Thanksgiving Feast

The Thursday before Thanksgiving, AC Williams had their annual Thanksgiving feast lunch and I was able to go and eat with Gus. I assumed that he was happy to finally be away from me after 5 years of being in the same school as me, but he seemed so excited to have me there! I know I was so happy to be there with him!

HaLlOwEeN!

For Halloween, Madeline picked out a pink Batgirl costume. She looked so cute!! On the other hand, Gus had a harder time picking out a costume. The past 3 years, he has been a character from the Super Mario video games. First he was Luigi, then Toad, and finally Mario. This year, he wanted to be Yoshi, but that costume was $45 and I didn't take the time to try and make one. I know, bad mom! :( Anyway, the weekend before Halloween, he found a pirate hat and patch play set at the dollar store and said that he wanted to be a pirate. (I didn't even care that he was already a pirate when he was 3! We had a costume idea!) So, the rest of the costume was made by me on the fly the night before Halloween...I think we did good!

 Madeline and Gus wanted to take pics of his pirate character "hooking" her and her Batgirl character karate chopping him. SO FUNNY! When it was time for the serious picture, they were each caught looking at the other...so sweet!

On Halloween night, we went to church for their annual trick or treating. However, this year, they opted for an"trunk or treat" with a performance before you could get candy. I loved it! The story was set to music and there was very little narration. It told the story of the good knight, the good prince and the bad knight and was very moving. I pray that it touched at least one person's heart to know Jesus!

It was a great Halloween!!

Operation Christmas Child

For the past 5 years or so, the kids and I have put together shoe box gifts for the Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child drive. The past 2 years, I have allowed both kids to pick the items that go in the box. It is difficult at times for the kids to realize that no, this is not their gift and no, they can't buy anything while we are shopping for the gifts. However, I pray that I am in some small way showing them how to be selfless and to give to those in need. I can't wait to see what country our gifts arrive in! Last year, they went to Mexico. Feliz Navidad!

Halloween PaRtY!

Grayson and Greenlee invited Gus and Madeline to their Halloween party this year and we all had a bLaSt! Hats off to Amanda for being the hostess with the mostess! They had games, adorable themed party food, dry ice for the swimming pool, a fire for s'mores and lots of laughs!

Gus the Gardener

Gus' teacher gave him a cabbage plant on Friday. Apparently, every Third grader received one. According to Gus, so take it with a grain of salt, the student with the largest cabbage in the whole state of Texas receives $1,000. Let the cabbage growing begin!

Fall is in the Air!

Spring and Summer are by far my favorite seasons. However, Fall is growing on me. There is something with the changing and falling of the leaves that gets me these days.

On my run yesterday, I paused to admire the beauty around me. The camera doesn't do this road justice. It is truly a beautiful place to run and think.

I also paused to have a heart attack as I jumped over this guy! Hello Mr. Grass Snake!

After I circled back, the sun was streaming through the trees. I am blessed to live this life. Life is good!

Movie Date

Last Sunday, the Kinder Krew and I went to the movies to see Don't Back Down. It was a very heartwarming story about a mom who challenges the system to change her child's failing school. We laughed and cried and had a great time catching up. We picked up Sonya who is home in maternity leave. Since I still had congestion and a cough, I didn't get to hold Addison. Can't wait to eat my hands on her!

Bashing it Up!

Yesterday was the Bois D' Arc Bash! I love the Bash! As a kid, I ran around all day playing with my friends and danced in my poodle skirt at night. As a teenager, I hung out with friends all day and enjoyed the music at night. As an adult, I still enjoy it just as much if not more! 

I started the day with the Bash Dash 5K. My friend, Veronica, came in from Richardson to run with me. Thank God she did, because she kept me going! I would NOT have ran as fast as I did if it wasn't for her pushing me. Thanks friend! 27:47 is a FANTASTIC time and much better than I had hoped for!

Twinkies in the "BEASTMODE" tanks I made for us. Thanks Pinterest! V brought her inner beast and it drug me along! lol! Healthy breakfast before the race and the "official" results posted at the Chamber of Commerce.

After the Bash Dash, I had to "dash" to the car and change for the parade and Aglaia Culture Club Duck Race! I joined the club last September and this is my 2nd Duck Race. I have always loved watching the race and I enjoy being a part of it now.

The ducks are off! and the "lucky duck" winner is Becky Thompson! 

I invited Stephanie Pullen to join the club this year. She is an awesome addition to the club, co-worker and FRIEND!

When I was a kid, it seemed that the Blandelles were always the headliner for the Saturday night street dance. I have fond memories of poodle skirts, hula hoop contests and getting a teddy bear during the song "Teddy Bear." Every Bash, mom and I make sure that we watch the group. (My high school golf coach and history teacher, Gary Felmet, is a member! My Technology Director and friend, Al Shipp, was a founding member!) They play during the day now but we still make sure and see them perform!

Madeline and I watching the Blandelles perform. She was wiggling to the music!

After a much-needed nap and shower, we headed downtown again for the wine tasting! I branched out a little bit and tried some "Zombie Zin" (yuck!) and "Chocolate Rose" (not bad, smelled and tasted like a Tootsie Roll with a kick) but ended up making several trips to my favorite "Yellow Rose" from Landon Winery in Greenville! Andy even tried some wine! (after John and Holly Gotcher convinced him to!) He wasn't a fan. After the wine tasting, we went to the Drunken Mule. What a name, huh?! We hung out with friends and danced some. It was a great night! Too bad the running, allergies and bar smoke triggered my first asthma attack at 1:15am! Not a great end to my night! Oh well, it was a great day! Can't wait to do it all again next September!

Check out the back window of my car. It says, "Wash Me Dad." Great! Tagged by my own father! lol! I love him! (and I washed my car this morning)

Proud parent!

I know that all parents think that their kids are the greatest, and I am no different! Madeline's "All About Me" poster was due today in her Little Ark class. This weekend, I got the crayons out for her to color it and I was just going to supervise. Instead, Gus offered to help her and they worked together on it. I am very proud of how well he worked with her and helped her. I am equally proud of her answers...they are classic Madeline!

Gus took his spelling test today (2 days early) and got a 100! Check out the note from his teacher! I am blessed with awesome kids. I thank God for them!

First Day of Pre-K

Madeline has grown up faster than Gus, I swear! Is there something about the second child or what?! She started Little Ark Preschool this week. She loves school and cannot wait to be in Kindergarten with mommy. However, mommy isn't in any hurry for her baby to grow up. Looking forward to a fun year! I cannot wait to see what all she learns!

First Day of 3rd Grade

Well, it happened. My baby boy grew up on me and started 3rd grade. His last day of 2nd grade and CES was very hard on me. I physically felt like my heart was missing a piece when he left the building that day. We HAVE been together in the same school since he was in Pre-K 3 at Phoenix Charter School, ya know! I anticipated having a hard time on the first day as well. I had a small lump in my throat but held off the tears. I just feel blessed that God gave him to me and that I get to be his mom.

Jax's 6th Birthday Party!

My nephew Jax just turned 6! We celebrated at Chuck E. Cheese in Rockwall. I am sad (but very HAPPY) to say that this was Madeline's first time to go there. While the kids love it, I can tolerate it. My shoes were sticking to the floor, literally, and my inner Kindergarten teacher was twitching! Good thing that the party was later in the evening and the crowd started to thin out early. I have to say, I did have fun and so did all the kids. See his cake? He told the bakery that he wanted a Spider-man dinosaur playing soccer cake. This is what he got! lol!

Happy Birthday Jax-a-roonie!

Meet the Teacher

On Thursday, August 23rd, we had Meet the Teacher in Commerce ISD.  Gus got to meet (well, meet again) his teacher, Sondra Feduccia. Sondra is a good friend of mine from the Instructional Technology Team and I am SO happy that she will be educating Gus this year! An added bonus is that his friends Garrett and Grayson will be in his class as well! The "3 G's" haven't been all together in class since Kindergarten with Mrs. Bland. We are excited for a GREAT year!

On the other hand, I got to meet my class as well! I don't usually get pictures of me on this night, but when you have the daughter of one of your best friends, you get pictures! This is Greenlee (Grayson's sister) and me. Aren't we a cute pair?! lol! I also scored this adorable gift. YuMm-O!

Thalian Auction

Andy and I went to the Thalian Auction a few weeks ago. I meant to take some pictures of me and my friends but I was busy having FUN! (and bidding crazy amounts of money on stuff I really don't need!) This is the picture that they took of us as we came in the door. I really like it! I took a picture of the picture and then red-eye reduced it in Picasa. My blue eyes always turn red! Funny thing is, Picasa highlighted Andy's cheeks too! Lol!

 (too bad that my internet uploaded the picture all crazy so now I have to upload it from my phone with devil eyes!)

I have one other picture of Stephanie Pullen and I from the evening, but that one will be omitted from this post! ;-)

Back to School!

The kids and I have been hard at work in my classroom! Madeline has enjoyed the Play Doh...

 

...and Gus has enjoyed playing with the Oats boys and Ethan. The Kinder Krew is like a big family and I love when we get to hang out...even if it IS at work...2 weeks before school starts!

While I was busy trying to keep kids OUT of my room (hehe!), I was also busy cleaning up from my summer clean out in my room. It doesn't matter how early I start, I never get everything done before in-service begins! Our theme this year is our favorite storybook. I chose Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. I have so many favorites and this is just one. I think that the Scholastic video of the book is really my favorite! I also love the bright colors and knew I could make a RoCkIn' bulletin board for relatively nothing! I only spent $3.50 for the yellow border. The rest is bulletin board paper from the school or scrapbook paper that I already had.

Speaking of bulletin board paper, our school was out of brown for the trunk of my tree. Thank God for good friends in high places! (the rip job needs a little work though! lol!)

 After organizing my iPad cables...(thanks Pinterest!)

 

 ...moving Tuck and Pancake back in...

 

...and getting most everything put away...

 

...it was time to go home and prepare for Meet the Teacher. First order of duty was stuffing envelopes for the new Cubs. I wonder who they will be?!

Tying up loose ends...

(I am catching up on a month of blog posts...)

Summer is ending (where did it go?!) and this week I tied up some loose ends around the house.

I cleaned out and organized the kid's closets. I wonder how long they will actually stay like this?









I had fully intended to have a company come and clean our carpets this summer, but my procrastination got me and I did it myself...while sick! Not fun! I am so ready to rip up this carpet and put down wood in here. The carpet looks pretty good though. I love the feel of clean carpet while barefoot!
















My last order of business was to fix Gus' bed. He and Andy were wrestling and broke off one of the wood bars that holds the slats in place.Good thing his underbed storage boxes were there to hold up the box springs until I could fix it!

After some wood glue, nails and screws...viola!

Weekend Warrior

Considering the fact that my summer is QUICKLY ending, I had some unfinished business that I had to take care of this weekend. After a pat on the head of Uncle Matt's horse, we went inside to get busy cleaning out the refrigerator.

This is when I chide myself for buying all those crazy salad dressings in the hopes of eating more salads!

Isn't it pretty?! Take a picture because it won't last long! (oh, I already did!)

Madeline is not a very good napper. If you leave the room, she is going to play. So, in order for Miss Grumpy to actually sleep, I have to lay in the other bed to keep an eye on her. Sometimes I read a book or check out Pinterest. Earlier in the summer, I watched TrueBlood seasons 2-4 on the MacBook! This Saturday I started the dreaded online training. I seriously dislike the HOURS spent on this. I could take the Bloodborne Pathogens test in my sleep! Well, I kinda did!

Friday night is usually Two Señoritas night, but we waited until Saturday this week so we could go grocery shopping after dinner. Cleaning out the fridge left us pretty cleaned out! That, and I haven't been to the store in 2 weeks! When Andy and the kids go to Wal-Mart with me, one stop is always inevitable...

 ...the fish.

Relaxing Friday

I love teaching Kindergarteners but I also love teaching teachers! I had a blast last week planning, setting up, working and teaching at the Hunt County Tech Camp.

I taught about iPads in the Elementary Classroom...

...and Google Blogger!

After such a busy week (and I'm not used to being busy) I was thankful for a relaxing Friday with my kids. We swam and took a 2 and a half hour nap in my bed. Don't you love mine and Madeline's sleep masks?! It's the only way to nap!