School already?!

Where did the summer go?  I’m having trouble believing it’s over because the temperature outside is still in the upper 90s.  Hmm…  Thank heavens for an air-conditioned school!

This year, Big T started 3rd grade.

He has a female English teacher and a male Spanish teacher.  I’m curious to see how he does with a male teacher.  I think Mr. Lott has  already made quite an impression because he is all Big T talks about.   Big T so far is very calm about school, an attitude that I hope continues.

 

Lil’ T just started 1st grade. 

He now goes to school all day.  I think he is most excited about eating lunch at school and has already sampled hot lunch.  He’s a fan!  He also has a female English teacher and a male Spanish teacher. 

The girls and I hang out at home or go shopping.  We are girls, after all!  Here’s hoping that we have a great school year!

10 Years: 10 Firsts

In honor of our 10th wedding anniversary, here is a list of some of the firsts we've shared in the 14 years we’ve been together.

1. First date:

 

2. First graduation:

 

3. First year of college:

 

4. First separation:  

 

5. First reunion:

 

6. First day as eternal companions:   

7. First baby:

 

8. First Bachelor degree and first “real” job:  

 

  9. First house: 

10. First high school reunion:

Thanks for 10 wonderful years of marriage, Honey!  Can’t wait to spend eternity with you!  Love you!

 

P.S.  Thanks to my mom and dad for letting us share our anniversary with them!  Congratulations on 38 years, Mom and Dad!

Go, Ninja, Go!

Lil’ T just celebrated his 6th birthday!  To make it extra special, he got to host a party for his friends.  He and Big T are big fans of the Ninjago LEGO sets, so that was his theme.  I made some simple invitations using one of the downloads from LEGO’s site:

In preparation for the party I made two dozen ninja star bean bags.  I made them out of felt and filled them with rice:

 

I also made a ninja headband for each guest using a roll of satin ribbon.  I made decals for the headbands with printable heat transfer paper, but unfortunately the decals didn’t stay on the satin very well!

The day of the party the ninjas demonstrated that they could follow orders with a game of “Sensei Wu Says.”

After that they practiced their skills in a ninja battle scrimmage with the ninja stars.  They were divided into two teams on either side of a rope line.  The battle objective was to clear their side of all ninja stars.  We set a timer for a couple of minutes and let the stars fly!

The next game was a hunt for the Golden Weapons:

First on their quest was the Shuriken of Ice.  In order to get to the Shuriken, the ninjas had to cross a frozen sea on chunks of iceberg (a.k.a. white paper plates).

Next the ninjas braved falling rocks (a.k.a. newspaper balls) as they sought out the Scythe of Quakes.

Then on to the Lightning Tunnel (a.k.a. a washing machine box draped with a fringed table cloth and I-Phone produced lightning)  to obtain the Nunchucks of Lightning.

And then the final weapon of the mission: the Sword of Fire!  The ninjas had to cross over a pit of lava (a.k.a a red plastic table cloth with a balance beam) to get to the magical sword.

After completing their quest, the ninjas were then,and only then, prepared to meet the enemy of all that is good: Lord Garmadon!

Don’t worry,  good prevailed and these fine ninjas were able to rid the world of such evil! (And they loaded their pockets with candy in the process!)

The ninjas then refreshed themselves with mock sushi (a.k.a. rice crispy treats wrapped in fruit roll-up) and ninja-topped cupcakes.

Each ninja left the party with a favor bag that included 2 ninja star bean bags, a mini LEGO set, a top, and a fortune cookie.

I received reports that the ninjas left feeling confident in their ninja skills and pleased with their efforts of the day!  I think the birthday boy thoroughly enjoyed himself, as well!

A True Princess…

…doesn’t let the dirty clothes hamper keep her from her favorite shirt. …knows that all she needs is the right pair of shoes, and those would have to be dancing shoes.

…knows there’s no such thing as being over-dressed for any occasion.  She should always look her best!

…knows how to ride in style.

…has a heart of gold!

Easter 2011

We kept things pretty simple for Easter this year. 

On the Saturday morning before, each child received a new book and a pair of PJs.

Then we had an egg hunt in our newly-fenced yard.

Afterwards, we dyed eggs.

   

Before we went to bed, we made Easter Story Cookies.  (They turned out really well this year!)

On Easter Sunday we went to church in our new Easter dresses and ties.

After church we had a yummy Easter dinner that, of course, included carrot cake.

Hope your Easter was fun!

Miss Independent, Too!

A few weeks ago I was at a weeknight RS meeting and I was talking to Lil’ Miss’ Sunbeam teacher.  She was telling me what a climber she is. I told her that The Babe is much worse, and here’s the proof!  I posted this entry when Lil’ Miss was 16 months old.  Now I have another 16-month-old girl and she wants to out-do big sis.  Lil’ Miss started climbing our swing set using the easy ladder on the side.  That's not good enough for The Babe, she needs to use the climbing wall on the other side of the swing set.

Here’s her cute little pig tails coming up over the edge! What a fun, cute, little monkey!

Ten-hut!

This year for spring break I wanted to do something to not only keep the kids busy, but also something worthwhile.  After reading this blog post about age-by-age skills that kids should know, I knew what I wanted to do:  Boot Camp!  The boys love anything related to the military, so I knew they would be into it.  And Lil’ Miss loves to hang out with the boys, so we were set!

To prepare, I got each of the 3 older kids a uniform (camouflage shirt, traditional green for the boys and pink for the girl) and a dog tag with the words “I Can Do Hard Things” inscribed on them.

The morning of Boot Camp I handed out the uniforms and dog tags and started calling the kids recruits.  They ate it up!  I then explained that in order to gain a rank, they needed to complete two skills. To keep track of their progress I made a simple chart and gave a star sticker for each completed task.

I’m not a real drill sergeant, though.  After they completed tasks they were also allowed to do activities, such as navigating an obstacle course, playing a rousing game of “Sergeant Says,” or shooting targets with their Nerf guns.

I really wanted to encourage their independence, so at breakfast and lunch they were expected to fill their own cereal bowl and make their own sandwiches.

Another fun thing we did, was set up pup tents.  I found some $5  tents at Kmart that worked well.  We even let them sleep in the tents one night.

We finished the week up with a trip to our local Air Force museum.  Unfortunately the day we went was quite snowy and we didn’t brave the weather to check out all the planes they had outside the museum.  We’ll definitely have to go again when the weather is nicer!

The highlight of the week for me was hearing the kids recite to themselves, “I can do hard things,” as they tackled their tasks.  And if  the week only helped them gain a little confidence then I would consider it: Mission Accomplished!