Grace's friend and a note

Here are pictures of Grace and her little cousin!  He came with his daddy to Andrew's first flag football game.  She loves playing with this little guy!  I think she likes playing with him b/c she gets to tell him what to do and how to play and he doesn't talk back to her!  Just wait until he can talk back and we'll see what happens.

And here is a note that Andrew left for his daddy:

I don't really have much to say so I'll just end it here rather than ramble on and on!  Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Update

I've been trying to get on here again to say Hi but it's just been such a crazy week!  A lot of little things have happened and most of them happened on Monday which was the day my friend read a devotion about all the little things that drive us crazy and she was right on!  I need her to send it to me to read again!  Anyway, I actually turned down a half day sub job tomorrow because I have SO much to get done before Saturday.  I'm helping to host a baby shower on Saturday and it's also Andrew's first flag football game.  I'll get to see a little bit of the game and will try to get some pictures to put on here next week! 

Tomorrow we are also celebrating our school getting an awesome score on the state test from last year and I am providing the popsicles for Andrew's class.  Hope you all have a great weekend!  I hope I can get back on here and update with something and even some pictures!  I really have to start carrying my camera and getting more pictures!

More Basketball

I tried to put pictures that didn't really show faces very well, but I had to show that first picture because it was so good!  We are really proud of him for his good attitude and sportsmanship!  Even at this young age we have seen a lot of aggression (in a bad way) and parents that can't handle being part of a team.  Thankfully our whole team was great....parents and kids!  We are so thankful for an awesome experience this season!  And now, we start flag football.  Our Friday nights and Saturday mornings will be consumed through November.  So far we know that at least 2 or 3 other kids on the football team were on our basketball team.  I hope we have another great experience!

The last game

Andrew's last basketball game was this past weekend.  It was a lot of fun and the season went by really fast.  He really enjoyed playing and improved so much from the first practice, even the coach mentioned that today!  I haven't even shared any pictures from his game on here b/c they have other kids in them and I don't have their permission to share.  I do have a couple pictures from the team party and the trophy (which is huge)!

 Poster I made for the game.  The coach asked us to make posters to hold up at the game and at the party when he gave the kids their trophy. 

 The coach called each child's name and they ran around the room while all the parents clapped and cheered and then back to the coach for the trophy.  He had 5 kids that started each game and Andrew was one so he started with him by calling them his starting lineup.  He then said something about Larry Bird wasn't even as good as Andrew at his age.  It was a lot of fun to hear what he had to say about each player.  He was really creative and made it a lot of fun!

 Andrew wasn't too sure about shaking his hand, or maybe he just didn't know what he was supposed to do!

 The trophy was huge!  Makes our t-ball trophy look tiny!

Swinging (and singing) in the Rain

Grace and I had fun playing in the rain for a few minutes today!  She got new rain boots today (thanks, Daddy!!!) and thankfully it rained and she actually got to use them!  They are really cute!  I always love when it rains and storms here, reminds me of home! 

My Certificate

It finally came in the mail!  I officially have my Certificate for California Teachers of English Learners!  I tried to get Grace to take a picture of me but she was having one of those days (which was like every....single....day this week).  Anyway, David took a picture today.

I also got my credential this week with the certificate added to it.  I can officially get a job if anyone will ever hire me!

The Hunting Spot

This is the hunting spot.  David walks the kids down the block and a little closer to the hills behind us and the kids think they are hunting in the mountains (or at least Grace thinks so).  I think Andrew knows better but he still calls it the hunting spot.  They walk around and look for animals and animal tracks.  This was the first time I was invited and I wore flip flops.  I quickly realized they are not appropriate for hunting.  Grace packed a backpack with snacks b/c she said she might get hungry.  Mind you we had just eaten dinner and this place isn't even a block away.  She is completely unaware of that fact which I love.  This particular night they were riding along and David told them to pull over and park and she was surprised we were there.  We've driven by and she doesn't even notice it.  Anyway, David drew deer tracks in the ground for the kids to find and we really did see quail prints in the sand.  It was fun (although secretly I was really worried about the kids' bikes that we left parked on the side of the road for anyone to take). 

I'm glad I was invited to be part of this evening.  I'm not really the adventurous kind.  The kids want to go camping in the mountains and I think of a million places I would rather go.  Last weekend we camped out in our backyard for the night.  I made it til about 4 am when all the dogs in the desert were barking and I couldn't fall back to sleep.  I quickly went in to my bed.  The kids and David made it all night and loved it! 

I'm sure many more mountain/camping adventures are in our future.

Night Sky

We have to make a family science project each month and this month was the night sky.  Here is a couple pictures of the finished project.  He is very proud of it and asked if I could come to school for his {10 second} presentation.  Of course I will!  I emailed his teacher to make sure she was ok with it so back to school we will go today!  I will probably video it for his daddy to see and possibly take a picture for the rest of you to see him.  What a sweet boy to ask me to come!

 

 We added poster lights for more effect.  The moon is a styrofoam ball half.  I spray painted it white and when I tried to get down in all the crevices, the paint ate away some of the styrofoam but in the end it worked out nicely b/c it looks like craters.

He doesn't look proud of it in this picture.  He was a little annoyed with me for making him take another picture.  When we turned it in yesterday, his teacher made him feel like it was the best project she has ever seen.  I love that about her.  She makes them all feel so special!

Another Week

I can't believe another week has flown by!  I promise I am going to try to get better about writing on here.  I feel like our lives are so boring though.  I have pictures on my camera that I can write about so I will work on that later today and this weekend.  We have been really busy with homework and housework.  This morning the kids are up really early (like 6:30 am early) and we don't even have to leave for school until 8:45.  They got to see daddy this morning which is a rare treat for them.  He is usually gone to work before they wake up in the morning.  Oh, the joy of a long commute!

Everyone is in a pleasant mood this morning which is great!  Hopefully it will stay that way as I get them ready for school.  Andrew is going to present his science project for this month which is the night sky.  I will put a picture on here of him with his project.  He is very proud of it and said that his is the best in the whole class.  I'm glad he feels that way.  I want him to always be proud of his work and not compare himself to others.  All the projects that I have seen are really good and creative.  The kids would be find with drawing a picture on paper but since it is a family project, it starts getting a little competitive b/c the parents want the best project.  Andrew asked if I would go to school when he presents his project so I emailed his teacher and she said that would be great!  She is such a sweet teacher.  She is strict and structured but not too harsh.  She has a very sweet demeanor and loves what she is doing and wants to see her students grow and learn.  She emails me with the sweetest words saying how helpful I am, when I don't even feel like I've done very much.  I can tell it's going to be a wonderful year!  Andrew has excellent behavior in class and is an excellent reader.  He is doing very well in math also.  I haven't pushed the math as much with him as reading.  Not sure why except that I love reading and he is a natural reader.  There aren't many words that he comes across that he can't figure out.  I am amazed at his abilities every day and thank God for this. 


 Ok, I won't bore you anymore, especially since I don't have any pictures to share.  Soon though I will show you pictures from a little walk we took the other night to the kids' hunting spot in the mountains and Andrew's night sky.  Have a great 3 day weekend (if you get one)!