The fun continued as we progressed through May. Every week was full of activity- mostly fun, always exhausting, and constantly pushing us toward the end of the school year. One event that marks the closing of the school year is the Spring Concert. Every class K-12 has a musical offering of some sort... the different levels or choirs sing and the different levels of bands play. In truth, it's a long evening but a night full of praise. This year, Louie went with the kids and I didn't go. I'm taking a six week class at our church in Church History. One week of the class already had to be cancelled and since we're trying to cover 2000 years in 6 weeks, I hated to miss another week. The kids understood and I've already heard them sing. (by the way- love the class. Church history is not at all boring and I 've had a lot of "ah, ha" moments)
Another thing that has ruled our life (in a good way) this month has been the school production of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. It's a comedy/love story and both Garrett and Hannah had roles. Garrett was a love sick young man just back from war who was tricked into thinking his true love was unfaithful, then dead. Hannah actually had the role of a 'not so intelligent' young lady. I have to say- she was hilarious. Between homework, studying for finals and dress rehearsals, I thought I might loose it... but as always, everything came together in the end and the play was a huge success.
Not to be outdone, Becca had a staring role of her own in a play at church on Graduation Sunday. Like Hannah, her character was funny. (Where does that comedy come from?) She also sang and danced. I'm always amazed at how much kids can memorize!
That same day, Garrett and Hannah sang with the Youth Praise Team a song called "The Words I Would Say". Garrett sang the first verse alone. I thought he did a great job.
Meanwhile, back at the school.... I was working with some moms to put on a Teacher Appreciation Luncheon for our full time and part time teachers. At Covenant, our teachers actually make less money than public school teachers and they work so hard. We put out china and flowers on the tables, served them a beautiful lunch, and provided a simple but heartfelt program for them. We collected some donations for each teacher and administrator and gave out door prizes as a special treat. Louie even got in on the action, helping prepare the appetizers. As part of the program, I gave a 10 minute devotion to our teachers. I compared the teachers to Moses- each taking a group of people on a journey, and encountering some of the same types of things along the way. It was a very simple devotion, theologically, but no one seemed to mind.
Covenant is a very hands-on school and the kids are always doing experiments and taking field trips to better understand what they've learned. The 5th grade completed a unit this year on flight. (I thought we'd never live through studying for that test!) To top off all the fun, Becca had the assignment to build a glider- not from a kit- based on all she'd learned. Styrofoam was the material of choice. As a matter of fact, there are still little pieces of it all over the house that I just can't seem to be able to sweep up. They had a contest to see whose would fly furthest. Hers didn't win... later she flung it sideways and guess what? It went crazy far. She challenged the little guy who won to a rematch but he said no way.
On the last day of school, Covenant has an awards ceremony. Awards are given for attendance, choir, band, math field day, Latin and even handwriting which is pretty cool considering that today, handwriting really is a lost art! Even amid swine flu, Hannah had perfect attendance this year. Also, Garrett and Hannah received awards for Math Field Day and the National Latin Exam.
The next day, we attended Covenant School graduation. It really is unlike any graduation I've ever attended. Yes, graduates wear robes and tassels, there is an address by the valedictorian, scholarships are announced, and diplomas are given. But it's such an intimate school, that each graduate is treated by faculty as if its their own child graduating. A special speaker delivers a short address but its really a sermon. Then, photos of each graduate are shown on the screen, prepared by each mom.
You need to know- Garrett's graduation is already on the school calendar, so Save The Date: May 28, 2011 at 4pm. Oh, my goodness. It's good that we have a whole year to prepare ourselves for next year's graduation. On Saturday, Louie cried through the entire graduation. I'm not kidding. He's going to need to be medicated next year. :) And I thought I was bad... But truly, I have been thinking since the weekend about the coming year. We have a choice to make. To moan and cry about the fact that this will be our last...fill in the blank... with Garrett before he goes to college, or we can celebrate everything and be excited about the next step. I'm going to try with every fiber of my being to spend the next year being excited for him. To not think about what I'm loosing-possibly his day to day presence- but instead to think about what God has planned for him. Louie may have to pry my fingers from him when the time finally comes and I know I'll shed a million tears this year, but they'll be nostalgic and happy ones.
Marvelous, Manic May is over. Bring on the summer.
