5.31.2016

School's out...

I brought cupcakes to Emmy's class on Thursday to celebrate summer birthdays and since I was already up there, we decided that would be a great time to deliver end of year gifts to their teachers. Mrs. Kammerer is moving and we are so sad that she won't be here when Landry starts kindergarten. She was OUR first teacher as parents and we couldn't have asked for a better, kinder, more patient person leading our sweet kiddos through their first year of school. 


Emmy also had a blast with Mrs. Vargas - even if she claims she has no idea what she's been telling her all year. The patience of bi-langual teachers is literally immeasurable. 


I found these adorable printables on Pinterest for the kiddos to fill out... 


(I have no idea what the source is - I didn't pin the original - dang it.)  Holly came to the rescue and found the original! (Download from there for the best quality!)

I just thought that it would be nice for the teachers to read what the kiddos thought about them for a change! The kids picked out these water bottles for their main teachers and we loaded them up with smarties and made an easy tag for a great gift. 



When Radley handed the "Thank You" sheet to Mrs. Vega she couldn't hold back the tears. He wrote that the thing she always says to him is "Never stop believing in yourself" and she just broke down. In that moment, she knew she was getting through to those kids in a hard year, learning two languages and do all the same work - it meant the world to her which meant the world to me. 


Mrs. Araujo has been such a creative source for Radley - she always adds fun activities to their coursework - songs, projects, whatever it is... jam packed full of learning. 


Then Emmy and I went on to deliver the smarties to all of their CAMP teachers, administrators, librarians, you name it ... Emmy adores Nurse Robinson and is always wanting to bring her things that she can give to the sick kiddos. 


And of course we had to thank Mr. Hatfield!


The weather had a mind of it's own that day, so I stuck around to watch Rad's class plays..


His group was doing Hansel and Gretel - he was playing the dad. Academy Award winning stuff. 


And a sweet last pic with Mrs. Vega - we were spoiled having her two years in a row. Sure going to miss her!


We survived the wind and rain and lightening and made it to the OFFICIAL LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!!


Excitement... 


happiness... 


pride... 


and a little sass... 



We are ready for SUMMER!

5.30.2016

InstaKings...

I am just out of a groove. I can't seem to get it together enough to be consistent about blogging. Summer goal: GET IN GROOVE. 

So, I'm taking a cue from Shelly and Holly and making InstaKings a Sunday night/Monday morning habit to recap our week based on what I captured from my trusty phone. I even made a cute graphic as motivation... 



So here we go... 

Last Friday we celebrated Ryan's birthday in style... 


With beers, babies and best friends all in our backyard. 


On Saturday we took the kids on a surprise day trip and left in time for naps which meant a peaceful hourlong ride to our destination. 


Radley and Emersyn's camp hosted a family day for kids registered for camp this summer. They were so excited about "the Ocean" and we were excited to let some of Emmy's fears wash away. We lucked out hitting the sunshine in Hunstville while it was pouring rain in College Station. 


One of my friends inspired me to turn my "alone time" grocery store runs into some 1:1 time with the kiddos. Last week's date was Emersyn and I loved soaking up  every drop of her. The questions and silly and attention were really such a gift to me. Mental note to make this a regular rotating gig. 



We went with an easy EOY gift for the 20 teachers and administrators shared between these two. 

#canyoufindthetypo #ohwell #spellingishard 


I give my momma a hard time about all the stuff she keeps. (Think hippo shaped planter). But I'm also pretty grateful for lots of the stuff she keeps - like this skirt. Every time I put it on, my day starts with thoughts of her. And, this won't surprise you, but the skirt was a JCP Worthington line special. 

#JCPforlife 


The MSC recently got some new flags with pictures depicting the Aggie core values along with some of our greatest traditions. Can you spot these two holding candles in honor of Aggie Muster? They were so excited to see the final product!


After a long day of work, we came home to this sweet surprise. Ryan had us all set up for dinner including a personal note for each of us. It's totally the little things that count. 


We heart some Snapchat filters around here. 


My life has come down to annoying reminders to actually get my stuff done. 


I had a headache for four days straight so I stayed home on Thursday. That afternoon I took cupcakes to Emmy's class so all the summer babies could celebrate their birthdays. I'm so glad that I did because there was at least 8 kids that had summer birthdays. 


I lucked out being in the school around the same time all the crazy weather was hitting our area and since the rain wasn't stopping anytime soon, I got to go watch Rad's class plays.


Can we please make them stop growing?


The school lost power, the rain started pouring down, so we decided to bust out early. They missed the third duck and cover of the day and we got TOTALLY drenched. I decided to head to the WDS to bust out Landry and Mills and wait the storm out at the Munsons. Josh was stuck at the girls' school in a duck and cover and it was just a wet, hot mess. 


Seriously. 



I also saved Pumpkin Patch. We are besties. 



They didn't seem to mind the random afternoon playdate. 


Also. I clearly wasn't up for cooking, so we stopped for some fried chicken because #priorities. 


I figured at least one or more of them would be up in the night because of the storms, so we opted for a movie and slumber party on a SCHOOL night.

#okayestmomever




We woke up the next morning with LAST DAY OF SCHOOL vibes!!! I honestly tried to talk them into skipping, but they insisted on going. We had early release so we went to the movies that afternoon and had our fill of popcorn topped with candy we snuck into the theater. 


Our favorite family of six headed over that night for pizza and beer and we all witnessed this special occasion. 

#shecallshimherprince #anditsthecutest


Saturday was just a series of unplanned events - so not-so-great like our dryer breaking. 


And some awesome like a visit from Miss Natali, Miss Tori, Ryder and a playdate with Caleb. 


We ended the evening adding a few final items to his camp trunk and staring at him in his sleep wondering how in the world he became old enough to sleep away at camp for AN ENTIRE WEEK!!


There was clearly no other option for drop-off outfit ... 


One final farewell from our favorite zebra.



And that's us in an instant! 



5.29.2016

Fearless...

We dropped Radley off at Carolina Creek on Saturday and he could not have been more excited. Like, push us out the cabin excited. Like, "mom, quit taking pictures" excited. Like when he heard that he could stay for a week he asked if he could stay for TWO excited. 


And that excitement makes me so happy. 


And the fact that he sat there so patiently taking pictures with us... 


and even let his sister sit on his bed without complaining, made me proud. 


His buddy, Davis, joined him once again and I just know that they are going to have the BEST time. 


Landry missed the first goodbye because she drove down with the Munsons and we had Anna - and she wouldn't let us leave without seeing "Wadley". And he got even more points when he stopped playing ball in front of all his new friends to take a picture with his baby sister. 


And then all of us, because, YES... I am that mom that wants a picture with her kid before she leaves him for an entire week. He's a great kid, that one. 


A great, energetic, enthusiastic, happy, kid. Their camp theme this week is "fearless" from 2 Timothy 1:7... For tGod has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, love and self-control. 


I pray that he always approaches new things without fear but with this same excitement and knowledge that God's spirit is with him always.