StuCo

Hallie is one of two student council representatives in her kindergarten class--she was the alternate and got to start going to the meetings in January. Pretty cute. Next week, she will give a speech in hopes of being elected for the single position of First Grade Executive Board. She has 3 girlie candidates running against her...all with catchy slogans and one is in her class and a sweet friend. Hallie hasn't perfected her speech just yet, but she decided to keep her campaign posters clean-cut and to the point. All the posters from all the candidates throughout the school are pretty cute. Next week, the older kids will give speeches to the entire school. The little ones will give speeches to their grade level.  When talking about her speech, we asked what she would say. She said, "I'll say: I'm Hallie and I'm sweet. Vote for me."  I'll let you know how the elections go and if our girl gets the kindergarten vote. :o)

Also, when I asked her what "first grade executive board" meant, she said, "I don't know...but it sure is a big word!" 

Makes me smile. 

It's a Zoo Out There!

05.14.2013
Using school involvement hours given to employees who have children in the district I was able to go on Hallie's Kindergarten zoo field trip with her!  It was so much fun to get to spend that time with Hallie and her little friends!  I felt like I really got to be in my mommy role. :o)  I had a sub for the morning portion of my day and then went in at lunch.  Thankfully my class was great for the sub and they were very glad I got to go on Hallie's field trip with her.

Sweet friends!

Reading and figuring out the zoo map!  Such a precious moment!

Little Loves

04.18.13

A lot of bad has happened lately. But I am so thankful for these two "greats" in my life! Sweet Harper was enjoying tasting the cooler air (90s this past Monday, 50s today!). And Hallie got. A Buddy Buck at HEB and was an Instant Winner. Her excitement was contagious! While life isn't perfect, and parenting is hard...these two are so worth it all!

Lead Me

04.31.13

Tonight, Jonathan and I had the privilege of being led by Hallie. She conducted her student-led conference in such an exciting and precious way, letting us know all about journal time, her science journal, learning about fairy tales, ocean drawings, apple stations and her accomplishments with the learner profile (a large part of the PYP mission). She wowed us at calendar time and amazed us when she read her product (a book about giraffes) from doing research with a Baylor teaching assistant during literacy stations.

Now, I love a chance to brag on my girl...and she did a great job. With the student-led conference (another component of PYP), the teacher is the observer. It was Hallie's job to convey her learning experiences and become an even better communicator. She is so spunky and has such a great love for learning. And praise God, learning comes naturally and easily for her. We pray that continues to be the case for her and that if and when she does struggle, she will have the courage to struggle right through it by working hard and being a thinker.

We are so proud of our sweet Hallie.

Here are a few pictures from her journal and from her conference.

Mother's Day 2013

Mother's Day...I cannot express how thankful I am for the opportunity to be called "Mommy".  It is not a job for the faint of heart.  It is the most wonderful, most frustrating, most exhausting, most joyful, most surreal, most incredibly fascinating experience.  To be given the responsibility of raising two of God's precious children is so great that it is oftentimes overwhelming.  While I believe myself to be a good mommy, I am certainly not a perfect mommy.  I often doubt my parenting skills.  I need many doses of grace throughout the day...and MANY doses of patience.  Sometimes I lose my patience.  Sometimes I'm not understanding.  Sometimes I push a little too hard.  But...but, I know that I am humble enough to apologize when I need to.  And I'm not afraid to say that mommy was wrong about something.  I know that I love my daughters more than anyone else walking on this earth.  And I know that I have their best interests at heart...always.  I don't need to be the perfect mommy.  I simply need to be the best mommy for my children.  And according to my 6 year old, I already am. :o)

Hallie sang for both services at church...such sweet little voices. 

 

Mommy & her sweet girls

 

Hallie wanted to take Harper's and my picture together on my first Mother's Day with Harper.

RahRah & the littles

 While I'm thankful to spend the holiday with family, I sure do wish I could have spent Mother's Day with my own momma!  It has been far too many years since I've gotten to spend this special day with her. 

9 months

05.02.2013
Our sweet youngest is 9 months old!  She has brought us so much joy in the past 9 months...we are so incredibly blessed.  We cannot believe how much she has grown.  And thinking back to the early days of her life when she cried almost all.  the.  time., I simply cannot believe what a happy baby she is!

At 9 months, Harper is...26.5 inches long
Weighs 19 lbs 3 oz

She can...
*Clap her hands purposefully
*Scoot on her bottom all around the room
*Push herself backwards
*Reach for objects with purpose
*say da da da, da deeee, da deee, heeeeee, yay (not with meaning), hiiiii, lots of vowel sounds and other fun sounds.  She isn't saying ma ma and I think it's on purpose.  Ha!  I try and try to get her to say ma ma and she just responds with a smile and "da da".  Grr!  Haha. :o)
*feed herself puffs, though she'll usually hang onto them for a while before eating them
*almost crawl!  Any day!

She loves...
*Prunes!
*Hallie
*any kind of animal...and if she gets to pet it, even better!
*Yobaby yogurt 

She eats...
*about 10-12 ounces of breastmilk throughout the day and then nurses 3-4 times a day
*oatmeal, prunes, sweet potatoes, apples, oranges, carrots, peas, green beans, pears
...and she gums it all.  She still doesn't have any teethies!

She is growing like a little weed!  We cannot wait to see how she continues to grow!

Happy 9 months, Harper!  We love you SO much!

Back Then

Back then...as in a month or so ago, I took a whole lot of pictures of a few random things.  And they've all been just sitting pretty on my SD card.  So I'm going to do a quick catch up blog with a few whole lot of pictures.  I'll try to pick and choose.  But it's been a while since my last post. :o)

April 13

Garden Day at Mountainview

It was a gorgeous Spring day at Mountainview.  Students and parents worked hard to make the courtyard look great!

April 18

A very chilly Texas day!  We had to pull out the coats!  We love playing in the front yard!  

April 19

There's a saying in Texas (which I just recently learned from my sweet husband)...If you don't like the weather, just wait a few minutes.  Ha!  How true.  In one day, it went from a CHILLY Spring day to a lovely Spring day!  Our sweet neighbors gave Harper their daughter's baby swing, so Harper got to swing for the first time...she LOVED it!  We just love being able to play outside.

Hello, blue eyes!

May 4

Getting ready to celebrate Mommy's and RahRah's birthdays!

Ooh...buttons!

So sweet!