1st Day Back to School

Today is the 1st day back to school and boy are the members of my family excited! We are now evenly split between the Middle School and the Elementary, with two kids at each.

Elementary

In 1st grade we have Reagan.

Austin is now in the 4th Grade.

Our Big Middle Schoolers

Colin is ruling the school in 8th grade.

Our biggest change is Caitlyn's transfer to middle school.

She is a feisty 6th grader.

Teachers Gifts

Today is the last day of school and our family's last chance to say thank you to our teachers. I thought long and hard about how to show our appreciation. We had the traditional go in on a gift card, but I wanted to do a little extra. A long time ago Reagan asked if she could have a domino necklace for her teacher like the ones that I've made in the past. I thought now would be a good time to do it, but decided to extend it to all the girls' teachers. This was the first necklace that I made for Caitlyn's teacher Ms. Hawley. It looked cute, but needed a little something more.

Then I remembered these jars which I had found with Mariah when she was last in town. Notice the Number on the side. I called around town until I found a Tuesday Morning which still had enough Number 1's. After all my kids did have the best teachers in Kindergarten, 3rd and 5th grade. I made the cute topper, naming them The Number 1 Teacher, filled the jar with Hersheys Hugs and Kisses and then tied the ribbon through the necklace around the jar.

Of course right as the kids were leaving Reagan tried to pick up her teacher Mrs. Formby's jar and broke it to pieces. Luckily I had this canning jar on hand and was able to remake the gift in just a few minutes. Pretty cute for a last minute exchange.

Lady-Like

Today Austin came home from school and told me that she had defended me to a girl in her gym class. Apparently a girl in line, tired of listening to a boy near her, told him to SHUT UP. Austin said, "That's a bad word. My Mom told me so." The girl defended herself by saying that it wasn't a bad word, "your mom is just trying to be lady-like." Austin put the girl in her place, "my mom is NOOOOOOT lady-like!"

Texas Snow Day

Yesterday was a beautiful day. Mark spent the morning with us and though there was a slight wind we never saw this coming. I guess there is a reason to watch the evening news ... the weather. BUUUUT ... Maybe Austin was a little more informed of the weather changes than I (there had been talk at school), because this morning she wasn't quite feeling up to attending. hmmm

Not everything is Bigger in Texas

Caitlyn's Ecosytem

Caitlyn has been working on a model of the Chugach Nation Forest in Alaska for the last month. She was so excited about this project. We luckily had some animals and the rest we used our imaginations for. I have know idea what the other children's look like, but I think she did a pretty great job. Do you like our paper mache mountains? They have a glacier in the middle. her river and pond are made of bubble wrap. Thank goodness it will soon be Christmas time and Walmart is carrying pine tree.Ü