Apple for the Teacher

We are on day 5 of school, and I have a breather to put a few thoughts down. 

Back to routine ( Hallelujah! ) 

The beginning of a new school year is just another document on how the kids 

are growing up.  Can't believe this is my oldest's last year of elementary.  

This time next year she will be starting Junior High and Lil Miss will be starting kindergarten. 

But let's not get ahead of ourselves... 

To the 2015-2016 school year.  

My kids are ruling the school being 5th, 4th and 3rd graders.  

We love our school.

It was so fun to see all the familiar teachers faces, friends (kid's and mommy's),

and to see new families to welcome into this wonderful community.

Rosie couldn't wait to socialize with her friends. 

As excited as the oldest three were to go back, the little one was 

a little sad.  She just lost her three best friends. 

She has told me "I'm bored" about 100 times this week.  

Mommy apparently isn't as fun as her brother and sisters.

Have no fear though, she is starting preschool next week. 

We unpacked her backpack Wednesday night and she 

is ready to go. 

Oh, and it only took 3 days into 5th grade for me to bring in reinforcements

for Math homework. 

Glad daddy understands it all.  

So welcome back to a new school year. 

I pray that my children's teacher love my kids,

That my kids love their teachers,

That we all try to be patient when learning something new,

That we respect other students opinions an feelings,

That we foster old friendships and make new ones too, 

and that everyone tries to do their best. 

School is Out! Scream and Shout!

We are officially in Summer mode. 

School let out on Thursday and we celebrated another year completed.

{First and Last Day of 4th Grade} 

{First and Last Day of 3rd Grade} 

 {First and Last Day of 2nd Grade} 

 {First and Last Day of 3 Day Preschool} 

In true mommy fashion, I had a little pile of new things for waiting for them in the morning.

The downfall of having surprises for the kids is the excitement. 

On the last day of school Bubba, came down for a glass of water at 5 am 

and saw the gifts on the table and then woke up his little sisters.

When Nate went downstairs to go to work 3 of the kids were up and 

ready to start the day.... WAY to early. 

Let's home they learn to sleep in the rest of the summer. 

It is always fun to see the kid's delight in getting new books, notebooks, 

pencils, bookmarks, and reading logs for the summer. 

In fact that morning they were all ready delving into the books and Bubba 

was penning his first entry in his new journal. 

Let's hope this excitement lasts all summer long. 

Mommy is way to excited to start The Babysitter's Club books with Gigi. 

Next year will be Rosie's last year in elementary school. 

It is crazy to think about. 

I remember dropping her off on the first day of preschool when she was 5.

It is amazing how much the kids can learn in a year.  

Rosie continued her love for science and fell in love with geography this year. 

Bubba has found an eagerness to read.  He has ventured into more advanced chapter books and his vocabulary in one year has really broadened.  We are currently reading the first book of Harry Potter!

Gigi loves school and is my little writer.  She is always journaling and writing mini books. 

Last but not least, Lil Miss has grown up before my very eyes in 3 day pre-k. 

 We love our school. 

They really have great school pride and school spirit. 

A great tradition is the last day of school, all the students congregate outside with the parents around the flag pole to take the flag down.  In brings everyone together.  

I great way to say good-bye to another year.  

Once again we celebrated with our "Welcome to Summer" party.

The kids each had some friends over and we celebrated with music, water balloons, 

slip-n-slide shenanigans, and lots of laughs. 

Celebrating the ordinary days is what I do best. 

I love having parties.  I like the planning and the fine details (even when my hubby is 

telling me I'm nuts for decorating the chalk board at 11pm at night).

I found this quote a long time ago and I have made it my philosophy. 

Turn ordinary into extraordinary!

 Don't Wait for extraordinary opportunities, 

sieze common occasions and make them great. 

Orison Sweet Marden

  I had spent an hour and a half the night before filling up 100 water balloons. 

I have a nasty blister to prove it.  Those balloons in all the craziness lasted all of 7 minutes

when the balloons started splashing Boys vs. Girls.

We can honestly say we have jumped wholeheartedly into summer and 

can't wait to make more memories.  

More fun to come....

I just like to smile, smiling's my favorite!

Okay, I am just sitting down to finally post last week's fun and excitement. 

Lil Miss had her very first school Christmas program. 

To say she was excited, is an understatement.  

She had asked us a million times, if everyone was going to be there.... because, well 

she was going to sing on STAGE. 

We might have a little performer on our hands.

Lil Miss walked right on stage giving her best Miss America wave.

Elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist. 

As soon as she saw Daddy, she was blowing kisses and smiling from ear to ear.  

There is nothing cuter than preschoolers singing. 

What entertainment.  There's always at least one child who beats to his own drum. 

And that kid happened to be the one standing right in front 

She also had her winter program for dance last week. 

She just hates to be in the spotlight.... NOT.

They danced their hearts away to "Do you want to build a snowman?"

Every little girl's favorite song. 

The best part of the night was when the dance teacher handed out flowers to the little girls. 

So sweet. 

She has grown up so much in the last few months.  

Happy December

It's my favorite time of the year! 

We are well into December and the Holiday fun has begun. 

Our Christmas Cards are on their way to our friend's and family's homes, 

the Advent calendar is up and the kids are reading off each days fun activity, and 

Tiki the elf has made an appearance once again! 

{our advent countdown}

Tiki has been at it again, popping up everywhere in the house. 

Some days he even makes quite a mess. 

{Tiki apparently likes to play Fruit Ninja when we are asleep!} 

The Christmas decorations are all up and we have been enjoying the 

Christmas light glow at night.  We have old and new decorations. 

We added a few new ornaments this year to our tree, my favorite being this little 

camper which is a reminder of our "Home away from Home".

 This tree is new too! 

This is a replica of my Grandma Aggie's Christmas tree that she always had lit up on her

stereo cabinet, we all got one last year and what a great reminder of her it is!  

The making of Christmas gifts are well under way. 

Gigi's new skill of knitting, has her making wonderfully warm gifts for everyone on her list. 

I've got quite the pile of unfinished Christmas gifts that I've been working on too, it's a good thing 

that I have 11 more days left. 

December also means giving to others who are less fortunate. 

One of my favorite things to do with the kids is pick out gifts for toys for tots and 

our Angel Tree recipients.  

Taking the kids to the store and telling them to get gifts for other children who might not have 

any toys or aren't as lucky as they are creates some absolutely wonderful conversations about 

giving and how it is so important to help others.  

When asked during an interview what is the one trait from your parents that you would like to 

pass onto your children?  My answer without hesitation was the love of giving to others. 

My parents couldn't have been more generous in their giving and I only hope that 

I am as good of example to my kids that my parents were to Nate and I.

 My son's favorite thing about the holidays is the dressing up.  

Yes, you read that right...my son. 

He couldn't wait to get his suit out this week for the school's Christmas program. 

The kids looked so amazing all dressed up in their Christmas outfits on Friday. 

I did learn that I need to do a little shopping before Christmas for dress shoes that fit, longer dress shirt, and 

a pair of tights with no holes.  

But the important thing is from these pictures you can't see any of those things.  

Just the smile on their faces! 

I hope you are enjoying the Holidays as much as we are. 

Happy December! 

The Pumpkin Patch

On Wednesday I had a chance to go on a field trip with Lil Miss. 

I am so excited to go on as many field trips as I can with the kids this year.  

It was a beautiful fall day for the pumpkin patch.

 The preschoolers had fun looking at all the petting zoo animals: the bunnies, ducks, chickens, 

and sheep.  Of course my child always likes to be by the teacher, asks tons of questions, 

and has plenty of stories to share with anyone who will listen. 

It was funny see her interact with the other children. 

She only knows a few names but is not shy at all. 

Her favorite part (after snack time) was the wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch.  

She loved the bumpy ride into the field, but then when we got to the actual pumpkin patch. 

She flipped out.  

My girl would not step foot into the pumpkin plants.  

All the other kids were rushing out to get the perfect pumpkin and my girl was scared of the plants. 

This is not acceptable for this plant loving momma.  

So I carried her out in the patch, sat her down to pick the "perfect" pumpkin (also known as the first pumpkin we saw) and then hurried back to the wagon.  

The first field trip of her little life.  

I was so glad to spend this time with her, and I can't wait to chaperon the 

older kids field trips too.  One of the best parts of Lil Miss starting preschool this year! 

The symphony of our schedule

We are well into the month of September and all our fall activities are in full swing. 

Each season/year comes with its own sports, extracurricular activities, and events to put 

on the schedule.  Now with everything started our routine is a fine tuned machine. 

This isn't without hiccups though, and meetings mommy or daddy needs to attend to 

that throw our routine off  here and there.  

But for the most part we are getting the hang of our new normal. 

Last week, Rosie had her first orchestra session. 

She has chosen to play the violin.  

When she came home with the paper stating that the child has the choice of being in orchestra or not, she immediately said she was all in,even with early morning practices before school once a week!

It's only been a week, but she has been dedicated to practicing and it sounds really good.

I look forward to watching her perform in the concerts this year. 

Brings back lots of memories, since the hubby and I were both in band.   

 Lil Miss has added her own activities to our schedule this year. 

We have a ballerina in our midst. 

She is super ecstatic to be dancing on her tiptoes and learning what a pirouette is with her best-est friend.

 Is there anything cuter than little girls in leotards? 

This is quickly becoming my favorite 30 minutes of my week.  

School is going well for everyone.  

We are knee deep in homework every night and studying for tests as much as we can. 

I feel smarter every time I quiz the kids and I know the answer. 2 +2 =4 YES!!

15 years out of school and I still got it!

This past week, Lil Miss' school celebrated grandparents day and I happily 

took the place of grandma and grandpa at the party. 

I've been dying to go and see her in action. 

She has grown so much from just the few days she has been at school. 

She has learned how to write her name and even though it isn't all in order, all the letters are there.  

She can point our "her letter" on every sign as we drive down the road.  

Doesn't get old at all.  LOL

Even with all the routine, we still manage to throw some fun surprises into our lives. 

This past weekend, we visited the zoo with the hubby's work and had lots of fun.   

 The monkeys.

Carousel rides.

Tinkerbell Sighting. 

Sporting our scarlet and gray on a football Saturday. 

Every night we have something going on, its the nature of having 4 children all 

in activities and venturing more and more into the sports. 

Tonight is no exception, the boys are off at boy scouts and Rosie is getting ready for basketball practice. 

Sometimes it is just necessary for us to divide and conquer to make it all work.