Doin' the Puyallup!

On a sunny Saturday morning, we loaded up the kiddos and headed to the Puyallup Fair. Matt and I have gone every year since we have been together. In fact, he used pictures from the fair as part of his proposal! 

I love the atmosphere of the fair. We don't do rides or games, but enjoy eating a little food, seeing the animals, people watching, and looking at giant produce! This year was special because it was Henry's first time to the fair! This is how the family looked last year!

And here we are this year!

 Jack was nervous when we first got to the fair. We always come in at the same spot which is by the Extreme Scream. Jack did not like hearing the people screaming. Once we got past that point he was pulling us around the entire fair! Henry hung out in the backpack and soaked in the sights.

 We checked out some animals. Jack really like the pigs. He still is talking about the pigs' noses! 

After petting some animals and checking out huge horses, we were off to the pioneer section of the fair. We always come see the pumpkins that the fair grows. Jack and Matt got to help cut some sort of food using old tools. Jack thought it was pretty cool.

We then ate some curly fries, a cow chip, and made our way home for naps. Both boys were wiped out from all the excitement. I think they had a lot of fun. I know I did. I think that being a parent makes events so much more fun! 

I am excited for next year and the excitement the fair will bring our little guys. 

 

 

New School Year

The new school year is up and running. There were a few minor hiccups in my schedule this year, like 35 second and third graders all in one class! Yikes! We reconfigured classes and now my largest art class is 30, a much better number.

I thought it would be fun for my readers to see my classroom! I know I love seeing other classrooms around the web. I drew from a lot of other teachers' classrooms from Pinterest. Don't think I am too creative!

 This is where I gather the classes to give instructions. My rocking chair has traveled with me every year of my teaching. On the wall each class has a crayon box. Their goal is to work together to earn a crayon. They earn crayons by keeping the letters, ART, up on the board. They lose the letters by being loud, or not following directions. When they get 5 crayons, the class gets an art party! The kids really like this system, and it has been working great!

 This is the back of my room. I keep portfolios for all my students in the cart with the lamp on it.At the end of the year, every student will have 1 piece of art featured in our art show!

 This is my art word wall. Ha! I need to redo the "s" because it got stuck to something in the laminator!

 This board is where I feature my artists of the week! I pick one student from each class, each week to be featured. They have to work hard, work quietly, have a positive attitude and help others. I love this because I get to recognize more artists than just doing an artist of the month.

 This is another shot of the front of the room. I post learning targets under the word art. You can see one of the little paper decorations in this picture. I have tons hanging from the ceiling with pennant banners crisscrossing the ceiling too.

This is my desk area. I plan on putting drawings my kiddos do for my on the bulletin board behind me. My desk is usually cleaner!

So that is my classroom. It is a bright and cheery place and I think kids like coming to art. I will post some of the projects we are doing throughout the year. Right now I am excited about some Pop-Art portraits my 4/5 class is doing!

Looking Back

Today I was looking through pictures on our computer and I came across this picture:

I just kept staring at it and made Matt look at it too. I was just so overcome with gratitude for having answers for my poor little Henry. I look back on the three months when we had no answers, when we were desperate for solutions to make our baby feel better. In those three months, we barely slept. We were beyond stressed going back and forth to the doctor, only to be given more steroid creams and no real answers. I have never felt so helpless as a mother, watching my child suffer, knowing something was seriously wrong, and not having an answer.

I am so thankful for the doctor who referred us to the allergist. I am so thankful that my prayers were answered, that we had answers to why our baby went from being completely healthy with smooth skin, to a child covered head to toe in oozing eczema. Praise God we know what Henry is allergic to.

Here is a picture I took literally minutes ago. I can't believe how far we have come. Life is so much less stressful now that we have answers. I am so happy that Henry is healthy, happy and flourishing! He is such a blessing to us, and I am so thankful to be his momma!

Leavenworth

For the past three years, my parents have got a time share for a week in Leavenworth. The first year we went, we were wondering, "what in the world will we do for a week here?" We were so ignorant to all that Leavenworth has to offer. Now we go back every year and cherish our time we get there.

This year, the time share was not until the last week of August. For two educators this is not a good time of the year. We made it work and went on Sunday to Monday. We filled our 28 hours full of fun (well except when we were sleeping.)

When we got there we went straight to the river. It is just so pretty!

 We got there soaked in the sights, breathed in the fresh air, and felt relaxation come over us. We dipped our toes in the water. It was very cold!

Jack and Henry loved having out with Nana and Papa. Matt and I enjoyed relaxing, eating yummy food and drinks.

 We woke up early the next morning, after a not so restful night. They seriously had the worst pillows ever! We drank our morning coffee outside and enjoyed the warm sunshine.

 We then headed out for a walk. Jack insisted on bringing his backpack that was full of books. It got so heavy for him, my mom ended up carrying it for him. Yes, he is in his pajamas on a hike. A real highlight for Jack was learning how to pee outside! He did it the first day we were there and kept on insisting on peeing outside. At one point on our hike, he stopped pulled down his pants and went! Oh boys!!!

 One thing we were looking forward to was taking the kids swimming. Jack had a little pool in the backyard this summer and loved it! He was very excited to swim in a big pool. Once it got down to it, he was a little nervous to get in, but once Matt got him in, it was hard to get him out.

 Henry LOVED the pool! He definitely takes after me more. He is a water baby. When Jack was first in the pool, Henry did not have his swimsuit on, but he was trying to get in the water! Once he was in he was splashing and trying to put his face in the water. It was too cute!

 We loved our time in Leavenworth. It was a short trip and we can't wait to go back next year for a week! Now its off to work, and getting into the school routine. Bye, bye summer!

Henry is a crawler!

Henry started crawling on Sunday! He is now moving all over the house and even pulling up on furniture.He crawls just like Jack did when he was a baby. Henry keeps one leg up and the other kind of drags. I think its because of our hardwood floors. Maybe its time for Babylegs! I cannot believe this little guy is old enough/big enough to crawl!

New Name and Address

If you are reading this, congrats! You found my new blog address. I decided to change the address and name because I was getting a lot of visits from some questionable sites. It made me a little creeped out that people were coming from porn sites to my family blog. Ick!!!!  Now the only people who should be reading this are people I know through facebook or instagram.

Family Time

Last week we got to spend some much needed time with my brother and his wife Holly. They were in town for a short visit from Newport, Rhode Island. The last time they were here was Snowmagedon in January. We miss them so much!

Matt, my brother, is seriously one big kid. He loves to laugh and play. You cannot help but laugh when you are around him. Holly is his perfect match. They are seriously super cute together, and I am so thankful that my brother found such an amazing woman to be his wife.

We spent the afternoon in the sunshine playing ladder ball, shooting nerf guns,  eating potato chips and drinking yummy drinks.

Daddy and Jack watching the action from the balcony

 Matt and Holly went to Big 5 and found this enormous camping chair! It can hold two adults comfortably. Jack looks so tiny in it!

Jack in the giant chair

Jack adores his Uncle Matt and loved having him around to play with.

The kids all grown up!

For dinner we enjoyed delicious veggie burgers, a grilled onion and lots of laughs. It feels so good to have the family together again. We enjoyed a fire and some s'mores after dinner before it was time to take the little guys home for bed.

Jack and Nana

S'mores! We eat them gluten free at Papa's house, so no graham crackers :)

Being together and spending time with Matt and Holly reminds me of how blessed we are. We are blessed that we have great relationships that continue to grow and flourish as we grow into adulthood. I am thankful for my family and how they support me. I am thankful I can call them my friends. We miss Matt and Holly and are lobbying hard for a west coast move!