First Day of Kindergarten and 5th Grade

Logan was SOOOOO excited about coming to kindergarten at CSE yesterday!!!! He came home after it and told Roger "This was ths was the BEST day of my life!" Pure cuteness! Looking to a FABULOUS year!!!!!!!!!

Ready for 5th grade, excited about his teachers, and glad to have LOTS of friends in his class (advanced math)!!! Can't believe it's my last year with him at my school....gulp!!!!!

My two FAVORITE students at CSE....and YES, I am allowed to say that about THESE two!!!

Me and my little man (taken by Austin)...SO happy to have him at CSE with me this year too! The ONLY year I will have them BOTH at the same school!

Me and my "biggin" (taken by Logan)! Gosh, where does the time go??? I really DO remember bringing him home from the hospital and it seems like just yesterday!

Totally different note.....but too cute NOT to share! This is what the cabinet looked like AFTER Logan helped put all the groceries away! Love my little man!!! We had a mini-lesson soon after this was taken. :)

My Classroom

So, this post isn't necessarily about our family, but it has taken their support and help to make all this possible (and some of my followers on hee don't have FB to see it there)! I love getting everything JUST right, and OF COURSE, everything has to be cute (AND functional!!!!)! The list of things to do is never ending, but I truly do love it (this time of year...even though it is hard to get up early again!).

This isn't a shot of the entire hall display, but a great quote that I put out there with it! :)

Here's looking over at my literacy library! :) One of my favorite spots in the room!!!

One of my boards! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this clip chart!!!! Goes great with PBS Models! Here's a link to the ebook! Here's another site with good info about it too!

A DIY Project I got from this teacher's blog! I LOVE them!!!!

CAFE....Something I will be incorporating this year (with help!)! Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, Expand Vocabulary

Sportsarama 2011

The BEFORE Picture.....
This year Sportsarama was held ALL the way OUT at Swansea High School. Even though it's only a fifteen minute running clock for this "game," I LOVE watching the games Austin plays. He played starting offense and starting defense (so most of this game!)! They have their first "real" game on Wednesday (the FIRST day of school...you can tell the person that makes the schedules is NOT in a "teacher family")! Can't wait to see how he does in the REAL thing!!!! Go Bull Dawgs!!!

The AFTER Picture....

Austin LOVES showing off his "war wounds" when he gets them. Though I will say, when he actually "gets" them, he gets MAD and plays much more aggressive! :)

Logan's Writing Stories!

Logan sat and drew this picture on the dry erase board, and as he drew it he kept adding details to it (while telling us all about it as he drew). I told him when he starts school this year, he'll get to draw pictures and then write a story to go with it, and that he needs to make sure he tries to write all those awesome details to make a GOOD story!!! So, he said, I'll just do it now! Of cousre, as he sat, he said..."How do you spell once upon a time there was a..." And, I told him to try to listen to what sounds he hears and write what he can all by himself.....and he DID!!!! This is what he came up with! He used a SWEET TART to space out his words (since he's a lefty, his finger doesn't work well as the spacer). Not bad for someone going into kindergarten!!!! :)

It says: "Once upon a time, there was a fisherman...."

More Pictures from Austin's Party!

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I know with a ten year old you don't quite have as many landmark milestones as with little ones, but here a few things Austin is doing now....
*He'll be in the advanced math class this year (5th grade)!
*He's in EAGLES (gifted program at school)!
*Playing football (third year...not with the same coach this year, but so far he's starting BOTH ways! Playing LEFT GUARD on Offense, and LEFT END on Defense)!
*Barely plays with ANY toys (the few times he does, he is really just humoring his brother!)....all video games, electronic stuff!
*He's beginning to sit and watch "our" shows with us. I was doing schoolwork on the laptop the other night while Austin and Roger watched Big Brother, and I stopped to listen to a conversation they were having about the show (like Roger was talking to me)! He also likes CSI!
*NO fear of any rides/rollercoasters! Our crazy child rode EVERYTHING at Carowinds this summer (The Terminator, the Cobra, etc...all of them!)!
*I can no longer buy his clothes from the KID side of the stores!!! Sniff,sniff!!!! I feel totally lost when I am shopping for him!!!
*He's a GREAT big brother (most of the time!!!!)!!!! And, Logan LOVES him to pieces!
*Still wants ME to put him to bed EVERY night and say his "lay mes!"
*Likes to spend the night out (but still not very often,and not to everywhere!).
*Is still excited and wants to start school, but ONLY to see all his friends!
*Swims like a fish!
*Has lost most of his front baby teeth (and they are grown back in)!

Can't believe time has gone by THIS fast!!!! Happy birthday, Austin, we LOVE you!!!!

Arggggg....Austin's First Double Digit B-Day!!!

Austin wanted to have a pirate themed party (really so he could do something with gold coins). We gave out these CUTE lolly pops in the place of goody bags!!! SO glad I have discovered the Lolly Pop Lady!!!! We'll be using her TONS!

UGH!!! My camera lens fogged up when we walked out the house! I wiped off the back but didn't wipe the lens! DUH! Oh well, you can still get the gist of it! Can't believe how big Austin is getting!!!!

Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!....First time I EVER made his cake (and it's an ice cream cake)! It turned out QUITE yummy!!!!

Here they all are giving me their "pirate sounds" before they ran to get the coins!

Who knew having a coin "hunt" would be so MUCH fun!?! They had a blast and did it at least three times!!!

Can't believe Austin will be 10 (on Monday)!!! Time SERIOUSLY does fly by when you have your own kids. It seems like such a short time ago that HE was doing all the things Logan is now doing!!!

Here's Austin with some of his best friends! Avery, Aidan, and Keller!

An "Unpictured," LOVE my Life Post

I don't post too often without pictures. In fact, this might be "numero dos" in that department! Just feeling a bit sentimental and wanted to write (something meaningful, and fun to me...NOT a paper, Case Study, or Major Assessment)! I've just returned from my 2nd (and LAST!!!!) residency in MN. Can I just tell you...I do NOT envy people that have to travel for work! I am certainly not one of "those people" that needs a break away from my family! I HATE being away from them, and I'm pretty sure they didn't like it either! My boys were pitiful, and this weekend with them has been good (minus the fact Roger hasn't been off with us!). We've eaten at Sumos, taken a trip to Gamestop, shopped for all their school supplies, and played Just Dance for Kids!!! Logan has played in the rain and taken over my lap (that he barely fits in anymore...sniff, sniff!). Last night I stayed up until midnight watching "Wild Animal Repo" with Austin. I just love that my almost double digit aged child wants to hang out watching tv with me, and he still tells me "I'm glad you're home!" Roger and I talk ALL the time about how lucky and blessed we are!!! You always hear people say how much you have to "work at" relationships to make them work...and, that is just NOT how we see it! We JUST work...it's not hard or complicated, it's not work, it's not even much compromise...I consider ourselves VERY lucky because I don't think it's that way for enough other people. But, it is what I want for both my boys!!!

My family has been enduring me doing A LOT of work over the past year and half, and I couldn't have done as well as I have without their support and help!!! This summer is almost over (gulp!!! so much to do!!!!), and though I don't like seeing summer come to a close, I am just looking forward to December when I finish my degree, and I can go back to JUST being a wife, a mommy, and a teacher! I am already looking forward to next summer...when I can enjoy every minute of it with my boys (all THREE of them!!!). We're sort of beginning a new chapter this year...Roger is going to be transitioning to a DAY SHIFT job (still not exactly sure when), Logan will be at school with me, and I'll be finishing ALL this school stuff!!!!!!!!!!! I'm still scratching my head trying to figure out how all this good stuff is happening at once!?! Roger has rotated at Michelin since we met over twelve years ago, and I can't wait for him to be home with us EVERY night and EVERY weekend!!!! I am so very excited to have BOTH my boys at school with me this year (better be the only year they are at the same school!)! Not taking him to Mom and Dad's will give me back an hour EVERY morning and OVER an hour EVERY afternoon/evening, as well!!! (Don't worry, Mom, we'll schedule dinners!!!)That gives me back over ten hours of time every week!!! WOW! And, finishing this degree, well, I can't even calculate the hours that will give me back each week (mostly of sleep, work out time, and sitting/cuddling on the couch watching mindless tv shows!)!!!

So, I know this sounds like "Charlie Brown's Teacher" to some of you....but, I wanted to get all my "I LOVE my life and family" thoughts out! My family means the world to me! I love being with them, and I am SO looking forward to our new chapter! The previous chapters have been incredible, and I know the rest will continue to get better!!!!! Stay tuned..... LOTS of things coming up....Austin's 10th b-day (where does the time go!?!), football, 1st day of school, soccer, and just the random things of our life that happen!!!