Catholic Schools Week - 2012

Every year at this time the Catholic Schools have a special week dedicated to them.  At our school, they have a different theme each day and they can dress up and not wear uniform clothes (that's a big deal for the kids)!!  This year the overall theme is "Faith.  Academics.  Service."    The individual days have the following themes:  Monday - PJ day, Tuesday - Camo Day, Wednesday - Fake and Injury Day, Thursday - Dress Like an Animal Day, and Friday - Grandparents Tea day so they wear their Sunday best.

The boys have had fun with it this year (and I have too).   Monday and Tuesday were pretty straight forward. No big costumes or planning need there.  Wednesday, they decided they wanted to have a black and blue eye.  Ethan knew that this meant a "black eye" or bruised eye and wanted his to look like this...

Trevor took it literally when Ethan said it and was adamant that he wanted "Black and Blue" Eyes and was specific that he wanted them like this...

So was it an injury day for him ... well, no.  But he like it and he had fun with it and that's all that mattered.

Thursday (today) is dress like an animal day.  and not just any animal.  You had to pick an animal that started with the same letter as the first letter in your first or last name.  Ethan immediately said he wanted to be an Eagle.   Ok, an eagle.  We can figure something out.  I loved how the hat turned out; however, I already know how to make it better if he wants to wear it again....

Trevor wanted to be a T-Rex and was ok with that until he saw the T-Rex mask that we could make (I found it online).  After seeing it, he wasn't so sure that he wanted to be that scary.  So, we found a dinosaur costume to make out of a green hoodie and he was all for that. 

I have never made a full costume for the kids so this was all new to me as well, but for some reason I was up for it this year.  So off to making the "T-Rex" costume we went and this is where we ended up come Wednesday night when all was said and done.  (Trevor requested the rainbow spikes... not just green because that would be boring according to him.)

So, I will say that I had a lot of fun making them.  However, I will also say that my house took a beating because of it.  No cleaning (or very little) got done earlier this week.  The dishes sat in the sink longer than normal.  I did get dinners made so that was good.  And I really did have fun making them.  They are NOT perfect By. Any. Means, but the kids were always excited when they would come home after school to see how far I had gotten on their costume.  And that was fun for me to show them how things were progressing.    So, for this year, the costumes are done (and hey, maybe they can just wear them for Halloween, too, and then I won't have to think of anything come October!).

My Dino and Eagle ready to leave for school this morning...

My 1st Assignment

(catch up post #6)

Before Trevor even had his first day of Pre-K, he had his VERY 1st homework assignment to do.  His "All About Me" sheet that was to be taken back to school on the first day.  He was very excited to do his homework and was a good student to get it all done at the same time.

in case you can't see some of the answers, the paper reads:

My name is Trevor (he had to cut the letters out and paste them in the correct order)

I am 4 years old.

My birthday is on September 19, 2006

I have 2 brothers and 0 sisters

My pets are Kelty (a dog)

I like to play the Wii, play outside, color & paint.

My favorite color is blue.

I want to be a professional baseball player when I grow up.

2011 - 2012 School Year has Begun

Catch up post #3

This year is a big year. We officially have 2 children in school now - as of August 16th.  Ethan has moved up to 1st grade & Trevor started all day, Pre-K at Holy Rosary, too.  It's fun to see them both excited for school and Ethan is more than ready to show Trevor the ropes of "how to do things" at their school. 

Of course, before the first day we had to take our pictures on the porch...

And then we added to it this year by taking some out by our front tree.... the boys loved being able to climb in it before school.

 

And of course we needed one in front of school before going in

(don't pay attention to the fact that they have different clothes on in these pictures compared to the ones above.  I didn't make them wear multiple outfits on the first day ;o)  Rather I'm the bad mom who forgot her camera the first day & made them stand there one the 2nd day.) 

And they both wanted a picture with their teachers.  Honestly, it was them who wanted these pictures, I did not push them to do these.  After seeing some of the other kids getting theirs taken on the first day they wanted some with the teachers too.  Good boys :)

 Ethan with Mrs. Edwards

Trevor with Mrs. Smith

End of the School Year Activities

Ethan's school will do periodic field trips during the year; however, the end of the year is there main time for all the kids to do different field trips.  This year, Ethan's kindergarten class went to the Conservation Department where they learned all kinds of neat stuff and were able to fish the afternoon away in the stocked pond.  I was able to help with both of these field trips this year and Trevor even came along to the first one being that it was just a 1/2 day field trip.

Their next field trip was to the Harry S. Truman Dam, the Swinging Bridge and the Waste Water Treatment Facility here in town.  Trevor stayed by a friends house for this day and I have to admit, it was so nice to have the day with Ethan!  Not very often do I get time with just him and I really enjoyed being able to concentrate on him and the fun he was having.

Harry S. Truman Dam and Visitor Center

The Swinging Bridge

Waste Water Treatment Facility

Christmas Time at Holy Rosary

Each that Ethan is in school, I am reminded just how fun the week before Christmas break really was.  You don't do work (especially in 4K and Kindergarten).  You have fun.  You make holiday crafts.  You sing songs.  You play games.  That is what the last week of school is about before the holiday.  This year, I was fortunate to be able to volunteer in Ethan's class each Thursday morning in December while Trevor was in school.  Another parent and I took on the holiday crafts for their class and it was so much fun to see all the kids excited about the holiday the whole month through.   And then each child brought home a paper bag full of crafts, goodies, ornaments and various drawings that they had completed during the month.  Ethan told Rick and I that it was our Christmas gift from him so we had to put it under the tree until we opened gifts after returning from Wisconsin.  The morning we celebrate Christmas here, he was so excited to have us open it.  It was magical for him and he loved showing us all the things he had created.  And even though I was there for half of them, it didn't matter.  It was his gift to us from HIM!

Ethan's Christmas Goody Gift Bag for Rick and I

In addition, the entire school was preparing for their annual holiday concert.  Once again it was a wonderful performance by all the grades!  Ethan had been singing their songs over and over again throughout the weeks; however, he looked a little gun-shy once he was up on stage.  Not sure why, since he is usually not nervous when up their in a group, but this time he was.  He told us afterwards, " I wasn't nervous, but I did forget some of the words so I didn't know what to sing."  That would make me a little nervous, too. 

Thanksgiving Program - 2010

Once again this year, Ethan's school had a Thanksgiving Feast for the Pre-K and Kindergarten classes and their families.  The little program they put in is always so cute and there is always yummy food afterward for everyone to enjoy.  This year they had 3 songs for the kindergarten class....

During this next song each child was able to say something that they were thankful for.  The parts that they were saying were not rehearsed before hand.  This is a longer video (just to warn you)

In case you couldn't hear what Ethan said, he said he was thankful for The Navy.  Why the Navy?  Rick and I weren't quite sure being that we don't have any connection to The Navy; however, after I asked Ethan he said that he likes the fighter jets and The Navy ships help the fighter jets in the ocean.  Not quite the warm and fuzzy feeling Rick and I would have gotten if he had said, "my family, or my mom and dad, or my brother", but at least he had a reasoning for it ;o)

In this last video, they went through the letters of the alphabet one by one and read about something relating to Thanksgiving.  Ethan had the letter H and the final paragraphs about how Thanksgiving became a national holiday. 

Trevor's 1st Day of School - 2010

Since Ethan started school on August 17th, Trevor has been asking each and every day, "Is it time for my school yet?"  For the last 3 weeks I have been saying, "No, not yet Trevor.  In a few more days."  Well, the day finally came.  We made sure this weekend that he knew on Tuesday, it was going to be his day to start school.  He has been so excited!!  And today that tune didn't change.  He had his back pack ready... and was off to school without a hitch.  But before he could go, he wanted pictures taken just like Ethan had done on his first day of school. 

So without further jabbering on about how proud I am of Trevor and how much he's grown over the summer or how much I'm going to miss him the 6 hours he's gone each week or how I can't wait to see what he learns this year.... here is my BABY going off to his first day of ECE (Early Childhood Enrichment) at the Methodist Church in town.  Oh and how did I almost forget this - he gets to be in the "big kid" class upstairs this year!  That makes going to school even more exciting!!

Good luck, Trevor.  Use your manners. Be nice to your friends.  Listen to your teachers. And most of all, Have Fun in school!!  I'll be waiting for you after class...

Ethan's 1st Day of Kindergarten - August 17, 2010

It's the first official day of school for Ethan.  His 1st day of Kindergarten!  He was so excited this morning... a new year...2010/2011 school year

a new class and classmates

Mitchell and Ethan before school

a new teacher...Ms. Thoma

a new routine....

(thanks to these new routine sheets we made (and thanks to FlyLady for the idea))

and new clothes...

(but one would never know since he'll look the same as he did last year in his uniform clothing; however, he was excited as could be to wear his new clothes and shoes!!)

Some sweet parts of the day included the note that Daddy left for the boys this morning since he had to be at work before they woke up...

and the fact that Trevor wanted to take a picture with his big brother

and had to give him a hug before we left school....

this picture is a "bit" blurry, but you get the point. Trevor was going to miss his big brother on this first day of school!

The day was a success and he had a good time with his new teacher and class.  He was all smiles when I picked him up...

Some of the highlights he told me about after school included:

• 
  
  We had cookies today!
• 
  
  We got to take a tour of the school and I knew everyone in Mrs. Edwards class (1st Grade) and most of them in Mrs. Nold's (2nd Grade).  We got to go visit all the big kids downstairs, too.  But there was something leaking in the storage area (oops... better get that fixed)
• 
  
  We got to play kickball in the new gym because it was raining outside at gym time.  and we only used 2 bases today, Mom.
• 
  
  There are rules in Ms. Thoma's class - No talking when you are working, Keep your hands to yourself, No kicking, punching, hitting or pushing.  (those sound like good rules to me!)
• 
  
  No homework today.

Here is his first picture of the year...

Here's to hoping it's a good year and he continues to have fun and enjoy school.