Memorial Day 2013

This Memorial Day we kept with the our tradition of going to the graveyard and heart-attacking the graves.  I love involving the kids in this, taking them around to the graves and decorating them.  We had the kids make their own hearts the night before and then we met up with Grandma and Grandpa Blackburn and the Trevino Family.  First we went to Grandma and Grandpa Stewart's Grave.  We go here a few times a year, enough that the kids know exactly where they are going! 

 Four of the great Hazel and Peter's great-grandkids!

 Then we headed down to Uncle Cecil and Aunt Toddies graves.  These were my mom's aunt and uncle.  I got to meet them both when I was young.  We would go over to their house and sit there while my parents chit chatted with them.  One time Aunt Toddie told us a story about when the Indians came and raided her house as a child.  We would also go into their backyard and swing on their tire swing, which was awesome!  I loved them and will always remember them! 

 Then we stopped by a family friend's grave that is also near grandma and grandpa's grave. 

 After that we went to the other side of the cemetery to see Russ and Arlene Howard.  This is my Uncle's parents.  I never got to meet Russ, but I can still remember Arlene.  She was a very sweet lady, always laughed at my dad's jokes and always smiled! 

This year we also went to the Air Force memorial area and placed some hearts for Cousin Brian.  They were having a military memorial and we came right at the end, so we all got some refreshments too!  Awesome!

We then went to another cemetery to see a few more graves.  We all had fun, even the kids.  Our kids love going around cemeteries and I think that is awesome!  We will keep this tradition as long as we can!     

Twins

Katelee and I went to a skirt party the other night and we got some matching skirts.  She was so excited to wear them to church together so we could be twins.  I was excited that she would want to match me so we even did our hair similar!  Her hair is way more curly, but we parted on the same side and left it down.  We got a lot of compliments and I loved how excited Katelee was about matching her mother!  Made me so happy!  (The picture was taken by Ethan, who cannot hold still to save his life, thus it is quite blurry, but you get the point...)

First Day of School 2013-2014 School Year

Today was the first day of school for both Ethan and Katelee.  I cannot believe that Ethan will be at school ALL day long.  I have been a little bit emotional the last few weeks just thinking that my little boy will be eating lunch at school and finding his way to his teacher's line and classroom without me.  I know that boy is more than capable of it, but I still have been worried for him.  And while I can't believe Ethan is old enough for 1st grade, I really can't believe that Katelee is old enough for Kindergarten.  But she is, she is more than ready.  I really think going to a preschool at the Elementary school was really good for her.  She has not been nervous at all.  She has been ready and that has made it easier on this torn mother!

Ethan goes to school at 7:40am, but Kate has to wait until 11:40 for her PM Kindergarten class to start.  Of course they were both so excited that they were up and at em early today.  Kate went with me to drop Ethan off.  Luckily for this mother they allowed parents back with their kids to show them where to line up and stuff like that....  

 Notice how nervous this kid looks???  Ya, me neither!  He was just ready for school!

 You can always tell when Kate is excited, she holds her hands in front of her body and she talks A LOT!  usually she is pretty quite, but yesterday and today she has been talking nonstop.  She chats about anything and EVERYTHING!  I love seeing how excited she was...

 Here is Ethan in his line.  I tried to get a picture of his teacher in the background but she is so tiny and that ladies fro is so big it didn't really work!  He was ready, but I could tell he was a little unsure about it.  He never verbally expressed that to me, but when we walked through the gates he grabbed my hand and gave me a hug and kiss before we left.  I don't like being one of those parents that has to be with them until the very last second.  I feel like they should have some independence.  He knew Kate and I were just a little bit away, but we were far enough away that he was doing it by himself!  

 See, he didn't need me there, there were more parents than kids today....  

Kate and I went home and waited and waited until it was her turn to go.  We went grocery shopping, played monopoly, ate lunch and then Kate played in her room for a while and then it was finally time for her to go!!!  When we got out of the van, Kate leaned over and told me she was feeling a little nervous.  I told her that was totally fine and then explained that Kindergarten was going to be a lot like preschool, she would do centers, calendar and a lot of the same stuff she has already done.  Then we ran into her friend Lana and the nervousness just dissipated. 

 The little posers! 

 Look how little she looks.  And of course, Ashlee had to get in a picture!  Kate and I had a small talk again before she started walking into school, she told me she wasn't nervous any more and she was ready to go.  That made me happy so I said have fun and I'll see you soon! 

 And with that, she followed Lana and Kira into the gate.  I once again felt like she should have some independence and also didn't want to fight with all the family members and Ashlee.  It wasn't a big deal, Kate never looked back!! 

 Kira got this picture for me.  Notice her hands in front of her, so excited!  She was still smiling even when walking through the classroom door....  Yay!!!! 

And here is a picture of Ashlee.  She wanted to know where Sissy was when we got in the van, it was so cute!  

I wasn't nearly as emotional with Kate going into kindergarten as I was with Ethan, but I think it's just that she has already done preschool there, so it doesn't seem so foreign this time.  I did get a little chocked up with Ethan again this year, but I think it's just more of my Mommy mind worrying that he wont be able to find me after school....  But he will, the kid has never met a stranger...  And maybe it has a little to do with him being my first kid, in my mind he is still my little boy....  As I type this I'm missing my little Katelee too, the next time I see her she will officially be done with her first day of kindergarten...  So so so can't believe I have two kids in school.  Where did the time go?   

Staying at Home..... One Day....

The other night the kids asked me to read from their journal that I keep for them instead of a regular bedtime book.  We do this every once in a while, they would love to do it every night if I would let them.  One of their favorite entries is this one, July 27, 2010 "today Ethan farted on his hand and said to me, "hey mom, I farted on my hand want to smell it?" I declined and then he said "wanna smell it now?"  It was hilarious! That kid really is a character."

As you can see the kids have their mothers sense of humor.... Well I just turn the pages and read from them and I read this one to them...

April 2, 2011
Just a quick note to you kids!  On Monday (1day away) I have to return to work.  My maternity leave is over (6 weeks) and so I must go back to work.  I want you kids to know that I want nothing more than to stay at home with you each and every day.  I want nothing more than to be a stay at home mom.  I cherish every crazy minute with you guys.  The last six weeks have flown by.  It has been great to grow closer to each of you - I know my divine role is to be a mother to you kids and I do feel like me going to work is not fulfilling that role - but know this my children I love each of you beyond belief and one day when I'm able I will be a stay at home mom and spend every day, every minute with you!  I work to support this family while daddy is in school....  When he is done with school I will be done with work and ALL yours!  Please know my desire for being a good mother and to stay home with you.  And please know of my love for each of you.  Good night my loves, I love you to pieces.  Mommy!

As I read this entry to them I couldn't help but get chocked up.  After I finished I asked the kids if they knew how much they meant to me.  Ethan said yes and then I looked at Katelee and she had this perplexed look on her face.  I asked if she was ok and she said, "that almost made me cry!"  I was slightly stunned, I knew I had felt the spirit as I read to then kids but I didn't realize that I wasn't the only one.  I asked her how it made her feel and she said happy and then I talked with the kids about feeling the spirit and how it makes us feel.  As I reflected on this exchange later that night I couldn't help but smile and feel good about our journal reading that night.

I look forward to staying at home with my kids and being able to provide them with all my time and attention.  So many nights I come home stressed from work or preoccupied by things going on at work or just plain tired and I don't feel like I give enough to my kids.  I know staying at home will be tough and I will struggle at times but I look forward to it so much!  I hope when I am having a rough day I will be able to read this post and remember those feelings that I have felt so strongly for a while now and be grateful for the opportunity of being at home.

Ashlee, My Ashlee

Our Ashlee is growing up so fast I don't know where the time has gone.  This girl is a crack up and full of sass.  She knows what she wants and she wants what she wants.  She is a funny girl and loves to laugh!  I wanted to put some pictures of the different faces of this girl.  We just love her so much and cannot imagine what our family would be like without her!

 Cute one day before church.  Love that her little curls are starting to show...

 The other day we took Ashlee to Build a Bear to use a gift card she got for Christmas.  She LOVED it, and she loved her new Dog.  This girl loves to cuddle, our only kid that has been one.  She loves stuffed animals and even sleeps with them. 

 Throwing a little tantrum before church right after her cute picture...

On our way to Grandma's house one day.  It was a bit cold and we were in the car that takes a while to heat up.  She was loving the gloves and the blanket, but they were both off after about 10 minutes.

 Cutie Pie after a bath.  Love her crazy hair.  It may be short and taking forever to grow, but it is still cute!!!  And look at that smile! 

 This is Ashlee's latest face when you ask her to smile for a picture.  Apparently she thinks she is smiling and looking super cute too!  The girl is crazy!

 Ashlee is a girlie girl.  She loves all things girlie and she loves all things boyish too.  She got this new purse from her Aunt Lisa and she is loving it! 

 Ashlee before church today.  At least her smile is a little closer to looking like one.  She is just a plain cutie pie, to me at least!  But I'm sure I'm quite bias.

Just wanted to add this picture to show all of her curls.  She is following in her sisters footsteps for sure!  I love it because it helps me with doing their hair.  I just have to throw some product in it and BAM it looks pretty nice.  Oh how we love this girl!  How she gives us a run for our money and we are so grateful for it!

Grandpa's Boy

The other day we went out shooting with my dad.  It was Grandpa, Ethan, Katelee, me and Chris.  We had a good time being out in nature and enjoying each others company.  Afterwards we headed out to my sisters house for a family gathering and as you can see Ethan and Grandpa were quite tired.  It makes me laugh at how similar these two are.  Ethan wants to be just like his Grandpa and I'm just fine with that. 

Elementary School

Having kids in school I always imagined was going to keep our little family busy, but I think I may have underestimated it by quite a bit!  It seems like every week there is some different activity, fundraiser or parent meeting that we need to attend or participate in.  It has been nice having Ethan and Katelee in the same school, so at least it's all in the same place.  We have gotten to attend many fun family nights at the school such as the Thanksgiving program put on by the Kindergarten classes along with a Thanksgiving Dinner (at 7:45am, my kind of breakfast), The school Carnival, Holiday Family Craft night, awards ceremonies, many PEAK meetings (once a month meetings to go over what the kids will be learning that month so we can help them at home), PIE nights (PTA at night), Book Fair, Take Your Parent to School Day and also during reading week I was able to read some books to Ethan's class.  Along with all of these I work in the class at least once a month just so I can help out and so my kids can see that I value education.  On top of all of these different activities we of course have homework, reading and spelling words to work on. 

It has been quite fulfilling having Ethan and Katelee in school as a mother.  I feel like I have some way of actually gauging now the job that I am doing with my kids.  Of course I have quite a lot of work to do, but it is nice to see my kids progressing well in their education endeavors.  Katelee enjoys going to school and is doing a very good job in her class.  She plays well with all of the kids and has really come out of her shell.  It is great to see her run around with all of the kids at the afternoon recess.  She talks about school and her classmates and loves her teachers.  Ethan is your typical boy, he does not enjoy school.  He HATES homework.  He complains about doing anything related to school, especially sight words and writing.  But he does them and he is doing very well.  He has been getting spelling words for about a month or longer and so far he has gotten 7/7 on all of them.  It's a struggle, but I hold hope that something will catch his enjoyment and it wont be such a struggle.  A mom can dream right?  

Here are some pictures of some of the school things we have done so far this school year....        

 Thanksgiving Presentation...  My cute little Indians....

  

Holiday Tree decorations for the whole school....

 School Awards Ceremony.  Ethan received the Certificate of Merit for Attendance, Recognizes All Letters in the Alphabet, Counts from 0-100 and Academic Achievement.  Proud parent moment when he got all of those awards.  (Sad moment seeing that so many of Ethan's classmates didn't get many awards...)

 Ethan's project for the 100th day of school....  In true Vegas style!

 This was Katelee's project for the 100th day of school...  Don't know why Kate's not holding it...

Take your parent to school day.  This was a fun day at school.  It was a nice time but a bit sad to see that only two other parents came to school.  

It has been nice to work in Ethan's class, to get to know his classmates and his teacher.  At the beginning of the year Ethan had Mrs. Watkins, however she has since taken a leave of absence and he now has a new teacher Mrs. Regina.  Mrs. Regina is a great teacher who really tries to help the kids learn and progress.  From working in the class the kids know who I am and don't hesitate to ask me to look at their work and help them out.  Ethan enjoys having me there also and is so sweet to me.  The other day I came in at the beginning of school to read to the class.  When he called me at work after school he said, "I missed you when you left today."  Sweetest thing he ever did say!  

Kate's class isn't so big on having parents come in to help.  In the special class that she has they usually present more of a distraction than a help.  But Chris was able to go with her to Take your Parent to school day and she LOVED it!  She has asked why I don't go to her class often and I just have to explain that we aren't really able to right now.  But I cannot wait to see her in her class setting as well!  

Although school keeps us busy I am so excited to start this new chapter with my kids!  I hope to instill in them the love of learning and progressing!