Loving Lately

The leaves are doing a happy dance, partly because it's so gosh darn windy out right now, but because they are so beautiful with their vibrant colors. I am doing a happy dance too because we are in my favorite time of year...fall!

Lately, I am loving all the decorations that I have put up for the season.

Decorating pumpkins...my style

Decorating the old wash bins for the season!

Who doesn't love chevron pumpkins?

Thanks, Alexis for painting this!

I am loving making edible acorns and going on a fall scavenger hunt...

Yellow leaf...check!

Beautiful rock...check!

Right now, I am loving fall!

On the Eve of Back-To-School

It's hard to believe that it's that time of year again...back-to-school! My oldest will be starting 1st Grade in the morning and while a part of me is super excited for her, I still feel that she is growing up way too fast. Instead of planning our annual back-to-school party, I will be planning a umm, graduation party. Okay, Okay, I'm getting way ahead of myself here! I'm going to enjoy the present and share what we have done on this eve of back to school!!

My hope for you, Alexis is that you always have fun in school, learn lots, and be a good friend. This is a saying that I tell her each and everyday!!

You will be a ROCKSTAR in 1st Grade!!

The invite for our back to school supper.

Place setting

The table decor for our supper tonight.

On the menu: pizza, strawberries, and milk

More decor

Super excited faces!

We read this book and made jitter juice to get rid of any worries we had!

Our annual hand tracing project...she'll have 13 of these hands for a graduation present!

We had a little fun and read this cute book as well!

A peek into my classroom

As August rolls around, my classroom comes to mind. Getting my room ready for school is generally a fun time...I get to organize and be creative while I have the time! My girls have been making trips to the school with me the last few weeks. I had envisions of them helping and asking for more things to do, but reality set in and my classroom was more of a disaster than when I started.

I thought I would post a few pictures of my little corner of the school where I work. It's coming along, but I think I need to go alone from now on!

Don't tell anyone, but I broke a mirror while I put this up...here's to 7 years bad luck!

This will be a little Monday, wake-up my brain, activity. Adapations will be needed, but it will be fun!

A perfect quote to remind us everyday to try hard!

Organization

Oops, I cut off the r in "smarter"

My desk area

Positive quotes near my desk...I need these on those "ugly" days!

Smartboard area

A view from the door

There is plenty more to do in here, but I like it so far!

Here's to a great 2012-2013 school year!

Savoring Summer

The last few days, the air has changed a bit...on the cooler side

The last few days, the sky has changed a bit...on the pinker side

The last few days, night has come a bit earlier...on the darker side

It must be...fall is near

Pardon me while I soak up every bit of summer that we have left!

I'm going to forget that I saw my first yellow leaf in our yard this morning too!

parades, sparklers, trampoline, swingset, bike rides, scooter, sunshine, and happiness!

Hoping to get the boat out at least one more time before, ummm...school starts!

Little Miss Brynn

We are already entering the month of August tomorrow...isn't that just CrAzY?! The end of summer is coming to a close and with that single thought, August is usually a sad month for me. I do, however, have a little bundle of joy that was born this month, which makes it something to look forward to! This little lady is growing up too fast for me! To think that she will be turning 3 just boggles my mind.

Tonight, I am celebrating this little lady!!

Yup, that's almost 3 years of hair growth right there! She has never had a haircut and it's as unmanageable as ever, but I LOVE IT!!

The Likes: Being in the middle of the action regardless of her age and size...if it's full of adventure and is exciting, she's there! She adores her older sister and just because she's younger doesn't stop her from wanting to do everything her older sister does. She enjoys her babies and Barbies and if she can combine them both, she will! She's a hoarder of toys. Brynn's famous trick from birth....she goes straight to screaming no matter what! She doesn't waste her time building up the drama!

That's our little Brynn Kay...Happy Birthday Month!!

Let the games begin!

We are so excited for the Olympics to start tonight! It is truly amazing the amount of time these athletes have trained and the energy they have put into their sport in order to get here, not to mention the insane amount of money too! Every athlete has a story and I love hearing about the barriers they've overcome and about each triumph!

For the next 16 days, my family will be watching as the best of the best compete for gold medals. Some of our favorite Olympic summer sports include: Gymnastics, Swimming, and Running...What are some of yours?!

GO TEAM USA!!

We made Olympic ring art with toilet paper rolls!

Brynn quickly got the hang of it!

Our final art work!

Next, we made red, white, and blue bracelets!

Yup, we all made one!

 We gathered leaves to make our own Laurel Wreaths!

I just thought this one was too cute not to post!

 Our own Olympic race!