Volunteer Luncheon

Our school threw us a Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon last week and it was amazing. 

I took several pictures before we started eating, but then everything was so delicious, I forgot to take pictures!

Thank you to our teachers and staff for honoring us for our service!

Happy 8th Birthday to Jansen!!!

My youngest child is 8 today!!!!!!!!!

A very happy birthday to a child that brings us such joy. 

You are an amazing child and we can't wait to celebrate your birthday today at school and tomorrow at your party!!!

This morning we are headed to school to share these:

We love you, Jansen!!

4th grade music program: Let's Go On A Safari

Since our computer has been broken and the new one came in last night (joy of joys) I am trying to catch up on blogging. So much has happened in the almost 3 weeks that we have been unable to access anything other than a mobile site on a 3 inch screen!

A few weeks ago, my oldest son had his final elementary school program...Let's Go On A Safari. I must say, we could not be more proud of him. He practiced his speaking part, he practiced his xylophone part, he practiced his recorder part. He was incredibly proud of himself. The has come so far in his time at Polk Elementary. I continue to hope that he can overcome anything Autism throws his way in intermediate school in the Fall. 

The PTO members created a jungle themed stage and the children wore white shirts and khakis. The program was perfect!

Caleb was so excited to show off his skills...

He loves his friend, Macy. 

He loves his grandparents.

He loves his Reading teacher.

He was proud of himself. 

We were a proud family.

Reading Team Party

Jansen made the Reading Team this year! 

I am really proud of him for working so hard to accomplish this goal. 

Each year, our librarian rents some water slides for the Reading Team Party and gives the kiddos tons of time just to go crazy and play.

Jansen had a really good time until he fell on the slide and hurt his chin. Then he was done. Like super done. Like sit on the park bench and sulk, done.

But he is so cute!

Football party centerpieces

Our computer has crashed, which is a major bummer since we are at the end of the school year and I am prepping for parties galore. I totally miss my laptop, but thank goodness we have a tablet. 

So since Jansen's birthday is next week, and things are so crazy at their school, I am spending today creating party decorations for both the school and my almost 8 year old. 

Today is centerpiece time. A couple of weeks ago, I created the picks from cardstock and skewers. I hot glued some styrofoam to the inside of some dollar store blue buckets and stuck the personalized picks in them. I added some filler and these are done. 

We only have 3 round tables so these will go on top of red tablecloths at Jansen's party. So easy and right now, I need easy decorations for parties. 5 more parties until SUMMER!!!!!

Fourth grade jungle music program decorations

After working all last week on Teacher Appreciation and Fun Run, this week started off with more decorations. This time it is for the final musical of the year, the 4th grade "Welcome to the Jungle" program. 

I love this little monkey I created. He is so adorable!

Three of us worked this morning on some set decorations, and finished up just in time for lunch.

This took a budget of $0, three hours, and lots of butcher paper! I think it turned out super cute. 

There will be a hut on the stage, created by our music teacher. Other than that...this stage is finished. Well, almost finished. The bales of hay from the last program must be removed, but we aren't responsible for that. So our portion is finished!

Football Centerpiece sneak peek...

Today I got started on some centerpieces for Jansen's birthday party in a few weeks. 

His theme is Houston Texans Football and he is having it at the rec center. We have rented a room to eat and open presents, and then we are able to all go to the indoor pool to enjoy some swim time. 

I am in the process of making the table decorations so I thought I would share a sneak peek of the progress on the centerpieces for the tables. 

I am creating some personalized picks to put in buckets with artificial grass, so here is what I came up with.

His last name and his age on a jersey created in photoshop.

A football with the Texans logo on it.

And a foam finger with his name on it in Varsity lettering. 

Glue to skewers and that is all I am showing for right now. I am glad to be back crafting!

Teacher Appreciation Day #5 and school Fun Run

That's it folks. Put a fork in me. I am done....for the week, at least. 

This was the final day of Teacher Appreciation and it was also the day of the Fun Run. 

We arrived early to begin decorating the teacher lounge with all of the goodies that the PTO moms made. Might I say, they did a totally amazing job! I am very impressed with all their hard work. It really does take a village. 

Here is how the decorations turned out...

We had our parents donate baked goods, and these parents pulled through with some delicious options....

We also hung up a photo booth for our teachers to have fun with....

The PTO moms had fun with it too...

And I get to have the crown because Friday was my birthday! The big 33. Wow. 

The moms got me a kindergarten crown, my friend Lupe brought me flowers, and my friend Crystal got me a Donnie Wahlberg doll. Taking me back to the great 1989!

In between decorating, the kids went in grade groups to participate in the Fun Run to raise money for a track at our school. It was so cute to see all those adorable kids running their hearts out. 

Jansen is not a runner. In fact, he is kind of a stubborn and lazy kid. I have to be honest. He is the sweetest, most kind hearted and loving kid...who loves to play, but when he doesn't want to do something, buddy...he isn't doing it. He is not a fan of a lot of physical activities (we have to get really creative) and he will just dig his heels in. He gets that from me. I didn't think he was going to run one lap, but he ended up running 4...with me running the last two with him. Proud of him for trying it. 

Caleb was into it. He was challenged by his teacher to run over 30 laps, so he and his friend, Macy teamed up to run 36 laps! They did an amazing job. I was able to run 4 laps with them. Just as they were crossing the finish line....the sky turned jet black and opened up to pour down on us. 

We all ran inside to finish up Teacher Appreciation...soaked and sweaty!

It was a great way to spend my birthday.