End of School and Memorial Day Fun

So, it's been awhile.  We had a wonderful last week of school.  My baby girl graduated from Kindergarten and yes, I cried like a baby all week long - every party - every ceremony. 

E with her certificate

Last Friday, a local waterpark, Wild River Country, opened it's doors for kids with disabilities.  The park was only open to those kids and their families.  Best part - it was FREE!  The entrance fee was waived, the food was free and even the locker was FREE!  It is called Will Saunders Day and was sponsered by First Assembly of God Church in North Little Rock.  What a wonderful day of fun for my kiddos. 

Friday afternoon, we went to my mom's for part of the Memorial Day weekend.  We always have such a great time at my parents' house.  It's one of my favorite places to go.  My sweet mother also invited Hubby's brother's family along too.  We had a wonderful time visiting, playing in the water, fishing and eating wonderful food. 

My niece M, E, J, and C

E caught her first fish, but she refused to hold it.

L on the boat

My SIL and I had a great time on the tube.  I didn't realize it at the time, but she had never been tubing before.  She did great for the first time, especially since my dad hit EVERY wave he could find.  We were airborne several times on our little ride, but the airborne pictures are a little blurry.  I'm just glad my SIL remembered her camera so we have photographic proof of our ride. 

I have several crafty projects I'm trying to get done this summer, but unfortunately, my budget is extremely low - like free low.  I'm BROKE!  Substitutes don't get paid during the summer and Hubby's new vehicle taxes aren't helping either.  I do have a couple of spray painting projects in mind, but I'll have to get over seeing this

in my yard before I venture out there to paint anything.  YIKES!  I probably screamed loud enough for some of y'all in different states to hear me.  I'm sure I'll dream of snakes tonight.  ICK!

Recital Weekend

This is such a busy time of year.  Last week I worked constantly, including substituting on a field trip Friday.  Wow!  That is a whole new ballgame for me.  It was fun, but it made me a little nervous to be responsible for 22 kids out in an open environment.  Hats off to you teachers who do this all the time. 

The highlight of my weekend was the girls' recital.  They work so hard all year in dance.  This is a chance to show everyone what they have learned.  E had two number is the recital, one ballet, one jazz.  C had one number which was a jazz/hip hop dance.  I have seen both of their dances a dozen times, at least, but there is something about them doing the numbers on stage that is completely overwhelming for me.  I started crying the moment the girls stepped on stage.  I'm such a dork. 

My dancers

My girls with both sets of grandparents

So, now that recital is over, we are counting down until the end of school.  Four more days to go.  As of now, I am off work all week.  We still have band concert (tears), 5th grade graduation for some of my favorite kids from school (again, tears) and end of the year slide shows and award assembly (TEARS!) before Friday.  My eyes are going to be swelled up beyond belief the rest of the week. 

So, I have four days before my kids are home full time.  I'm looking forward to catching up with my favorite blog friends and planning a few summer activities and maybe reading a book and a last lunch date with my Hubby before school is out.  Sounds like a wonderfully busy week. 

Mother's Day and School Is Almost Over!

Did y'all have a good weekend and a good Mother's Day?  I did!  I do realize that I should've posted this on Monday, but I was up to my ears in 5th graders, so it just didn't happen.  This is my only day off this week so I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off. 

My Mother's Day was wonderful!  We went to church with my parents and then to mom's for lunch.  The men (Hubby, my brother and my dad) cooked lunch, my Hubby made the kids' plates so I didn't have to and they cleaned up afterward.  The girls (mom, sis and I) sat on the porch and talked and watched the kids play.  It was heavenly.  Best Mother's Day EVER! 

Me, mom, Kelly and Mark

After eating our yummy grilled chicken, pork chops, baked potatoes, salad, and dessert, we took the kids down to the lake.  They couldn't wait for their first swim of the season.  They even decided to tube.  Fun!

J, E and M on the tube

I'm so excited that summer is almost here!  WOO HOO!  However, I am not excited about actually putting a swimsuit on this very large white body.  I think maybe we should go back to the kind of bathing suits they wore back when things were a little more modest. 

yahoo images

What do ya think?  Alright, maybe it would be a little hard to ride the tube in a dress.  It looks a little uncomfortable too.  Hmmm.  Guess I'll have to try that whole diet business again.  UGH!  I haven't had time to go to the gym in MONTHS!  Maybe after school is out for the summer, I can get off my big white butt and burn some calories. 

Speaking of school, we have six more days left.  We are also getting ready for the girls' dance recital so I'll probably be a little scarce for a few days.  I'm so looking forward to school being out.  I NEVER thought I'd hear myself say that.  I am actually looking forward to being home with the kids for a little while.  I wonder how long it will take for that feeling to wear off? 

Teacher Appreciation Treats and Tag

So, this crazy school year is coming to an end.  We only have two weeks of school left.  I don't know about y'all, but I am ready for summer.  WOO HOO!  I think I have a better attitude about summer this year since I've actually been working some.  I need a break and so do my kids. 

Y'all know my favorite love language is food, right?  So, I made treats for the teachers in our lives.  I made Caramel Brownies and used the new tag I made. 

L's teacher doesn't like chocolate.  WHAT?!  I just don't understand, but whatever.  More chocolate for me, I guess.  So, I had to come up with something else for her.  I've been looking for an excuse to make cupcakes in a jar so that's what I decided on.  It was also E's teacher's birthday today so she got one too.

Okay, you can't see much of the cupcake, but it has buttercream icing, cupcake, icing, cupcake, icing and then the lid, etc.  I attached a fork just in case she wanted to dig right in.  I know I would. 

Here's the tag up close.

It says, "Thanks!  OWL never forget all you've done for me!"  You can find it in my previous post, here.  I probably should've made the print a little bigger, but it would probably be fine on a decent printer.  I don't have one of those. 

All of the treats will be delivered tomorrow, except for the birthday cupcake, which was delivered today.  I sure hope we earn some brownie points.  HA!  Brownie points!  Get it?  Yes, I'm a dork. 

Have a great day!

Teacher Appreciation Tags

Hello bloggy friends.  I have been working at school this week.  This is my only day off so I'm running around like crazy trying to get stuff done.  I thought I would stop by and show off the Teacher Appreciation Tag I came up with last night. 

Y'all know I'm not very tech savvy, but I'm happy to share with y'all.  I made the tag in Paint and then cut and paste it to a Word Document to print it off.  I'm not sure how to get it online though.  Anybody know? 

I'll stop by later to show you what treats I made for my teachers.  Have a great day.  Hopefully yours won't be as crazy as mine.

Baby and Showers and Fabric Flowers

So, you may have heard me talk about my "favorite cousins" before.  Well, one of the "favorite cousins", Haley, is having a baby.  We are all so excited that we can hardly stand it.  I've been debating about what to make her.  One of my favorite things for my babies were baby gowns.  They made diaper changes so much easier than fiddling with all of those snaps.  I thought if I could find a plain one, I could embellish it and make a matching bib and burp rag, but I couldn't find a gown that didn't have something already on it.  I went to Carter's and found the exact same duck gown my 14 year old had when she was a baby, but nothing plain.  So, I decided to make one.  I picked some of my favorite Jennifer Paganelli fabric for the gown and the matching blanket.  Wanna see?

I also made her a bib and burprag set that matched the fabric they used in the nursery, but I forgot to take a picture of that.  I also made a little bitty rolled fabric flower out of the pink fabric.  I figured she could attach it to a headband or something. 

I decided I would use it to dress up the packages just a little.

Fabric flowers dress up everything don't they? 

Look at that sweet table!  Love the green "H" on the bright pink candlestick! 

Wanna see the guest of honor?  I do, but she won't make her appearance for a few days yet.  So, I'll show you the co-guest of honor.  This, is one of my "favorite cousins", Haley.  She is beautiful and one of the sweetest people you could ever meet in your life.  AND she's a Kindergarten teacher, with pretty much takes a saint in my book. 

Isn't she gorgeous?  That's Haley and her brother, Will.  Haley's Hubby missed the shower because he was home finishing up the baby's room.  I can't wait for them to bring that sweet little girl to the lake this year. 

So, what did y'all do this weekend?

So, Teacher Appreciation week is next week and I'm behind, as usual.  You see, I'm kind of a suck-up.  What I mean is, I want these teachers to like me.  Yeah, I'm kind of needy that way.  You see, when you have kids that have issues, you need their teacher to like you. 

Have y'all read that book The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman?  I recieved this book as a wedding present and I absolutely loved it.  The problem is, Mr. Chapman is apprently not from the south.  You see, we people from the south have our own love language.....food.  Someone dies, you feed them.  Someone has a baby, you feed them.  Someone has surgery, you feed them.  Someone has your hyperactive, hard to control, loud, precious, autistic kid in their class and you need to suck up to them and make them adore you and think your awesome and therefore love your kids despite their faults....you feed them.  Am I right?  So, I just wondered what y'all's (that's a contraction using "you" "all" and the 's shows ownership.  I apoligize to the English teachers) opinions were about teacher gifts.  What do y'all do for Teacher Appreciation?  These are a few of the ideas that I love.

Oh my gracious!  Isn't that the cutest thing you've ever seen?  Now, I do realize I can't send ice cream sundaes to school.  WOW!  That's a sure sign that my teachers would HATE me after that mess.  Nope.  These are actually cupcakes that look like sundaes.  AWESOME!  So cute!  You can find these at Livinglocurto. 

Seriously folks, I don't know anyone who doesn't love smores.  The printable is available at Love From The Oven.  So cute!

 

Adorable, right?  Such a cute ruler cookie!  Found this at Sweet Cakes.  Precious!

So, in the past I have made Caramel Brownies and Cinammon Rolls.  This year I could do something similar to one of the above, try the pie-in-a-jar recipes or do something with the Buffalo Chip Cookies.  Hmmmm.  I'm just not sure. 

So, I wondered if you guys had any wonderful ideas.  What do y'all do for Teacher Appreciation?  I know several of you are teachers.  What are your favorite gifts?  I need all the help sucking up that I can get.  Hee!  Hee!