ConGRADulations!

Well, we did it. We successfully put a child through elementary school. Okay, most the credit does go to Madison who has remained a perfect student through all 6 years! The real challenge is just beginning I think...Jr. High, and High School. Heaven help me! But really, we couldnt ask for a better kid.

The elementary school puts on a big 5th grade graduation ceremony/party every year. The theme this year was Hawaiian. Madi got a cute new Hawaiian dress to wear, along with 2 lei's. Upon arrival, they handed out leis to all the students, making Madi's total 3. The whole front entry and hallway were decorated like a Luau and they had this little area for pictures. Here is Madi before the ceremony with a few of her best friends. She has a great group of friends as well and we hope she can stick with them in the coming school years. Arent they cute!?

Madi with another friend from church. (Yes, she is tall!)

Waiting for the ceremony to start. FYI, the boy in front of her with the blue shirt is her "crush". Ryan spent some time with him when he chaperoned her Dells trip, and gave his seal of approval. Thats huge, I think. We are proud of her for switching her crush over to him, since the last boy she liked started to use bad language. See how good she is! Anyway, hes a cute kid.

In line for her "diploma".

A handshake from the principal.

Getting her diploma from her teacher.

Class picture time!

After all the diplomas were handed out, they showed a little slide show with pictures of the kids throughout the year, including a little guessing game with all their baby pictures. All the kids loved trying to guess who that baby was on the screen. We got a copy of it as we left. Very cool.

After the slide show was over, the principal got up for some closing remarks. During that time the Dean came up and told him something...the tornado sirens were going off. What a great ending to a Hawaiian Luau...a tornado! He calmly announced that they were going off, "but we are very safe in here, there are no windows, so lets just proceed." We were in the gym, so it really was the safest place to be at the time. Several parents, including Ryan did leave the gym on their cell phones to check up on the kids at home. We had left ours with some friends who just moved here from Utah and didnt even know what the sirens sounded like or had experienced the fun of Wisconsin tornado season, so we felt it best to check up. Of course Zack was upset, but they did great at calming him down with some arm wrestling in the basement. (:

The sirens turned off, so we proceeded into the cafeteria for some cake. We ate really quickly and were just about to head home, when they went off again! They herded everyone back into the gym, along with the cake. Cant leave without that! Ryan decided to be crazy and drive home to be with the kids. It looked pretty calm outside, and we only live 5 minutes away. Madi and I stayed back in the safety of the brick enclosed gymnasium. A friend called someone to find out what was really going on, and found out the sirens werent going off for an actual tornado sighting, just as a precaution for high winds. Hmmm, didnt know they did that. There was a bad thunder storm heading our direction, but as for the moment, it was still calm, so she gave us a ride home before the real storm arrived. And boy did it! The kids were too scared to sleep upstairs, so we all camped out in the living room and kept watch at the news together. There was crazy thunder and lightning, and yes...very strong winds, but everything was fine.

Heres a picture of Madi with her teacher right before we got rushed back into the gym. We loved this teacher. She is so kind and loving to all the students. All the kids in her class go around quoting some of her favorite sayings, two of which are "Be a positive thinker, not a negative stinker", and "There are no bad kids, just bad choices." We will miss her, and hope that the other kids can get lucky enough to get her when they enter 5th grade.

And I guess I should post this picture of us too, just before Ryan left for home. I think we were only a couple of the parents who came wearing lei's as well. Thats because we're the cool ones...right? Sure.

So thats it. We did feel kind of bad for Madi this year. All her biggest moments sort of got dampered on. She was sick for group picture day, so shes not in any of the year book group photos. Her camp which in normally 3 days was only 2 this year-1 of which they got poured on, so they werent able to do some things. The annual 5th grade against teachers kick ball game got rained out. And then the tornado scare on graduation night. What else can go wrong!? But she has been happy through it all...beside being sick on picture day. She wasnt happy at all about that! She even wrote on her page for the 5th grade memory book...where it asked about her happiest memory at school...she wrote "everyday here." We're so proud of her. She's getting all big. Shes going to start shaving and wearing makeup and texting and all those big things that come with a middle schooler. Ready or not, here we come!