miniature golf

Sad to say but my kids have never been miniature golfing.  There's not a place close and it has seemed rather expensive and pointless (and a lot of work for me) with young children who couldn't really do it well.  When they were given free miniature golf passes as part of the summer reading program, I filed them away thinking there wasn't a chance in the world that I was going to take them in 100+ degrees.  Luckily I was cleaning out some papers last week and stumbled upon the passes and noticed the expiration date was today - which happened to be our first day of fall break and we had nothing scheduled!

It wasn't blistering hot, but I wouldn't have wanted to go later in the day.  The kids had a great time!  Brandon did extremely well (he clearly has watched golf with Kevin!), Tyler was his usual crazy self and didn't really care about getting it right and just wanted to hit the ball fast and hard, and Natalie was still a bit young and small to hit it well but she was a good sport.

Ignore Tyler's silly face - he was having a blast!

Lunch at McDonald's on the way home and I have been thanked profusely, declared the best mom, and told this is the most fun break ever! Let's hope it stays that way for the next 2 weeks!  I love it when a simple, cheap plan brings so much joy! 

school pictures

This year I HAD to order school pictures.  Well, I guess I didn't HAVE to, but I usually just purchase a class photo, and the only way to get one this year was to purchase a package of individual pictures with the class one included.  Thankfully the cheapest package with the class photo included was the same price as JUST the class photo has been in previous years (they used a different company this year).  So I guess I'll just look at them as a bunch of free school pictures!  Though it does remind me yet again why I have never purchased them in the past!

Brandon - 6th grade - 11 years old

Surprisingly, Brandon's is actually a really good picture of him since he HATES to have his picture taken and I usually get a smirk or grimace. If it weren't for horrible background and boring uniform clothes, I'd probably order more of these!

Tyler - 3rd grade - 8 years old

Not a good picture of Tyler.

Natalie - 1st grade - 6 years old

Natalie has started this cheesy-smile and head-tilt thing with pictures recently.  She thinks it makes her look cute.  At least I can show her why it looks silly now!

Gotta love school pictures!

egypt day

All of first quarter the 6th graders have been studying Egypt.  So as a final event, today was Egypt Day! They all had to create a costume for $1 or less, doing most or all of the work themselves (yeah, right)!  Thankfully he got permission to use a few parts (necklace and belt) of my Egyptian costume from last Halloween since we already owned it.  We found the headband pattern online and printed it and covered it with fabric.  And Kevin helped him make a staff out of cardboard (they could bring things in to be spray-painted gold). The rest was an old white sheet that I keep on hand for projects such as this.  I think it turned out great!

tyler's principal's award

Tyler received a Principal's Award this week for:

"Tyler has a good attitude towards learning and always asks thoughtful questions during class discussions."

And in case you think his teacher Mrs. Cooper looks somewhat familiar, she is Brandon's teacher from last year.  She moved from 5th grade to 3rd grade, and we are thrilled to have her again!

Good job Tyler!  We love you and are so proud of all your accomplishments at school and your love of learning.  Keep up the great work and positive attitude! 

primary program 2013

 PRIMARY PROGRAM 2013

This year's primary program was noteworthy for several reasons:

* It was Brandon's last primary program!

* After last year's primary program sadness (read HERE if you don't recall), Natalie finally got to SING!  She was originally asked to do a solo and sing one of the duet parts of  "A Child's Prayer." I told them it was a tough song (the accompaniment is not the tune) and that it would be hard for a 6 year old girl to carry that alone with 100+ Primary kids singing the other part.  They found a few other little girls to sing with her and it sounded beautiful!  I wish I could have somehow recorded it!