Goodbye, Hello

Today marked the end of the boys' school year.  I feel like every year goes faster and faster.  Other moms tried to warn me back when I was a harried mom of three children ages 3 and under that these boys would start growing and that I'd miss those little people pulling at my legs and throwing fits in stores.  I don't know that I miss all that fun stuff, but I sure do agree that life is flying by and my boys need to stop growing up so quickly.  

We celebrated with our 2nd Annual Jumping Off The Couches 'School's Out For Summer' Dance Party when the boys came home.  

Don't tell anyone, but I think I look forward to this tradition more than they do-hee-hee!  

Goodbye Kindergarten, Hello 1st Grade!

Goodbye 2nd Grade, Hello 3rd!

Goodbye 4th Grade, Hello 5th!

Our Last Kindergarten Program

Last week, Nathan had his end of the year kindergarten sharing program.  His school does not have a silly graduation ceremony.  [I mean, really, why do we get these kids' hopes up that they're graduating when they really have at least 12 more years ahead of them???]  Instead, the music teacher, the art teacher, the librarian, and the gym teacher all collaborate and have each kindergarten class share something special.

I love how the music teacher, Mrs. Farber, pulls literacy into the music room by incorporating a story with music.  She had every single student in Nathan's class on stage participating in the music that accompanied the story.  Very cool!

Then we had the opportunity to see Nathan's artwork displayed in the hallways and went back to his class for refreshments.  I absolutely LOVE his kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Hamilton, and her assistant, Mrs. Estes.  This is our second round of having them for kindergarten and also our last!  They put together a personalized memory book for each and every student that included pictures they drew of themselves at the beginning of the year and now, as well as photographs of the many special events throughout the year.  What a wonderful keepsake.

I cannot believe my baby is moving onto first grade within the next week!  Time sure does fly!

Meet.....SUPER TUTOR!

So, February marks the end of the second marking period in these parts,

 bringing report cards and parent/teacher conferences. 

 Ryan received his very first report card, which was amazing!

And it was no surprise to us how well Evan did either.

I met with Evan's teacher who told me

how bright she believes he is,

how quickly he finishes his work,

how everyone just LOVES him.

I was so proud of him hearing all

these wonderful things.

After all, Mark and I must be doing something right...

And then,

[I should have known it was coming -

heck, I'm a teacher - you tell all the positive things first

and then BAM! hit them with the

"needs improvement" items]

she told me that Evan needs to

work on listening the first time when she redirects him,

work on not trying to be the funny guy

[he gets that from his father, of course],

and work on being a leader, not a follower.

None of this was really much of a surprise,

but we did discuss ways that we would try to

give Evan more opportunities to be a good example

and a leader, because he feeds on praise.

When I came home, Mark and I sat down with Evan

and talked about his school behavior.

I told him his teacher would be asking him to help

 other students who need help with math or reading,

kind of like a tutor.

Then, one of us said he could be like a super hero -

SUPER TUTOR!

And of course, being the mom of boys that I am,

made a 'toot' sound

and

SUPER 'TOOTER'

was born.

Evan LOVED the idea

and since the conference,

his behavior has been

EXCELLENT!

Let's hope SUPER TOOTER continues to make good choices!!

100th day

Many of the schools in our area make a big deal celebrating the 100th day of school.  There are tons of creative ways to incorporate math and writing activities using the number 100.  Ryan and Evan were excited to finally be celebrating the 100th day of school last Friday since it had been pushed back an entire week due to snow days! 

Ryan came home with several fun things.

1.  His 100th day hat that he turned into glasses.

 2.  A self-portrait of what he'll look like when he's 100 years old.  Not only did he remember the cane, but he also gave himself "rock-star hair."

3. An illustration of what he'd buy if he had $100.  For those of you who can't tell....it's a cruise ship. 

4.  And my personal favorite,

what he would and would not like to have 100 of...

He would NOT like to have 100 Christmas trees, but

he WOULD like to have 100 bags of cheese curls! 

LOVE this kid's imagination!  :) 

And his ever-present love of food.....

SO, what would YOU buy with $100???

I think I might just have to go shoe shopping!

first day of school

Today marks the beginning of our third week of school.

32 packed lunches

24 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches

$81 to various causes

a billion and one papers signed and returned

2 boxes of crayons

2 boxes of markers

1 pair of scissors

1 bus warning

3 classroom warnings

8 days down

182 to go


Here's the trio on the first day. Even Nathan had to have his backpack on like his big brothers. No school for him until next year.

My big kindergartner was so excited and so brave. Ryan couldn't wait to ride the bus with Evan. I don't know why, but I was more nervous this time around. I don't know why. Evan handled the bus on his own when it was his turn for kindergarten. I kept reminding Evan to sit with Ryan and make sure he behaved and got off when he was supposed to (they are in different buildings).

Evan took his big brother duties seriously. Here they are holding hands as the bus pulled up. Isn't that cute?

Bye-bye boys! Mommy managed to wave and smile. Then when I got in the car to head to my own school, I must admit I wiped away a few tears. I can't believe my middle baby is going to school ALL day long. Where does the time go?

I'm so glad the buses run a little late the first day. I was able to meet the bus and catch the big boys jumping off the bus. I couldn't wait to hear about their days.

M: What was your favorite part of the day, Ryan?

R: Lunch and recess.

It's going to be a long year...

scrappy share

Supplies: Rust cardstock, Wasau Paper Co.; Green patterned

paper, Cosmo Cricket; Lined paper, Making Memories;

Red letter stickers, Cloud 9 Designs;Apple diecut, Target;

Red "D" diecut, K & Co.; Yellow thickers, American Crafts;

Small white letter stickers, Making Memories.

I made this layout a while ago, but I thought it was very appropriate since we are quickly approaching the first day of school for 3/5 of us starting Monday! I will be back in my position as a 3rd and 4th grade reading specialist, Evan will be starting 2nd(!) grade, and my Ryan will be a kindergartner(!).

I look at these photos of Evan's first day of kindergarten and it seems like it was yesterday. And it was two years ago!!!!!

So much has changed since then...

And, yes, that is a photo of Mark in the boys' wagon ~ hahaha!

wordless wednesday

so long, first grade

My 7(!) year old had his last day of first grade today!

Where does the time go?????

His teacher celebrated by treating the class to a pizza lunch followed by water ice for dessert. Isn't that nice?

Nice...

Yeah.
So today Evan had this clutched in his hand
when I picked up the boys after work.

Where does an almost 7 year old 1st grader
come across such large funds, you might ask?

From his girlfriend, Emily, at school
who calls him "Honey"
and "loves him."


ummmmm.....WHAT?!?

Either our son is quite a smooth talker or EMILY is a little hussy.

Miss Emily, I'm sure you're a really nice girl,
but kindly keep your hands off my son
and your money in your piggy bank.
Thank you.

Week of Firsts

Well, last week was a week of firsts for all of us.
My first day back to working fulltime in four years.
Evan's first day of first grade.
He rides the bus and has a snack and lunch at school everyday!
Ryan's first day of full day preschool.
When you ask him what he did in school,
he says, "I had two nacks and lunch. I went outside to play two times. I took a nap."
Nathan's first day at the babysitter without his older brothers.
Mark's first quiet day at home in the last four years! :) hahahaha!

Everyone seems to be adjusting well to the new routine. I'm still trying to figure out when I can have time to myself [what's that?!?] but we'll work it out. I've been craving some scrapbooking time, but haven't figured out when that will happen yet.

Nathan is the only one I'm slightly worried about. We went upstairs to go to bed Thursday night and this is what we found at the top of the steps:

Nathan had carried all his stuffed animals, his pillow, and his blankets out of his crib and plopped himself at the top of the stairs to sleep. We're not sure why he didn't come downstairs, but the poor kid almost got crushed by Mark's foot! He also climbed into our bed twice last week ~ something he's rarely done before....SO, he's feeling a little out of sorts. Hopefully, it will just get easier for him as this becomes our new routine.

Goodbye Kindergarten, Hello First Grade!

Friday marked the end of kindergarten for my Evan. He had a WONDERFUL year with some great teachers. He discovered he loves math and his reading is really taking off. Evan has always loved books, but now that he can read some of the words by himself, it's a whole new world! :)

I cannot believe my baby is officially a first grader and will be in school full day come September...where does the time go?

Today we're celebrating the fact that we don't have to trek all our butts up to the bus stop two times a day :) Although I will miss the excitement of waiting for the bus and Evan giving everyone hugs and kisses before he boarded. SO cute!

For know, we're going to savor the summer time we have together :)

Here's a shot of the teachers' gifts I made ~ the "flowers" in the pot are actually pens.

Another Picture = A Thousand Laughs

Maybe I'm just immature, but EVERY time I see Evan's bus pull up, I have to laugh....

Five Firsts for Friday

OUR WEEK of FIRSTS...

1. FIRST day of kindergarten:

Evan loved his first week of kindergarten. He loved his teachers and had fun having music, art, and library. He didn't cry at all ~ but mommy & daddy shed a little tear when he climbed on that bus for the first time and didn't even look back...

2. FIRST bus ride:

3. FIRST few days of babysitting our neighbor's children:

K has already been recruited to the "No Crust Planet" super hero team...

4. FIRST banana cream pie:

5. FIRST mustache:

"Mommy, look what I drew."

Thank goodness for washable markers :)

In the Bag

This conversation took place on the way to school Friday morning:

Mom: Evan, today when we go register for kindergarten, there might be some kindergarten
teachers there who might ask you some questions. They might have you write your name or jump up and down, I don't know. But, all you have to do is answer them and show them how smart you are.

Evan: I've got it in the bag, mom. Don't worry.

Whew!

Well, the first day of school was a rousing success! Evan got up, ate, got dressed on his own. We drove to school and he wore his "Cars" backpack while we waited outside the classroom door with all the other anxious kids and parents. Evan was really excited and smiley. We took a bunch of pictures, including one in front of his cubby. He didn't want to get a picture with his friend, Hannah from church, so I took one of Hannah and her mom, Tamara. Everything was going smoothly...until I tried to leave. He started crying and of course, even though I tried really hard not to, that made me cry, too. Mrs. Mellinger picked him up and hugged him as I was leaving. It was one of the hardest things for me to walk out the door and leave him.

When I went to pick him up....he was all smiles again. He LOVED it! He played outside, colored a picture, learned some new songs, sat next to his friend, Hannah, from church, had yogurt for a snack - "one girl didn't like her yogurt, mom." Today when I dropped him off, he gave me a hug and kiss, said goodbye and as I was walking out the door, he smiled and blew me a kiss. So I guess that means he likes it :)

Bringing Home the Moon

Tomorrow is a REALLY BIG day for Evan. Tomorrow he begins preschool 3 days/week. I cannot believe my little guy is going to school - I guess it's going to be a really big day for me too! We went last Tuesday to the "sneak-a-peek" to see his classroom and meet his teacher. He got to color a picture of himself while we were there and of course, I had to take a picture...he's so cute, isn't he?

He seems to be pretty excited about tomorrow, but I'm a little nervous about how he'll react to mom leaving. I'm hoping he'll be fine, but sometimes he gets shy in new situations (for about 5 minutes!). When Mark & I went to Open House last week, Evan's teacher, Mrs. Mellinger, shared with the parents all the things that they'll be doing as a class. Evan will be presenting his poster about himself (his 1st homework assignment) and sharing lots of other things in front of his classmates. Just thinking about this made me kind of sad...my little boy is going to be "on his own" in these situations and I won't be there to see him shine. Don't get me wrong...I am SO excited that he's going to be learning new things and having new experiences but it's bittersweet because it means that the separation from mommy & daddy and the blossoming into his own person is already beginning.

Just last week, on the way home from Grandma & Pop-Pop "with no beard & with no pool"(this is truly how he identifies the grandparents) 's house and there was a full moon. I was driving and Evan & Ryan were talking about the moon in the back seat - always amusing to just listen in to their conversations. Evan all of a sudden says to me, "Mom, we're bringing home the moon." I laughed and agreed with him. It brought back so many memories for me - coming home from my grandparents house and watching the moon seemingly follow us all the way from their house to ours. I always thought it was so amazing that the moon would follow US! I love that Evan thinks the same thing - makes me marvel at his innocence and imagination. I hope that my little boy can keep these little boy thoughts for as long as possible, even though he is starting school. We'll let you know how it goes tomorrow!