100 Days In School {2nd Grade}

Yesterday was Ruy's 100th day in Second Grade!  

For the past two years since Kindergarten, I have printed out a chart and we keep track of how many days we have done in school.  When we reach the 100th day, I try to remember to plan something special to do on that day.  This year, we decided to take the kids to the Children's Museum on Thursday, and then on Friday (today) we invited Ruy's really good home-school friend and his family over.  

I'm so very proud of how hard Ruy is working this year.  He is an excellent reader and does so well in Math.  His drawings are just about the cutest thing you have ever seen and he can make up some pretty great stories!  He is so smart, silly, and so kind.  He is a wonderful little boy and I'm so thankful I get to be his mother and teacher.  

Yesterday morning, we did a half of our school day before heading to the Children's Museum.  We packed a lunch and stayed for about 2 hours.  The kids had so much fun.  My husband doesn't get to go with us a lot since he works so much but we were all so happy he was able to come with us this time.  

Ruy and Alanna seem to have this special bond.  She really just adores him.  He always makes her laugh or smile...even when she is sad he can usually cheer her up.  I have a feeling that she is really going to look up to him as she gets older.  I know Ruy will do an awesome job at being a good role model for her.  

Alanna loved riding the car ride with Daddy. 

Ruy said his favorite part of the museum was building block towers with Daddy.  Alanna liked knocking them over.  Liam said his favorite part was wearing the real yellow fire helmet.  I forgot to get  a picture of it though.  He has been in love with all things fire fighter for a long time....I think I may have a fire fighter in the making.  Oh my, he would be one handsome fire fighter.  I'm not ready for him to grow up though any time soon! 

After we got home, Ruy finished up his school and then we headed outside for a little fresh air.  It was a little chilly but not enough to keep us inside.  I hate being cooped up all winter, so I try to get outside with the kids every day, even if it's only for 20-30 minutes. 

Our outdoor adventures usually begin at the swings.  They all three love swinging! 

Lately, Ruy spends more time pushing Alanna rather than swinging himself.  He loves loves loves his little baby sister. 

Once the boys decide swinging is over, they usually start racing each other from the shed to the swings.  I normally join in with them.  I have to slow down and let Liam win sometimes so that he doesn't feel bad about not being as fast as Ruy.  Ruy is so fast he can outrun me sometimes.  They also like it when they race from the shed to me.  Then I have to count and see how long it takes for them to get from the shed to me.  Ruy gives me a huge high five as he passes by me...Liam just plows right into me! :) 

 

Then after racing they usually want to slide for a while. 

.....or wrestle each other.  They even got Alanna in on the wrestling this time. 

And the newest addition to our outdoor adventures is playing "woodpeckers."  Liam has everyone find a stick and then we have to bang it up against a tree and pretend we are woodpeckers.  He thinks it is just about the greatest thing ever and is happy to spend 30 minutes or more just pounding away on the trees in our yard.  I love kids imaginations. 

Our 100th day of school was definitely a success! 

Then today, Ruy's friend Luke and his mom and sister came over for a little bit.  The boys had a blast out in the woods, playing legos, eating homemade pizza, and devouring  decorating  cupcakes.   :)   Luke's mom and I have become good friends and we enjoyed the conversations we were able to have today...even though they were very often interrupted by the kids.

I wish I had used my "big girl" camera to take pictures of them decorating and eating these but I totally forgot. 

I'm so thankful for how God brought this sweet family into our lives last year!  Ruy and Luke get along so well and I love that he has another home-school boy his age to play with!  

Ruy said that the last two days were so fun and he felt so happy!  

Love you Sweets!  Keep up the good work! 

Alanna's 1st Words

Since Alanna turned one, she has grown and learned so much and so quickly.  The week of her first birthday she started walking 10+ steps at a time and then within two weeks she was walking around with no problem.  She now runs around the house chasing her brothers and getting into everything that she can possibly get her hands on.  I have locks on the cabinets in the kitchen and a lock on our tv stand.  I just went to Babies R Us tonight and bought a gate for our hallway so that I can start keeping all my bedroom doors open again.  I have to keep every door in the house closed or she will get into each room and take out every toy, book, stuffed animal, or bathroom cleaning supply that she can reach.  Today, I even found her in the boys' room on top of Ruy's desk scribbling on Ruy's math paper.  She looked up at me like this was a totally acceptable and normal thing. 

She has cut 5 teeth since the first week in December.  It's been not so fun for either of us.  Her nose is always runny and her sleep has been not so great.  She is up 2-3 times a night most nights and then once a tooth breaks through she will sleep through the night for a few nights but then she's back to waking up a bunch. 

She all of a sudden decided last week that she would start saying words!!! On the 12th she said her FIRST word. She waved and said "bye-bye."  She now says it every time someone leaves.  Of course she waits until after they have left to say it though.  Her voice is the sweetest little thing.  It is so soft and girly.  Then on the 15th she  said "da" for Dad.  It melted both my heart and my husbands to hear her say his name!  Then yesterday she pointed at our dog's water bowl and said "no-no" and then later that night I was playing with her with her stuffed cow and I told her that a cow says "moo."  She looked at me and said "moo-moo."  And then today I asked her where Duke was and she pointed to him and said "de." Then she went over to him and laid her head on him.  She is repeating these words correctly at the right time so I know she has learned what the actual meaning is and she's not just babbling sounds at me.  She also knows where the "light" is.  She will point up at the ceiling lights whenever I ask "where's the light?"  It amazes me how quick they start learning words and are able to communicate. 

 She won't keep any of her bows or headbands on anymore.  I managed to get her to keep her hat on the other day by tying it around her chin but I was surprised she didn't try to pull it off.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do with her hair as it starts to get longer.  I don't know how to braid but my mom always braided my hair when I was little and I loved it.  I really need to learn how to braid.

She does this cute thing with her hands when my husband gets home from work.  She walks to the door with her arms behind her back and waves her hands back and forth.  Then she follows him around the house until he picks her up.  Then she tucks her arms under her chest and lays her head on his chest and snuggles him and gives him a kiss.  She is definitely a Daddy's Girl. 

This little girl keeps me so busy but I love her so much and have so much fun with her! 

I had a bunch of things I wanted to post about the boys but this post ended up being super long so I'll end it there tonight!  

Trip to the park

Today I was kind of stressed out ...just a lot on my mind.  So this afternoon after school, and a much needed uplifting conversation with my oldest sister, I packed the kids up in the van and we headed off for the park.  It was about 55 degrees out today and we were in much need of a park day.  As I was driving to the park I turned on the radio (I leave it on the christian station because that's pretty much all I ever listen to besides the kids audios) and this song came on...

I AM  

And I felt a smile come over my face.  I felt a sense of peace and I remembered that God is enough and he tells us not to be anxious or worry.  God is so good and he loves me so much.  I am so blessed.  I apologized to the kids for being so stressed out that morning.  And we drove to the park feeling super excited to have a fun family afternoon. 

The kids had a blast.  It was so beautiful out.  We looked at the Ducks, chased some seagulls, found shells, played on the playground, dug in the sand....

and just enjoyed ourselves so much. 

I left feeling refreshed, calm, happy, and so so incredibly thankful to be the mother of three amazing, beautiful children.  

 

 

Our Menu for January 16-23

Yesterday was Friday...grocery shopping day yet again. 

This past week went by soooo fast.  Sometimes I feel like I live at the grocery store...or stores I should say.  Ruy left right after lunch yesterday to go to the beach for the weekend so it was just me and the two "littles."  I had to go to Sam's Club, Kroger, and Wal-mart again this week.  I really wish all three of those stores were right beside each other and had some sort of connecting doors so that I didn't have to get the kids and all my stuff in and out of the van three times.  And I wish that it was possible for me to never step foot in Wal-mart ever again but sadly there are just some things that I can get there so much cheaper than Kroger or Sam's club...and they have some things that I buy that neither Sam's Club or Kroger sell.  

I brought my "big girl" camera with me to the store yesterday because I wanted to capture a few pictures of our grocery shopping adventures but as I figured, neither Alanna or Liam seemed in the mood for it, so I decided just to leave my camera in the car.  So this is the only shot I got of them :) 

Well here is our menu for the week.  I try to stick with it as much as I can but sometimes things pop up and I have to change it up a bit.  Usually that just means that I swop a dinner or a lunch for another day. 



Week of January 16 Friday -23 Friday

Friday- *Make Zucc Muffins

Breakfast - Me: Chocolate MIM (S) Kids: Omelets, fruit

Lunch - Me: BLT wrap with shake (E) or (S) Kids: PB & Jelly, strawberry yogurt

Dinner - One Pan Pasta (E) Everyone

Saturday- *Make homemade bread & beans for chili on Monday

Breakfast- Whatever I choose

Lunch - Whatever I choose

Dinner:  Homemade Pizza & Salad (E) Everyone

Sunday *Make PB Cheesecake & pack Nathan's meals for tomorrow

Breakfast-  Overnight Oatmeal (E) Everyone *Find new recipe for oatmeal  

Lunch- Chicken Alfredo & green beans (S)   (Everyone)

Dinner- Egg Tacos (S) Everyone

Monday

Breakfast- Me: MIM with cream cheese frosting (S)  Kids: Muffins & fruit

Lunch- Me: tomato and mozzarella panini, yogurt & fruit (E) Kids: PB & Jelly

Dinner- Chili (E) Everyone

Tuesday  

Breakfast- Scrambled Eggs (Sides are either turkey bacon &/or Shake) (S) Everyone

Lunch- Me: Blue Cheese salad (S) Kids: Grilled cheese & ham, carrots & ranch,

Dinner- Leftover Chili (E) Everyone

Wednesday *Awanas & prepare oatmeal for tomorrow

Breakfast- Me: Trim Healthy Pancakes (E)  Kids: Pancakes with fruit

Lunch- Me: Sweet potato, salad & yogurt with fruit (E) Kids: Mac & cheese, fruit

Dinner-  Tacos (E or S) depending on toppings; Everyone  

Thursday *Pack Nathan's meals for tomorrow

Breakfast- Overnight Oatmeal (E) Everyone

Lunch- Turkey panins, yogurt (E) Everyone

Dinner- Slow cooker Ranch White Chicken Chili (E) Everyone

Friday  

Breakfast- Ham & cheese omelets, fruit (S) everyone  

Lunch- Me: Bean & cheese wrap & greek yogurt with fruit or Shake (E) Kids: PB & Jelly & smoothies

Dinner-  Leftover slow cooker Ranch White Chicken Chili (E) Everyone

New recipes to make

1. Pumpkin Cottage Whip (FP)
2. Peanut Butter Cheesecake (S)

3. New oatmeal recipe

Snow Day Fun

The boys were so excited this morning when they woke up and saw all the snow on the ground.  I was born in PA and lived there until I was six, so it still makes me giggle when I see my boys getting all excited over little flurries and thinking it's so much snow!  But still, even with just a little snow they were overjoyed and they barely finished chewing their lasts bites of oatmeal when they were rushing off to get all their snow gear on.  

I couldn't find Liam's waterproof mitten in the glove box we keep at the top of our hall closet and I was beginning to worry that I might have a terrible three year old melt down on my hands, when I found it laying on the top shelf of the closet next to the glove box.  I was so thankful at that moment.  Liam screamed "you found my other mitten yay!!!" and all was right in the world again :) 

They played outside for two whole hours.  I hate being cold...even for 2 seconds, so I'm not sure how they managed to stay out in it so long but I sure didn't mind.  With the rainy days we've had this week they were both so tired of being cooped up in the house.  They really needed to burn off some energy.  They didn't even want to come in at 10AM when I called them in but we needed to start school.  They warmed up with some hot chocolate and munched on peanuts while I read them our Bible lesson.  By the time I got started with our History lesson at 10:30, the snow was almost completely melted.  The boys were so happy I had let them go out to play before starting school. 

The rest of the day was pretty relaxing.  

Playtime...

Quiet time...the boys found the dress up clothes during quiet time and when they were all done...this is how they came out.  They are too cute!

They watched  Magic School bus and had their "treat" for being so good in quiet time. 

Then they played Cowboys & Doctors while I cleaned my bathroom. 

All that doctoring made Liam thirsty.

And playing Cowboys made Ruy want to draw a picture of his new cowboy gun.  He's so cute I can barely stand it.  Some days he looks so grown up but then I look at this picture and realize he is still so little, sweet, and innocent.  I love him so much.

We had turkey and bean tacos for dinner.  We love our tacos!  And Alanna takes eating beans very very seriously.  

Well that was how our first snow day of 2015 went.  I hope everyone else had a wonderful day as well!