Great Expectations

Alex's school is a Great Expectations school.  They have learned expectations such as "We will value one another as unique and special individuals", "We will use good manners saying please, thank you, and excuse me", "We will not laugh at or make fun of another's mistakes, use sarcasm or put downs, and we will cheer each other to success."  They say these each morning in their classroom and have great hand motions/sign language that goes with them.  They also say them at the Rise and Shine that they have on Monday mornings as a whole school.

Alex's teacher chose him to recite the expectations at the assembly.  He was supposed to do 1-4 and another student was supposed to do 5-8.  I guess Alex didn't know to stop and he just kept on going.  The other student just did them with Alex.  It was fun to see him on the stage speaking in the microphone.  It was a proud mama moment!

1st Baseball Tourney

Alex is playing coach pitch baseball this year for the Bixby Royals.  He is on a great team with a really nice, fair coach.  All the parents are so nice and the siblings are perfect for keeping each other entertained while the big brothers are playing ball.

This weekend they played in a tournament.  It was so fun to see Alex all dressed up in his uniform.

He got to play 1st base, pitcher, catcher, 3rd base and outfield this weekend.  His coach rotates the positions so each boy gets a chance to try each position.  I love that, especially at this age.

The Royals won games on Saturday but lost on Sunday.  Alex earned his first trophy and he is so proud of it!

I really hope he continues to love baseball because there is just something about being out at the baseball fields watching him play that I LOVE!

Alex's birthday

My first born turned 6.  Wow.  It has always been such a cliche to me, and really kind of annoying to me, when people say, "Where did the time go?"  But it's so true.  What happened?  It really seems like he was just 3 and now he's 6?  Anyway, he had about a week long celebration.  It started off at Build a Bear with Grammy.  He picked out a camo bear and dressed him as Batman.  He named him Conner.  It is the softest bear!

The next day was Alex's party day.  He chose to have a bowling party this year.  We went to Andy B's.  It was fun, but WILD!  I may have said a few prayers for Alex's teacher having all those boys in his class together.  :)  

After the bowling party, we had the family back to the house for dinner.  Alex wanted brats, corn on the cob, and broccoli.  We also grilled some burgers.  

On Alex's birthday it snowed!  (Fun fact: it snowed on the day Alex was born too, which was also a Monday.) It snowed so much the kids had another snow day.  It was kind of a disappointment not being able to go to school, but we had fun at home and played board games all day.  He built Legos and we played in the snow.  He even got a baby birthday snowman!  We still went out to dinner.  He wanted the Chinese buffet so we brought some candles and sang there.  

When he finally got to go back to school (3 days later!), he brought Batman donuts to school.  They turned out cute!  Aubrey and I also went to eat lunch with him.  It was fun! 

Papa and Grandma came over and brought Alex a checker board.  It was heart warming to see Papa teach and play checkers with Alex.  What a wonderful birthday! 

Student of the Month

Alex was chosen to be Student of the Month from his class.  His school is a Great Expectations school. Each month they have an expectation they learn and practice.  He was chosen for Honesty.  I didn't think to ask what he did that was so honest to earn him this award!  Nonetheless, I am so extremely proud of him for showing his teacher he is worthy to be chosen as Student of the Month!  Yea Alex! 

Grandparent's Day

Today was Grandparent's Day at Alex's school.  Alex invited Pop and Nana to join him.  They got to have donuts, juice, and coffee together and then the grandparents were invited to the classroom to see where all the magic happens.  Mrs. Rhine, the biggest blessing for Alex, had a little project for the grandparents and kids to do together.  It was a poem about growing older and how important grandparents are.  Then they all traced their hands inside each other.  Alex's was in the the middle, Nana's around his, and Pop's around hers.  It was just precious!  Alex is so lucky to have grandparents that live here locally to join in fun activities like this!

End of School

I thought the school year went quickly when I was in the classroom.  Now having both kids in school, it flies by even faster.  Alex had a fantastic year in Pre-K and Abby learned and grew so much in her twice a week preschool class.

Alex really amazed me.  He was the student I would talk to parents about at parent teacher conferences.  I can remember telling several parents how well behaved, well mannered, kind, etc. their child was in school.  They would look at me like I was talking about a different child and then tell me that they were not like that at home.  I found it hard to believe the child could be so different at home and school!  Well, Alex is that child!  He had nothing but compliments all year from his teachers.  He was on "green" everyday.  (Each color in the class represented a behavior, green being the best.)  While I am so proud of him for using his best behavior and manners at school, I wish he would bring some of that  back home with him!  Some days I think he uses up all his good behavior and listening at school.  But then I think, I'd rather him be good when he's away from me.  It's not that he's bad at home, he's just challenging sometimes!

Here is a first day of school and a last day of school picture of Alex.  He didn't change too much.

Abby grew so much at her school this year, too.  The first couple of weeks were hard.  She would cry as I would leave.  It broke my heart.  I felt like I was making the wrong decision to have her in school.  After all, wasn't I home to take care of my kids and actually be home with them?  I had some pretty guilty feelings about it.  But in the long run, I'm so glad I didn't pull her out.  She really benefited so much from being in preschool.  Her vocabulary grew, she learned to be more social with children her age, she got to experience things that I couldn't give her, she had to listen to another adult and learn to do things differently than I do things.  She loved her teacher, Miss Mandi.  Miss Mandi really loved Abby, too.  I really do think that Abby was her favorite.  :)

Here is a first day of school and last day of school picture of Abby.  Look how much she changed!

We asked Alex if he'd like to go out to eat to celebrate his last day of school.  He chose Incredible Pizza.  The kids had a ball!  (I was ready to go!)

Alex the Fisherman

Yesterday Brad, Alex, my dad, and one of dad's friends went fishing.  Alex loves fishing and especially when he gets the chance to go on Pop's boat.  The guys left our house at 7:10 and Brad said he figured they'd probably be back by noon or so.  (Which I knew was another "fish tale".)  What I didn't expect was those fishermen getting home at 8:15!  What a day!!!  Alex was so proud to have helped catch 38 fish!  It made me so happy to see Brad and Alex do something so fun together.  They are really starting to get to do all the fun father/son things.  It warms my heart.

Back to Normal

Life after Alex's surgery seems to be back to normal.  He is as full of life as he's ever been!  It's so great to know that he's not hurting anymore and that he is back to his old self.  Abby is very happy about it, too.  She was maybe harder than Alex during his recovery.  She wanted to play so badly with him and he just couldn't.  She also thought she needed Popsicles and ice cream each time he had some.  Ha!

Alex really loves T-ball this year.  He understands so much better than last year and has so much fun while he's playing.  It's been so fun to watch him get better each week.