Hayride

Two Fridays ago both of the kids had the opportunity to go on a hayride. Xander's was his first field trip that I desperately wanted to attend, but they won't let you chaperone if you have other children with you, so I wasn't able to go. However, my bible study had a hayride scheduled at a local farm, so Jordis and I went to that.

When I went to get Jordis out of the car I saw that she was wearing flip flops after I had told her to put on socks and shoes. The mom in me thought I should just let her stay that way so she'd learn a lesson about following directions, but the police wife in me figured someone would probably call Children's Services on me if they saw my 4-year-old out in flip flops when it was 42 degrees. Luckily we got there early enough that I had time to run home and grab her some socks and shoes.

I know, right, you're still not believing I was early somewhere.

We each got to pick two Indian corns and one pumpkin.

Someone was pretty feisty most of the time.

Then we had a potluck.

Junk food makes everything better, doesn't it?

First Grade

Xander just completed his first full week of first grade. He started last Wednesday and I'm glad they ease into with just a few days because he was worn out.

A few days before school starts they have an open house where you can drop off your supplies, meet your teacher, check out your classroom and go to the cafeteria to have a treat and mingle with other people.

I loved Xander's teacher from the moment I walked into the room. She was welcoming, friendly and had a very clean and organized learning environment. She already had nametags on the kids' desks and mailboxes, her books were organized into categories, and she had fun lamps, rugs and pillows in the reading center. It looked like a fun place to come to every day and, compared to last year's teacher, I was very impressed. On top of that, he gets two teachers. The intervention teacher is also in his room most of the day as well, so I'm hoping that will be very helpful for him.

On the big day, Xander was super excited! He was up and dressed earlier than he's been in months. I bought the kids a special treat of chocolate donuts to celebrate and Xander ate his on the plate he made at the paint-your-own-pottery store.

We made chocolate chip cookies for his teachers.

He got to use his Transformers lunch box and fun food containers inside.

And best of all, we finally let him wear his new light-up Skechers. These aren't just any light-up shoes. You could wake the dead with these things. I could see him coming up the stairs from my bedroom with the door barely cracked open. God bless a good sale and Jason's mom's store discount, or this kid would not be wearing shoes that cost more than his parents' shoes.

Jason took Xander to buy his annual first-day-of-school outfit and he had to have a Toy Story t-shirt. He also picked out some new jeans.

We awaited the bus with great anticipation. I love that the bus stop is at the end of my driveway. I hope it continues to stay there as long as we live here.

Xander had no trouble getting on the bus this year, and I had no trouble saying goodbye.

(And in case you were wondering, I made sure he didn't get on the bus with a firearm.)

Spring Break

Last week Xander's school district was off for Spring Break. Where I grew up Spring Break always backed up to Easter in some way, so this random week off at the end of March is a little odd to me. What a pain if you had to travel for the Easter holiday and then needed to hurry back for the kids to go back to school.

Anyway, we kept busy and tried to do a lot of fun things.....

Dressing up (Xander picked out this sombrero when my mom gave him $1 at the Dollar Tree).

We went to see the fish at the fish store. They like it when they find Nemo.

Our MOPS group went to Galaxy Games to play in the giant mazes and ball pits. I liked it here because they were big enough that parents could get in, too. That way you're not standing at the bottom convincing your kids to come out when it's time to leave. You can just go drag them out yourself.

The kids and I ate this entire large pizza while we were there.

We made monkey bread. I haven't had it in years and normally don't believe in letting them eat such junk for a meal, but the biscuits were on sale and I thought it would be a fun project to do together.

(Note to self: remember that the kids don't like rolling balls of dough and will leave you at the table to do it all by yourself.)

My favorite tree, without snow this time.

On Palm Sunday Xander was supposed to carry a palm leaf through the sanctuary with all of the kids. We made a deal that if he participated he could spend the afternoon running errands with me instead of going to quiet time. He agreed until we got there and then I couldn't get him to cooperate, even though his little friend Wesley was doing it. His teacher finally told me to leave and she'd figure something out. I was a little concerned, but he held her hand and walked around with her. There were so many kids it was hard to get a photo, but I got this one so we could show Daddy that he did it.

I took Xander to the Goodwill to look for Easter shoes. Last year I bought him brand new shoes for Easter and then he refused to wear them again for church or any other event, so I decided I'm not spending full price for shoes he won't wear. I found him a pair that looked brand new for $2.29, so after I discovered that they fit him perfectly I snatched them up as he was screaming at me that they don't have velcro, are too tight, etc. Then he said, "I'm not wearing them after Easter" to which I replied "That's exactly why I'm buying them." After he calmed down and I let him look around at toys we came across these...

They fit perfectly and he did pretty good navigating around, so I bought them since he had been pretty good for me on our outing and they were only $4. We were also able to find him some knee pads and he already has a helmet, so hopefully we can find him some elbow pads soon.

What a week it was!