Day 3,628

The CCA Grad and Tropicana Newbies

It’s been a long time coming, but Amelia finally graduated from kindergarten on Monday!! She’s been done with her curriculum for quite some time now, but we had never done an official ceremony due to, well, all the things that have happened between then and now. 

She picked out her favorite cap and gown set last week, with our plan being to graduate on Monday in Durham among some of our friends, however, plans changed and we enjoyed a little ceremony on the dock at our hotel in St. Pete instead!

Our proud graduate from Conley Christian Academy!!

She is MORE than ready for first grade this year, as she absolutely excelled in all her studying this past year. She’s got her numbers and letters down, knows how to count by twos and fives and add and subtract. She completed her Learn to Read curriculum and is reading small books by herself. Amelia is always asking if she can read the Bible to her family during Bible study and she’s already gotten so much better!  

We’re looking forward—together—to an exciting and fun year of first grade, where we’ll get to really start picking up on her ability to read, to comprehend more difficult math problems, gain an understanding of what science is and how to do experiments. She’ll learn all about Creation, have her nose busy in classic books, begin learning how to draw and illustrate, and she’ll even end the year with a Bible notebook filled with the story of the Bible, reiterated in her own written words. 

She can’t wait!

Congratulations on a fantastic and extremely fluid kindergarten year, Amelia!! We did a lot, moved a lot, made a ton of plans and ended up places we never thought we’d be. But we did it together as a family and regardless of where we were, you were always eager to learn and ready to complete the tasks before you. You’re an incredible student, finish your work timely, usually have a great attitude (reading is not your most favorite yet), and participate in excitement and wonder. 

We’re so looking forward to this new year ahead and can’t wait to get started—whenever that might be, as our plans just took a huge turn.

 Congratulations, Amelia!!! 

Welcome to first grade!

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We’re hoping to begin school next Monday. We had initially packed all their curriculum in the truck, but as the school year kept on getting closer and closer and Adam hadn’t been called up, we needed some help having it shipped to Durham. That’s when the clubhouse attendant in Port Charlotte went digging into Adam’s truck to locate it, and found the truck infested with red ants and maggots. I can’t remember if I wrote about that already, but that happened. Awesome. He cleaned it all out and our schoolwork was shipped to us in Durham two days before Adam was called up, with the intention of beginning on Monday! That didn’t happen. So now we just need time to sort of rethink a new schedule, unearth the re-packed curriculum, and hopefully settle into some kind of rhythm and space where I can teach the kids while simultaneously distracting the two little girls in the same very small space, as we’re currently in a one-room extended stay. 

Until then, we’re enjoying our first experiences at Tropicana Field! And what do you know, but right in front of the door we use to enter our seats is a gigantic photo of their favorite Durham player, Mr. Honey! They couldn’t believe it! It’s a work in progress, trying to get them understand the correlation between Durham and Tampa, but this picture helped immensely and they were so happy!

The news of the move from Durham hit them pretty hard. They didn’t get to say goodbye to any of their baseball friends, their gymnastics friends, or their friends in the stands at the field. For a babe, the pain is real and it was difficult seeing them upset. I’m hopeful that though the move was unexpected, they’ll form new memories and meet new friends who will love them just as much as the ones in Durham. So far, we’re QUITE enjoying our new experiences—I’m not sure touching the live Rays will ever get old!



And DJ Kitty is a huge hit too.