The Last Day of School

This picture was taken on August 25, 2009 on the first day of this school year.

And these pictures were taken this afternoon on the last day of the school year.

Wow! What a difference ten months can make. They have both grown so much. It makes me want to cry a little. It's been quite a year for them. Many milestones have been reached and memories have been made that I'm sure they'll carry with them always.

Analiese learned to tie her shoes and lost her first tooth. She got her ears pierced and developed a love for the Biscuit books. She experienced sadness when one of her best friends moved away. But she got her first pen pal out of it. She wrote and illustrated a book about flowers that was lovely. She learned perseverance when her teacher went on maternity leave and she was given a substitute that didn't appreciate her, ahem, unique outlook on life. And she learned that hard work can be no fun at all but that it gets you passed to the second grade and a whole lot of Hershey's kisses.

Chris read his first Harry Potter book and learned that just because everyone else likes something, it doesn't mean you will. He read his first Ice Fire book and realized that sometimes you can find something that no one knows about and love it. He ran his first 5K and lived up to his reputation by coming in 1st in the mile run. He jumped hurdles, literally! He took his first End Of Grade test and got an almost perfect score. He got his mom to quit worrying about his hair and his clothes (at least to a point that we can both live with). And he learned that it's better to go back to sleep than to stress over how much time your sister is taking to get ready.

All good lessons learned. I have learned that my children are resilient. I've learned that we can move houses in the middle of the school year and that they'll adjust. I've learned that they can be pushed to tears while doing homework and still manage to finish. I've learned that despite some generally grumpiness over her being a girl, Chris is still protective of his little sister. And I have learned that childhood really does go by too quickly.

It's been a good school year. Now on to Summer!