Beanstalk

At the beginning of May C's class had a Jack and the Beanstalk unit. 

They read the story. (I think a few different versions.) They had a readers theater about the story. They counted beans for math. Then for science, they wrapped a bean seed in a paper towel to see if it would grow. They made predictions and all that TK jazz. I'm not the curriculum director so I am not privy to all that occurred. 

The point is they sprouted bean seeds. Then they planted the little bean sprouts. Then they sent them home with the kids. When it came home it had two leaves and was a little taller than the popsicle stick it was tied to. 

The little beanstalk has lived on our window sill for a few weeks now and last night husband and I transplanted it to the yard. 

And within ten minutes of going outside to play, M had bent the poor little beanstalk in half. I don't think she meant to? It wasn't quite the same as when she picks flowers. (Which is total and absolute destruction.) The result was not great, however. 

It may survive. I tied it up and hopefully, it will appreciate being out of the bottom of a Dasani bottle and in loads of dirt. It rained last night. And I watered it this morning. While I recognize that I am not going to get to climb this beanstalk, I don't want it to just die on me. Maybe I should go out there and sing Tubthumping to it? (The I get knocked down, but I get up again part. Not the booze part.) 

Look at the little popsicle stick at the bottom. Look at how far it's come! 

This could be a sweet post about how sometimes God has to knock you down so you grow stronger or something metaphorical or whatever. But no. It really is just a reminder that 3-year-olds are among the most destructive beings without even trying.

I'm pretty sure she didn't mean it. Oh well.

Day One.

You know those days where you just feel like you're winning at life? Well everyone remind me of June 4th when I have a blah day okay?

It's the first day of summer vacation. (Like when we would have normally gone to school) We started by going to a summer session of our Monday rosary group. We've been going to one on Mondays during the school year at the church and someone offered to host us in her home this morning. So sweet. But it's such a lovely way to start a week!!

Then after I swung through the drive-through and got everyone a juice box and cheeseburger and we went to a park for a picnic.

We played. We ate.

We then went to the library (that opened at noon) to sign up for summer reading! We also played at the library for a good while.

We came home and I pulled into our freshly cleaned garage for the first time. I mean I was there when we cleaned it yesterday but I hadn't pulled in and it felt good. So light and airy. So spacious!

Now I am doing laundry and dishes and generally feeling like maybe summer isn't going to kick my butt.

But it's only day one.
Still plenty of potential for crazy. In fact, I can promise I'll get there.

Have a lovely day friends!

Unrelated picture of my flower bed. There's a little tiny baby bunny under the gutter if you look closely.

June's Busting Out All Over!

It's June! It's also the last day of school!!

We have been doing a countdown in the car line for the past two weeks.

I am super partial to day five because he had 5 days of school left and it was also his last day being five. so there's that sentimentality about it. I'm going to miss this kid and the car line. But it will be M's turn soon enough and I know she's pretty excited. (They move to the passenger seat after I am in park.) 

Here's a little first day/last day comparison. 

Even if my angle was a little off, he still clearly got taller. 

Tomorrow is our last soccer game and then we kick off SUMMER! Happy June! Happy Friday! 

Teacher Thank You Gifts

Tomorrow is C's last day of school. It went pretty quickly though I know I am ready for summer break. I purposely didn't plan any activities for June but it got filled up crazy just the same. Anyway, we (C mostly) made our teacher thank you gifts this year. Here they are:

What Will Mrs. Teacher Do This Summer?

Mrs. Teacher will eat ice cream. 

Mrs. Teacher will go shopping.

Mrs. Teacher will drink coffee.

Thank you for teaching me Mrs. Teacher! Have a good summer. 

If you can't tell, each activity in the book comes with its own $5 gift card to help complete the suggested activity. I liked this gift as it combined the practical with the sentimental (in my opinion anyway) and the homemade with the store bought. 

Husband bound up the books with a cardboard backing/plastic cover sheet and comb binding. I included a thank you note to each amazing lady who has helped him this year. His teacher (not the assistant) also will be getting a copy of Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs by Mo Willems to add to her classroom library. Last year I had C pick a favorite book to add to the classroom library and I rather liked that idea so I continued it. I obviously reserve the right to discontinue that as I see fit but for now, it works for me. 

Anyway, that's what we did for our teacher thank yous/end of school year gifts this year.

Time With My Girl!

Oh my gosh! Today was the last "short" day for me and M! We do many things during this time, errands, park dates, just coming home. Today we did a combo of fun. 

We did run errands but she benefited from them. 

She got some ice cream. Strawberry, her favorite! 

And we went to Target where my best gal got herself some flip-flops. She has been asking and asking for them. 

She's pretty excited. I think I will miss our special one-on-one time but next year we will have whole days just the two of us and that will be special too! 

How We Celebrated!

C turned six! Here is a little glimpse at how we celebrated our guy Junie B. Jones style. C really became a reader this year and he thinks Junie B. is so funny. I agree for the most part. And he wanted a Junie B. Jones party. Which... while I love my kid who comes up with the most unique birthday ideas, he does stretch our creativity every May.

Friday he brought a treat into his class for snack time.

We stuck a sticker on them. Not the most creative but whatever man. It's thematic and it's fine okay?!

As it happens Junie B. turns 6 at the beginning of Graduation Girl but I didn't know that until the day before his birthday. But C had just brought our copy of that book into his class to be read so that was kind of fun.

Anyway, we made a Welcome to Room Nine sign for our back door to add to the ambiance. Really only my parents saw the sign (as people who don't live here) but whatever.

And our traditional birthday banner did not disappoint.

For C's party we took it easy this year and just invited his friend Mason to come with us to Jungle Bungle. (A place with tunnels and an arcade.) 

The boys (and M) played to their heart's content, enjoyed some pizza and ice cream, won a bunch of junk from the arcade because that's what you do. It was very fun. For our goody "bag" we went with a folder because it seemed Junie B.

It contains a First Grade Journal, activity book, stupid smelly bus keychain, pencil, and a bag of cookies. 

Later in the day, we had cheeseburgers and C's cake. What made it Junie B. like was we said Christopher P. Go with me on that. Okay? It also happens that Junie had chocolate cake with white frosting in the book. I didn't know that when I ordered the cake but it was a nice coincidence! 

We also got to watch Peter Rabbit with my parents and C enjoyed it. He had wanted to see it in the theater but we didn't make it. It sure made the rest of his birthday special though. 

Happy Birthday C!

My C,

I honestly cannot believe another year has gone by and you are six today. Six is two hands, which is firmly big kid. But buddy I am going to hold your hand in a parking lot until you're aching to let go. Let's not get there too fast okay?

You, my boy, challenge me in the best ways. I am learning how to parent right along with you learning how to grow and there's a learning curve for both of us. But oh how I love you and how you love us all back so well. I love watching you with your sister. (Most of the time anyway.) You two really are the best of the friends, unless either one of you has decided on "alone time" which obviously devastates the person who didn't want to be alone.

I am still up in the air over whether TK was the right choice and I can't wait to see you bloom even more next year. But you know, it is the right choice because I can't take it back. And I wouldn't give away my mornings with you for all the money in the world.

Hearing you read me stories is the best. I have prayed that you would be a reader and now I will pray that you never stop. Stories are so important and we can learn so many lessons from them. It cracks me up that you say your favorite thing to do at school is math because you're so good at reading! Regardless of whether you blow Kindergarten out of the water or not, I am going to miss you more than I can even fathom next year.

Lately, we've been working on you forming opinions. You are such a people pleaser that you don't want to put anything against anything. For real, if I ask you who your favorite people at school are you say "everyone." When asked about your favorite food you tell us that you don't know. (It's safely cheeseburgers and fruit.) I love that you are so fair but it is okay to pick sometimes.

Nothing frustrates me more than when you refuse to clean up your messes. I know that no kid likes cleaning so you're not alone in your feelings and I am not alone in my frustration but you know just how to push my buttons it seems. But even when I am the most frustrated and angry, never for a minute doubt that I love you entirely and I am so incredibly thankful that you are mine.

Your love for penguins and walruses has not ceased and I am so thankful for that. Just when I think the world is spinning too fast and you are getting too big, you come back for a snuggle or do something that reminds me that you are still my little boy. You have the absolute sweetest, most empathetic personality and I love when it shines. You are such a gift to humanity and we should all be a little more like you.

I hope I never forget my sweet boy who loves to copy books word for word into notebooks, strew crayons about, play make believe, loves Disney Jr., tell jokes and drink chocolate milk. You are such a precious gift and you have my heart. Happy Birthday, C, I love you entirely.

Love,
Mom

But how did we go from this

to this so fast?!