv Code" and at the bottom they included a website. Haha!

Max has been on fire with his hitting the last few games! He's made a hit on the first pitch every time.

Max's coach told the kids to "take a knee" and it quickly became evident that they didn't know that phrase so the coach had to explain. Maybe you had to be there, but it was funny at the time when the kids were looking around and feeling a bit confused.

Apparently Max stole my phone and took a selfie one day because I found this photo! Haha

Max's friend Yajur invited us to his neighborhood Easter egg hunt and festivities. The boys had a blast playing together!

One of their friends from school, Issac, lives in Yajur's neighborhood and the three boys had fun running around, getting balloon swords, and being generally silly!

Max and Yajur always tell me a Soumya (Yajur's mom) that they are "brothers."  :-)

There was a DJ who was trying to get a dance party started. At first it was only Max and one or two other kids, then Max started doing "the floss" (a popular dance move with the 12 and under crowd) and then the DJ announced there was going to be a flossing contest and all of a sudden a bunch of people joined in! What a little trendsetter. ;-)

Our neighborhood egg hunt was later the same day, and while I was plenty worn out (this was going to be our third or fourth activity of the day) Max wanted to keep going so we headed to the ball field.

Max enjoyed waving a palm with the other kids on Palm Sunday!

Max's class had a Gardening Day and I was able to stop by for a little while. We planted a marigold together. When I asked Max if he wanted me to take his picture with our planting, he said "Yes" and then did a martial arts pose. :-)

Dying Easter eggs!

We have hit such a great age with self control, motor skills, ability to follow directions, etc. I think this was the first time we've dyed eggs together when it was not a stressful, super messy (majorly stained hands, etc.) experience! It was a lot of fun and Max is already making big plans for doing it again next year.

Max got to attend a really cool birthday party for his friend, Abigail! The kids got to do an obstacle course and it was really neat to see their confidence grow. They kept saying to each other, "This is SO easy!!" Haha

These four kiddos were best friends at Montessori school for two years. They've all gone different directions for kindergarten so it was a lot of fun to see them play together again. (Left to right -- Abigail, Ahaan, Max, and Pravara)

Easter morning! Max was excited to find the Easter Bunny's foot prints leading from his room to his Easter basket.

Of note, Max already told us that he knows I (Laura) am the Easter Bunny. I told him he could believe whatever he wants to believe, and that I thought it was pretty fun to believe in the Easter Bunny. He agreed and whole-heartedly embraced his (not genuine!) belief in the Easter Bunny! Fun for all of us. :-)

Snapped a super quick (blurry!) photo before Max dug in!

The Easter Bunny left a note for Max. She hid 20 eggs filled with Lego pieces and if he found all the eggs he'd be able to assemble the kit in his Easter basket. It was a hit and Max was SO proud about finding all the eggs.

Cheering for a chocolate bunny. :-)

Playing catch at the ballfield!

Ben and I went for a walk and found a tiny turtle! We took him home to show Max and do some research (turns out it was a yellow bellied pond slider), and then walked him back to the pond. Max named him Buddy. :-)

We put a little water in a tupperware container so Buddy could cool off. Max also wanted to add some lettuce, but Buddy wasn't interested in eating.

Grammie came to visit on Easter and brought Max some goodies, too!

Yet another beautiful picture that Max painted in art class!

Most likely inspired by Max's desire to do anything Ben does, Max has gotten really "in to" helping rolling down and bringing up the garbage and recycling bins! It's pretty impressive since we live on a hill and the containers are much bigger (and heavier!) than him. Max can't really see over the top so sometimes he needs help steering, but otherwise he does it all on his own!

Thanks to Grammie for snapping a few family photos for us while we were all dressed up on Easter!