Slippin’ and a slidin’

Summertime = slip ‘n slide

Kenny’s 8th birthday (with family)

Valentine’s Day pictures (2011)

1st grade, here he comes

Meet your newest first grader. 

Kenny received his kindergarten diploma yesterday

and then had his LAST day of school today.

My little Van Gogh

My mom and I got back from New York late last night, which meant I spent the day doing a lot of laundry and cleaning.  I’ll get those pictures up soon but until then I wanted to share these pictures that Kenny did.  I bought these pictures in NY to go in the boys’ rooms. 

And here are Kenny’s versions:

I thought those were pretty good. 

Now, I’m off to do more clothes and charge my camera and video camera.  Kenny has his end of the year program tomorrow morning.  Then, Wednesday is his last day.  I still can’t believe that the end of the year is already here.

The craziness is over

I am so glad that last week is over.  I know it’s a busy time of year for everyone but it was getting a little bit ridiculous for me. 

1.  Teacher Appreciation Week -  I’m one of the room moms in Kenny’s class so we had to plan a week of surprises for Mrs. B.  She’s moving to NYC this summer so we didn’t want to get her more stuff but still wanted it to be nice for her.  Our week looked like this:

Monday – flowers from all the kids

Tuesday – breakfast muffins and a gift card to Starbucks

Wednesday – letters from the kids

Thursday – letters from the parents and candy

Friday – gift certificate to Barnes and Noble

I think it went pretty well.

2.  Cinco de Mayo – Kenny’s class had a party of Wednesday.  We were in charge of bringing guacamole and a pinata and helping out at the party.  The actual party was GREAT.  I took a ton of pictures.

3.  Pictures – I took all those pictures and the other 1,293, 238 from the year and started a password protected sharing site for our class on Shutterfly.  I like Shutterfly but it takes so much longer to download pictures on there than it does on Snapfish.  Or at least that’s how it is on my computer.  

4.  Carnival – Kenny’s school has the best carnival.  The guy who is in charge of it really does a good job.  There were real rides, inflatables, normal carnival games (silent auction, cake walk, games where you throw things, etc) and a community concert with a local band at the end of the night. 

You can only see the top of Luke’s head in the above picture but he had the biggest smile on his face the entire time.  Kenny went from smiling to looking like he was going to throw up to smiling again.  We were laughing pretty hard.

5.  Carnival – our class was in charge of security, which ended up being the best job.  We basically just had to watch a back gate to make sure that people didn’t try to park in the back parking lot and wander the halls.  I hope we get it again next year.  The only bad thing was that we were one of few classes that had to do something from 5:15-10 (the majority only had to work the games from 5:30-8:30).  Since we only have 10 families in our class, we were worried that it would be hard to fill all the timeslots but the majority of the parents stepped up and really helped.  I really like our class.  It does seem like the same parents help out all the time but we’re lucky that it’s the majority of the parents who do so. 

6.  Bible School – Wednesday was Kenny’s last day of bible school.  Both he and Luke will go in the fall (can we say free time for me). 

7.  Sports – T-ball started so for 2 weeks we’ll have soccer and t-ball going on simultaneously.  Kenny has been doing so good at soccer.  He scored a few goals and has been getting pretty aggressive during the games – not hurting other players aggresive but getting in there aggressive.  Soccer is definitely one of his sports.

8.  Mother’s Day – I had a great one this year.  Eric had to work in the morning so the boys and I went to church with my parents and then Billy met us all out for lunch at Cheddars.  That night, Eric made fish, green beans and potatos for me and his mom for dinner.  Kenny and Luke gave me some homemade cards and Kenny also had a teacup that he made at school for me – very cute.  Eric gave me tickets to Starlight this summer.  I had told him that I wanted to see Little House on the Prairie so he went out and bought the 3 ticket deal.  We’re going to see LHOTP, Beauty and the Beast (although he’s going to try to switch it out for Dream Girls) and the Producers.  I can’t wait.

9.  May and September are always crazy for me at work because part of my staff leaves and is replaced with new (mainly) teengaers.  I think I’ve sucked out every possible hour from the ones who are leaving me and have everything ready to go for the new ones.  Fun, fun, fun.  I still have more to get through in the next few weeks but nothing too bad. 

I AM SO GLAD THAT MOST OF THAT IS OVER. 

Now, I get to focus on my trip to NYC.  My mom and dad gave me tickets as part of my birthday present so my mom and I are going in less than two weeks to see my brother Mike.  We’re going to go see a Broadway musical (we’re not sure which one yet but we have it narrowed down to three), go to an art museum and shop, among other things.  I ordered 2 dresses from JCrew to wear to the musical and I think I’ve decided on this one.  Since we’re not sure if it will be an afternoon or evening show, I think that one will work the best.

Cinco de Mayo 2010

Kenny’s class had a really fun Cinco de Mayo party yesterday.  I think it was my favorite one to date.  They wore a sombrero while they ate, did the Mexican Hat Dance and ended the day by trying to bust open a pinata. 

Bike rodeo

Eric, his police department and Headstrong for Jake put together a bike rodeo for Kenny’s school last night.  The kids all got free bike helmets (you should get a new one every year), their helmets checked to make sure they fit correctly and then an obstacle course to ride through. 

Now we just need to get Kenny a bigger bike.  And we need to lose the training wheels.  We told him that when he turns 6, we’re getting rid of them. 

The officer who is the main person behind all the bike rodeos and bike safety said that PV may have a law soon stating that all bike riders must wear a helmet.  He thought that if it went through, it would probably spread to all the other cities in the metro.  Good.

B & N

Barnes and Noble is giving our elementary school a portion of each book sale between 4/17 and 4/22.   If you are planning to buy a book during that time frame, please help us out. 

You can do it 2 different ways:

1.  Go to any B & N store (in any city) and give them our bookfair ID # (10097954) when you go to check out.

2.  Order on-line by going to bn.com/bookfairs and enter our bookfair ID (see #1).

Thanks in advance!

How you doin’?

This is about how we all feel:

We’ve all got this nasty cold virus, although I think Luke got hit the hardest.  Kenny stayed home from school on Monday (his first sick day) and Eric even called in sick to work that same day.  Eric never calls in sick so you know it’s bad.  We all just need a few days of rest and then we should be back to normal.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY NIECE KYLIE!

100th day

Kenny had his 100th day of school today.  The kids had to bring something made out of 100 things.  We chose to use Legos to make this: 

All the numbers are made out of 10 Legos.  We almost weren’t able to do it because of the 80 (it needed 11 Legos) but then we found a weird shaped one that made it work. 

I still can’t believe he’s been in elementary school 100 days.  It seems like he just had his first day a month or two ago.

Arigato

Kenny’s class did a unit on Japan.  They learned where Japan is, different aspects of the culture, how to count to five, say hello, good-bye and thank you and how to write their name in Japanese.  I sent some of the yen that I brought back from one of my trips over there so they could see how it looks different from our currency.   The class then ended the unit with a Japanese tea party.  They all brought robes to wear and pillows to sit on.  Do your kids have robes?  Mine don’t so Kenny had to wear one of mine.  It was huge on him but worked. 

Kenny’s half birthday

Kenny celebrated his half birthday at school on December 15th.  Mrs. B sent home a poster for him to fill out about himself.  We decided to tape on a picture from each birthday and then list some of his favorite things – or some of his favorites on that particular day (baseball, Marble Run, Lincoln Logs and, of course, Legos).

I’m trying out a slideshow for the first time.  I hope I’ll like it because it seems like it will be easier in terms of adding pictures. 

The magnolia queen

It’s been just a little bit crazy here:

- Friday:  My boss emailed me around noon and asked if we had staff scheduled for the after hours rental that night.  My response was something along the lines of “tell me your kidding because I don’t know anything about it.”  Whoever schedules things forgot to pass this on.  Luckily, he was able to find enough staff (I wasn’t up there yet) and I stayed late.  I ended up getting home around 11:50.  I got into bed and suddenly couldn’t remember if I had turned something that needed to be on on or not.  I drove back to work (at which point it was around 12:15 in the morning) only to find out that I had turned it on earlier.  Oh well.  If I hadn’t checked, I would have been wondering all night.    

- Saturday:  Eric was sweet enough to let me sleep in until around 9:30.  Then around dinnertime, we packed up the boys and dropped them off at my MIL’s  so they could spend the night while we went to a Mardi Gras mystery dinner party.  Have you guys ever done one of these?  I don’t know if it was because of the abundance of alcoholic beverages or if we just had a fun group, but we had a blast.  Eric and I were supposed to be the lawyers but I ended up taking over the Magnolia Queen role when my friend Tracey found out she wouldn’t make it to the party in time.  I didn’t want to buy anything for the party so I went through my box of elementary/junior/high school things and found my prom sash.  I wrote Magnolia Queen on the back of it and then borrowed my SIL’s tiara.  Our other friends had to dress up like chiefs, maids, trashy stepmoms, fiancées, jazz players and authors.  We all had to tell our stories throughout the night and then at the end, we had to guess who we thought the murderer was and why they did it.  Me and Jim (one of the hosts) were the only ones to get it right.   

- Sunday:  Slept until 8:30 (but could have slept for another two hours) and then went to get the boys.  We made a few stops on the way home to get a Christmas present, which means I only have three more presents to buy.   Kenny had swimming lessons in the afternoon and then I spent the rest of the day working on a photo book.  The photo book is finished but now I’m having a problem with the coupon that I have.  I have an email into the company and am just waiting for a reply. 

- Today:  I worked until 1:30 and then ran up to Kenny’s school to switch with Eric so he could go to work.  Funky Ma ma was playing up there at an assembly so Eric  had taken the kids up there so they could watch.  I love Kenny’s school but I wish they would hold assemblies in the morning when all the kids are there so we don’t have to make an extra trip.  Sometimes I feel like our lone half day kindergarten class gets forgotten.  Anyways, the kids had a great time watching Funky Ma ma and then Kenny went over to Arden’s house for a playdate while Luke and I went to the store to get cupcakes for Kenny’s half birthday tomorrow.  We picked Kenny up and then went home and worked on his poster for tomorrow too.  

I’m a little worn out now so tonight may have to be a breakfast for dinner night.

1 little, 2 little, 3 little indians

Kenny had a Thanksgiving feast at school today.  The kids dressed up in their Indian gear and ate a lot of turkey, ham, muffins, popcorn and fruit. 

Front view

Back view

This was one of Kenny’s homework assignments.  We had to work together to disguise our turkey so he would be safe on Thanksgiving Day.  We turned ours into a leprechaun at the end of a rainbow.  

Luke (of course) had to try on Kenny’s outfit once we got home.

No, maybe, yes

When all the talk of the H1N1 virus started, I had no plans to get myself or my kids vaccinated.  I knew the symptoms of H1N1 could be bad but I wasn’t sold on the safety of the actual shot. 

But, then Kenny’s school district sent out a permission slip for free H1N1 shots for any kids interested.  That’s when the maybe’s started going through my head but I still wasn’t convinced.

Then, it seemed like everybody and their brother was sick with the swine flu.  My neighbor’s son had it so bad that now, over 2 weeks later, he’s still sick.  He has missed so much school that his teacher isn’t even going to have him make up the things that he missed.  At this point, Eric and I talked to our doctor and our friend, Kevin, who is also a doctor.  Both recommended the shot.  Eric and I talked some more and decided to get the vaccination for both of the boys.  Luke got his on Saturday, after he and Eric waited in line for over 2 hours and Kenny will get his at school later in the month. 

Sometimes the decisions we have to make as parents are really difficult.

Halloween party

Kenny’s class had their Halloween party today.  I’m one of the room moms so Luke and I helped out.  We had an hour to dress the kids in their costumes, do a parade through all the different classrooms (since they’ll miss the actual parade this afternoon), do 2 projects and finally eat some yummy treats.  The hour went very quickly but I think everyone had fun.  

 

Bullet points

• Kenny had his last soccer game today.  I really can’t say that I mind too much, considering how cold it has been lately.  We’re having lunch with the team tomorrow and then we’ll all go our separate ways.
• Kenny starts basketball at the end of November.  He’s doing it with his friend J.T. (from preschool) for sure and hopefully his other friend Arden (from preschool and kindergarten).  We haven’t seen J.T.’s family as much since school started so we figured that this would be a great way to get the boys back together.
• Kenny got his first report card on Friday and it was wonderful.  I could do a whole post on just his first quarter at school.
• Take a look at Mac’s face in the picture below.  The entire right side of his face and his nose are completely swollen.  Thank goodness Eric’s friend Ben is a vet.  He told us that Mac probably either ate something he shouldn’t have or was bitten by a snake or insect.  We’ve never seen a snake in our yard so we’re thinking that he probably either ate some of the berries that are on the tree that hangs over into our yard or was bitten by some weird bug.  Ben told us to give him Benadryl and to keep an eye on him for the next 2 days.  I love not having to pay for a vet to look at him, at least for now (knock on wood). 

Kenny’s field trip

Kenny’s kindergarten class went on their first field trip yesterday to one of the local fire stations.  The kids all came home with these cute hats. 

Can you guys believe the weather lately?  I like fall but I’m not excited for all the leaves that will soon be covering up our yard.

First kindergarten progress report

I’ll start with the really good stuff first.  Kenny got his first progress report and he is doing fantastic.  He did not have any check marks on his form, which is pretty amazing.  It just feels good to say that he gets it.  I know as the years go by and the work gets harder his reports won’t always look like this so we’re enjoying it now.

Also, Kenny sold the most entertainment books in his school and won $75.  We’re having him put $35 into savings and then letting him spend the other $40 in San Diego.  He’s pretty excited about that.

Now, for the other stuff.  It’s not bad but it’s something we have to work on with Kenny. 

The kids had their eyesight and hearing checked and then were tested for color blindness.  Kenny passed the eyesight (20/20 – Eric and I have horrible eyes so I’m sure this won’t last) and hearing test but failed the color blindness test.  Mrs. B didn’t understand it because he knows his colors.  She said that she had tested him on his colors earlier in the year and he got them all right.  She had the school nurse test him again and once again he failed.  She finally figured out that he knows his colors when they are by themselves but he has some visual problem where he has a hard time distinguishing them when the colors aren’t separate. 

This worksheet helped Mrs. B figure out Kenny’s problem.     

She said that after Kenny had problems with the first row, she had him start covering up the blocks around the one he was working on.  On the third row, she didn’t have him cover them but drew boxes around the corresponding block so he could work on distinguishing colors.  So, that’s what we have to work on.  I’ve been making my own homemade worksheets like this at home for him to practice with.  Other than that, I don’t really know what else to do.  Any suggestions?