Last Days of School

All dressed up for the dance festival. Amelia was a minion and Coleson an elephant.

Kindergarten Graduation!

Last day of school! We had a fun neighborhood water party!

Reflections

Don't let those delicious looking cookies and smiling Mindy fool you...running the Reflections program at school is hard! Ok, well not hard, but a ton of work. I was only over the awards ceremony and I was crazy busy. I think it's a worthy cause to donate my time to though. Seeing the creativity of so many children brightens my hope for the future.

In the end, watching Amelia win a trophy for her painting made it all worth it!

P.S. This is the 1000 post on our family blog! Wow! 

First day of school...and ballet!

School started two weeks ago. Amelia started Kindergarten (and ballet and piano), Coleson started third grade (and piano), and Annabelle started ballet.

Amelia ran right on to the bus and didn't even look back. I followed her to school just to make sure that she got into her classroom alright.

Kindergarten Graduate

Oh man, this school year has flown by...I can hardly believe my boy is so grown up! I'm more emotional about him finishing kindergarten than I was when he started!

First day of school!

Today was Coleson's first day of kindergarten in Mrs. Mikulecky's class. (pronounced Mc-Lucky) He was so excited. I was fine until the door closed. I knew I had to leave but wanted to stay a while and peek in the window to make sure he was doing ok...I got a little teary eyed as I walked back to the car.

He had a great day. I asked him what he learned and he said "We just learned SOOO many rules!" However, he enjoyed recess and told me word for word the story that was read to them at story time. I think it's going to be a great year.

Preschool Graduation

Unfortunately, this is the only picture I took at Coleson's preschool graduation because he refused to participate.

I honestly don't know why he was so upset but it is not at all a reflection of his preschool experience at Discovery Day Preschool! His teachers are amazing (seen above), Coleson made great friends and learned so much. He is really excited for kindergarten, but was really upset when I told him he wasn't going back to preschool...maybe that's why he melted down at graduation?

Preschool Field Trip

Coleson had his first preschool field trip: to the Lehi Firehouse! It was a little boys dream! I went to help out but it was more like helping to drive and then keeping Amelia quiet so she didn't interrupt EVERYTHING! Her little screams were very loud and echo-y in that big garage!

I can tell that Coleson is really enjoying school and getting comfortable because he's starting to get in trouble by not paying attention or listening to his teacher! We're working on it...

The kids loved looking at the fire trucks and learning about fire safety. Did you know they added another step to "Stop, Drop, and Roll"? 10 points to whoever can correctly tell me what it is!

Amelia was fine when she was in the fire truck or exploring. She gets very frustrated when she can't walk and be with the other kids and angry when I hold her or put her in a stroller. I keep telling her that when she learns to walk she can get down and play but she just isn't listening I guess!

Preschool!

First day of school

Second day of school

Me: Smile normal!

Coleson: Nooo It's too sunny in my eyes!

Me: That was your excuse yesterday! Ugh..Just smile!

Coleson working on his homework.

Coleson has started preschool and is loving it. He has 3 other friends from his sunbeam class in with him too. He has been asking for months now "Is it time for me to go to the 4 year old preschool yet?" I have really loved this summer but it has been really great this week getting back into a schedule and a routine. We are all sleeping better and being more productive. Back to school time was always fun for me and I'm so glad that Coleson is enjoying it too!

Joy School Graduation

Brian said a few words thanking the mother's for teaching and then the kids came in one by one to receive their certificates...

The kids wrote their names and traced their hands on each other's shirts...

Coleson showing off his shirt...

The happy graduate...

Our Joy School! It's been a great year!

Joy School

We just finished week of Joy School that I taught here. We learned about being creative which was really fun.

Amelia loves having all the kids over! She thrives in large groups with lots going on.

Part of this unit was creative dancing, which was perfect for me to teach. Amelia especially loved dancing! Check it out:

Joy School

Coleson has been loving Joy School! It has been going pretty well...Coleson is the kid that has a hard time sharing, gets really excited and therefore crazy around his friends, but he's trying and getting better at listening and obeying. He is learning so much, so I am so glad for Joy School. Here are some pictures from Joy School.

In October, we took a field trip to the pumpkin patch which was really fun!

It was a beautiful day, and the kids loved pulling the wagons all around the patch.

When we are not on field trips, we take turns having school at our houses. Amelia plays patiently in her saucer while we do puppet shows, read stories, and learn new things.

At our house, the kids love doing puzzles during their free play time.

There is always a snack and rest time as well. It's hilarious watching them get all comfy and sprawled out on the floor!

And, of course, we do crafts! They are always so fun, and is my favorite part of the day!

We love Joy School! Thanks friends for doing it with us!!

Pumpkins & Joy School Halloween

This week for FHE we carved and decorated the pumpkins that we got at the pumpkin patch.

Coleson and his little pumpkins...

This week, we also had the Joy School Halloween Party. Coleson was a "daddy with long legs" spider. The kids did a parade in their costumes and then sang the Halloween songs they had learned.

This picture is blurry, (sorry!) but the only one I got of all of us!

We finished up the party with yummy cookies the kids had decorated. The joy school party was so fun, and a great start to our week of Halloween celebration!

Men's Chorus Concert

Friday night was Brian's first choir concert. It was a combination of all the choirs at BYU so it was awesome! Kids under 5 weren't permitted so Coleson and Amelia couldn't come. (Thanks Rachel for watching them!) It was kind of nice to sit and listen without being distracted by the kids! I was very impressed at what the different choirs were able to pull together with only a few weeks of practice! It was a great show!

BYU Devotional

The Marriott Center was filled to capacity for President Monson's BYU Devotional today. Amelia and I only got there 15 minutes before it started, so we had to sit behind the stage...It was kind of cool to be able to see the teleprompter though! It was amazing the hush of reverence and the spirit that came into the arena as President Monson walked in. Amelia even noticed the change and behaved accordingly.

Men's and Women's Chorus combined to sing "I Stand All Amazed". It was beautiful, and I'm glad I was there to hear Brian sing.

I actually had a pretty good seat...Even if my view was just of the back of Pres. Monson's head. The talk was awesome. This is another one of the perks of living in Utah, close to BYU campus!