Happy Fiftieth Day of School

To celebrate the fiftieth day of school, the PTA put on a Sock Hop for the kids and their families. We had a lot of fun dressing up and getting ready, and then dancing and playing games. Megan and Jared thought it was fun to see their teachers and friends dressed up too.

School's Back In Session!

If there were no schools to take the children away from home part of the time, the insane asylums would be filled with mothers.  ~Edgar W. Howe

First day of 4th Grade:

Megan has been a little apprehensive about starting 4th grade. She gets nervous when starting anything new. But I know she is going to do GREAT! She gave a talk in Primary (Junior Sunday School) yesterday about prayer, and she bore her testimony that she knows Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers when we ask in faith, even if it's just to help you not be nervous on the first day of school. Here's a link to her talk.

This morning she wanted to ride the bus to school with her friends instead of having me take her to class. She's ridden the bus every year except kindergarten. She really is growing up!

First day of 2nd Grade:

Jared said that he wasn't nervous at all about starting 2nd grade. He was nervous about finding the right classroom, so I drove him to school after Megan got on the bus, and pushed the stroller with Katelyn and William to his class. He held my hand as we walked in and it made me happy. He was excited to get to school and get to know his teacher and see all his friends. 

And just because she is cute:

(This is her "Say Cheese" face)

 

Last Day of School

Today is the last day of school. Megan and Jared will be home a little after noon. I'm a little apprehensive to have all four kids home with me all the time, but at the same time I'm really excited. They may drive me crazy some times, but I really have been blessed with awesome kids.

I was thinking about just how much has changed from the first day of school back in August til now. And just how much has stayed the same.

• Back in August, there were only 3. Now there are 4.

•  Megan has always been a beautiful girl. But looking at these pictures, she now looks more grown up and sure of herself as well. She has started to come into her own - she's confident in her style, her hair, the way she deals with people and situations. She's blossomed this year, and I am so excited to get to know the person she is becoming.

• Jared has grown up a lot too. He's comfortable in school, and with hanging out with friends. He's independent and excited to try new things. And coincidentally, he wore the same shirt on the first and last day of school. :D

 It's been a great school year! And it's going to be a great summer!

End of the Year "Celebration of Learning" Parties

At the end of each year, instead of having a big Awards Assembly, each class has a Celebration of Learning party. The kids get awards, they read something they've written or preform as a class, and everyone gets to hang out and relax for a little while.

Jared has loved having Mrs. Adams for his teacher this year. He has learned a lot and really enjoyed school. His reading has improved immensely. He was given a "Voracious Vocabulary Award" (I think it's a nice way to say he talks a lot?) and a "Mr. Goodbar Award" for being a good friend and all around good kid.

He says when he grows up he wants to own his own restaurant.

Last year Megan had a wonderful student teacher. She got hired to teach 3rd grade, and Megan was in her class again this year. So really, she's had Mrs. Halbot for two years now. It's been a wonderful school year and Megan has done so well. She has improved all around, but she's really flourished the most in math and art. (One she gets from her dad, the other from me. I'll let you guess which one. ;) She got awards for both.).

She says that she wants to be an elementary school teacher or an art teacher when she grows up.

I'm super proud of both of my big kids and I'm excited to see what the future holds for them.

School Carnival

The school had a carnival this spring. We had a lot of crazy fun.

Both Megan and Jared tried climbing the rock wall. Megan was a little nervous, but Jared scaled it like a spider monkey.

Megan got her hair sprayed blue and a Firebird painted on her cheek.

Jared got injured and required medical attention. It was touch and go for a while, but he is tough and pulled through. 

Kate wasn't too interested in the games or activities, but she liked running away from us and she liked it when daddy made her a cape out of William's blanket and let her wear his sunglasses. (William slept in the stroller the whole time. I didn't get any pictures. Sorry. Use your imagination.)

These two can be loud and crazy and drive me batty, but I am sure glad they are mine!

Teacher Appreciation Week

I know this post is a little late, but I guess better late than never, right?

This year, the kids were asked to bring a little something for their teachers each day for Teacher Appreciation Week. In years past, I've made myself CRAZY trying to figure out something to do, staying up way too late making things for the next day, etc. This year I got smart and made everything at once. It was great to just tuck little things into the kids' backpacks each morning.

I used PSE and Melissa Renfro's Inspired Child Collection from Scrap Girls for all the tags.

On Monday, the kids were supposed to bring flowers. I had seen these really cute pencil vases on Pinterest, but I didn't really follow a tutorial. I just laid a strip of masking tape, sticky side up, on the table. I laid out pencils side by side on the masking tape (I used 36 pencils). I wrapped the masking tape/pencils around an empty soup can, overlapping the masking tape to hold it all in place. Then I covered the masking tape up with a piece of ribbon. Easy-peasy, and the teacher can take it apart and use the pencils later. The tag says "I think you are just WRITE."

On Tuesday, the kids were bringing a sweet treat. I knew Jared's teacher liked skittles, so that's what we went with. The tag says "You are better than any treasure found at the end of the rainbow."

On Wednesday, it was office supplies. I bought a couple of packs of sticky notes for each teacher and put them in cellophane bags. The tag says "Stuck like glue on you!"

On Thursday, they brought a salty treat. We chose boxes of microwave popcorn. "It's no Secret that I think you're great!"

On Friday, the kids were supposed to bring a note for their teacher. I had them each make a card and I added a note at the end. We slipped the notes inside these journals.

The kids also wanted to do something fun for their Specials teachers (Art, Music, and PE), so we made bags of Hersey's Nuggets for each of them and the tags say "I think you are as good as gold!"

First Day of School - 2012

Megan and Jared started school in August. Megan is in third grade this year, and Jared is in first grade. They were both really excited to start school - I think they missed their friends during the summer.

Megan wanted to ride the bus on the first day, but Jared wanted me to drive him and walk him to class. So we waited for Megan to get on the bus, and then we loaded up and drove to school. In previous years, Travis has always walked the kids to class on their first day, so it was fun for me to get to do it this time.

Kate was so excited to see the bus pull up in the afternoon and to see her big brother and sister get off. She missed them!

Last Day of the 2011-2012 School Year

The kids had a great year.

Megan loved her second grade teacher, Mrs. Dobbs and Jared loved his kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Sheppard.

Every afternoon, Kate waits at the window for the kids to come home. She gets so excited to see them when they get off the bus.

After dinner, we took the kids to Ritters to celebrate the end of school.  Jared chose a scoop of chocolate ice cream with Oreos and sprinkles and m&ms and whipped cream.

Megan chose to have a Frito Pie instead of ice cream. (Sometimes we aren't so sure about her....)

2nd Grade Field Trip

Megan's grade went to the Hockley Oil Ranch for their field trip. They had a petting zoo, pony rides, a hay ride where you got to feed cows and goats, plus lots of things to swing/climb/play on. Megan loved it and I loved being there with her.

Kindergarten Field Trip - Houston Zoo

All of the kindergarteners went to the Houston Zoo for their end-of-the-year field trip. I was happy that I got to go along and chaperone. It was a lot of fun spending the day with Jared and his friends.

50th Day of School

To celebrate the 50th day of school, all of the kids got to dress up like they were from the 50s. With the short notice (Jared brought home a note in his folder yesterday, and Megan informed me this morning!), we weren't too historically accurate, but both Megan and Jared found something to wear and were excited.

 (I love how Jared is trying his best to look like a "Tough Guy".

Jared the Scarecrow

Every year, the kindergarten has a Scarecrow Day, complete with costumes and a parade. Jared was pretty excited to get to wear his costume(which I put together, aren't you all impressed?) to school. Kate and I went to watch the parade. All of the older classes line the halls to see the little kindergarteners march by. It's pretty fun.