5th Grade Graduation!!

Last Wednesday on June 2, 2011, our baby girl, graduated from the 5th grade and completed her last year of Elementary school.  Here's some of my best pics from our special day:

Wednesday morning before we went to school, James took a few pics of her!!

Such a beauty.  Her nickname "Belle" is very appropriate since Belle means beauty. =)  She was so excited last Wednesday and a tad nervous.  Here at our school, the kids get very dressed up for 5th grade party and the ceremony.  It is a major deal around here.

Daddy and Belle!! Being on PTO has it's perks because I have access to everything which allows me to take lots of pictures at school that other parents don't get a chance to.  James didn't even see the party portion.  He was able to come at 1:30pm and see the Graduation though. =)

Shelby and her friend Gabby when they first came into the cafeteria waiting to eat their special lunch. On this day, the 5th graders get to vote on everything they eat.

Shelby eating lunch with two of her best friends, Melissa and Alexa.  Melissa lives on our street and they will go to the same Jr. High. Alexa is the daughter of our favorite 4th grade teacher Mrs. Anastos and she will have to attend a different Jr. High.

Shelby and Melissa with their teacher, Kim Pavlock! Couldn't have asked for a better 5th grade teacher!!

I love this one of just the two of them!!!!

Our other photo booth was a Love Bug.  Our theme this year was Give Peace a Chance!  It all turned out very pretty and the kids loved it.  In the picture L to R...Gabby, Melissa, Shelby, and Alexa!

Shelby and Melissa again!! These two will probably be inseparable at least through high school.

One of my PTO friends took this one of me and Belle. =)

5th graders doing line dances to some music along with their teachers!

During the ceremony...Shelby had just received her 5th grade promotion certificate!

After the ceremony, Shelby and Melissa with their flowers and graduation balloons.  So cute!!

A picture with Gabby too...

Here's a shot of Shelby's major awards this year...Promotion to 6th grade, Art Award, Honor Roll - Shelby did not have a single B on her report card all year!, Safety Patrol and Flags, and Citzenship Award!!  Woo Hoo!!!!  We are so very proud.  She couldn't have dreamed of ending her 5th grade year on a better note!! Way to go BELLE!!! We love you!!! 6th grade is going to be a BIG but hopefully exciting change for all of us - please keep it in prayer.

And I couldn't leave the T-man out...he had a super AWESOME 4th grade year as well.  These are his major awards...Perfect Attendance for last 9 weeks, All E's in Conduct, Honor Roll - he only made 3 B's the whole year but his Final Averages for the year were Straight A's, he won the PASS portion of the Punt, Pass and Kick contest in P.E. by throwing the ball 47' 7", he also made it on the record board of the top 10 fastest boys for the 2nd year in a row.  Thomas is listed as #8 on the sheet but he's actually tied for 7th place, and then the blue certificate at the top left is his S.T.A.R. Award for the 2nd year in a row. This Award is for the Physical Education Student of the Year Award.

We are so very proud of Thomas too and next year, he will be the Top Dog at school - a big 5th grader!!! Way to go T.J.!!! We love you and know you'll do great in 5th grade! =)

Mueller Memories, Awards and More...

Yesterday was the last day of school and I just had to share some things...
First of all, Shelby's teacher gave each of her students this cool poem called "My Wish" and they were all in cute little frames. Shelby's now sits proudly on her new bookshelf. =)

I also wanted to show how our Mueller Memory Books turned out. I bought each of the kids their own. They still look through their yearbooks from Kindergarten! What a precious keepsake for Mueller's very first year. This was one of our PTO's major projects of the year...a lot of photos I took are throughout it which is cool. All of our Board was very pleased with how they turned out. And remember the art contest early in the year that Shelby came in 3rd place?? The 1st place winner's prize was getting her art on the front cover. Pretty cool. We are planning to do another book next year.

Thomas' class made these cute little memory books in their class. Maybe I'll show more of the inside later...he wrote the cutest stuff and also scored some phone numbers from little girls in his class!!! A boy in Shelby's class already called here for her last night. HA!

Ok, here are Thomas' awards he received yesterday...including, A/B Honor Roll (He made only one B again in Science of course!), Excellent conduct for the year, Best Boy Athlete voted on by his peers, Physical Education Student of the Year Award, and a National Physical Fitness Award given to a select few in the school!!! This is a major award.

And then he also received this keepsake. Thomas is currently on the Mueller Mile Record Board. Out of all 3rd grade boys, he holds the 6th spot record!! Way to go Thomas!! So awesome...he does run fast!! =)

Here are Shelby's awesome awards...including, Straight A's again (her Final averages for the whole year were also all A's and one B which was an 89 average!! One point off from a year average of All A's!) She did SUPER!!! She also received Excellent Conduct for the Year and Perfect Attendance for the Whole Year!!! This was the first time either of our kiddos were able to do that. AWESOME!! Thomas only missed two days about a month ago when he was very ill.

Shelby's teacher also gave out "special" awards to her students. They were all very cute and funny like "Class Comedian", "Mother Hen", etc....Well, Shelby's was very appropriate. She received the Accident Prone Princess Award!!! Love it!! Shelby visited our school nurse more than any other kids in her class the whole year, maybe even the school. Whether it was a bump, scrape, tummy ache, headache, or itching from mosquito bites...she would find a way to go to the nurse. And somehow still managed Perfect Attendance!! =)

Aside from all these great Awards and Memory Books, I also wanted to share about the outcome of their 3rd and 4th grade level TAKS testing results!! Shelby had to take THREE TAKS tests this year. She scored perfect on the math (42/42), she scored 39/40 on Reading, and 27/28 on Writing. Shelby was commended on all three tests.

T man did awesome too!! It was his first time ever to take the TAKS tests. He had to take two this year and unfortunately it fell when he was very sick. He actually missed the first day of testing and when he went back the following day for Test Two, he was still not 100% well. He did not let it phase him though. He scored 34/36 on Reading and then the next day when he had to make up the first test all by himself, he scored 37/40 on the Math test. He was also commended on both tests!!

Due to the high scores that all of our 3rd, 4th and 5th graders made, Mueller will be rated an Exemplary school in the state of Texas this coming school year!!! Way to go Mueller!! James and I are so, so proud of our kids! It has been another transition for them this year having to start at a brand new school and they have done it without fail and have soared even higher. It was a great year for 3rd and 4th grade. Now on to 4th and 5th!!

Yearbook Art Contest

Friday, I worked at the school from 8am - 2pm. We are getting ready for the big Klein ISD Luncheon that we are hosting next Wednesday! This wooden tree is now decorating the hall that leads into the cafeteria...it's an oak tree designed and made by Tommy Mueller, a master carpenter who works for the district and also happens to be part of the Mueller family, whom our school was named after. Pretty cool...

Here's a little more up close look at it...it's so pretty. It has 5 different type woods in it including oak, redwood, pine, pecan, and elm. Three of these are native to Texas. This will be a great conversation piece when all the big wigs come to our school next week!! =)

Next to the wooden tree is a display of some old pictures from the original members of the Mueller family, including war portraits and wedding pictures. There's also a list of their family tree.

Here's an up close picture showing the historical marker at the original Mueller Farm House.

Then my friend and fellow PTO board member, Amanda, and I went on to the Friday assembly. We were way up front with the principal and I took this shot of all the kids doing their Mueller song. It's to the theme of YMCA and it's cute to watch the Kindergartners!!

Then Mrs. Firestone announced the winners and runner-ups of our Yearbook Art Cover contest. And look who's right in the middle...

Yep, that's Miss Shelby!! Here's the picture I took of Mrs. Firestone with all 5 winners! On the far left is the girl that won 1st place. At first I was told Shelby won 8th place, then 5th place, but then yesterday we learned that she came in 3rd place!! WOW!!! The look on Shelby's face when Mrs. Firestone called her name was priceless!! She was shocked.

First a little background...my PTO is in charge of the yearbook and we thought it would be fun for the kids to have a contest. The first place winner would get theirs put on the front cover and 2nd place gets the back cover. The other three are recognized for being in the top 5! Our PTO board didn't want anything to do with the judging since we all have kiddos in school. So we handed all of the artwork over to our art teacher. By the way, Thomas didn't do one, he doesn't think he draws good enough but Shelby was all over it. =)

So, the art teacher didn't even want to judge them because she knows all the kids. She took the drawings, which had to have a "star theme" to some of her art professional friends all over Houston. Out of the almost 350 turned in, Shelby's was picked to be in the Top 10. The top 10 were then brought back to Mrs. Firestone, to pick the Top 5 and she had no idea what kids did which picture. Shelby made it into the Top 5!! The best part is we've known all week but I didn't tell Shelby because I knew she would be called out in assembly Friday and receive a medal.

Here's her picture with Mrs. Firestone. So even though she won't get the front or back cover of the yearbook, this picture will go in the yearbook!! She's very excited about that.

Her picture she did all by herself and it's a rocket ship going into outer space. We are the Mueller Stars and the rocket ship has a big star logo on it. You can see Earth and there are shooting stars all around too. If you look closely you can see a picture of a certain little girl looking out the window of the ship. =)

We now have this proudly displayed on our fridge! Great job Belle!! What an accomplishment, we are so proud of you!!

Next week, Shelby gets to perform at our big VIP Luncheon with the choir, so stay tuned for pics and info about that.

Running Awards

Last week at school, the P.E. coaches had a Turkey Trot for all the kids! Thomas loves to run so it did not surprise me when he achieved 10 laps total!!

Belle also received a certificate, for 6 laps!! Which is actually pretty good for a girl. =)

Thomas also received another award - for Fastest Boy!

He can currently run a mile in 10:36...

Just threw this in for fun...what a boy's room and you may not be able to tell but Thomas is hiding under his covers!! =)

So proud of both our kiddos...

Awards Day!

Today the school held end of the year Awards Day! Shelby and Thomas both came home with several special awards. Tomorrow they bring home the final report card, not to mention it's their last day of school!!! Here's some award pics they wanted to share.


Shelby with a couple of her awards.

Close-up of Shelby's awards including Great Conduct for All Year and she is a Homework Hero for the year.

How could I resist not posting this...Super Star!

Thomas with his P.E. Awards - this should not surprise any of us since Thomas is quite the little athlete and he LOVES P.E.!

WoW! This one really impressed me. Thomas received a President's Award! Yes, as in from the President George W. Bush.

Thomas with four other 1st grade awards including Perfect Attendance, Great Conduct, All A's Report Card for the 4th 9 weeks, and the blue certificate is a special Award for Boy Athletes in the school.

A close-up of his P.E. Award - if you can't read it good it states that Thomas is in the Top 10 of all 1st graders for miles walked or run during P.E. for the whole year. Thomas is #7 and he went a total of 49.5 miles!!! Woo Hoo!!!

A close-up of his President's Education Award for Outstanding Academic Excellence in 1st grade. It actually has George W.'s signature on there, even if it is just stamped on. :)

We are very proud of all the awards earned by Shelby and Thomas this year at Roth! More news about final report cards and such coming tomorrow.