a school cafe lunch date

We got to have lunch with the special guy today.

He asked us to come have lunch with him and told us he eats at 12:20pm.  Well I thought I'd check his teachers website just to be sure, and it said his lunch is at 11:55.  Gary and I met at the school with Bush's chicken at 11:45.  (Hayden said he was feeling like chicken...lol)  

Wellllll.....guess who was correct.  Our neighbor works at the school and she saw us sitting at the parent table.  She mentioned that half way through the year the lunch schedule changes.  hahahaha!!  You know what?  It was ok.  It was so fun to sit in an elementary school cafe and tell stories about school lunches of ours.  We had a nice little break and even saw a few kiddos we know.  It was God's way of telling us to slow down and just enjoy the moment.  Even if it was in a loud cafeteria.

As the clock struck 12;20 guess who giggled and laughed and said, "told you so!"   His little face was so cute as he entered the cafe doors.  He ran-walked up to the parents table and sat right down so happy to have us there.  He scarfed down 2 rolls and several pieces of chicken.  He pointed out his friends and where he usually sits.   He gave us the scoop on how many servings of tater tots you can get away with eating.  

Oh that boy is just such a good little man and so full of sweetness.  He has a friend who gets food sent home from the school with him every weekend.  He was so carefree as he told us the story.  It sorta broke my heart, but Hayden doesn't care and the little boy doesn't care either.  We all need to take some tips from pure hearted kiddos.  God love them all!!

I'm thankful for my soon to be carefree 3rd grade little man!

busted up elbow

This guy gave us a scare this morning when the school nurse called me to report he had fallen on the concrete at recess.  She said he hurt his arm and he was hurting pretty bad.  The only other time Hayden fell at school was in Ohio when he fell off the monkey bars and hit his head on a pole.  He had quite the goose egg, but thankfully his head is hard and he ended up being just fine.  The hard part then was keeping him still so his headache would go away.  

Gosh, since Layla fell back in first grade I try not let myself get to worried as I drove to the school.  She got hurt pretty badly when she collided with another student during P.E.. They bumped heads and she had quite the gash, but thankfully she turned out to be just fine.

Today Hayden is going to lay on the couch and chill the rest of the day.  He fell while running and he's a pretty fast runner y'all.  Some other kid bumped him and knocked him off balance.  He slammed his left elbow into the cement and ripped his jacket sleeve.  When I got to him most of the bleeding had stopped, but he had a super deep gash and he wasn't moving his arm.  That worried the school nurse the most.  Thankfully I think he will be ok and ready to head back to school tomorrow.  What a crazy morning it was, but I'm so happy it didn't turn out worse!

first day of school

School days are here!

These two are ready for their first day of 5th grade and 2nd grade!

I can't wait to see their cute faces when they get off the bus this afternoon!

strawberry days

The kids both had field trips to the local strawberry farm this week.

Good thing we like strawberries....we have tons of them since we got to pick fresh berries during the field trips.

Layla and her classmates learned how strawberries are planted.  They learned about keeping the berries alive in the winter months.  The trip was very educational and I enjoyed learning as much as the kids did!

Hayden's trip, the very next day, was very similar to Layla's.  The preschool classes didn't get quite as much detail as the 2nd graders, but they still learned a lot about berries!  We also got to see the farm's honey bees.  The bees are a huge part of having a wholesome crop.  

The farm also grows peaches, corn, broccoli, cauliflower and peas.  It was a fun few days for both kids!  Layla went first, so she made sure she told Hayden about certain things to look for on the hayride.  It was fun to hear the kids bond over their field trips!

Earth Day Project -- Spin Drum

The second graders at Layla's school had to do a Recycled materials Earth Day Project. 

I thought this was a great idea because it teaches the kids more about recycling.

We have recycled trash items for years and Layla always asks what is recycle-able before she throws it away.  I feel like the school does a great job helping us parents help the kids learn to recycle.  That was a mouth full! 

Layla and Gary decided to make a Spin-Drum.  They made the drum this past weekend and then tonight after regular homework Layla finished decorating the drum.  Afterwards she wrote her step by step report on how she made her drum. One of the directions for the project was the students had to have a cover letter.  I thought back to my school years and I honestly can't remember using a cover letter in second grade.  Times have changed huh?! 

I'm so proud the have helped Layla with this project.  She did an amazing job.  She remembered each step of making the drum even though it was 3 days later.

I hope she gets a great grade!

Christmas parties and snow!

We started out our day on Friday with snow.  It was such an exciting day of school Christmas parties and snow made it perfect.

Hayden's face was priceless when he saw Santa bust into the preschool classroom!

These two buddies were having a serious conversation.

After Hayden's party we went to Layla's class party.  It was so fun to meet a few moms and spend time with her teacher.

When we got home from a snowy day at school we found a package of goodies on our front porch!

It was a fun way to start the weekend!  

We had our new friends over on Friday night for a pajama party.  

We made homemade snow man pizzas!

For dessert we made pretzel kisses topped with M&M's.

We are loving this time of year!  Snow made it even more perfect!

We are hoping for more snow in the next few days.

Christmas concert!

Last night was Layla's Christmas program at the high school.  Her whole elementary school put on the cutest program and we heard tons of Christmas carols to get us in the Christmas spirit!

She did so good.  I loved watching her sing.  She is becoming more brave in her new environment every single day.  I'm SOOOOO proud of her!

Can you believe I forgot to take my camera to the concert?  These two pictures are all I have and they were taken with my phone.  I'm so sad.  Next time I will be more prepared! 

Sadly Gary had to stay home with Hayden.  Hayden was feeling terrible.  The poor guy has had a rough few days, but he seems to be much better tonight.  He has missed a few days of school and hopefully he will be able to go back tomorrow.

Two more days until Christmas break!  Wooo hooo!

new clothes, spelling and a wanna be rockstar

Tuesday started with a well rested group.  We all got a good night of sleep last night and started our school week off right!  Layla was so excited to have new 'Ohio' clothes to start a new week of school.

She needed some warmer attire for Ohio, so we did some shopping this weekend. 

She is so sassy!

On Monday's Layla has to write "million dollar" sentences with her spelling words for the week.  It was a challenge for her tonight because it was the first time to do it.  I think she was over thinking her sentences.  She did a good job though.

School is similar to Texas in some ways, but also different.  In Texas 2nd graders don't stack their math problems.  In Ohio they do, so Layla was confused for a day.  She totally gets it now, but just like I have the gas range cooking learning curve...she too has a learning curve.  

I don't think the spelling words are any harder here than in Texas.  Layla is just a wonderful speller.  She made 100 on every spelling test (1st and 2nd grades) in Texas, and here she had last weeks spelling words from Wednesday 'til Friday and she made a 100.  I'm so proud of her spelling abilities because I am NOT the best speller.  We're proud that she kept her 100 streak alive!  Hopefully I don't jinx her...gahhhh!

Hayden and I have our little system down during the day.  For now he is at home with me.  We are visiting a preschool tomorrow, but if we like it he won't start until after Thanksgiving.

I can't wait to visit.

We usually walk Layla to school and then we come home and do some laundry and eat a snack.  It seems like all Hayden wants to do is eat a snack.  The boy loves eating, but I get tired of being his short order cook.  He's gonna eat me out of house and home.  

He helped me unpack the last box today, so we are thankfully free to have fun now!  

Gary had a big meeting today so I knew I wanted to cook a good dinner for him since he would be hungry and tired from working hard.  I made cream cheese chicken in the slow cooker with steamed veggies and almond rice pilaf.  It was so good and we all cleaned our plates.  I know I have said it before, but I'm so thankful to be cooking again!  I just love it.  I'm really hoping to bake some cupcakes or something fun this week.  I'll keep ya posted!  

Hayden was posing for me this morning in front of the school.  He said this is his 'rockstar' pose.  He requested rockstar posters for the ceiling in his bedroom.  Ok.  That is interesting!  I'm not sure exactly what he is talking about, but somehow I know he'll let us know exactly what he wants.

I'm seeing more clearly now and getting into our new routine and it donned on me today that Thanksgiving is next Thursday!!  I can't believe it.  It snuck up on me.  I'm excited and ready to bake some pies and yummy goodies.  

I think the holidays here in Ohio are going to be so fun!

First day of school in Ohio ~ Wordless Wednesday

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First day of 2nd grade

Layla was excited and nervous when she woke up this morning.

I made her fresh strawberry muffins for breakfast.  She took a few bites, but didn't eat much.

I know I'm just her Momma, but I think she is so adorable.  She picked out this dress at Old Navy for back to school.  Last night she said, "Mom is it too dressy for the first day?"  

Um no!

Daisy seemed excited for Layla.  She was jumping all over her when I was trying to take pictures!

Hayden was very excited for Layla too.  After we dropped her off about 30 minutes had gone by and he was ready to go pick her up!  He has checked the clock 5 times today waiting for it to be time to go get her.  He really misses his best bud!  They got really close this summer.

I could tell Layla was nervous.  Bless her heart.   I'm sure once she got there everything was great! I remember those first day stomach jitters.

I just had to post a picture of her Thirty-One book bag and lunch thermal.  She designed them herself and she was so proud to show them off! 

I hope she is having a great day.  I can't wait to pick her up!

Meet the teacher night

Tonight we got to meet Layla's teachers.  She will have two teachers this year in 2nd grade. 

2nd grade...eeeeiiikkkk!

The school mascot is a Longhorn.  

How fitting ... there was a longhorn right outside the front door of the school tonight!

I'm excited for Layla!

She has had a really great summer and now she is ready to get back to school to see all her friends!

Can you believe she let me take these fun pictures of her?  She usually runs from my camera!