Halloween School Parade

We went to the elementary school to watch Brady in the Halloween parade. It was so fun to see all the kids in different costumes.  Brady was a pirate this year and he had a little pet parrot on his shoulder that was the hit in his classroom apparently. BB told me that everyone would come to his desk and try to feed it and make it talk.

 Brady's teacher, Mrs. Cundy, dressed up as a flower :)

I helped in his classroom after with the class halloween party. It went really well and it was fun to see him interact with all of his friends. Between the class party, Halloween, and Ryan's Birthday it sure was a crazy day! I think I'm going to need some time to recover!

First Day of 2nd Grade

I don't even know how it happened, but my Brady is in 2nd grade now! It just blows my mind to think about it.  He was so happy that he got to go back to the same school for 2nd grade and he even has a few friends from last year in his class. That made me really happy because changing schools when we moved from Florida was really hard for him. We are still living the hotel life so we took his first day of school pictures at a park by his school instead of our usual front porch shots. Sad, but hopefully we'll be moving in soon!

 His teacher, Mrs. Cundy, is SO nice. I am so happy he is in her class!

Just a little excited maybe??

Oh this picture makes me laugh! Brayden's first school picture...I think he was a little excited! We'll have to see about retakes day maybe since the pictures cost so darn much...or we'll just keep it to make us smile : )

School Paperwork Storage

I found this great idea online to store all the paperwork that kids do at school.  Brayden has been coming home with tons of things and I know he'll have lots more projects and artwork he'll want to save in the future. For now, I am just saving everything but I'll have him go through his folder at the end of the year and decide what he really wants to keep. And for really big projects that are too large to fit we can just take a picture of them and then stick the picture in the folder (if I can really be that organized!)  You can go to THIS blog and see where I got the idea and she has all the file folder tabs and papers you can print out free. So nice and easy! 

Pre-K thru 12th grade 

I'm going to put Brayden's school picture each year on the front of this once we get them back :) He had them taken last week, but he told me he had gym right before pictures so it'll be interesting to see how they turned out! I'm sure he'll be nice and sweaty!

And I went ahead and just made a set for Tyler since he'll be in school eventually. I put a folder in there to keep all the toddler artwork my kids have done too since they seem to always be drawing things. Ty is currently in the circles drawing stage where he just draws tons of circles on his page.  Not sure if all kids do this but I totally remember Brayden doing it too around the same age. 

 I do need to take back the plastic hanging folder bins because one is already cracked and I've only had them a few weeks! We definitely need something more sturdy with all of our moves. Not to mention it needs to last them through 12th grade and beyond.  Maybe I'll have to get ones like she has on her post if I can find them somewhere.

Mr. Student of the Month

 At Brayden's school each teacher picks a student from their class to be student of the month each month.    Brayden was so excited that his teacher chose him to be the first student of the month in his class this year.  They did a big recognition ceremony for the all the students of the month today and it was so much fun to go and see him walk up on the stage. He did such a good job and we are SOO proud of him! Guy even decided to change his plane tickets for today so Brayden would be able to attend his special ceremony...what a good dad huh!

 Here are the boys this morning before we headed off to Brayden's school.  

Ty and his monkey "packpack" so he can be a big boy like BB

It mainly just carries his blankie, draw toy, and sippy cup around :)

 I could tell he was nervous to have to walk up to the stage all by himself, but he did a great job!

 A few of the student of the month's from different grades

His principal

And a cute pic of Ty with his playdough creation from the other day...he found the mr. potato head pieces and turned it into a "silly guy," according to him!

So after our fun morning, the boys are now all off on a plane headed to Utah and I am sad to be left behind.  Guy is running the St. George Marathon tomorrow and I am just too prego to be flying...but now I wish I had just snuck on the flight and lied about my due date! Originally he was just going to go by himself and run it and come back. Then he decided he would take Tyler so he could see everybody and then we decided BB could miss a few days of school and head out too. 

So I made myself a big to-do list with lots of projects I've been neglecting so hopefully I can keep myself busy.  And I plan on doing some major garage saleing (not sure if that's a word) tomorrow...all the neighborhoods are starting to have their community ones! Maybe I'll even start packing up our house (not so fun) since we're moving the end of November, which will be here before we know it.  Yikes!

Ugh it's just weird being home with it so quiet...I miss my crazy boys already! 

First Day = Success!

Brayden LOVED his first day of school.  How can you not love Kindergarten! He talked our ears off about everything they did and I loved every second of it. His favorite thing, that he thought was hilarious, was that his teacher told his class that she thought they were all first graders because they were being so good on their first day. And the only bad thing was he spilled his "prinkles" (pringles) at lunch but "It was no big deal mom." It was funny because every time Brayden started to tell us about school, Tyler would chime in and try to tell us about his day ("I played with legos, my toys...").  Ty's adjusting to not having Brayden around, but it's a little different just hanging out with mom all day. He talks about him all day long and today when we got home from dropping him off he said, "Nooo, BB come home too!" I need to plan some fun things to do with him to keep him busy and his mind off where Brayden is!

Last night the boys were literally SO hyper playing together because they hadn't seen each other all day.  We had to run to Target after dinner and oh man, they were just crazy. Not being bad, but just playing in the shopping cart so loudly.  I'm glad they missed each other and they have so much fun together.  Now we just need to figure out how to get them to go to bed at a decent time. They are in bed by 8, but they play nonstop with each other in there.  Once again it's good Brayden's school doesn't start until 10 or he would be so sleepy waking up early!

 These pictures crack me up.  It was super quiet and I thought for sure they were up to something...usually thats the case with these boys.  But I went in their room and this is what they were both doing.  I don't even think they noticed that I took these pictures they were so into their leapfrog games.  At least they are educational :)

First Day of Kindergarten

Well, it happened. I'm not sure how, but my little Brayden is in Kindergarten now.  I feel like he literally just grew up over night.  He is SO ready to be there and so excited about it. I know he will do great and will love every second of it, but Ty and I are sure gonna miss him during the day.  It's been so quiet so far without him around today!  

Did I get all teary saying goodbye and on the walk home...you  bet I did. Not fair to have to send your baby to Kindergarten when you are pregnant and emotional! And I have to say Guy was not helpful bringing up how many years it will be until Ty starts Kindergarten during our walk home. I'm not even going to think about that!!!  Time just needs to stop for a minute please!

Tyler insisted on being in all the 'first day of school' pictures with his own backpack.  He is Brayden's little shadow so this will be an adjustment week for him I'm sure.  But it'll be nice to spend some one on one time with him before we have the new baby. I have a feeling he's going to have a hard time giving up his spot as baby of the family.

Guy knows Tyler well and printed out 2 first day of Kindergarten signs :)

Hot wheels backpack with a star wars lunchbox inside :)

Guy came home from work real quick and we walked him to school.  It takes us about 10 minutes or so, but man it was SO hot and humid.  His school doesn't even start until 9:50 so it's already roasting out.  We were so sweaty by the time we got home that I seriously might consider driving him sometimes even though that sounds so lazy. But hey, I'm pregnant so that is allowed right!

His school is really cute, but so different then the elementary school I went to.  The schools in Florida are all outdoor ones so all the hallways are outside.  So weird to me, but that's just the way it is here.  Brayden told us this morning he is most excited about art and gym at school.  Maybe that will change when he learns about recess :)

 Hanging up his backpack in his cubby

 Sorry, this is not the best picture of his teacher, but here she is. Her name is Mrs. Burson and she is really sweet.  I think he's going to love her as his teacher this year.

Is it 3:50 yet???  I'm so excited to pick him up and see how his first day was.  

School Supplies

As dorky as this is about to sound, I love new school supplies.  Always have! I can still remember how much I loved Lisa Frank folders and packs of gel pens back in the day. Maybe it's a girl thing, because Guy looks at me like I am crazy but I really do get excited when I see the school supplies hit the stores.  I mean, crayons for 25 cents! Who doesn't stock up?

But this time around, we are actually buying them for a real reason, which is CRAZY I must say. Still doesn't seem real that my baby is in kindergarten, but I won't get all mushy and go into that now! Anyway, Brayden and I picked up his list of what he needed and headed out to good old Target to stock up.  I just have to say that I was very happy that he was just as excited as I was.  You just never know with boys!  He loved picking out everything that he wanted and when we got to the check out aisle he looked at me and said, "Mom, there is just NO way all of that is going to fit in my backpack!" I had to laugh and tell him that he would not have to carry the box of tissues, paper towels, packs of paper etc. every day to school.

School starts in about 2 weeks here...did school always used to start in August? I swear back when I was little we started the beginning of September? But the wonderful thing is Brayden doesn't start school until 9:50 so at least we can all still sleep in.  That will be a gift with a new baby in the house! I just have to get used to the idea that we are going to actually have a schedule in life now.  I've loved our lazy days where we don't have anywhere to be and don't have to go do anything if we don't want to.  Staying in your pajamas all day is pretty nice, which just cause he's starting school doesn't mean that still won't be happening. Let's be real!

The elementary school he goes to is in our neighborhood and just a few blocks away so we can walk him there which will be fun.  The crazy part is his kindergarten is ALL day EVERY day! That seems so long to me for a little 5 year old to be in school.  Tyler is going to miss him like crazy....and me too!  But we will be moving the end of the year so who knows where we'll end up and how they'll do kindergarten there.  Maybe we'll move somewhere that does a half day and I'll wish he was still in school all day :)

Thanksgiving 2010

We had a great Thanksgiving this year. It was just us and we missed our families like crazy, but we made some good memories and it was nice to not have any pressure if I totally bombed the Thanksgiving meal! Last year I went all out and made a huge turkey all by myself, just to see if I could do it. And it turned out great but it was way too much meat for our little family and a lot of work. So this year I just made a little turkey breast and that's it... it was easy and still yummy! We also had mashed potatoes and gravy, grilled asparagus, corn, homemade rolls, stuffing, sparkling cider and of course pumpkin pie. Of course, we had to laugh when all Tyler ate of the whole meal was a bite of corn and a roll. Go figure!

Brayden had a Thanksgiving party at his preschool. This is right after he shared what he was thankful for...his little brother. Cute :)

A kid in Brayden's class brought a pinata to the party to celebrate his birthday so it was a lot of fun. Brayden missed the first time but on his second swing he got a good hit!!!

The boys and I made another Thanksgiving tree where we wrote on each leaf what we are thankful for this year. Truly we need a lot bigger tree to fit everything we are thankful for on it. We have been so blessed this year!

Brayden taped this feather to his head all by himself to pretend he was an indian

Doing some serious indian fighting moves!
And a little love from the baby indian, who wouldn't let Brayden tape a feather to him.

I don't blame him!

Getting ready to EAT! Everything turned out really yummy!

And then after Thanksgiving we tore it up at the Black Friday sales...well I mean Guy did. I stayed home with the kiddos and was his support team. Go Guy! He went to Toys R Us on Thanksgiving night because they opened at 10. It was outrageous because there are really only 2 Toy R Us's in the area, but he made it in and out and lived to tell the tale. He came home with some SWEET deals. Everything we got for Christmas this year was definitely half off or more! He also stopped by walmart when they opened at midnight and good a few steals there as well. All I have to say is black friday is crazy, but we always get killer deals every year so it's totally worth it. Or maybe I just say that because I am the one at home in my nice warm bed. Although, doing black friday in Florida is nice because it's not cold at all. The real crazy people are the ones waiting in lines outside in the snow!

These are just a few funny pictures of Tyler...Sleeping with the Disney autograph book.

And his crazy post nap hair...
Can you tell which side he slept on??? :)

Halloween Preschool Parade

Brayden had a fun Halloween party and parade at preschool on Friday. He was so excited about it and it was really cute! I think the highlight for him was that he got to wear his costume to school. They did a parade first for all the parents to see and then after they had a party in the classroom.

Listening to a Halloween story from one of his teachers

Brayden's class has almost all boys! He loves it!!!

Hanging with some of his friends