30 Years Old!

I received a few cards so far from family for my birthday!  I turn the big 30 today!

I was really surprised to receive the card from my neighbor Linda.  She loves to scrapbook and it was too sweet!!  I was not expecting it from her and really enjoyed receiving the hand made card.  I will have to ask her how she made the flower, becuase it's pretty neat!

Inside: Flowers Say Hello from the Heart.

This card is from my in-laws, Gregg and Lana.  They are the best and could not ask for more!!

Inside: Hope your birthday is filled with gifts of the heart --- the kind you share all year.

I also received one from Jeff's grandmother, Donna, in Florida.  

Inside: You've grown up to be such a warm, caring person ~ so kind, and thoughtful of others.  You're the wonderful granddaughter grandparents hope for.  And you're loved more every year.  Happy Birthday!

I Wanna Drive It...

This week's song challenge over at Scrap It With a Song is Life is a Highway by Rascal Flatts.  It was played in the movie Cars.  The lyrics are up on the blog. You can take whatever inspires you from this song, the words, the title or the overall theme of the song. Upload your creations onto the Scrap It With A Song blog by Sunday and you could be this week's winner.

Our Ford Explorer's transmission started to have problems late January 2010.  Since it was going on 12 years old, we did not want to put more money into the car.  Instead, we started looking around and found our 2010 Honda Pilot.  It is a great car that we plan to have for many years to come!

I used an August 2010 Pagemaps for the layout and scrapbook paper from Coordinates Collections to create my layout.

Magic Tree House: Dinosaurs Before Dark by Mary Pope Osborne

Dinosaurs Before Dark by Mary Pope Osborne

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Jakob enjoyed listening to the story and did well comprehending what we were reading.  He remembered the character names, predicted what might happen next, and remembered general topics of the chapters!



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Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I suspected the story would not end the way I was hoping it would.  However, it was a good book.  I kept hoping the ending would change somehow, but overall the character did what was right.  I am planning on watching the movie and curious to see the differences between the two.



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Kindergarten Stories: Week 5

Curriculum Night - Thursday, September 23, 2010

Jeff, Jakob, and I attended the Curriculum Night at Jakob's school.  Each grade level met with parents to discuss grade-level expectations and schedules.  Jakob saw some friends and worked on the three of them colored while we listened to the speech from the Kindergarten teachers.

Language Art:

• Blend phonemes to form one syllable words (T-O-P= top)
• Recognize that sentences are made of individual words
• Learn all the letters and sound relationships
• Recognize and come up with rhyming words
• Recognize 25 or more sight words
• Use simple sentences with a capital at the the beginning and punctuation at the end.

Math:

• Use sets of objects to represent quantities of numbers up to 20 more more
• Use concrete objects to show more than, less than and the same number
• Sorting and classifying concrete objects
• Read a calendar to identify the month, day, and date
• Count by 1's to 100
• Compare two objects based on their attributes
• Use patters to predict what comes next
• Create addition and subtraction problems based on real life situations using objects (end of year)
• Identify shapes
• Describe an objects position (over, above, under, below)

Science:

• Living and non-living things
• Changes in seasons and weather
• Conservation
• Basic needs of plants, their parts, and characteristics
• Light heat and sound energy

Social Studies:

• Focus is on self, family, and classroom
• Chronology
• Holidays
• Authority figures at home and at school
• Customs, symbols and traditions that represent American beliefs

Here is my favorite thing Jakob brought home last week.  They were focusing on the letter L and he has a lizard colored.  He also had a paper with his sight words.

Next week, Jakob and the other students will begin studying apples.  They will comparing, graphing, reading, and writing all about apples!  Today, we purchased more apples to eat and one for Jakob to take to school.

These Small BDay Wonders

This week's song challenge at Scrap It With a Song is Small Wonders by Rob Thomas.  The song was played on the movie, Meet the Robinsons.  I remember watching the movie and the first time not understanding it as much.  However, that movie got funnier each time due to the time traveling within the movie!  The lyrics are up on the blog. You can take whatever inspires you from this song, the words, the title or the overall theme of the song. Upload your creations onto the Scrap It With A Song blog by Sunday and you could be this week's winner.

I had a few pictures remaining from Jakob's 3rd birthday party I wanted to scrapbook.  I wanted to capture a few of him opening his presents.  The top right photo shows a small yukalaylee that he received from my brother.  Randy was stationed in Hawaii when he visited for Jakob's 3rd birthday and he brought this for him.  It's really neat and it has Hawaii on it too.

The layout was created using another great sketch from Sketchy Thursday to create my layout.  I also used Coordinates Collections Alphabet Soup for the pages.

Kindergarten Stories: Week 4

Week 4: Kindergarten

• Math - Shapes and Colors, Counting to 100, Using Objects to show numbers up to 10
• Language Arts - Rhyming Words, Reviewing the Alphabet: Letters A, B, C, D, E, Letter this week: L, Sight Words: like, cat, dog, to, and, the
• Social Studies and Science - Our 5 Senses: touching, tasting, hearing, smelling, seeing

Homework

• Sight word practice (the sight words and sentences are enclosed)
• Having a parent, sibling, or family member read to child for at least 15 minutes a night.
• We will be covering the letter L and its sound this week.  It would be helpful to review this letter and the sound.  Also, you could have your child find and point out the letter in books you are reading together.

I thought this sheet was funny because it appears Jakob drew a submarine next to the fish.  I could be wrong, but that's what it appears to be!

I absolutely love hand prints!  I think I will take this one and a previous one to school and get them laminated!  I know I have vocabulary words I need to go through and get laminated, so I'll just put them along with those!

Jakob really loves to sing!  He really enjoys his music class.  On Friday night, he sang this song to me!  We called my mom and he sang it to her too and she echoed him for each line!

Oh, my,
I want a piece of pie.
But the pie’s too sweet,
I want a piece of meat.
But the meat’s too red,
I want a piece of bread.
But the bread’s too brown,
I think I’ll go to town.
But the town’s too far,
I think I’ll take a car.
But the car won't go,
I fell and stubbed my toe.
My toe’s in pain,
I think I’ll take a train.
But the train had a wreck,
I fall and hurt my neck.
Oh, my, no more pie.
Oh, my, no more pie.

Jakob had a rough day on September 15th.  He was not listening in music and received a Conduct Report.  He also drew on his desk at school.  Of course, when he got home and we realized it he was in trouble and couldn't watch any tv or play on his computer.  I reminded him what we color on and he said, "Paper."  Thursday and Friday were much better days and he remained on Green for the entire day!

Briefly Upside Down

This week's song challenge over at Scrap It With a Song is Upside Down by Jack Johnson, from the movie Curious George.  The lyrics are up on the blog. You can take whatever inspires you from this song, the words, the title or the overall theme of the song. Upload your creations onto the Scrap It With A Song blog by Sunday and you could be this week's winner.  This week's prize is sponsored by the very own Christina!  She's giving away an assortment of Primas!

Jeff, Jakob, and I would walk to the elementary school's playground for exercise.  On this evening, while playing, Jeff helped Jakob hang upside down!!  Jakob actually saw me working on this layout and said he could not do it by himself!  I told him it was okay.  The song worked beautiful and Jeff added his comments to help with my title.  He is always so good at the titles for my layouts.  I used paper from Coordinates Collections and a September 2010 Pagemaps sketch to create the layout.

Menu Planning 9/12-9/18

We did pretty good last week and did most of the menu choices!  We had to rearrange it a little, but not too much.  This upcoming week is pretty basic due to schedules.  Hope everyone has a great week!

Sunday: BBQ Sausage w/White Rice, Corn
Monday: Chicken Nuggets, Baked Oven Fries, Fruit
Tuesday: Tombstone Pizza, Salad
Wednesday: Hot Dogs, Chips, Fruit
Thursday: Leftover Buffet (Volleyball game at School)
Friday: BBQ Pork Chops, Ranch Style Beans, Carrots

Saturday: McCormick Chicken Bake-Bag, Green Beans, Potatoes

Good Times

This weekend MTV will be throwing their a bash to honor the greatest and latest musicians to rock our airwaves and to celebrate that we are having our first ever Scrap It With a Song BLOG HOP!!!

To be in the running for the goodies on the main blog you need to complete this week's challenge and comment on each of the DT blogs and then comment back on the main blog's hop post when you're done. The hop will last until Sunday at 8pm central time. If you found this page first, go to Scrap It With a Song and get started.



Okay, so the Trace Adkins song, "You'll Gonna Miss This," was my inspiration in my layout!  As I was pondering a great song, I came across this song and it made me think about this perfect picture I took of the boys shortly before Christmas.  The weather was beautiful outside and for anyone who has or ever has lived in Texas, you know if you don't like the weather - just wait since it changes often.  The boys were able to ride their bikes on 12/21/2009 and they even stopped and smiled for my camera!  As I heard the song, it made me think how they both are getting so big and one day before I know it they will be all grown up!  So I thought how I would feel along with how they will feel one day.  One of the lines in the song says "Good Times," which is where I pulled the title.

Over the weekend, I found a new blog with sketches and really liked the variety and colorful sketches!  I used Scrap A Little-Sketches #30 and Coordinates Collections paper from kits to create the layout.  If you are interested in the lyrics, they can be found here.

Thanks for visiting!  Time to go check out Tina's blog for the next stop!

Scrap It With A Song Design Team

I cannot remember if I mentioned I am now designing for Scrap It With A Song!  If you haven't checked out the blog, please do so!  Each week there is a new song challenge to use for inspiration to use in scrapbook layouts, cards, altered projects, etc!  The challenge this week is You'll Be In My Heart by Phil Collins.  There is also a Blog Hop going on this week due to the MTV music awards which offers an additional prizes!!  You have until Sunday at 8pm CST to complete this week's challenges!  Have fun!

My Blog Hop - Challenge

My You'll Be In My Heart - Challenge

Kindergarten Stories: Week 3

Dropping Jakob off to school on Wednesday morning, it was pouring rain!  I had an umbrella and had plans to walk him up with the umbrella.  However, many kids were just quickly walking/running to the front doors since it wasn't a far distance.  Jakob had grabbed his jacket and had his hood on his head.  When he got out of the car, he slowly walked to the front door!  I'm sure he was thinking he wasn't getting wet because he had his jacket on!  I watched him thinking, "Seriously!"  He told me the next day he wanted to wear his jacket because he thought it was going to rain again.  He said, "I won't get wet if I wear my jacket!"  I knew he had logic behind walking in the rain!

Random Quotes:

• "I was on GREEN!"

Details:

• Jakob is singing many songs when he comes home.
• He is enjoying listening and reading books.  He is showing high interest in reading and learning how to read.
• Jakob is excited to show his assignments he has made in his Kindergarten class.

You'll Be In My Heart

 

This week's song challenge over at Scrap It With a Song is You'll Be In My Heart by Phil Collins, from the movie Tarzan.  The lyrics are up on the blog. You can take whatever inspires you from this song, the words, the title or the overall theme of the song. Upload your creations onto the Scrap It With A Song blog by Sunday and you could be this week's winner.  This week is being sponsored again by the adorable Sew Many Cards!!!

When I heard the song, I instantly thought about these photos of Tito.  I knew they would work perfectly and even though I knew it would be hard, I knew I had to do them. 

This layout has so much meaning.  This is Tito, my Black Labrador.  We had to put him to rest at the beginning of February after learning he had two large tumors blocking his intestines.  It came as a big surprise to the entire family.  We thought he was just having a hard time going to the bathroom and just needed a vet to help.  None of us were expecting the news we received and can still remember it all too well.  Tito was eight years old and we had him since he was about six months old.  He was such a huge part of our family.

The top right picture in the layout is the last picture I took of Tito.  We were heading home from Abilene, and while packing up Tito jumped in the car.  We were all visiting outside and Jakob was riding on his new bicycle he received for Christmas.  The other dogs were playing and he would not get out of the car.  Talk about crying when I learned this was the last picture I captured, but I am glad I took it.  Read my other stories of Tito here.

I also used a Coordinates Collections kit and an August PageMaps as a sketch to create the layout. 

Kindergarten Stories

The district had the official Meet the Teacher on August 19, 2010. After visiting and taking supplies, Jakob stood by the sign.  He really wanted to stand on his tippy-toes, so I had him do one of each!  I think it will be neat to take this picture each year to see how much he grows for each grade!!

Look really closely...Jakob is standing on his tippy-toes!  I think he was understanding the purpose of the picture, he's already taller in the second picture.  I suppose each year we will need to do both versions of the picture!

Before school started, Jeff took the boys to get their haircut.  Jeff and I both took Jakob to school on his first day.  We parked over at my school and walked across for that morning.  Here is the picture of Jakob standing in front of his school on the first day of school.  Sure is hard to believe it's been two weeks already!  Jakob's wearing a school t-shirt we purchased at registration from PTA.  He stopped on the steps, and I was excited since I was able to get the school sign in the background!

Jakob brought this home on the first day of Kindergarten!  He was really proud of it!

Jakob listened to a story the first week of Kindergarten titled, the Kissing Hand.  After they listened to the story, they created the document below and sent home.  Jakob seemed to really enjoy the story.

Jakob is really enjoying Kindergarten.  During the first week of school, we learned he was getting a new teacher.  I was suspecting it could happen due to knowing the classrooms were already maxed to the limit.  I told Jakob he was picked by the principal and it meant he was super smart!  He was a little upset originally, but luckily they did the transition quickly for him and the other students.  A few of his friends from his preschool are in his new classroom too.

We received a newsletter from Jakob's classroom last week.  They are busy learning and I was so impressed when I got out the flash cards for the week's sight words!  Jakob said all of them without help!  He was so proud and then we started making sentences using only the sight words!

Week 2: Kindergarten

• Math - Reviewing Shapes, Counting to 100, Sorting by attributes: color, shape, size, and type
• Language Arts - Name Activities, Reviewing the Alphabet: Letters A, B, C, D, E
• Sight Words - a, can, I, play, run, we
• Social Studies and Science - Friends and Names, Labor Day, Observing like a Scientist and the tools a Scientist uses

Homework:

• Discuss with your child how they got their name
• Sight word practice
• Having a parent, sibling, or family member read to child for at least 15 minutes a night
• Bring 2 binders to school for notes, homework, and reading logs to send to and from school.

Menu Planning 9/5-9/11

I sure hope this week we are able to stay on track with our menu.  It has been a crazy few weeks, but luckily Jeff is great in the kitchen and will cook whatever if he's in the mood!!  Here's what I have planned for this week's menu!  If I have extra time, I'll get pictures of th new recipes and post.  However, the weekdays are beginning to get pretty busy again with school in session!  I sure love E-Mealz for the variety of dinner choices and ideas!!!

Sunday: Grilled Honey Mustard Chicken, Corn-on-the-Cob
Monday: Logan's Steakhouse!
Tuesday: Spaghetti w/Meat Sauce, Garlic Bread
Wednesday: Honey Garlic Pork Chops, Peas
Thursday: Leftover Buffet
Friday: Season Chicken Strips, Green Beans
Saturday: Fajitas, Mexican Rice, Refried Beans

Double Rainbow

We had a thunderstorm on September 1, 2010, and after the storm I realized the sun was out to the west of our home.  While looking outside, I realized it was also still raining and realized there might be a rainbow.  Jakob was with me while looking and he was so excited.  We went out front and looked east and saw the beautiful double rainbow!  Another teacher at school was able to take a picture of the school with the double rainbow!