Super Grizzly

Parker got a fun surprise when he walked into his classroom on Friday... he had been chosen as Super Grizzly for the second time this year!

 

I was in the hall getting ready for an AR field trip that morning and caught him walking to the office to help with the Pledge of Allegiance, so I followed him and got a few pictures of him helping Mr. Blalock with the announcements. 

 

We are so proud of how hard Parker works in school and hope that he has a fun week as Super Grizzly!

No More Diapers!

I'm excited to report that for the first time in six years, no one is wearing diapers at our house!  We potty trained Lily over spring break and she is doing great!

 

Lily started showing signs that she was ready to potty train several months ago but I wanted to wait until I had a break from school to start it.  I knew Christmas break would be too busy so I decided that spring break would be a great opportunity since we would be staying home most of the week. 

 

We started letting Lily try to go potty the week before spring break and she was successful several times.  The first Saturday of spring break was "no more diapers when you are awake" day (she still wears a diaper during naps and at night) and it did not go well.  Lily brought me a diaper about 10:00 in the morning and asked me to put it on her.  When I refused, she started crying.  And screaming. And crying. And screaming.  She was not happy with me at all.  The fussing lasted all morning as well as an accident in the mudroom (thank goodness it was on the tile!).  I was starting to doubt my decision to start potty training and by the time Cory got home from work, I was about to lose my mind!  Cory was nice enough to let me get out of the house for a few minutes and by the time I got back from the store, he had calmed Lily down.  She was happily wearing panties and even went to the potty a few times that evening.  She had definitely turned a corner.

Sunday was accident free and by Monday she was going on her own without me reminding her.  I was thrilled!  She was not only my youngest but my quickest to potty train!  I couldn't believe it had been so easy!  I continued to put Lily in a pull-up anytime we left the house that week but I didn't need to- she never once had an accident.  She filled up her sticker reward chart by Monday night so we took her for an ice cream treat on Tuesday after Parker's baseball practice.

Lily has now been potty trained for two weeks and has yet to have another accident.  During the day, she usually goes to the bathroom without me even knowing it and always tells me when she needs to go in public.  I am so proud of her and even though it is bittersweet because I no longer have any babies, I am thankful that we are finally done with diapers in this house!  The only thing I have left to do now is decide what I am going to do with all the extra money we are saving!

A Wish Granted

A few months ago, my principal encouraged all of the teachers at my school to write a Cleburne Education Foundation (CEF) grant for something we wanted in our classroom.  I really wanted an interactive white board to use with my students but didn't think I would have a chance because they are so expensive.  I decided to go ahead and try because I figured the worst that would happen is that they would say "no".

Today, at the AR reward trip, I was completely surprised when the CEF prize patrol showed up and presented me with a huge check in the amount of the white board I had requested!  Some of the kids who were watching the presentation thought that I had just won the lottery, and in the world of education, I feel like I did!  I am so excited about winning this grant and can not wait to use this new technology with my students.  I am so thankful for the Cleburne Education Fund and the way that they support teachers by providing them with so many wonderful classroom materials that they would not be able to obtain on their own.

Spring Break 2013- Part 2

Our last few days of spring break were very busy but full of fun!  On Thursday, we drove to Aledo to play at my friend Natalie's house.  She just had another baby girl which makes 6 girls and 1 boy between the two of us (poor Parker!).  The kids had a great time playing outside and I enjoyed lots of snuggle time with baby Audrey. 

On Friday, Parker went over to Trip's house to play and the girls and I drove over to Mansfield and joined my sister's playgroup for a morning out in the country.  One of her friend's parents live on several acres of land.  Their house has a big fenced in backyard for the kids to run and play.  The kids loved swinging and playing in the sandbox before enjoying a picnic in the yard.  After they ate, we let them pet both of the horses that they had been watching all morning.  Eden loved the idea of petting a horse but wouldn't get anywhere close to it.  She finally held the horse's rope but decided that riding the horse inside of the house was definitely more her style!  Lily thought the horse was very funny and after lots of prompting, finally reached out and touched it one time.  We had a great morning and it was fun to do something a little different for a change!

 

We spent our last weekend of spring break playing outside as much as possible.  We had such a fun week and were sad to see it come to an end.  I can't wait for summer to be here so I can spend more quality time with my kiddos.  It seems far away but I know it will be here before we know it!

Spring Break 2013- Part 1

I'm back!  The past two weeks have been CRAZY busy and most nights I have fallen into bed after putting the kids down.  Last week was spring break and we had so much fun hanging out and playing with friends/cousins.  The first few days of spring break was spent potty training Lily (which I will post about soon) so we didn't leave the house much.  Our neighbor (and Parker's classmate) Alexis came over to play on Monday and they had a great time together!  I think they spent over an hour at the table coloring and making "books".  It is so nice to have neighborhood friends!

Since Monday is Daddy's late night at work and I don't cook when Daddy is not home, we went to McDonalds for dinner.  The food is not the best, but the free playscape entertainment is priceless!!!  And you just can't beat McDonalds french fries!

Tuesday was spent at home, making crafts and playing outside in the perfect weather.  We were so lucky to have beautiful weather the entire week.  And with the spring time change, we took full advantage of the late sunsets and played outside way past our bedtime every night.

Wednesday, our other neighbor Jolea came over and we took a late afternoon trip to the park.  I think half of Cleburne was there with us but the crowds didn't stop the kids from having a great time.  The only disappointing part was that the ducks were so full from all of the earlier visitors that they wouldn't even take one bite of our bread.  Even so, it was a great way to end the first part of our week!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

We had a fun St. Patrick's Day this year!  As always, I fixed some special green things for the kids to eat throughout the day like green jello and green pudding.  They also got a special treat of Lucky Charms cereal for breakfast.  I found some cute shamrock glasses at the dollar store and we all had fun wearing those!  The funniest thing to me was that at the end of the day Eden asked me if we would have another "green day" when we woke up again.  After telling her that it only lasted one day, she then asked me, "When is blue day? And pink day? And red day?".  She didn't quite get the meaning of why we had worn green all day.  Maybe next year I will do a better job of explaining the holiday to her! 

Fun Aunt MerMer

Last weekend, Aunt MerMer came into town to spend some times with the kids.  She has not been to Cleburne to visit in a while and all three kids were so excited when I told them she was coming.

 

The fun started on Saturday when she offered to take Lily for the afternoon so I could take Parker and Eden to a party at the skating rink, which is not a two-year-old friendly place.  I knew Lily would have a lot more fun hanging out with Meredith.  That was confirmed when I received this picture of Lily enjoying lunch with MerMer at McDonalds.

On Sunday afternoon, I had to drive over to Mansfield so I left the kids with Aunt MerMer and Granna.  Meredith had gone to her room to rest for a little bit, but it didn't take long before all six kids found her!

Eden and Aubrey spent some time taking silly pictures with Aunt MerMer's phone.  Sweet girls!
(I love these pictures of Eden... it's very rare that you can capture this side of her personality on camera and it didn't surprise me that it was Aunt MerMer that got these funny faces out of her!)

I'm so thankful for my sisters and the bonds they have with my kids.  It's such a priceless relationship and I hope Parker, Eden, and Lily will always be close to their Aunt Emily and Aunt MerMer.

Parker's Fun Day

Last month, Parker participated in our school fundraiser and sold enough items to get to go to the reward party in the gym this morning.  He spent over an hour jumping in bounce houses, which he always loves. 

He also got to ride in a limo to Cici's Pizza for lunch.  He was so excited about riding in the limo and I was excited that they asked me to ride along as a sponsor.  (Getting to go on trips like this with Parker is definitely one of the perks of being a teacher at his school!)  It was so fun to watch the kindergartners as they stepped into the limo!   

What a fun way to start off our spring break!  I can't wait for a week off with my babies to rest, relax, and enjoy being together!