SOAR

Braxton's school is a positive behavior support school (it says so on the website). SOAR stands for Self-control, Optimism, Appreciation and Respect. Each month, they have a SOAR assembly where the teachers choose 4 students in their class who have been exhibiting these characteristics during the month. Braxton was given a SOAR certificate today for Optimism. We are so proud of him and so happy that he is doing well at his new school.

Please Note: We Really Do Have Toys and Cute Books At Our House

As much as I try, there are times when I forget to close the bathroom door. Emma, like all toddlers, loves to play in the bathroom. She will some times sit in front of the door and knock, hoping that there is an imaginary person in there that will let her in. The day after Easter, I found 3 plastic eggs floating in the toilet, I have had to change her clothes a few times because she also likes to splash in there too. Yesterday, she unrolled a whole roll of T.P. She's lucky she's so cute. It reminds me of when Braxton was a baby and we had to have a plumber come over to our house and he pulled a plastic turtle from our Noah's Ark playset from the toilet. The plumber lectured me and said "you shouldn't let your kids flush toys down the toilet". "What??" I guess we're lucky that she doesn't know how to flush yet, I don't think plastic eggs go down very well.

Social Studies Night

Last night was Social Studies Night at Braxton's school. Each grade was able to show what they had learned in Social Studies this year. When you entered the school, you were given a passport and when you visited each grade and saw what they had done, you were given a stamp for your passport. It was really fun. Braxton was able dress up again as Jupiter for the 3rd grade wax museum. The students took turns and stood in the hall like they were statues, with big red buttons on their togas. People would press the button, and then the statues would give their lines and tell who they were in Ancient Rome. It was really cute and the kids had so much fun.

Braxton's Jupiter pose.

Happy Easter 2010

Easter was nice and low-key, just the way we like it. Braxton woke me up at 7:00am for the Easter egg hunt, I tried to wake Ryan, but he wasn't moving and Emma was still asleep, so Braxton did the egg hunt himself. He didn't seem to mind.

Braxton and his basket

The best thing the Easter Bunny brought.

Emma and her basket

Some Easter kite flying

This is in our backyard, that's Braxton's school behind our house

Coloring eggs

Notice my son wearing a Halloween shirt while coloring eggs.

I love the Easter season. It's a time of Spring and renewal. The trees are budding and the tulips will soon be in bloom. I love it. I am so grateful for the real reason we celebrate Easter. Because the tomb was empty that first Easter morning, life has hope and purpose and there is always light even when the rest of the world seems dark. What an amazing gift.

"And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of Him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of Him. That He lives."

Fringe

As you all know, my daughter was born with A LOT of hair. I had dreams of pig tails and cute little barrettes, but Emma is not very cooperative. Whenever I put pig tails in her hair, she screams and cries. Whenever I put cute barrettes or clips in her hair, she rips them out. She even swallowed one once, we didn't know until we found it in her diaper. Poor baby. Since she doesn't allow cute things in her hair, it is always in her eyes. So, we decided to take her to a professional. She sat very still on the booster seat at Great Clips, it took maybe 2 minutes to cut her some bangs. I was a little sad because it is such a "big girl" thing. They grow up way too fast, don't they?

I can see those beautiful brown eyes now. Hooray!!

A Viking's Life for Me

This month, Braxton's class learned about Vikings. How fun is that!!! Today they did a Viking play called "A Viking's Life for Me" for their parents. It was so cute. The kids wore fur vest and carried swords. Teachers are so awesome and creative, how do they come up with these things?

Braxton played Berserker #1. Berserkers (according to Wikipedia) were Norse warriors who were reported in Old Norse literature to have fought in a nearly uncontrollable, trance-like fury, a characteristic which later gave rise to the English word berserk.

The Longship

"One, two, three, four. We are fearless, hear us roar." Miss Emma waiting for the performance to begin

Pinewood Derby

Last night was Braxton's Pinewood Derby. This was our first Pinewood Derby and Braxton did a great job designing his car. He wanted to do a lego car. His car looked very different than the average car. He didn't win any of his races, but he had so much fun. I think the best part of the evening was when the races were over and all the boys just put their cars on the track and raced each other. They had a ball.

Braxton with is car.

Ready to go. We had to take off a few of these legos to make weight, though.