Avery Graduates From Preschool!

I can't believe the day has finally come. It seems like yesterday that she was just beginning. She's grown so much. She's definitely ready to start kindergarten but I'm the one that is so hesitant. At least her classroom is only one room down from mine. I feel so lucky to be able to see her everyday in the hallway and in the lunchroom. She's already asking what kind of bookbag she can get. She was very nervous about walking across the stage to accept her diploma but she did well. She even won an award for best style. That should be my award because Avery would rather wear gym shorts, a t-shirt and tennis shoes to school everyday. I think Caroline is wearing off on her. But, Emma still lets me dress her up. Avery had some beautiful pictures from graduation.

The Pool Is Open!!!!!

The girls are so excited that the pool we are
members at has finally opened. Lots of their
friends from school come to the same pool so
that means that I don't have to entertain all
the time. Avery is pictured with her goggles but
she never really goes under with them on her
eyes but she sees all the other girls with them
on their head and she thinks she has to have
them on.

Bathing Beauties!
Caroline with her friends.

Summer has officially begun...

Summer officially begins Memorial Weekend. We usually spend the weekend at my parent's lake house at Kerr Lake. The kids had a blast. Caroline is relaxing on the back porch waiting for lunch.
Avery and my nephew Will are taking a ride on the golf cart with their Poppa. They all fight over who gets to ride.

Is he spoiled or what?
Emma and Caroline enjoying a little run through the sprinkler.
Do you remember the first time you ate a "Nutty Butty"?
Fun in the sun!
What a fun family weekend. It's so nice to have a retreat only an hour away from home where you can get away and be with your family. The girls are already wondering when we're going back.

Morton's Monkeys Are Famous!!!

Well, since I brag on my kids at home, I better brag a little on my 20 kids I have at school. I guess I need to explain the whole "Morton's Monkeys" thing. The second grade team decided that we would name all our classes this year just to do something a little different. So, we have Morton's Monkeys, Avent's Alligators, Gunter's Geckos, Austin's Armadillos, and Humphrey's Hoppers (frogs). Cute, huh! I've kind of gone a little wild with the monkey theme and my kids bring me a new monkey it seems every week. It's been fun, we even had our own class t-shirts made that say "Morton's Monkeys, We Don't Play!" Our class teamed up with "Newspapers In Education" and we get a free newspaper everyday from a Durham business sponser. The kids love the current events, weather, and especially the sports section during ACC basketball season. So, the newspaper photographer came out and took our picture to put in the paper for the next three Sundays. Yes, we're famous. Click on the site and it should take you straight there. http://www.heraldsun.com/nie/

Strawberry Patch

Ok, Avery finally laid the guilt trip on me very heavy. She claims that every time she has a fieldtrip at preschool, I can't go. She says all the other mothers go, so I took the day off and joined her at the strawberry patch. We had so much fun. Most of the kids were eating way more strawberries than they were putting in their baskets. I tried to get Avery to eat a few but she insisted they be washed thoroughly before being eaten. After the strawberry picking, we all had a picnic lunch and homemade strawberry ice cream. Avery and her best friend Lillian hung out together all day. I'm so glad I was able to go because she will only be in preschool for a few more weeks. I didn't want to leave Emma and Caroline out today so we got up early this morning and I took all of them out to breakfast before I dropped them off at school and I even checked them out early this afternoon. Oh, and the strawberries are delicious. Let me rephrase that, they were delicious!

Carowinds!!!!!

Well, after the early morning zoo fieldtrip on Friday, the Morton family headed to Carowinds on Saturday. There are very few pictures of Caroline at Carowinds because she decided that she wanted to hang out with her friends because, you know, parents are just not cool anymore. But, by the looks of most parents that went on the trip, Jody and I are ranking pretty high with the coolness factor. Their chorus concert was great and they scored an excellent from the judges. Jody, Emma, Avery and I hung out all day in the Nickelodeon section of the park. They loved it. They had their pictures taken with the Rugrats and even Jimmy Neutron. They rode every ride we could find. I was even a little scared on the kiddie roller coaster but Avery and Emma had their hands straight up in the air the whole ride. We even stopped for the Dora The Explorer show and we all did the funky chicken dance. It was definitely a fun filled day and we returned to Durham around 10:30. The kids slept the entire ride home. It had been about twenty years since I last went to Carowinds and it might be about twenty more before I go again. Though, the kids had a fantastic time. The adults get worn out way faster than the kids do.

NC ZOO

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Well, this is a very busy week at the Morton house. Emma has a rainforest animal project due on Friday and of course Emma thinks it has to be done today. I helped her create a Blue Morpho butterfly. It's cute. I'll put pics on soon. We had a hard time competing with the little girl in her class that created a sloth hanging from a limb and applied real horse hair for the fur. She brushed her horse and used the excess hair. It was pretty impressive. I saw it at school today. It made me feel kinda itchy though! Caroline has her spring chorus concert on Thursday and I take my class to the NC Zoo on Friday. Yes, this will be my 10th trip taking around 100 second graders with 55 parent chaperones and the weatherman is calling for rain! What a blast! Then Jody and I are taking the girls to Carowinds on Saturday because Caroline is performing a concert with chorus there too. We are riding the chartered bus with about 40 other fifth graders. Emma and Avery are excited because they've never been on a bus with a bathroom before. I assured them that it wasn't a bathroom they wanted to visit. But you know, they'll both have to go at least once to take a good look. And then of course, Sunday is Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day to all the moms that read our blog and we wish you a relaxing day. I'm sure to have lots of pics from the week and I'll try to post them by Sunday. I know all of you are getting sick of the birds. But, just in case you needed an update, we actually watched two of them hop up on the edge of the planter and take their first flight. The first one flew right into the hood of my van. Ouch! There's one left in the nest. I thought we'd have an empty nest by now, but you know, one kid always stays and even if they leave, they come back. I hope these three birds are no reflection of the outcome of our three girls.

Feeding Time!

Can you believe how much they've grown in just a few days. You can already see their feathers. While taking the picture, I woke them up with the flash and they popped their little beaks open and were ready for a worm. Big mouths, huh! It won't be long before we start experiencing "empty nest" syndrome.