Thankful

What are you thankful for this year?

At the top of my list are my favorite guys - Dustin, Southern, Remington, Baylor, and Dracky.

I am on the bulletin board committee for Southern's class, and we decided to focus on what the students are thankful for during this month. We sent each child home with a feather to decorate however they wanted to show what they are thankful for. Here is Southern's completed feather:

He was thankful for (drawn in this order) his Iron Man T-shirt, his Iron Man toy, his Iron Man toy ship (which shoots blue discs), Mrs Smith, Jesus on the cross, Baylor, Mommy, Dracky, Remington, and Daddy. Notice he gave me big pink lips ;) And I think he would have kept drawing, but it was getting close to bedtime, and his feather was full.

Remington, Baylor, and I stopped by the school this morning to finish putting up all of the feathers on the bulletin board along with another mom and her younger daughter. I think it turned out so cute! And it was fun to see how each child decorated their feather. Some just wrote on them, others wrote and drew pictures, and others used stamps, stickers, paint, and glitter on theirs. 

The kids were so proud and excited to see their feathers featured on the bulletin board.

Silly Science

Remington has been doing classes at the Landa Rec Center every Monday morning since the beginning of September. Because Southern started school, I wanted Remington to have a little something to look forward to as well, so I signed him up for some classes through the New Braunfels Parks and Rec Dept. Last month was "Dr Seuss on the Loose" where they read a Dr Seuss book each time and then did a craft and/or activity about the book. Like on the day they read Green Eggs and Ham, they cooked eggs with green food coloring in them and ham. And on the day they read The Cat in the Hat, they made a Cat in the Hat mask to wear and did an activity where they threw colorful balls into the cat's hat.

The October session of classes are called "Silly Science", and each class consists of the kids doing one or two science experiments. Remington has made slime, a tornado in a jar, a color explosion in milk, etc. The highlight of the class had to have been the erupting volcano though. It was made on the first day, and since then the boys (there are two other boys in his class) have been asking their teacher, Mr Matt, to do more explosions. (He listened to their request, and at the end of our most recent class, he took us all outside. He had a bottle of Coke and some Mentos. All he did was open up the Coke, pour a few Mentos inside, and run back. An explosion of Coke shot up about 8 feet in the air. It was awesome, and the kids loved it! BUT you have to wonder what those things do inside your stomach - and I am super grateful that I rarely drink soda and don't eat mints.)

So below you will find a short video clip of Remington's volcano exploding. They used modeling clay to form the volcano (you had to make sure and firmly attach it to the paper plate at the bottom). The kids then decorated their clay with markers. Mr Matt helped them scoop some baking soda and pour it inside of the volcanoes once the clay had hardened. Then they dropped in a few drops of their choice of food coloring. Finally, Mr Matt walked around to each boy and poured vinegar in the opening as we all watched on.

Pumpkin Patch

What a fun month October is for the kids. We have decorated our house, picked out costumes, visited the pumpkin patch, decorated pumpkins, and it's not even Halloween yet!

We went to Sea World earlier this month for their Howl O'Scream event. The park was decorated, and the shows were Halloween themed. It was fun!

We also had a couple play dates at the pumpkin patch. We have a little group of friends that are all going to be in kindergarten the same year as Remington, and we meet up with them on Wednesday mornings. Pictured below are most of them plus a few siblings.

And of course since Southern is at school now, he misses out on those play dates. So we made an extra trip to the pumpkin patch to take him. Daddy got to join in as well, so it was perfect.

The boys were very into decorating this year. We have spooky spider webs (with plastic bugs stuck in them) in the bushes by the sidewalk. We have orange and purple lights in the bushes by our porch. We have blinking lights in painted jars (they look like pumpkins, ghosts, and monsters) on the porch along with our decorated pumpkins and a giant spider. Inside, we have custom towels in the bathroom and kitchen, a Halloween table runner, several jack o'lanterns - lit, unlit, and even Scentsy warmers, hanging paper pumpkins, etc.  

Our first Halloween party of the year was another Wednesday group play date. Remington LOVED being dressed as a shark. He kept that little hat on the entire time. I finally convinced him to take it off after food started getting on it as he was eating. We didn't get a group picture with everyone, but there was also a Dalmation, a pumpkin, and many different princesses.

And one last shot of Remington and Baylor at the pumpkin patch. This one was taken this morning. We had another play date (this time with kids that will be in kindergarten the same time as Baylor), and we purchased another pumpkin. We got this one for Southern and Daddy to carve! We normally just paint our pumpkins, but they are having a carved pumpkin contest at the Fall Festival at Southern's school this weekend, and I can't wait to see Dustin and Southern tackle this new project.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Floating the Comal River

Shoebox floats are one of the exhibits at the Comal County Fair every year. We would always see them when we were at the fair, and it was fun to look at all of the different ones. The exhibit is open to kindergarteners in Comal County, so that means that this year Southern got to enter a float! I was thinking about what Southern's theme for his shoebox and was wanting to something local. I asked my mom for ideas and said that Southern would probably want to do TMNT or Transformers or something but that I was thinking something local. She suggested the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles floating the river. What a great idea! 

While Southern was at school this past Monday, I went through my closet to look for a good sized shoe box. My closet is currently in shambles after the rod and shelf fell out of the wall and to the ground, and we haven't had enough time at home to fix it yet (which is a whole other post ;) ) so I wasn't able to get to most of my shoes. But I was able to reach one side of my closet and get the box of what I call my honeymoon shoes. We spent our honeymoon in the mountains of Tennessee and South Carolina, so before we left I bought some new Adidas trail shoes to wear, and I still wear them every now and then. It was a good size and a sturdy box, so I grabbed it. And since it had meaning for me, that made it even more special for Southern to use it. 

So when Southen got home from school that day, we got to work. I got out the box, construction paper, copy paper, pencils, map colors, a sharpie, scissors, and a glue stick. I helped direct the project, but Southern did all of the work by himself with a little help gluing or cutting when needed. I was so proud of him. He took it real seriously and did a great job. 

He decided to add April laying out on a blanket in the grass. The sign that is on the float shows the way to various local spots near the river. 

It was due Wednesday, so Remington, Baylor, and I dropped it off at the fair after dropping Southern off at school that day. Winners were to be notified on Thursday. We didn't get a call so we must not have placed, but I am looking forward to seeing it out on display at the fair. 

Remington at Chick-fil-a

This boy loves Chick-fil-a!

Perez Family Port A Trip 2014

Another great family vacation!

Almost every year for many, many years, my Perez grandparents have been taking us to the beach for a family vacation. I am so happy and thankful that my boys can now take part in this tradition. They had a blast playing in the water and the sand, and they spent a lot of time with Grandma and Grandpa and the other family members. 

Dustin, the boys, and I drove in one night early. Southern and Dustin took off of school on Friday so that we could have another day at the beach. We spent the night at the Best Western Ocean Villa and enjoyed our stay. Upon waking up on Friday morning, we ate breakfast and the boys got in a dip in the pool before checking out. 

After we checked out, we went around town to the different shops.

We got Southern a new shark t-shirt since he had outgrown his from last year. We loved being able to pick out a shirt in whatever color he wanted and then put whatever design on it that he wanted. We also picked up a shark tooth postcard that had all of the different shark teeth labeled on it, a shark tooth necklace for Southern, and a Diego sea turtle book for Remington. We visited the candy shop just to see the live rattlesnake. Surprisingly enough, neither boy was interested in going in until I mentioned the snake. Dustin told me not to buy any more "junk" so I picked up a sterling silver toe ring and sterling silver anchor earrings for myself. ;) Our last shop of the day was Port A Outfitters so Dustin could stock up on live shrimp.

Then we made our way to the condo for check-in.

After unpacking and visiting with the family, we headed over to Tricia's condo for a spaghetti supper. After we ate, we hit the beach. What fun! All three boys ran (or crawled) and played in the water and sand until it was too dark to see. We left Dustin out there fishing as we made our way back in to shower and go to bed.

The next morning, we got up to make breakfast for the family. Southern and Remington helped by shaking the pancake mix. 

After breakfast, we played games with the family.

Then we applied our sunscreen and headed out to the beach once again. Baylor took his nap while the boys played and I read part of my book. He was soon up though and ready to play as well.

We spent much time in the "HO boat" as I call it ;)

After a few hours on the beach and several minutes in the pool, we were ready to come inside and relax in the AC. We took our showers and got dressed. Dustin got the fajita meat and headed down to the BBQ pits to cook our supper.

We visited with family, and Grandma read a few books to the boys while we waited for supper to be ready.

After we ate, we celebrated Trey's birthday (Sept 4) and Dustin's birthday (Sept 9) with a cake with strawberry filling. Yum!

We hit the beach again before bedtime. When we woke up the next morning, we started packing. Dustin and Southern also went out to the beach for one last swim.

After a group picture (which was missing Dayne, Joy, and Sammy), we loaded up our cars and headed over to St Joseph's for church. After Mass, we drove to Corpus Christ for lunch at Joe's Crab Shack.

What a fun family beach vacation!

A typical school day

We are a few weeks into our first ever school year, and we are starting to get the hang of it. It certainly is very different going from several years of your baby's internal schedule determining your day to the alarm clock deciding when you, and the baby, wake up! It is much harder... and there is a lot more waiting around... and a lot more driving... and I miss my oldest baby (Southern) daily!

Our school days start the night before with me picking out Southern's clothes and putting them on top of his dresser. It's pretty easy since he has a uniform. He wears the school polo with Parker brand khaki shorts or pants (pants are required on Fridays which is the day they attend Mass), solid white or black socks, black belt, and black shoes (no emblems showing). Boys are allowed a non-flashy watch and a religious necklace (if worn under the shirt). That's it! I just have to make sure I have enough of everything washed and ready to go.

Then I fix his lunch. The school serves four different things each day - a healthy meal (turkey BBQ sandwich, grilled chicken, etc), a typical kid meal (chicken nuggets, cheeseburger, etc), a sandwich meal, or a salad. They have five of each meal - the choices rotate daily and repeat weekly. We went over the menu for the month, and Southern has decided that he wants me to pack his lunch every day except for Thursdays which are pizza days. On Thursdays, he gets a slice of pizza, some spaghetti, a salad, and fruit. During this month, they are offering a free beverage as well, so he gets chocolate milk. I send him with a reusable water bottle every day, and he says they get water breaks throughout the day during class. His bottle is usually more than half empty at the end of the day, if not close to empty.

On the days that I pack his lunch, I send him with a sandwich along with a combination of two or three of the following: grapes, cantaloupe, watermelon, a pear, pretzels, yogurt, a cheese stick, popcorn, chex mix, wheat thins, a granola bar, cheese nips, etc. I didn't think he would be so excited to bring his lunch, but he is. It's nice to see how much he ate. (He only ate half of his lunch during his first day of school because he ran out of time with talking.) I helped in his lunchroom one day, and I was super happy to see how fresh and healthy everything looked. I was impressed.

So in the mornings, everything is ready to go. I get up first, get dressed, and wake Southern up. Southern gets dressed while I work on breakfast. Usually I scramble some eggs, and he will eat them while I get the other boys up. (We have started just leaving them in their pajamas for drop off since nothing much is open that early anyway. We usually just come straight home from dropping Southern off, and I can dress them then.) Then I have some biscuits, waffles, etc for all three boys to snack on during the drive over to the school. It takes us 10-15 minutes depending on traffic and stop lights so we aim to leave at 7:30am.

We do the drop off car line so I don't have to get the others out. They have 5-6 teachers/parent volunteers standing along the sidewalk in the parking lot. We drive around the back of the church in line with the other cars, and swing into the parking lot. Then when we get up to the adults, they open the car door for the kids. Southern will hop out, turn to wave to his brothers and me, and walk on into the gate. They have it open with the principal standing nearby during this time. He goes to the gym from there and will line up with his class to walk to his classroom. (The older kids are on the playground until school starts.) The line moves fairly quickly in the mornings though I have noticed that it takes longer/is busier closer to the tardy bell time.

The little boys and I come home, eat, finish dressing, and get ready for our play date or activity of the day. We normally have something lined up every day though today Remington told me that he didn't want to go to storytime at The Purple Chair like we had planned. He said he just wanted to stay home. I guess we've had too much running around lately. So we are at home until we leave to go take Daddy out to lunch for his birthday.

Southern has all of the typical classes (he says he loves P.E.) plus music class, Spanish class, and religion class and recess. He has lunch at 11am. He gets out of school at 3:15pm. If we do the car pickup line (which we normally do since Baylor usually naps at this time), we have to get there at 2:45 if we want to be one of the first cars in line. If we get there closer to 3pm, we are usually 7-8 cars back. I have found that if we do the walk-up line, it takes just as long if not longer to get him - the only difference is that I have to get the other two in and out of the car plus we wait in the sun instead of in the car with A/C!

Then Southern likes to do something after school before coming home. Due to this, I usually plan on doing one errand after we pick him up. We will go to the library, go to the park, or do some shopping. I save the big grocery shopping trip for when he's in school though since HEB is less crowded then. We come home, start on homework, I give the boys a light snack, and then I make supper while the boys play. We eat with Dustin when he gets home, and then it's usually time to start baths. Bedtime is now at 7:30 since we are getting up so early. And they normally fall asleep right away! Baylor is usually the last one to go down anytime between 8-11pm depending on how long and when his nap was during the day.

And then we start it all over again! This will be our life until Baylor, the ONE YEAR OLD, is out of school, and I'm sure it will only get crazier as the boys get older and get involved in more stuff. Whew!

Southern puts his backpack in his cubby each morning. Each student is assigned a number based on their last name (Southern is 19 since Wyatt is at the end of the alphabet), so their spots are labeled with their numbers.

Each child turns in their folder at the beginning of class. This folder was given to them by their teacher, and it comes home with them every day. It has a calendar in it as well as any papers the teacher needs to send home to the parents (or notes that we can send to her) and their homework. The calendar has someone's name on each day (this indicates which day the child will bring in the group snack - we're last on that as well!), and before the folder is packed up and sent home, that day will either get a stamp in green ink or will have a yellow, orange, or red colored dot followed by a teacher comment if the child got in trouble that day.

They start out in circle time on the floor each morning.

A close-up of the bulletin board outside of Mrs. Smith's door

Here is Southern dressed for school on his first spirit day. He was excited to wear his "super cool" socks. Once a month, the students are given a free dress day where they are allowed to wear "normal" clothes (within good taste and no flip flops, short shorts, etc) so long as their shirt is a SPP shirt or other appropriate religious shirt.