Lego Beat It

I had this posted on my blog a while back and then it was taken off of YouTube for copyrights reasons. It's on there again, so hopefully we can enjoy it for a little while longer.

Fare Thee Well Third Grade

Today at 11:30 am, my Braxton was no longer a 3rd grader. I cannot believe how fast the year flew by, I remember the first day of 3rd grade like it was yesterday. I am so proud of him. Moving to Colorado was probably a bigger adjustment for him than any one else in our family, but he has done really well. He made some great friends and I think he now feels like Rice Elementary is his school. He even said to me while we were walking home that he wishes we were still going to be here for 5th grade.

I love summer vacation. I am a selfish mom and like the fact that I don't have to share my son with the school. We have a lot of great things planned for the summer. Swimming lessons start next week, we leave for South Dakota tomorrow for a fun trip, we have a couple of trips planned to Utah and then we go to Nova Scotia in July for almost three weeks.

Braxton and his teacher, Mrs. Foster. She is wonderful!!!

Braxton and Miss Phillips. Miss Phillips was the student teacher in Braxton's class. She graduated this month and will be teaching kindergarten in Littleton in the fall. We love Miss Phillips and know she will be an awesome kindergarten teacher. This is Braxton's principal, Mrs. Koehn. While we were taking this pictures, she was trying to track down some students who took the bus but their dad had come to pick them up. A principal's work is never done, I suppose.

If April Showers Bring May Flowers, What Does May Hail Bring?

In the past week, we have been under two tornado watches and actually had a tornado warning this afternoon. Storms roll in really quickly around here and it's kind of fun to watch the clouds roll in. This evening, Mother Nature treated us to a really cool hail storm.

Dear Mother Nature,

Thank you very much for such a beautiful day!!!

Momsense

I am sure you have all seen this before, but I love it. Don't forget about your moms this weekend. Don't forget about all those wonderful women who have a Mother Heart.

Tundra Biome

A few weeks ago, we received an email from Braxton's teacher letting us know that the kids had an at-home-project to do. They had to do a shoebox biome. They had to include a body of water, 3 plants and a food chain and any extras they could think of. Braxton chose the Arctic Tundra, which didn't surprise me because he did a project in 2nd grade on Polar Bears and was really interested in them. So, off to the Hobby Lobby we went to pick up some supplies. He chose the Arctic Willow, Cotton Grass and Arctic Moss as his plants, the Arctic Ocean for his body of water, and Arctic Cod, Ring Seal and Polar Bear as his food chain. He also made Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) out of clay and he glued them to the sky. I was in charge of the hot glue gun, I burned my fingers a few times, but it was so worth it. I think it turned out great. He got a 4/4, which is also known as a "WOW".

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."