Time for Sticky Notes?!?!?!?

Friday night we went to Aloha Night at my school. It was a party to say "good-bye" to the students leaving our school and going to the new school, and "hello" to the new students coming to our school next year.

Jackson and I dressed in ourAloha attire. It was pouring out so the party was all moved into the school. Jackson liked watching the kids jumping in the bouncer, but there were too many for him to go in.

There wasn't too much he was interested in so we headed back to my classroom. I needed Brian to put him to work for a minute.

As soon as we walked in, Jackson made a beline for the library.

Book browsing for his "just right" books

"What a good book! I am thinking that lion is going to win because he has big, sharp teeth. It also reminds me of when I went to the zoo last week and the lion was huge and scary looking. That would be a text-to-self connection!"

On Saturday morning it was raining again. We made our way to the Scholastic Warehouse Sale. All the books there are 50-80% off. I was able to get like 25 books for $45. I got some great titles and I am excited to share them with my students tomorrow. This will get them excited for independent reading, we have to finish the year strong.

Of course, Jackson had to get in the book shopping too!

Taking a break to read a page. I bought Jackson a board book by Mo Willems. It is called The Pegeon Has Feelings, Too! I was so excited, his books are funny and great for fluency. I had never read this one before. It might be my new favorite!

After that we took a break from books and went to the mall to let Jackson play since it was still raining.

Jackson loved this car, he kept going back to it and wanted us to put him in it. Not sure why, the steering wheels were missing and the doors didn't open. He was trying to open the doors like he does on his "car".

These cars are cool!

A Sunday night read. My boy LOVES to read. I hope it continues and last through his whole life!

The title of this post but confuse you if you don't teach in Cy-Fair or use a Reader's Workshop approach. My students read independtly for about 40 minutes a day and partner read for about 20 minutes a day. They use sticky notes to record their thoughts while reading.

Anyways, do you think Jackson is ready? Ha!

The rest of the weekend we spent doing the normal; taking walks and bike rides, playing at the park and the splash pad, and cleaning the house!!!!

God's Love

"Love is patient and kind, Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. Love is not rude, is not selfish, and does not get upset with others. love does not count up wrongs that have been done. Love is not happy with evil but is happy with the truth. Love patiently accepts all things. It always trusts, always hopes, and always remains strong. Love never ends."
1 Corinthians 13:4-7

I have read those verses many times before. But, have really been reading and applying them the last week. In my Bible study, Max Lucado says to replace the word love with God's name. God is love, our only perfect example of true love, so how perfect is it to put his name in that verse. It has been so powerful in my life this week! I am living in the overflow of God's love and trying to let His love shine through me wherever I go and whatever I do.

And I DO LOVE this little guy!

Mother's Day

Brian and I are blessed to have great mothers. We are who we are today because of their Godly influence on our lives, their love, patience, and guidance. We appreciate all they do for us and will never be able to thank them enough. We love you both and are glad we can call you our mothers and our friends!



I had a wonderful Mother's Day! Brian always respects me and lifts me up as a wife and a mother. He made me feel even more special and appreciated today! Thank you Brian!

Jackson and him let me sleep in, made me a photo card, a hand written letter, and a photo book of Jackson's first year. Brian used the entries I used for each "month" post to create a book. We had a day of relaxing and playing outside. We walked to the park, then Jackson rode his bike and drove his car, and then we rode our bikes to the park. (Jackson now loves bike rides and his helmet, and I couldn't be happier!) What a perfect day.



Dear Jackson,
I am so blessed that you are the one that calls me mom. I can't believe God entrusted me to you. It is truly my greatest honor to be your mom. I promise to pray for you daily, raise you in the way of the Lord, hold your hand through the tough times, be your biggest cheerleader, support you in all you do, sacrifice my needs for yours, and love you unconditionally for all of your life.
Love, Mom



Here a few pictures of me and my boys and Mother's Day:

The Crazy Beginning to the End

The end of this school year seems so much busier than the years past. I think I have some kind of meeting/celebration on my calendar for the next 3 weeks straight after school, plus school projects, lesson plans, etc! Not to mention I have to begin packing up, clearing out, and cleaning up my classroom.

Even though this was a week with something different almost everynight, it was jammed pack with fun.

Monday night Brian and I attended the Spotlight Teacher Recognition Celebration at the Berry Center. Even though the Berry Center is only 5 minutes from our house we were almost last because we decided since it was a beautiful night we were going to go play at the park with Jackson first. I got in the shower later than planned and we were both eating dinner on the way out the door. My Aunt Midge came and hung out with Jackson with the evening. We are so blessed that my aunt (and uncle) are so willing to ALWAYS help us out.

The evening was really nice and ofcourse they made us all feel very special. It was a little long and by the time we got home Jackson was already sleeping. Brian made a quick run to Wal-Mart for me to get DVD's for the Mother's Day project I was doing with my students. After waiting 30 minutes in long lines he realized he forgot his wallet and came home without the DVD's. See last year we had techincal difficulites with this little project, so I was trying to start a little bit earlier this year so all my students had theirs to take home to their mother on time. Not starting out on the right track. Off to bed, ready for Tuesday.

Tuesday night after school, Jackson and I went to Kroger to pick up the rest of the things I needed for Bunco on Thursday. Then we came home, picked up the house, and hung out together. On Monday, Curtis, one of our friends from high school sent me a message wanting to know if we were around because he was in Houston for a few days for a training. So after work on Tuesday, Brian picked him up from downtown and brought him back to our house to hang out for the evening. I was a terrible hostess and didn't even make dinner. We showed Curtis what parents get to do everynight! It was good to see you Curtis.

Wednesday night after school, Brian helped me clean and get the house ready for guests on Thursday night. Then it was operation finish Mother Day DVD's. After burning one DVD, Brian's burner stopped working. The one on my computer hasn't worked for some time. What to do? Give 6 student's their DVD's, give no one DVD's, spend money on a new DVD drive for an old, old computer? Well I didn't want to be the only teacher who didn't send something home for Mother's Day, so Brian was off to Best Buy. He bought a new drive only to realize his computer was too old for the new drive. Back to Best Buy to return it and buy an external (more expensive) DVD burner. During this time, Jackson and I took a bike ride to help calm this mama down. Long story short, all 19 of my students got a Mother's Day video to give to their mother. Thank you my love for all your help!

Thursday night was Bunco night! It was my turn to host, so Jackson and I came after home after school and started making dinner. We had chicken fajitas with all the toppings, chips with salsa and guacamole, rice, brownies, and strawberry shortcake. Brian watched Jackson for me. The girls showed up and we ate and talk more than we played Bunco:) That is always the story! I always have such a fun time with them. After they left, I cleaned up some and RELAXED because I had taken Friday off. I stayed up later than I should have just because I knew I didn't have to work.

Friday we got up around 7 and got ready to head down to the Houston Zoo. We have been wanting to take Jackson before the summer and finally made it happen. Before we left we dropped off my Jeep at the shop. The passenger window on the driver side fell down and would not stay up. I never even used that window and had to pay $350 to fix it, gee whiz!

We made it to the zoo right at 9, when they opened. I have never gotten a parking spot so close to the entrance before. It was a beautiful day. The first hour we were there it seemed like it was just us and a few other families. It was a bit cloudy and perfect! Right around 10 o'clock some 50 schools showed up for field trip day. Jackson enjoyed the animals and did really well the first hour walking and actually looking at the animals. By 11 o'clock he was spent.

Ready for a fun morning at the Zoo!

The cheetah- Jackson kept meowing at it:)

Checking out some animals with mommy

Big giraffe- it arched it's neck down and around to itch his side,

It was quite hilarious!

I didn't remember the zoo having so many trees and being so pretty.

Getting close to the action

Daddy, Jackson, and the elephant

Having fun!

Before we were out of the parking lot:)

We had a great family day. We came home, napped, ate lunch, and went to the Splash Pad.

I did my weekend errands yesterday and had today to chill and do nothing, well almost nothing:)

Only 17 more days of school!!

14 months

Jackson turned 14 months on Monday. Since he is still changing so much I am going to do the "month" posts for a little bit yet. I know I will want to go back and see what he was doing, how big he was, etc especially to compare when we have another child. Again- I can't believe he is already 14 months!!

So what Jackson is up to this month:

*Still cute as ever:)

*Weighs 26.5 pounds, 33.5 inches tall

*Saying "all done, go, no, dad, meow, uh-oh" , he repeats things we say but not saying those words consistently (it seems like he should be saying more)

*Climbs up on everything, last night I found him climbing up on the windowsills

*Very shy around people he does not know or until he warms up to them

*Eats all table food, he is not a picky eater but has been eating less lately, goldfish are a favorite!

*He is such a smartie, Brian was singing songs that his different toys play and he will go and get that exact toy

*LOVES to wear shoes and hats, if he sees a pair of shoes and he does not have any on he will go and bring them to you to put them on

*Loves to be outside, we go to the park on a nightly basis

*Starting to be very independent and has a bit of a temper, wants to do what he wants to do

*Favorite toys include: building blocks, cars, books, and water

*Has very sensitive skin, a little bit allergic to cats and dogs

*Walks to the car each morning by himself and shuts the gate

*Goes to bed around 8 and sleeps until 6:30 or 7, happiest when he wakes up

*Wearing 18 months to 24 months clothes and size 4 diapers

*Still has the best laugh, always makes me smile

Jackson- I love you and pray you continue to grow and the Lord uses for His purpores!

Sunday's Best

I snapped this picture on the way to Church this morning. Jackson was being such a ham! He was taking his hat off and putting it back on. He also has to hold my water bottle wherever we go and drink from it.

Jackson slept till 8:45 this morning and so did I! That felt wonderful. We missed Sunday school but made it in time for service. Brian spotted Katrina's mom, so we got the pleasure of sitting by her. It was a treat sitting by her, she is one of the sweetest people I have ever met.

Jackson has been teething all weekend and running a low grade temperature. Tonight he was more fussy and wouldn't even eat dinner. He only took an hour nap today, but has been sleeping since 7 o'clock tonight. I am praying those molars break through and give my little guy some relief real soon!

I dislike Sunday nights so much... all day with my boys comes to an end. But, only 4 more Mondays including tomorrow. Yippee! Busy, busy week ahead!

Three P's

PICNIC:
My aunt invited us to their church picnic today. Since it was a beautiful day we took her up on the offer and joined them at Bear Creek Park.

We ate and played! Jackson loved the bubbles but kept putting his hands in the bowl of bubbles and then tried to lick his hands.

He loved kicking this ball around. Everytime he kicked it, he would laugh and laugh.

Mommy and daddy showed him how to play volleyball.

LOVE his face here! Climbing up the jungle gym, and when did he get so big that he can climb up holding the rails by himself?!?!?

Daddy and Jackson (and big belly)

It ended up being a lot more hot and humid than I thought when we left. So, we all look hot and sweaty! But, I think Jackson looks so cute here with his big, red cheeks!

POOL:

Jackson got to go into the pool with daddy for the first time today. I was too much of a chicken to go all the way in.

Such a dare devil:

Water baby!


POOP:

We took Jackson to the park after dinner. While walking home a bird decided to use me as its bathroom. GROSS!! Although, I am surprised it hasn't happened before. There are so many birds that fly around our subdivision. I have even hit a few with my Jeep before. I guess it was just payback!