Fifth Grade

The notebooks just keep getting thicker and the boy keeps getting taller! Jensen is almost as tall as me now, yet I can still beat him at arm wrestling. He's gonna need to eat some meat and pump a little iron to beat his "mumma"! I love that he still calls me that. :) Even though he's a smart kid, he did need some help with his homework today. Unfortunately, I had to pull out my teaching manual that I'm using for McKenna to look up how to mark spelling errors when proofreading. Apparently he didn't HEAR the instructions in class and it was very unclear on the worksheet. So now, he seems to think he'll make a 100 in Language Arts! Having a mom that's a teacher does have its advantages.

Congratulations Kristin, Craig and William!

Meet Creighton August Kelly. He was born on Wednesday, August 26th and weighed in at 5 pounds, 11 ounces! He's a tiny, beautiful, little peanut and McKenna is madly in love with him! It's been a while since our family has been around an infant so it took some encouragement to get Jarrod to hold Creighton. McKenna would have held him FOREVER and is already asking to go see him again.

Congratulations sweet friends! We love you guys and are so happy for you!

First Week of School

Over the past few years we have been prayerfully considering education options for McKenna. This last school year we realized we needed to make a change. Although she was not considered "at risk", she was struggling with reading and math. She was also already worried about TAKS tests which begins in 3rd grade. We were thinking that private school would be the best solution, but with the change in the economy we did not feel that we could make the financial commitment. So, I started researching homeschooling options and curriculum and we made the decision to home school McKenna.

Right now, the plan is to home school for ONE year to get McKenna back on track and then send her back to public school. At some point we are still considering sending both Jensen and McKenna to private school. A lot of that depends on where they would like to be and finances. For now, Jensen LOVES and is doing extremely well in public school. He has been really sweet about considering staying home with us to home school; however, he loves getting to school early, writing in his agenda and watching the morning announcements on Cowboy TV. He also didn't want to miss some of the projects that they will be doing in 5th grade.

This will definitely be an interesting year. We've had a great first week and I am anxious to see what both of the kids accomplish this year! Both are extremely organized and love to learn.

Our first day of home school. We got a ton done. After lunch, we went to the library. We even watched a video about Washington D.C. AFTER school was over. McKenna didn't want the school day to end!

She's very proud of her school desk and classroom! Our office room has been converted into a classroom with a bulletin board, school calendar and white board.

McKenna working on her cover for her science notebook. She also helped me glue feathers on cut-outs of chicks and mother hens for an English project. They turned out really cute!

Since McKenna starts tennis after Labor Day, I decided to give her a kayaking lesson on Friday to make up for missing "Physical Education". It was a great way to end our first week of homeschooling. She even had her camera and took bird and scenery pictures. Thanks Nana for meeting us at the boat ramp to document our outing AND for starting Kenna early for Piano lessons!

The Egret we silently stalked finally got irritated and flew off.

Menu Plan Monday

I know, it's Tuesday! I put together my menu yesterday and didn't get time to post it.

Last week, I was out of town a good portion of the week, so our menu pretty much got thrown out the window. I'm just thankful that my kids (and husband) got fed...Thanks Nana and Bob-bob!

Last year my husband started pretending that our kitchen was a restaurant. He was cooking dinner for our family a lot then because of my work schedule and he has an awesome way of making just about anything fun! I have to say he's an awesome Dad! The first night of dinner service the kids decided to name our restaurant the King's Castle. So, here is what's on the menu at the King's Castle! :)

Monday: Picnic Dinner @ Hawaiian Falls - Baseball Awards & Celebration

Tuesday: Baked Chicken, Steamed rice, Broccoli spears

Wednesday: Southwest Chicken Pasta from my Bunco friend Leslie C. It's a Bunco favorite!

Thursday: Left-overs

Friday: CrockPot Fried Rice from the CrockPot Lady

Saturday: Hashbrown Soup & Salad

Sunday: Left-overs

Visit Laura for menu planning ideas and recipes!

Ups and Downs

Here's the low on the BIG down! I really prefer to get the negative stuff out of the way first, anyway.

We lost a tree last weekend. I know it's just a tree...and a leaning tree at that, but you know the yard just doesn't look the same. It also decided to fall 2 days before KK's birthday party. This meant spending $$$ to get someone over to chop it up and haul it off. I know the neighbors were celebrating the loss of the leaning tree (the eye sore of the neighborhood) and I'm sure they were saying lovely things about us early Saturday morning when the guys from Lumberjack were cranking up their chain saws! So here's a picture of the "partial" remains....I've not been doing the best job of taking pictures of IMPORTANT events lately.

Here's the before picture which was taken several years ago so imagine this - the tree was leaning so much that you could almost run up it. I know...fun. It really needed to come down but it could have picked a better weekend to fall!

The fall was not caused by winds or a storm. The tree trunk rotted out and it just snapped off right at the ground. FYI, don't mound up mulch around a tree base. Not good! Retains moisture around the trunk and it'll cause even a straight tree to snap!

Lil' J had to go out and see the new view of the house. Maybe the grass will grow on that side of the yard now. Water would help and it seems that we've been getting plenty of that lately!

The day the tree fell, KK had her BFF come over for a sleep over.
That really cheered me up, especially when the girls (yes, even KK) decided to have their fingernails painted!

The evidence! They even had me put bling on their nails! The next day they even wanted me to touch up their polish since it was chipping. I like this BFF!
Then the biggest shocker of all...
KK gets her ears pierced! This was one of Gran-mommy's gifts to KK. I even got it on video! That's not mean is it? You know you just have to document these things! Mom also got the girls the cutest hats and of course some skull and cross-bone earrings. She also took us to our favorite place to eat...Kyoto!

Then we had the big party! Like she really needed MORE excitement!
Can you guess the theme?
Here's the birthday girl with her new electric guitar and amp which were selected by her Daddy! The amp was a gift from Nana and Bob-bob.

Here's the birthday gang! Poor boy...surrounded by all those girls!
What's a party without cake...with guitar picks shoved in it...and a punch fountain! I know I ROCK! Ok, Aunt Wendy ROCKS!
Thanks sis for bringing it over and helping with the party. You, Mom and Lauren were life savers! I LOVE you guys!
We also had a guitar pinata the kids smashed to pieces!

After KK's birthday we celebrated Big J's b-day. Here's the boys after our AWANA ceremony!
You can go HERE to see KK's Sparky Award! She was sooo excited to get that plaque!

KK got dressed up yesterday morning to help her Dad fix breakfast for ME. French Toast...my favorite! Happy Mother's day Mom and my other Mom, Glynda! I'll let you borrow the little chef anytime!!! :)

I'm leaving on Wednesday for work and so Big J will be on his own with the kids Wednesday through Sunday. I've made up the menu for the week, see the next post below for my first ever Menu Plan Monday! I'm making some good stuff today and tomorrow and they should have plenty of left-overs; however, I put some easy things that I know the kids will eat for the rest of the week. I'm hoping Nana and Bob-bob will feed them this weekend! :)

Menu Plan Monday!

Okay, so I'm joining the masses of freaks for Menu Plan Monday. I've been menu planning for a while now but have not been brave enough to post my menu. My motivation...a PRIZE of course. You can see what that's all about at Laura's! And yes, if you see the prize then you'll probably be calling me a freak as well! That's okay, I've been called worse! :)

FYI, if I don't win the prize then I'm buying it for myself as a late Mother's Day gift, because it's AWESOME! I know...FREAK!

Here's what's for dinner this week:

Monday: Dad's Chili Cheese Enchiladas with Tortilla chips

Tuesday: Easy Lasagna with Salad and Bread Sticks

Wednesday: Left-overs

Thursday: Quesadillas

Friday: Spaghetti with Salad and Bread Sticks

Happy Birthday Daddy and KK!

I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!! :)

Happy Monday!

Finally! This is NOT a Manic Monday! As a matter of fact I am now and forever more going to try and prevent manic Mondays! First of all, I am no longer working on Mondays. That in itself helps tremendously prevent the mania in the first place. We are also trying out some new house cleaning tactics thanks to a blog link from my friend Kristin. I've tried several different methods for house cleaning and this has been the best. It's very simple and so far it's working over here! You can check out the Totally Together blog here and see the Daily 7. I swear if you have a problem, like I do, keeping the house "clean" then this will change your life!

So, this morning I woke up to freshly brewed coffee and a fairly clean house. I say "fairly" because with 2 kids and 2 pets a house is never "really" clean! It's amazing how a clean house and a fresh cup of coffee can make a mom so happy!

Now, on to more interesting things!

Jensen went with a friend to a 50's dance (part of a cotillion program) and learned how to Swing Dance. He taught me his new dance moves and danced with me for a while! I was really impressed! He's such a sweetheart! :)

Jensen got 2nd place at the RISD Digital Art Media Fair for his original digital art piece. This was among all 3rd-4th graders in RISD!

GRAN-MOMMY'S LAKE HOUSE ROCKS!

Canoing with daddy

KK with her biggest catch of the day

Fishing with Gran-mommy

"Driving" the Gator

Kodi...still to chicken to actually take a swim.

KK finally got plugged in and is now addicted to the electric guitar. Even better news...she wants a drum set for her birthday. The news gets even better...her dad has always wanted a drum set, so now he has an excuse to get one. Looks like I'll be getting some ear plugs!

So that's what we've been up to this month...plus celebrating a ton of birthdays. BTW, Happy Birthday Nana and Wendy and Steve and Betty Ann and Aunt Margaret! Oh, and ME! Love you guys! :) Now, on to my next chore - meal planning for the week! Maybe one of these days I'll get brave enough to post my menu. Menu planning is another thing that has made life easier and me a lot happier! I've gotten really good ideas and recipes from HERE and HERE. Gotta have a plan! :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Well...today was the first day of our Spring Break (yeah) and I managed to have a very productive day. The kids and I had fun today buying groceries for our first ever traditional Irish dinner. After putting away the groceries, I threw the corned beef into the crock pot and then we were off to have lunch w/ gran-dad. We ate at the Flying Fish for a late b-day celebration for me. The kids didn't get too crazy so it was turning out to be a good day!

I was so excited when Jarrod got home because I actually had dinner ready! So for dinner we had corned beef with carrots and potatoes, Irish soda bread and for dessert...Irish mint fudge brownies, made totally from scratch. YUM!! The biggest surprise is that everyone loved everything, including the pickiest eater of all time - lil' J. A big thanks to my ABF friend Jennifer for inspiring me to try something new! And another extra big thanks to another ABF friend Amy M for loaning me her kitchen aid mixer! That thing makes cookin' from scratch super easy! I puffy heart L-O-V-E that machine! :)

Alright so now for the fun part. This is for my dear friends Kristin and Cyndi who are always posting pictures of their food...

The corned beef with carrots and red potatoes

Irish Soda Bread

Irish Mint Fudge Brownie

Now...on to a more serious note. My sweet husband installed our new kitchen sink faucet tonight. Yes, somehow he was able to get the job done in 4 or 5 hours. I guess my awesome meal inspired him...or my encouragement. I was gettin' a little tired of the new problem and working around the note he posted behind the sink! Occasionally we have a tendency to get frustrated around our house and sometimes things get a little damaged.

This task proved to cause some additional frustration and during most of the installation it sounded a lot like the scene from A Christmas Story of the dad in the basement. I'm just glad that the new sink is now installed and nothing else is broken! I love my husband to death and I'm glad that he's so handy! :)

Mardi Gras 5k

Jennifer, Mitzie, Amy M, Me, Amy S
Lisa, Rhonda, Wendy

My best friend from high school (Amy S) is training to run a half marathon. To help her prepare and to keep herself motivated, she is running several races in the Dallas area. After talking to her I decided I would give running a try so, I recruited a friend from our ABF (Amy M) as a running buddy. Then Mitzie and Jennifer joined the team and we decided to train together three times a week to prepare us for the Mardi Gras 5k. We had three weeks to prepare so we had Kevin, our ABF teacher, come out to the track one night to coach us. My last preparation for the big day involved shopping! My dear friend Kristin went with me to pick up race packets and to help me pick out new shoes at the Run On store on Mockingbird in Dallas. I won't divuldge the $$$ spent, just know that if you go to Run On, it's not cheap! One of these days, Kristin will join our little running group! Right Kristin....Right! ;)

So, on February 21st I ran my first 5k! There were eight of us who registered for the race: my sister Wendy, her friend Rhonda, My high school friend Amy S, her friend Lisa, me and my three training buddies, Amy M, Mitzie and Jennifer. I was so proud of all of us but my sister blew us all away. She actually got the 3rd place trophy in our age group. Her time we 24.20 and Jennifer wasn't that far behind her at 28 minutes. I was just thankful to run the entire time without stopping and was hoping to finish in 40 minutes or so. When I crossed the finish line I didn't even think to look at my watch or the time clock. My priority was recovery and water! Turns out my time was 32.58 which was great for me considering I had never actually run a complete 3 miles before!

Wendy, Mom and Me
Mom was there for moral support and to take pictures. She is now trying to run as long and as fast as us! Keep it up Mom...just don't hurt yourself! :)

So now, I am addicted to running. I'm still running with my ABF buddies and we're trying to add more friends to our running group. I've even taken KK to the track and she's practically run circles around us. Maybe one day, we can do a mother-daughter 5k!

Amy S joins us on Saturdays and yesterday I was able to keep up with her most of the time. She finished a few minutes before me at the race so my goal is to try and keep up with her at the next race. Yes...we're doing another 5k on March 14th! It's the St. Paddy's Day 5k - Dash Down Greenville. Woo-hoo! My goal is to finish at 32.57 or less! :)

Me and my sister Wendy with her trophy!

Happy Valentine's Day!

K's last basketball game was today...Valentine's Day! They played their best game yet...to bad it was their last! K scored 7 or 8 goals and played great D.

J playing Valentine Bingo with his classmates!

K's class had cupcakes, cookies and more cupcakes during their party. They also played pin the arrow on the heart.

K with her teacher.

Annual Family Trip to "The Cabin"

Memories from our trip:
1. Good snow, beautiful weather, and a snow storm arrives just as we're leaving. Works for me; however, Jarrod would prefer to be skiing instead of driving in the weather.
2. Amazing improvement of the kids this year while skiing. No more edgy-wedgies!
3. McKenna managed to avoid people for the most part, only running across the skis of one person...and no major wipe outs this year. She was able to stay in control MOST of the time. She even made it down Exhibition (a steep blue on the mountain face) which Jensen kept calling Expedition so we started calling it everything and anything that rhymed with Exhibition.
4. The lift lines were horrible the first two days; however, the third day was awesome. The weather was beautiful but the winds were pretty strong. KK stayed at the house with Nana, Bob-bob, Jef, Mars and Tristen. Jensen was so excited to have Mumma and Daddy all to himself and he did Great! Because of the winds, the lift lines were short to non-existant. Jensen went down his first black (the top of Eagle Glades) and he did superb. He was so stoked!
5. The most memorable moment of all time was when Jensen was in the loft and noticed the rat pellets. He then reported that it smelled awful and proceeded to snuggle up in a blanket...with a dead pack rat! I've never seen anyone fly down the loft ladder as quickly as he did! He then proceeded straight to the bathroom to wash his dead-critter infested hands. Of course all of the kids had to go up and look at the poor creature and then demonstrate the expression on it's face.