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We got a phone call one day from the vice principal at Shelby's school saying that Shelby was going to receive an award. They wanted everything to be a surprise, so the morning of the ceremonies I had to lie to her and tell her that I had an appointment (because she definitely noticed that everyone was dressed to take her to school instead of wearing our pjs like normal).

In the office they told us we'd be hiding behind the stage and then when our child's name was called we would emerge from behind the curtains and join them on stage for their award. Well, the place where we were hiding was wide enough for 1 row of chairs; basically our knees were almost touching the curtains as we sat there. I was a bit nervous because it was me, Taylor, Payden, and Declan with everyone else in such a small space. Taylor and Payden are hard to keep quiet as it is and then Declan had had a BAD night, so he was fussy; I was worried for sure. Of course Shelby was one of the last ones to be called, but with the help of cheerios, the church bag of things to do, a jar of baby food, and a pacifier, we made it alright. In fact, I was very grateful for Taylor and Payden because we didn't have any major incidences, which is saying a lot. There were quite a few bumps of the stage curtains that were hiding us and then Payden, when she got tired of not being able to see what was going on, kept lifting up the bottom of the curtain to see, but fortunately Shelby doesn't notice things like that, so she was still surprised when her name was called and we emerged on the stage.

I was so proud of her. I couldn't help but smile and even started tearing up. Taylor was sooooo excited and, as soon as Shelby got near, ran up and gave Shelby a HUGE hug. She then kept trying to talk to Shelby because she was so excited to be there and that Shelby was getting an award . . . she really loves her big sister. It was really cute, but made it hard for Shelby to get her award. I finally got Taylor to step back and then Shelby was able to get her award.

As she walked up from the audience, this is what we heard:

"This honor is bestowed upon Shelby Orme . . . for demonstrating the virtue of responsibility. Shelby is a great worker, always doing her best to complete her work and have it done on time. Shelby knows how to follow directions very well and make right choices. She also has a very helpful personality and can always be counted to help assist her peers. Shelby is very responsible and encourages others to be responsible as well. I believe Shelby is a wonderful candidate for being knighted for the virtue of responsibility. I know Shelby's teachers and peers all join me in congratulating her for this high honor. Shelby exemplifies the virtue of responsibility."

Apparently, the Oak Hills Rotary Club has a character education and service program that they started doing at Shelby's school this year. It's called EarlyAct FirstKnight. They started the program with a tournament like knights used to have - with jousting and everything. They then talked about service, making going choices, being responsible, and being good people. This ceremony was to award a student from each class who had exhibited the virtue of responsibility. The kindergarten and first grade students were given bronze medals and made pages. The fourth and fifth grade students were given gold medals and made squires (I'm not sure what the second and third graders were called). At the end of the ceremony, they encouraged all the students to continue working on serving, being responsible, and so forth because they would be having another ceremony to give more awards. I love when you see the community working with the schools to promote student excellence. It's definitely something we need today.

Here's Shelby getting her award.


This is a member of the Rotary Club trying to shake her hand.


Her she is shaking the hand of her principal Ms. Blattman.


Here's the stage. We were hiding behind the curtain with the shields.



After the ceremony ended, they started dismissing the classes, and the vice principal asked the first graders to leave first. Then a minute later she announced that the families could come and take pictures on stage with their award winners. Well little Miss Shelby, as soon as she heard them dismiss the first graders, jumped up and joined her class and was out the door before I could grab her. Fortunately, her teacher's daughter had gotten an award too and had stayed behind a minute to get a picture, so I asked her to please send Shelby back when she got back to her classroom. I just laughed at the whole thing. Shelby is extremely obedient and did exactly as she was told.

By the time Shelby got back, we were the last ones there to get our picture taken.


Right after we took our picture, up came Sandra, Christian's mom, to see if Shelby would take a picture with Christian, who had won an award today as well. I smiled. Let me tell you about Christian. He was in Shelby's class last year, and he has a HUGE crush on her . . . still . . . even though they're not in the same class anymore. His mom was telling me a few things the other day. Apparently about 5 girls in his class like him, but he doesn't care. He doesn't like them; he still likes Shelby. Then, they went to watch Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler, and apparently the main little boy, who had been crushing on this girl throughout the movie, finally got a kiss from this little girl at the end. Well the little girl had red hair, and Christian commented that he wished he was that boy because he thought the girl looked like Shelby and he wished he could get a kiss from Shelby. I laughed when she told me this. He's a cute little boy (I'm sure I would have minded if he was a punk). Anyways, so when he wanted a picture with Shelby, I was not surprised and just a bit amused.


We're so proud of Shelby and the good choices she makes. Way to go Shelby!!!