Tuesday 10

1. The kids were out of school yesterday for Parent/Teacher conferences. Ryan went to Brandon's and heard awesome remarks. His teacher said she wishes the other kids in the class had the drive and focus that Brandon does. She said it's easy to see how much he loves school. Another plus is that he is able to keep his emotion in check this year! We are so proud of him.

2. I went to Blaine's conference and his teacher said he is doing very well. He can write his name, can cut very well with scissors and recognizes almost all uppercase letters. The only things he gets warned about is his loud voice. Mrs. Hunt and I are friends and as soon as she said it we laughed. She also said he rarely stutters, which he was really struggling with a year ago. We are so proud of the boys.

3. Britton is in a total birthday theme complex. At least the themes now are lasting longer than a day before he changes his mind, but he is wearing himself (and me) out. He goes from pirates to Superwhy to dinosaurs. Talk about a variety!

4. I took Gracelyn out last week to snap some pictures for her 2nd birthday invite. I was totally exhausted chasing her around and crawling on the ground after only 30 minutes but she had a blast!

5. I introduced the little boys to the classic game of Memory this weekend. It was blast playing with them. We all cheered when one of us found a match and when one of them turned over a card and if the other knew where the match was he just picked it up and gave it to him. It was so awesome. I don't know how long this type of giving sportsmanship will last but I'll take it for now!

6. A little story from today: We were getting in the car to go pickup Brandon from school. All three kids had a snack bag of cheerios for a snack. Blaine was dressed at Batman, his costume of the week. I was on the back passenger side loading Gracelyn in the car when Blaine entered the back driver side and informed me that a cricket was on him when he got in the car. Being the jokester that he is I asked if he was kidding and he said no. Sure enough as I was headed to pick up Brandon that cricket jumped on the middle console. I, not liking bugs AT ALL, flipped out. Luckily we were not going fast and I was able to stop the car without any harm to any BODY, only to the cricket whose remains were left a few blocks from B1's school. My life is a never-ending adventure. and I wouldn't have it any other way. 

7. I came across a few new recipes to try and I have them on the menu these next 2 weeks, one being cranberry chicken. I love meals with few ingredients and also love my crockpot. We'll see. I am a tad nervous. I am so ready for Fall weather and chili and stew and taco soup, my family's 3 favorites!

8. A mom of a baby in my CDO class told me about a food co-op that she is getting produce from. I am now signed up for my first basket from Bountiful Baskets and I'm so excited! I attended a women's conference last year and the speaker was from Austin. She talked about getting food from a co-op and how it really opened their eyes to new foods that they might not eat otherwise.

9. I finally finished reading Heaven is for Real over the weekend and I loved it. I am embarrassed at how long it took me to read that small book and in no way does it reflect the rating of the book, I just blame it on lack of time I have.

10. For Gracelyn's 2nd birthday we are doing a ladybug theme. A friend found a ladybug piñata at a garage sale and the only downside was that it was pink and green. I couldn't pass up the freebie though and got paint and sponge brushes to paint it. I began painting it this weekend because our internet was down. I forgot a before pic til I was almost finished with the first coat. It needs touch ups which I will do someone before the 15th. :) And now that I took a break to fix supper and read to the kids and tuck them in bed I am too embarrassed to show you the picture. I can only hope that I can touch it up to look decent for the party.

Have a great week!!