Fall Festival

Tonight was the school’s Fall Festival.  This year I entered our car to be used for the trunk-or-treating.  One of the fun things about using your car is decorating it.  This year we went really simple.  One of my young women needed some service hours for NHS and so I said she could come and man our car.  My kids love Michaela and so it was really special to have her there with us at a family event.  I had her dress in some of Jared’s clothes which were too big, and sit propped up in a lawn chair with the candy in her lap.  The material was thin enough that she could see through and grab a kids’ hand or offer candy when needed.  It made for a very basic decoration but it got right to the point of handing out candy and I don’t have a lot of Halloween decorations anyway.

I was completely surprised and baffled at the kids’, and even parents’ in some cases, response to our trunk.  The kids were very apprehensive about approaching our car.  Some parents wouldn’t even let their kids come up to it.  Meanwhile, we had a trunk on one side of us with decapitated wolves (+gore), shrunken heads, and a huge bloody scythe in the trunk.  On the other side there were zombies and tombstones and creepy pictures in frames.  I couldn’t believe it when one mother actually yelled at ME because her daughter got scarred!  I’d rather have a little scare from a harmless scarecrow than have nightmares because of the crazy stuff I saw next to me.  Plus… it’s HALLOWEEN!!!  Some people?!?!

School Pumpkins

Today I had to finish decorating the plastic pumpkins from the kids’ classes for the Fall Festival this weekend.  There are so many things I want to do for Halloween but there doesn’t seem to be enough time in the day to get it all done.  We finally just put up the decorations and I’m planning on buying some pumpkins next week to carve.  Last year we never got around to that and I want to make sure we do that this year.

I like to make sure I get a wide variety of pumpkins for the teachers to pick from and make sure that they get the most bids possible.  I had two pumpkins to decorate for Joseph’s class (am and pm classes) and this is what I came up with…

Emma’s class got the pumpkin chopped in half to make two matching frames (I thought Emma’s teacher would pick the sparkly one but I guess I was wrong and Emma was a little disappointed too)…

and Benjamin’s class got the crazy cauldron with the “IT” popping out of it!  Fun stuff!!!

Studying Ballerina

We are still getting used to going back to school and dealing with the demands of time which made me so happy to see Emma working hard on her homework before her ballet class started.  The best part was that she did it all on her own, she didn’t need me to tell her what she needed to do!

I love watching the kids grow and learn on their own how to prioritize.  It’s such an important thing that they’ll take with them for the rest of their lives.  I’m just glad to think that all that nagging is sinking in, but in a good way!

Mr. Blue Bones

That is what Benjamin has aptly named his monstrous creation for a class assignment.

He came home last week with a silhouette which he was supposed to transform into a monster.  He came home with all kinds of ideas on how to decorate it and what he wanted it to look like which was fun because I usually have to throw out a bunch of ideas for them to pick from.  I’m so glad that my ability to think outside of the box on past assignments has opened their eyes to how just about anything is possible.  We’ve done some amazing things!

So, his ideas for a monster were blue coloring, candy corn teeth, pipe cleaner claws, and several googlie eyes.  I covered his silhouette with blue construction paper while he was at school the other day and bought a bag of candy corn (thank goodness it’s in stores right now for Halloween).  I positioned everything for when he got home to see if I was getting close to what he saw in his imagination.

He liked it but after a while of looking at it and talking through what he was thinking we decided to cover it in “fur”.  I had actually bought some of this fabulous yarn at the same time I had grabbed the other supplies but I wanted to see his reaction first.

I quickly wrapped the yarn around the head so he could get a good idea of what it would look like and you should have seen the smile on his face!  He loved it!

So I got to work wrapping the yarn on this piece of paper.  I quickly found out that it wasn’t going to stay where I wanted it to so I was going to have to use hot glue to make it stick.  By the time his homework was done I was only about halfway through covering the face.  I told him I’d work on it while he was asleep and that he could put the face on tomorrow.

What started off as a small class project ended up being a two night event with me burning my fingers like crazy.  I had just picked out the wrong kind of yarn and that made the whole thing so much more difficult.  He stayed busy with making candy corn horns to place on the head and we even added paper to the sides of his waist to make him a little “fuller” 🙂 .

This morning it was finished and when Benjamin went downstairs and saw it I got a huge hug.  I told him that he needed a name and he looked at me quizzically.  I told him that after taking two days to create he NEEDED a name!  He came up with Mr. Blue Bones!

The two of them rode in the front seat on the way to school and I was able to snap a quick picture of them before they jumped out of the car.  Sweet Success!!!

Ice Cream Traditions

Even though it was a crazy day it was nice to unwind and indulge in a bit of ice cream.  The kids got to sample some of the new flavors before picking out what they wanted.

We enjoyed the cooler weather out on the picnic tables.  It’s Vegas!  You’ve got to soak it up when you can ’cause you never know when it’s going to turn hot again.

On our way out the door we called Nana and Papa and invited them to come with us.  They got to talk to all the kids about their day and their new teachers.

    

    

When they were all done they were too excited and hyper so we made them do a few laps around the courtyard to help get them good and tired 🙂 .

Transportation

Oh, it’s so confusing each year.  It takes a good couple of weeks to get the schedule down for when buses will be there and dropping of the kids.  I usually drive to the school and make sure the kids get on the right buses (we’ve had it in the past when kids have gotten on the wrong bus).  It’s always crazy the first week, trying to learn new things and getting used to new people.

I love the little “special bus” that Jacob rides home.  It comes right to the front door but what’s even better is the amazing drivers we get year after year.  You can tell they really love their job and I’m so thankful because they safely deliver my children back to me!

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We’ve got a bit of a problem this year as far as scheduling bus pick-ups.  Jacob gets out of school and home at the same time as Joseph, only Jacob’s bus comes directly to the house and they won’t let him off the bus without me being present.  Joseph’s kindergarten bus has the same rules only his bus drops him off at a different location.  It’s kind of hard to be in two places at once but we’ll figure it out.  It’s just those growing pains that you experience the first week of going back to school.  The sooner you realise that things are going to happen and you just have to learn to adapt, the better off you’ll be.

First Day of 2012-2013 School Year

6:30 am!  That is the time that my kids were up and dressed and ready for school.  Mind you that the school doesn’t even open the gates until 8:45 am.

I have ever so slightly been dreading this day for a couple of weeks.  I’m excited for them to go back to their old school and I’m excited for them to see old friends and I’m excited to have those fun school experiences but I haven’t been looking forward to the yelling and fighting that usually occur because they chose to stay up and play or they’re tired.  I was impressed and a little taken aback.  It was marvelous and made me think that we could possibly move our scripture reading to the mornings.  With my young womens meetings Tuesday nights and Jared now having meetings with the bishop for his new calling on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays it would be so much nicer to do our reading in the mornings.  Plus, it could only help them get used to it for when they start seminary.

All four of the kids started school today.  It wasn’t until just last Thursday when I got Jacob’s acceptance letter for the Child Find program and it stated that he started school August 27th!  I was surprised at that because in the past they usually start that program a week or two after school has started.  So, this morning all four of the kids were getting ready because we were dropping all four of them off at the same time!  Both a little bit exciting and a little bit unnerving.  It took me a while to get used to an empty house when Jacob and Joseph started halfway through last year.

Everyone was literally hopping around getting their chores done.  It made for a nice calm morning with leftover time for pictures.

The kids helped me make a large batch of chocolate chip cookies that I packaged last night for their teacher gifts.  There were four different packages and they each got to pick the one that they wanted for their teacher.

Daddy got to stay home with us this morning so that he could see everyone off.  It’s nice when you have a job that will let you do things like that.  It was a bit weird walking into the school grounds because we had said good-bye just a few months before.  Even though it was odd it still felt nice and familiar, always a good thing on a first day of school!

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We had actually already met all of the teachers the other day at Kindergarten round-up but it was nice to walk them to where they’d line up every day and introduce them again.  Emma was thrilled to see her teacher standing in line with a pink parasole!  Emma is so girly and into that kind of stuff, I think she was excited to see that her teacher was like that too.

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We then walked Jacob and Joseph to the other side of the grounds to where their teachers were waiting for them.

We ran into Jacob’s teacher first.  I don’t know what happened but all of a sudden Jacob became the most shy and reserved kid in the world.  We had been making so much progress in his seperation anxiety but it seemed to all be lost the minute we walked up to his old teacher.  We gave him hugs and kisses while Joseph was socializing with his old friends that were in Jacob’s class again this year.  I love the fact that he’s in the morning class this year.  I just think it’s a bit much to ask for a little child to be active and alert in the afternoons and then come home, exhausted, and have to do homework and chores at home all while not falling asleep before bedtime.  The morning class will allow him to come home for lunch and then take a nap!

Now taking Joseph to his class was fun!  It wasn’t fun that I was dropping him off but watching him just thrive off of being in class was amazing.  He really is an amazing child (not that I didn’t already know that).  I watched as he walked right up to his teacher, gave her the gift (which made her look up from her clipboard and take notice of him a little more), found a seat and proceeded to smile at everyone he saw.  I did go up to the little boy sitting next to him and ask him his name.  The little boy told me and then I introduced him to Joseph.  After watching me introduce myself, Joseph got the idea and introduced himself to the boy on the other side of him.  There was one point where one of the kids at his table was crying because the mom was leaving.  You should have seen Joseph’s big-brother switch turn on as he comforted the little boy (no younger than him).  Jared and I were so proud of him and showed it with our thumbs-up and blowing kisses as we left.

That kid is going to have so much fun this year!

DIY backpack

Lately we’ve been getting ready for school.  There’s the school supplies that each kid need, lunch boxes, snacks, and backpacks.  I try to use things that we have for as long as possible.  Last year we didn’t buy any new backpacks we just shuffled them around.  They were still in good condition and so could be used another year.  We’re doing the same thing just a little differently.

Last year Benjamin kept his old backpack and Joseph used Benjamin’s old one that he got for Christmas one year from his Aunt Rachel.  It was Transformers so still very cool in a little boy’s eyes.  This year we had to throw away the Transformers bag because of the many holes in the bottom.  I guess after using it for two boys and three years it had earned some down time.  Joseph will now be using Benjamin’s old bag (which is new to him) and Benjamin got to shop for a new bag.  Emma needed a new bag but we picked up a beautiful new purple bag from the clothing swap our ward had a couple of weeks ago.  Conveniently her favorite color is purple and she couldn’t be more pleased.  That leaves Jacob.  Last year, when he first started Early Childhood and he was barely 3 and so very small.  I picked up a couple really cheap bags that were on the smaller side so that he wouldn’t be overwhelmed by the size and weight.  They were large enough to fit a folder and a pencil box but not much more.  Luckily that’s all he needs.  By the end of last year his bag was trashed.  It wasn’t because he intentionally destroyed it but after going on the bus, carrying it around (sometimes dragging it) what could you expect from a 3-year-old.  We tossed his old bag at the end of the school year but I had the extra black and grey one for this year.

I have every intention of having him use that bag for this school year.  It’s new, clean, and the perfect size for a 3 1/2-year-old.  I couldn’t help but feel a little bad that it’s such a boring bag especially when we’re shopping at Sam’s Club and he comes across these adorable bags!

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He wore the green doggy the entire time that we were shopping and was heartbroken when we didn’t buy it.  I knew we didn’t need to spend the money on it especially when we have something that works perfectly.  It was just that it was so cute and the one we had is not!  He’s a cute little preschooler and should have something cute for his school year.  That’s when I decided to do something about it.

I went home and, after the kids were asleep, I pulled out my paints.  I sketched a Batman image onto some plain white paper and then cut it out.  I used that as a stencil and traced the image onto his backpack.  Once I had everything layed out I pulled out the black puffy paint and started filling in the black part of the image.  Once that was done I pulled out the yellow and went to work on that part.  I let it dry up above the fridge overnight.  I didn’t want one of the kids to see it in the morning before I could check and make sure it was dry.  It took some time but I was so determined for him to fall in LOVE with his backpack that I didn’t mind.

The next morning I couldn’t separate Jacob from his bag!  He ate lunch with it on and ran all over the house talking about school and occasionally playing the role of Batman 🙂 .

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To me this was a huge success!  I loved the fact that I could take materials that I already had and create something that my child loves and can’t get enough of.  Doing things like this not only helps me to save money but also helps us to realise the wonderful things that we already have but that we might have just lost a little love for.

And with that, we are all ready for school next week!

2012 Olympic inspiration

This summer is the 2012 London Summer Olympics which we have been avidly watching.  I remember watching them as a little girl and loving the gymnastics, diving, and swimming most especially.  It was fun to watch the others but those were my top choices.

This year the kids are old enough to know what’s going on.  They have enjoyed just about every sport they’ve seen.

Just the other day, while watching the men’s gymnastics finals, Joseph came up to me and asked if I could teach him how to do flips like they do on the TV.  I was a little surprised by his sincerity and sense of urgency.  In trying to see how really into he was I told him that they started off by learning how to somersault, which he quickly responded with doing a front somersault  quickly followed by a back-somersault.  I was impressed!  So I went on to tell him that they need to be very flexible and strong.  I told him he needed to get his arms really strong by doing push-ups and needed to work on his flexibility by stretching so that he can do the splits.  I thought I’d lose him there but all he asked was how to stretch.  I showed him how Emma stretches for ballet, with the pillows and taking one out after a day or two of stretching.  He immediately piled the pillows high and got to work!  I’m now in the process of finding a gym for him to take a couple of months of gymnastics classes.  It could only help him, especially in his coordination.

Another incident, while the kids were swimming this afternoon I saw Jacob swimming very deliberately.  I immediately noticed what he was trying to do because we had been watching all the swimming trials and final races.  My children are well aware of who Ryan Lochte, Michael Phelps, and Missy Franklin are.  I catch my kids having Olympic races and playing different characters.  It’s really quite wonderful to watch and hear!

So, I was able to catch Jacob on video just to show you how far along he has come.

At the beginning of the summer he wouldn’t go in the pool on his own, at all.  Then he’d go in as long as he had a full-fledged life jacket on (no floaties).  After a couple of months of that I finally convinced him to use the floaties and he did, but wasn’t as active in the pool.  Now he’s in his floaties, swimming the backstroke, and occasionally jumping into the pool all on his own.  His progress is amazing and so inspiring.  It makes me feel a sense of relief at watching him and seeing all the hard work and time spent on his therapy.  Thank you Olympics!!!

Epic!!!

How many times in your youth did you participate in an all out food-fight?  For me and my family I can safely say that tonight was our first time!  It was inspired by a conversation that Jared had with Joseph in which he asked his daddy why we don’t ever have food fights 🙂 .  Such a funny little boy!  Isn’t it obvious?!?  What was a little more perplexing was that Jared thought to himself “why not?!”  If I had more sense I could have listed off a million different reasons, but for some reason it got me to thinking the same thing and  ways to make it possible instead of thinking of all the ways and reasons it shouldn’t be.

It started with a list of foods that we could throw.  We thought of spaghetti and chocolate cream pies but both were nixed because of their ability to stain.  I wanted this to be fun and not me worrying about their clothes or my house and furniture.  I’m sure I would be worried enough about it as it was.  We settled on a menu of pancakes, stuffing, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, green and orange jello, brownies, oatmeal, spaghetti noodles without the sauce, ramen noodles, whipped cream in the cans, homemade whipped cream, and the pièce de resistance was our pudding bombs (pudding set inside cupcake liners).

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We spent one day making all the food and making sure they were in plastic containers.  Just in case the containers were picked up or dropped I didn’t want to have the added worry of glass on the floor.  Sunday night, after the kids were asleep in bed, Jared and I started pushing furniture off to the side and taping the plastic to the ceiling.  W e used painters plastic and just pieced sections  together with duct tape.

We had planned on doing this as a family but thought it might be a little more fun to have a few more people involved.  We thought to ask my parents but we both knew that if they knew what we were doing they probably wouldn’t come at all.  So we invited them over for dinner and FHE.  We asked them to bring foods like eggs, refried beans, and rice so that it would look like we were actually going to be eating dinner.  We also asked them to wear grubby clothes because I wanted them to really enjoy themselves and not worry about their clothes.  Once I asked that though they had questions as to what we would be doing.  The minute they walked through the front door and I had them take off their watches and they saw the plastic dividing that back part of the house my mom seemed to deflate and said, “We’re painting aren’t we!?!”  I just smiled and waved them through the entrance.

They commented on all the food on the table, we started our FHE off with a prayer and then Jared recited the scripture from Zechariah 5 that says, “Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll.”  As he was reciting he took a pancake and smeared a bit of mashed potatoes on it.  I think at that moment my parents started to understand what was going on.

 

I’ll never forget Jared throwing the first piece of food at Benjamin.  As he was winding up Benjamin started saying, “NO! NO! NO!”  You have to remember that this is going against everything we’ve ever told the kids.  We were worried about how they’d act afterward, that they’d start throwing their food all the time but we decided to be open and honest with them and explain to them the amount of work we had to do in prepping so that our house could still be livable after.

    

    

I have to say that I had expected quite a few things.  I was prepared for the mess but I wasn’t prepared for how much fun it would be or how into it everyone would get.  I wish I could have been a fly on the wall and snapped a million pictures of everyone laughing and playing.  Being there wasn’t enough especially when you’re ducking behind things and slip-sliding all over the floor.  The couple of times that I pulled out my camera I became a real easy target and had to put it away.  It was mostly Emma that would try to get me when my camera was out.  I was okay with the flour being thrown at me but when she started spraying whipped cream I had to put it away.

    

Not everyone had a smooth transition into the food fighting scene.  Once Benjamin got over his initial fears of getting in trouble we had to ease Jacob into everything.  He was in tears for the first few throws until Jared took him into the family room as showed him that it was just food.  Jared put some food on his fingers and had Jacob taste it.  Whatever reassurances he needed he got in that minute.  From that time on everyone knew that they needed to be a little easier on Jacob and I was so impressed that they were.  They still included him but they were softer, a bit more gentle when getting him.  He got very into after that but occasionally I’d find him sucking on his fingers 🙂 .  After he doused Nana with some food I had them get together for a picture.  As I was counting he turned his head to look at Nana and actually licked the side of her face!!!  It was a priceless moment!

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Jacob wasn’t the only one that I found enjoying the food that was strewn all over the house.  Towards the beginning of the fight I caught Emma taking a bite out of one of the pudding bombs before chucking it at someone.  Joseph took a break from throwing to squeeze a little whipped cream into his mouth.  My mom was a bit grossed out at the beginning when she saw Joseph eating some of the food.  She made an “ewe” comment until I reminded her that it was all edible.  That seemed to connect some dots for her and everyone else and it was great to see people eating the food throughout most of the event.

    

Here are some more pictures of us just have a good time!

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When all the food had been thrown and we had taken the massive amounts of food that had been caked on our feet off and re-thrown that, it was time for a group photo!

    

This was an amazing memory for our family!  I’m so glad I didn’t say no to one of Jared’s ideas.  It might be one of the funnest things we’ve done as a family.  I’m so glad that my parents didn’t back out but that they were here to build this memory with their grandchildren.  I know it was different and out of their comfort zones but I’m so grateful that they were grandparents before they were Bryan or Jennifer (that they put their grandchildren before themselves).  And I think that they found that they were really able to have a great time as well.

    

There was such a huge mess but I was pretty confident that 99% of it was contained.  I’m so glad that Jared and I spent that extra time to go over every seam and seal it.

I just about thought of everything except when it came to an exit strategy.  When we were all done I realized that I didn’t want everyone walking through the house covered in food so I had to tear a hole over the sink, wash my hands as best I could, and then tear another hole as close to the back door as possible for everyone to walk out.  That worked better in theory because everyone had to step onto the tile to get to the door so I had some scrubbing to do later.

Everyone got their feet and legs sprayed down and then what didn’t get washed away by the water they scrubbed off on the grass.  Even with that, we were still covered and had layers of food caked on us.  Actually, later at dinner I found some food in one of the kids’ ears that was missed in the shower 🙂 .

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And just like that, we started pulling the plastic off the ceiling and wrapping it in on itself.  There were one or two places where the food found its way out of the plastic but that was all on the tile and quickly cleaned up.  Surprisingly the worst of it was at the back door when the kids stepped on the tile before stepping outside.  All that food smashed on their feet smudged on the tile.

The kids passed out in the car on the way home from dinner at Famous Dave’s at 10:00pm.  By 11:15pm the house was spotless and back to normal!  What an amazing night!!!

Rec. Center Fun

Swimming and friends seem to be synonymous with summer.  Today we were fortunate enough to enjoy both!  I love when friends call us up and want to do things.  It breaks up the week and gets us all out of the house.  Even though we have a pool in our backyard it’s nice to go out and visit places like this every once in a while.

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We went to the Whitney Ranch rec. center to have some great outdoor fun!  It’s very similar to the outdoor pool at Paseo Verde and Green Valley Pkwy but it’s a bit smaller and a lot less crowded.

Willie is one of Benjamin’s best friends.  He’s the one that got him interested in boxing.  I love that they are able to spar one another in the ring but then leave the gym and play and plan things together.  They’re going to scout camp next week together and that will be another great adventure for the two of them.

It was so much fun to sit and relax with Amee while the kids ran back and forth between swimming and snacking on treats.  They could have gone on like that for hours but I ran out of food and Emma had a ballet appointment.  So, back to real life until we can come back again!

Last Day of School

With today being the last day of school we needed some great treats for the teachers as a way to say good-bye.  Benjamin and Emma gave their teachers gift certificates for massages (something I’m sure they’ll be able to use and appreciate wholeheartedly).  Jacob and Joseph each gave their teacher some fruity fish with a cute tag that I got several years ago from the ladies over at eighteen25.

It wasn’t until after we dropped the big kids off at school that I realised I forgot a little gift for their bus driver, Tom.  He has been such an angel driving the kids back and forth for the past five months, I couldn’t just let that go unnoticed.

The two boys and I ran to the grocery store and picked up some gold-foil covered chocolates and rushed home.  I printed off these adorable candy covers that made the chocolates look like little buses.  It doesn’t get better than that!!!  The boys helped me cut and tape the covers to the candies and then they helped me eat a few of the chocolates 🙂 .

   

With treats all done and ready to go, Tom picked up the boys and I followed them to the school so I could help out for the last day parties and such.  I asked if I could drive them but they love Tom so much that it wasn’t going to happen.  It’s okay, they’ll have plenty of me in just a few short hours!

Saying good-bye to our teachers was a bit harder today than past years.  In the past we come back the next year and see our old teachers in the hallway but that won’t be the case this next year.  Who knows when we’ll get to see these great people again.  That made it a bit harder as we were saying our good-byes.

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I ran around from class to class helping out with parties and sometimes just watching my kids say good-bye to their friends and get addresses so they can keep in touch over the summer.

Benjamin’s class had a wall with white butcher paper up so that the kids could sign their autograph for their teacher!

They had a pizza party and shaving cream time on their desks.  Benjamin wrote a cute note before he wiped it away and gave me his hand print.

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It was a wonderful day where we got to say good-bye to a lot of people that we love.

I find myself feeling incredibly thankful to these people who love doing what they do.  I love that they’re willing to work with my child when they’re great and when they need to improve.  We have been truly blessed with teachers who love to teach!  My only regret is that I didn’t get a picture of Emma and Ms. Daskas today but I put one up of the two of them from earlier in the year.

Benjamin’s Final 2nd Grade Award Ceremony

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Benjamin had his final award ceremony for second grade today.  He did a wonderful job this year.  He was incredibly busy in school and out of school as well.  He managed to do boxing every day after school, scouts each week, and soccer on the weekends and keep a really good handle on his school work.  He was tested for GATE and passed which will be a lot of fun for him next year.

He received the “A B Honor Roll” and “Exemplary Attendance” awards for the third trimester.  Tata and Nana were both able to come and watch with me.  I think it was nice for Tata to be there to see Benjamin, just like it was for him to see Emma yesterday.  What a fun experience!

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The Letter “A”

I was getting ready to serve the boys their lunch today when I heard them singing something very quietly.  There was no way for me to be sneaky about it so I just asked them what they were singing.  Joseph pipped up before Jacob and said “Apple Annie”, as if I should know what that was 🙂 .

Joseph quickly sang through the song so that I could hear it but you could tell that Jacob had wanted to join in but just couldn’t get the words out fast enough.  I asked him to sing it again with his little brother and he was so good about it.  These two make a great team (when they feel like it)!!!  My favorite part is hearing Jacob say big words like “alligator” and astronaut”!  Brilliant!!!

I’ve started to notice that Joseph learns real quickly through song.  When it comes time to learn his times tables I think I’ll have to come up with some cute song for him to sing so that he can memorize them all!

Emma’s Final 1st Grade Award Ceremony

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My sweet little Emma had her final award ceremony for the year!  She did such an amazing job this year and I think she’s really developed some great habits that she’ll use for the rest of her school career.

In case you couldn’t hear.. she earned the Principal’s Honor Roll (straight A’s and E’s) for the third trimester, perfect attendance for the third trimester, Principal’s Honor Roll for the entire year, and the Governor’s Award (perfect attendance and no tardies the entire year).  She’s such a hard worker but more importantly she LOVES doing it!  In the mornings I find her in her bed with a book, I’ll catch her writing pages and pages to put together as  books, and occasionally I find her helping Joseph with his reading and writing.  She’s a great big sister, a terrific daughter, and an amazing student!!!

                

Tata happened to still be in town and he was more than eager to go see her at school.  Tata used to be a big educator in Arizona.  He’s done and seen it all but I think it was extra special for him to see his great-granddaughter walk across the stage and hear her accomplishments!  His health has been decreasing rapidly over the past year and with us moving across the country you just never know when or if you’ll ever see each other again.  His glaucoma has taken 70% of his sight, his diabetes is slowly eating away at him, and he’s fighting with the effects of his prostate cancer.  Even with all of that going on he’s still the same Tata!  He’s never let his physical issues come before his family.  He’s incredibly upbeat and so optimistic.  I love how he spent his time this week teaching my children songs that he taught me and my brothers and sister years ago.  I’m so glad he was able to be with us today!!!

SWIMMING

We are swimming fiends around here!  Well, I guess I should say that my children are swimming fiends.  We’ve been waiting for the perfect time to go swimming and now with school winding down and the weather increasing in temperature it seems as good a time as any.

For most of the morning I sat under the canopy and read while Joseph and Jacob swam together.  Having them take those swimming lessons during spring break was the best thing ever because not only is Joseph swimming without floatation devices most of the time but Jacob is actually willing to get in the water, something he never did last summer.  I got a great deal of reading done but then it just got too hot and I had to jump in there with them 🙂 .  You know it’s too hot when your phone has a temperature warning on it and won’t let you access anything until it’s cooled off!!!

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These two are getting closer and closer every day.  Sure they still fight every now and then, I’m starting to think that’s a fact of life I’ll never get away from, but you can tell that they truly love each other!  Joseph is really stepping into the big brother role nicely.  He warns, and teaches Jacob all the time.  Granted I’d prefer if he’d keep the arm-pit gas noises to himself but I guess that’s what big brothers are there for.  They teach you good things and real annoying things too 🙂 .  They were playing some game in the pool and they kept calling back and forth to one another “Big Brother!” or “Little Brother!”  It was sweet!

Our Last Field Day at Ries

Today was Field Day at the school!  We look forward to this day right after the new year 🙂 .  Jacob and Joseph didn’t have school until late afternoon so they got to go watch Benjamin and Emma play all the field games.

Now, imagine trying to cheer, take pictures, and keep a positive attitude in 106 degree weather and NO water games!!!  They had great games but none of them had any water!!!  I was baffled and I think the kids were a little disappointed when they didn’t see anyone getting wet.  Instead, all the kids waisted their much-needed drinking water on splashing each other to stay cool.

It was a bit different but it was still successful.  The P.E. coach focused more on actual physical activities which was a great source of exercise for the kids.

You had your sac races…

        

… your soccer dribbling…

… your jump-up-and-down-goal-making…

… your hula hooping (of which Emma was amazingly skilled at)…

… your three-legged racing…

… and a little of your goofing around while standing in line 🙂 …

Jacob and Joseph proved smarter than all the rest of us and hid out on the covered playground equipment!  They would run back and forth between me watching the kids and the shade.  They had the entire area to themselves so it turned out pretty nice!

 

They did come out of hiding when it was time for a water break.  Ice cold water and otter-pops will do that to you!

        

Even though the temperatures were scalding and the kids were bright red from the heat you could see smiles every where you looked!  Benjamin and his friends, Oscar and Garrett, sat in the shade and talked while Emma and her BFF, Drew, stood in line for water balloons!

I know I had mentioned that there were no water activities but there was one time when water balloons appeared.  The P.E. teacher threw them at random to the kids at the water station.  Unfortunately, when Emma’s class had their turn at the station there were no ottor-pops left.

That seemed a little unfair, especially having to deal with being the last class to the water station so Mr. G split the class in two lines, facing each other.  He gave one half a water balloon and they passed them back and forth trying not to make them pop.  It didn’t take too long before all the balloons were popped and the kids were happy as can be.

Jacob and Joseph had found a spot on the ground to camp out on.  I threw a balloon right in front of them so that they would get good and wet and all I got in reaction was these amazingly cute smiles!  I guess having cold water thrown at you doesn’t matter after you reach a certain point.

It was another successful Field Day for all the kids,teachers, and families that came to help out.  Now, bring on the last week of school!!!

Emma Presents Flat Stanley

Emma did her Flat Stanley presentation today.  She was so excited last night and read over her story several times.  When it came time for her to get up in front of the class, you could tell she had turned real serious and maybe even a little nervous.  She read speedy fast!  I guess that’s partly my fault because I know what a great reader she is so I thought by making her presentation more as if she were reading a book that she would be less nervous.  I guess it worked , a little too well 🙂 .  She ran through that thing faster than we could get through the pictures.

One of the fun things about the whole time in her class was the question and comment time at the end of her presentation.  It was sweet to hear the kids give comments and it was nice to hear any questions that they might have had.  This was a perfect way for her to get out of her comfort zone and work on her nerves.  I don’t want her to get crazy nervous like I do if I have to speak publicly and I think more things like this will really help her!

         

The Stanley cookies were a big hit too.  I’m glad I had enough time to finish icing them this morning.  It took a little longer than I thought to frost 30 sugar cookies, but they were incredibly yummy (as evidenced by the 4 cookies left on the tray when I left)!!!

P.S. I didn’t realise that my camera only recorded in 5 minute increments so there’s a little gap between the first video and the second, and the second and the third.  I’ll have to figure that out!

Stanley’s Adventures In Florida

Finally finished the story!  Emma read through it once tonight.  She did such a good job with expression.  She’s wonderful!  I think she really liked the story especially since she laughed in several places.

Stanley’s Adventures In Florida

 

“Where am I?” said Stanley.  “The last thing I remember is trying to get away from those thieves in the museum.  I had to climb into a big box that was getting onto an airplane.”

After walking around for a little bit Stanley soon realized he was at IKEA!!! He walked, and walked, and walked.

“I can’t believe how big this place is!  There is so much to look at!” exclaimed Stanley.

He tried out some of the furniture and even laid down on one of the beds.  It was so comfortable that soon Stanley was snoring.  He was so tired after such a long trip and so much walking.

When he woke up Stanley’s stomach was rumbling.

“Hum,” Stanley thought, “I wonder where I could get some food.”

He walked around and found out that IKEA has the best lunches ever!  He had mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, chocolate milk and even a cookie!  After lunch, Stanley needed to think about what he was going to do because he was so far away from his home.  So, he sat down and thought.

He thought, “Well, I am in Florida! Maybe I can look around while I figure out how to get home.”

As he walked out of IKEA Stanley saw a tour bus drive by. It read, “Shark Valley Tours.”

“Ooh, sharks!” Stanley thought, “Maybe they have sharks in Florida!”

Stanley was in for a surprise.  When he got off of the tour, there were no sharks, but the tour took him into the Florida Everglades! There, he saw a big alligator! Then he saw another one, and another one! They were everywhere! Stanley decided he should climb into the trees just to be safe. It wasn’t all scary, though. While in the tree, he looked down and saw a little alligator.

“Hey up there!” It called. “What are you afraid of?”

“My name’s Stanley, and all of those alligators look mean. I’m just the right size for a snack!”

“Oh, come down. I’ll keep you safe. My name’s Alli.” She said, as Stanley climbed down.

But as Stanley reached the bottom the tree he was climbing it fell over right on top of Alli!!!

“Oh, no!!!” cried Stanley. “Alli?  Alli? Are you alright???”

The next thing you know, Alli the gator climbed out from under the fallen tree, but she didn’t look the same.  Instead of being a big scary alligator she was FLAT!!!  Just like Stanley!

They walked down the Everglades and saw a turtle.  Stanley had never ridden on a turtle before.  Stanley tried to ride on him but the turtle was tricky.  As Stanley snuck up behind it and jumped on, it slid down into the water.  Alli just laughed and laughed!  After that, he needed to rest in the shade of a flower for a little bit.  But not too long, or else those big alligators would come back!

Stanley didn’t want to spend the next day in the hot Everglades, so when he woke up from his nap, he and Alli found a crane that was on his way to the beach.  They both climbed on his back and held on tight!

When they got to the beach Stanley changed into his swim suit.  They played in the sand and even buried themselves up to their necks.  They got so much sand on themselves that they needed to go for a swim in the Atlantic Ocean.

“Wow, Alli!  The water is so warm!” said Stanley.  “It feels like I’m swimming in my bath tub!”

Stanley had so much fun flying on the crane that he wanted to fly some more.  He figured out how to make himself into a kite!  He let the people at the beach play with him as a kite, and boy was it fun!

While he was flying around in the air as a kite, he had an idea.

“I could fly home!” thought Stanley. “But flying home as a kite would be super tough.”

So the next day, Stanley packed his bags and headed to the airport.  He brought Alli, too, since she had never been to the desert.  The tricky thing about airports is that you have to go through all kinds of security.  If you can’t walk through the metal detectors you have to go through the x-ray machine.

“Uh-oh!” said Stanley. “It’s going to be dark in the x-ray machine!  Hold my hand Alli so you don’t get lost.”

When they got on the plane, the pilot asked Stanley, “Do you want to fly the plane?”

“Wow, I’ve never done anything like that,” replied Stanley.  He sat in the co-pilot seat and got all ready to fly, but he had some trouble reaching the controls.

“That’s okay,” the pilot said, “you’re still a pilot on this plane!”  And he gave Stanley his pilot’s wings!

Stanley sat and watched out the window as the plane took off into the air.  He was going to miss Florida and the beaches but he didn’t want to visit the Everglades again.  He was happy he had his new friend Alli with him. Once they were safe on the ground, Stanley breathed a sigh of relief.

“I’m glad that adventure is over!” he said to Alli, who’s adventure in the desert was only beginning.

THE END

As soon as Emma had read through the story and the kids were all in bed I went to work glueing down all the pieces to Emma’s presentation.  She had finished her homework yesterday so that gave her time to design her board.  This is what we came up with…

She wanted to be able to take Stanley and Alli the gator off but I knew if I added velcro it wouldn’t be long before they were ripped so I laminated them both!  I couldn’t figure out how to attach Stanley the kite so I added another pocket for him to sit inside.  She did a really good job of placing everything, although I did have to move one of the pockets because it was right on the seam and I couldn’t fold the board in half with it where she wanted.  She has her jar of sand, her bottle of Ocean water, and pilot wings all ready to pass out to her classmates!

I finished glueing everything down on the board at about 10:00 pm but I wasn’t a bit tired.  So, with my crafty juices flowing I somehow came up with the insane idea of making Flat Stanley cookies!  I know, it’s a gift and a curse 😉 .

I found a gingerbread cookie cutter and used that to make the body.  I whipped up some sugar cookie dough and made 30 Stanleys.  By that point it was too late to decorate so I figured I’d just save if for the morning.  I bought some of this Betty Crocker cookie icing a while back and so I’ll put it to good use.  I could easily make my own royal icing but I’m in the process of cleaning out my pantry and craft stuff before we move so if I can use it then great!  We’ll see how everything goes tomorrow!!!

He’s Here!!!

Stanley has finally made it back home!  I now have the challenge of somehow making the 31 pictures, two flat Stanley characters, jar of sand, bottle of ocean water, Ali Gator, and map of the Everglades all comprehensible for a class of first graders.  Emma is SOOO excited about giving her presentation.  Her daddy did a really good job!!!

I think I have a good idea of how I’m going to put it together and then I’ll have to ask her teacher if I can come and record her giving her presentation.  I love projects like this!  I can’t wait ’til Emma gets home from school to help me finish it off!