Photo Card

quest bbq

now that hayden is going into second grade, he has moved up to the "quest" room at church. quest had a bbq for all of the kids (they split it up...2nd grade boys were one day, 2nd grade girls another...ect.) at mclumpha park in plymouth. this park is also the home to the sprinkler park so we had to make it very clear we were not going to be going to that part of the park!
when we got there hayden noticed kids fishing in the pond and headed right over. they had fishing poles and corn that they used as bait. hayden couldn't wait to get started. after just going fishing with his grandma and grandpa skiver, he was used to fish basically throwing themselves at him. well, tonite was little different. he didn't catch anything. nobody did. so he got quite frustrated. we had to explain to him that this is what fishing usually is.
after the fishing, we headed up to the pavilion to eat dinner and then everyone went out and played a bunch of games. talan, not being one for organized play, headed over to the volleyball net. after playing for a bit by himself, an older boy (probably in middle school) came over and kept him company. he was GREAT with talan and talan just loved him.
hayden had a great time and we're all excited for what this year in quest is going to bring!

gone fishin'

today, hayden's grandma and grandpa skiver picked him up to take him and his cousin malcolm fishing at a friends house in brighton. we made talan stay behind because we figured it would be best for everyone involved if he stayed at home. even though talan is only a day older than malcolm, they are completely different. talan would be off and running in no time and he'd end up either in the water or in howell somewhere.
this was the first time hayden ever went fishing and we hear that he LOVED it. he apparently caught more than 27 fish (after 27, they stopped counting) and i'm sure he would have stayed even longer to catch more if he could have!

springhill day camp

i have known about springhill camp for a long time now, and when we were going to oakpointe church i had heard them announcing the springhill day camp. hayden was too young at the time, but then this year i saw that they were bringing the day camp to northridge so i signed him up.
the day camp is put on by spring hill and they travel to a bunch of different churches throughout the summer. the kids then go to the church every day for a week all day for day camp, springhill style. they bring a climbing wall, big water slides, bungee jumping apparatuses and all sorts of other cool things.
each day the kids heard bible stories, saw plays put on by the camp counselors and did different activities. hayden had a GREAT time and already is talking about when he goes back next year! he loved his counselor, melissa, and even made her a little book before their last day, today.
today was their big celebration where we were able to go to their classroom, hear some of the songs they learned, see a slide show filled with pictures from the whole week and be there for their award presentation. the counselor gave an award to each kid that said something about them. hayden received the "encourager" award because he was always encouraging the other kids. one day, a girl in his group was scared to do one of the activities and apparently hayden was there telling her "it's ok! you can do it!" and then when she did it, he yelled to the rest of his class "look, everyone! she did it! great job!"
that is very much hayden. he has such a sweet heart and he does love to encourage others. it's so great to see that he does it outside of our family and when he's on his own!
mom is in grand rapids staying with jenn who is on bedrest, so she couldn't make it to the celebration. dave was at work, so he couldn't come either. but dad came to partake in the fun with me and the kids.
i'm so happy that i signed hayden up and i know he'll be back again next year!

hayden with his group:
hayden after getting his encourager award. he looks thrilled, no?!:
hayden's group teaching us one of their camp songs:
hayden coming into the big group celebration:
hayden and his counselor, melissa:

vbs week

this year is the second year that hayden has gone to vbs at ward. he loved it last year and couldn't wait to go back again this year.
unfortunately, someone in this house has been sick since memorial weekend and hayden had a fever off and on through the week. like a good mother, i sent him every day as he seemed to be fine each morning.
despite being a little sick, hayden still had a great time at this years "hero headquarters."
tonite was the family program which was quite a bit different from last year. this year they brought in a company that put game show type of thing. hayden had fun, but after awhile it got a little boring since he was never chosen to go up on stage and participate.
tomorrow is the last day of vbs for the year and already hayden is excited for next year!

webster elementary update

today we received the letter from webster elementary telling us that hayden did not make it in, once again this year.
all of his scores were above average, but most were not at the level they require in order to place a student in their school. they require their broad reading, broad math and composite percentile ranks to be in the 96th percentile.
hayden's broad reading score was 85% and his broad math was 98%. he's always been better at math than reading, and his scores last year also reflected this.
his verbal reasoning ability score was 69%
quantitative reasoning ability score was 79%
and his nonverbal reasoning ability score was 84%
the composite score is put together by using the results from the three reasoning ability scores above. his composite score was 79%
i didn't go in to this thinking he was going to get in, as he didn't last year. however, after speaking to one of the ladies that gave him his tests, i raised my hopes a bit.
so i am a bit disappointed that he didn't get in. and not because i want him to go to a "smart kid school" but because i don't want him to be in redford schools much longer.
we do have him on the waiting list for 2 charter schools in canton that i have heard good things about. he won't be able to get in this coming year for 2nd grade but there is a possibility he could get in for 3rd grade.
so for now, he'll be attending stuckey elementary come the fall for his second grade year. now we're just hoping and praying he gets a teacher that challenges him the way his teacher this year did.
i am confident he did not get into webster for a reason and that it will all work out the way it is supposed to.

last day of 1st grade

today was hayden's very last day of first grade. next year he will be moving on to 2nd grade and a brand new building.
as much as i complain about redford, we have been pretty happy with his kindergarten and first grade experience over at mcgowan. his teachers have always recognized that hayden is very smart and they have challenged him to keep him interested.
by the end of his first grade year, he is at about the end of 2nd grade or beginning of 3rd grade level in math and reading. he is still in speech, but that has also improved greatly this year.
so far, he seems to still love school...hopefully that will continue for awhile! he really had quite a good year. i was pretty scared after kindergarten and him having some difficult behavioral days. i figured if he couldn't get through a half day, how would he ever make it through a whole day?! well, he ended up with only a handful of "red lights" and his teachers all LOVE him. his speech teacher is always telling me how great he is. hopefully he won't drive his second grade teacher nuts!!
here are a few pictures of hayden on his last day of first grade. great job, hayden!!! we're so proud of you!!