Starting School

Gosh! School started and life went into over-drive. Connor started 2nd grade this year. He is in Mrs. Talbot's class. He started the school year knowing a handful of kids. His best friend Jaron is in his class. I challenged him at the start of the school year to make new friends in his class. He has done so well! He has been so kind and loving to a boy in his class who has autism. He has an aide that sits with him and helps him during school. Connor and this sweet boy sat by each other at the beginning of the school year and I think it was a bit of a shock for Connor but he has really learned to love this boy. He plays with him at recess sometimes, and lets him join his friends in whatever they are playing. The little boy has a short attention span and usually doesn't play too long but it's so nice knowing that Connor plays with him and includes him.

Dylan started 1st grade and he is in Mrs. Echols class. My boys both scored in the teacher department this year! We love Mrs. Echols. I am able to go and help every Monday for an hour in Dylan's class. I am also the room mom so I get to help with parties and holiday celebrations. Dylan is smart as a whip! He is quiet and a good leader in class. He has some tough kids in his class but he always manages to stay on task and get his work done. He has made some good little buddies this year and is learning to love sports. He plays soccer, football, or basketball at recess.

Samantha started preschool at Watch Me Grow Preschool with Miss Julie and Grandma Smith.  To say she has waited her whole life to go to preschool is the absolute truth! She couldn't wait to go! She loved her teachers before she ever started preschool. She is my little social butterfly. She has crushes on "all the boys!" and "every single boy loves her!" So, I think I have my work cut out for me already! She is starting to write her name and knows most of her letters. She is counting higher and higher every day and she thinks she can speak spanish (she cannot--but it's fun to hear her try!).

My kids love their teachers this year! I feel so blessed to have such wonderful teachers handling my kids everyday. My boys have grown leaps and bounds this year. They all have teachers who are passionate about education and love children. It's been such a fun year for them!

May 2014

May was a fun month for our family. Dylan graduated from Kindergarten!! He loves school and is a great student--and pretty smart too! He loved being in Mrs. Stewart's class. He made tons of new friends and became a great reader. His graduation program was so cute. Even grammy came down to see him graduate.

Dylan also celebrated his 6th birthday on May 23rd. He had a birthday party at the house with a bunch of neighborhood friends! We played games and got wet. He was spoiled rotten. He chose to go to Dickey's Barbeque for his birthday dinner--a great choice above pizza (we eat pizza every Friday night!)

Baseball

This year Connor and Dylan both played baseball! They had so much fun. This was the first year I split them up and let them play on their own team. Connor has been pushing for a little more independence and wanting to do things like play with friends, play sports, and hang out--without Dylan and Sam! I love that he is wanting a little independence.

Connor got to play with a whole slew of kids from the neighborhood and school. I think he knew every kid on the team. He practiced hard and it really paid off. He hit the ball every time he was up to bat this year--ok, except twice. He was a hittin fool this year! He is catching on to the fielding side of the game as well. He played awesome and had a great time with all his buddies.

Dylan loves baseball! He loves all sports really, but he is so fun to watch play baseball. He can crank the ball pretty hard--now we just gotta get him movin those big old feet! He too, had so much fun playing on a team with lots of kids from school and in our neighborhood! His coaches were so fun and really taught their team about the game. Dylan loved wearing his bright yellow team hat all season long!

Panorama Achiever Award

Connor and Dylan both received the Panorama Achiever Award at school this year. They had to do lots of extra work all year long from service projects, sports, improving test scores, science fair projects, and lots of hard work in class and at home! They both did amazing things in school this year and this was their reward for working so hard! Way to go boys!!

Happy Birthday Dylan

Man oh Man! It has been quite the day. Today is the first day of summer break and Dylan's birthday. I had high hopes of sleeping in--until at least 8:00--that was definitely wishful thinking on my part...both boys showed up in my bedroom at 6:07 this morning! I think they were both a little bit excited about Dylan's birthday party today!
Dylan picked a sports birthday party. He had quite the crew here. We hit a football helmet pinata, played with giant water balloons, ate pizza and breadsticks, and had a dance off on the wiiU. His friends got him some really fun presents this year! He has been riding his bike, playing xbox, jumping on the tramp, eating popsicles and playing with friends all day long....I'm pretty sure today has been a great day for him.
We got him a remote control car, a flipper for his bike, some spoke thingys for his bike, and Connor picked out Trash Packs??? (random boy toys!), and a video game.

Happy birthday Dylan! I am so proud of the young man that you are becoming. You are polite, a good friend, an excellent reader, and a great brother! I hope you have had a wonderful day today!

Jr. Jazz

Connor and Dylan just finished up playing Jr. Jazz basketball. They loved playing on separate teams. Connor got to play with his 1st grade friends and Dylan played with his Kindergarten friends. They were dribbling, passin', shootin' fools out there on the court! It's so fun to watch them start to understand the game a little bit better each week. They had so much!

guy time

The weather today was perfect! It was sunny and warm--not hot--just warm. It was great weather for a little guy time so Paul and the boys decided to take Papa Mogle out on the Rhino. They went out north of Leeds to a place our neighbor showed Paul and Connor a few weeks ago. We are so lucky to get to hang with Papa Mogle while he and Madge are snowbirds for a few months.

word

I have to record two funny things my kids said

Sam has been saying "perfect" but she says "PERF-TIC!"

Today on the way to basketball

Connor:  "Dylan, don't ever eat butter, whole!"
Dylan: "What do you meeeeeaaaan?"
Connor: "Don't EVER eat butter, whole, Dylan, don't ever!"
Dylan: "Like where your poop comes out?"
Connor: "not that butter hole---like a square of butter, never eat that plain!"

They definitely keep me laughing!

i'm not sure what happened...

i have a million and one posts in my head. little happenings, big happenings, life happenings.

i regret not writing them down. i do keep a journal for myself and one for each of my children. but i like to blog. i like to type. i like to have pictures with my posts.

i have a million things going on in my head like:

. . .my baby will be 3 next week. 3 years old!
. . .dylan and connor are playing basketball. on different teams. hilarious to watch
. . .connor is a reading, writing, math machine
. . .sam wants "holes in my ears like you, momma"--we maybe, might, possibly pierce her ears on her birthday
. . .connor has a hard time falling asleep
. . .dylan wakes up entirely too early every. single. day
. . .sam still refuses to sleep in her own bed
. . .we are buying sam "her very own big girl bed" for her birthday
. . .dylan spells words all day long
. . .my kids are {still} picky eaters
. . .i gained 10 pounds in a year--but i don't really want to talk about that
. . .we no longer have cable/satellite for television. that is a heated debate in our house
. . .paul hates the attic. and antennas. and tight spaces. and insulation. and crappy reception....