happy birthday to me...

I can't wait to dig into these new papers! My mom gave me $20 'pin' money to spend on myself last weekend and I took it upon myself to order my very first order from Studio Calico.

SO exciting!! Thanks, MOM!!

BTW, anyone know what 'pin' money is?? I'll have to post the definition another time...

surprises

Don't you just love a good surprise?

Something that you aren't expecting that just completely brightens your day?

I think if I won the lottery, I would send surprises to different people every week.

I sent this out to my college roommate last week. I hope I brightened her day :)

I made the card...it was so fun to make a girly card and I love the way the banner turned out.

thankful thursday

Now I know where Evan gets his humongous forehead!

Today (everyday) I am thankful for my mom.

She is a strong, beautiful woman and I love her dearly.

She is goofy and funny and loving and honest.

I am thankful that we got to celebrate our birthdays together this past weekend

~ our birthdays are only 3 days apart!

I am especially thankful that she is still here to celebrate another birthday.

I love my mom :)

What are you thankful for today?

semantics

Ryan came home last week on "Yellow" on his behavior chart with this handwritten note from his teacher:

"He was calling another classmate 'potty' names."

I immediately run through all the possibilities of what 'potty' names could be. Ryan denies each option and conveniently can NOT remember ANY details of this event....

That is, until I sent him to his room to think about it.


After his think time was over, I asked him again what 'potty' name he called a little boy in his class.

His answer: Toilet

Secretly relieved that it wasn't something worse, but still upset with him,
my response: Really!?! Ryan, why would you ever call someone a toilet?

Fast forward to this week...

I had to email Ryan's teacher about another left behind/lost sweatshirt - we're going on 3 now and it's only October! - and I happened to mention Ryan's confession. Out of curiousity, I asked her if what he told us was true.

Lo and behold, it was not. I know, you're shocked!

She wrote "he called John a poopyhead or something to that effect."

Great.

I guess I should look on the bright side....
he understands synonyms.

Every reading teacher's dream...lucky me.

thankful thursday

Today I am thankful for Evan's ability to read
and entertain his brothers while I make dinner:

What are you thankful for today?

two of my favorite things....

READING & SCRAPBOOKING

The big boys have a reading program at their schools called "The 100 Book Challenge." They bring home books at their independent reading levels every night and are supposed to read "steps." A step = 15 minutes of reading ~ Evan has to read 2 steps/night and Ryan has to read 1 step/night. For every 100 steps of reading, they receive a medal and bragging rights. Last year was the first year of the program and Evan read over 400 steps, which is the equivalent of over 100 hours of reading! Isn't that awesome!?! This program is very motivating for kids ~ as a reading teacher and mom, I LOVE it!

Anyway, Nathan is so darn cute. He wants to read Ryan's books every night, too. Not have them read to him, but read them. Ryan's books typically follow a predictable pattern or repeat a phrase over and over again, so they are easy to pick up. Nathan will listen to one of us read it once through and then, he'll take the book and "read" it, too. Love that he's doing this, but then again, he's always loved books.....

Write.Click.Scrapbook recently did a whole week's worth of inspiring ideas for scrapbooking about books and reading. It made me think of these two layouts I'd done about Nathan and his love of books...

Green patterned paper, Scenic Route; Diecut paper, Jenny Bowlin Studios;

Ribbon & Thickers, American Crafts; Rub-ons, Little Yellow Bicycle

Supplies: Patterned papers, October Afternoon, MME, imaginisce, foofala;

Letter diecut, KI Memories; Owl & other diecut shape, MME;

Thickers, American Crafts.

quote of the week

Ryan: You're the best mommy ever.

Evan: Then why do you say mommy's mean sometimes?

Ryan: Because she's mean when she tells me no.

Mommy: Ryan, I can't always let you have your own way. Sometimes I have to tell you no. That's my job.

Ryan: That is not your job. YES is your job....NO is my job.

Isn't that the truth?!?