Homecoming 2011

Have I told you that Dakota is in high school?!?!  It blows my mind and on any given day it scares me a bit because he goes to a large 5A school. There are 2500 kids there and over 800 in his class alone!  That is bigger than the college I went to! But every time I find myself becoming a wee bit nervous, I have to take a breath, say a prayer and know that Dakota will be fine!


Dakota asked Mati to go to Homecoming with him.  Not ever having a high schooler before, I was a newbie at this whole thing!  Apparently, the whole entire affair is important and we learned quickly what we had to do! It started with how he would ask the girl.  It had to be creative!  You can't just go up to a girl and ask her, you had to think of a special way to "pop of the question!"  Mati is a swimmer, so Dakota got her locker combination and we used a pair of goggles and wrote of the eyes the question.  Attaching the goggles to a sea turtle stuffed animal, Dakota hung the turtle in her locker along with some candy.  I thought that was the end of it other than buying him a outfit, but no there was more!  Of course I was assuming there would be a purchase of a crosage for her, but not here in Texas, at least not for homecoming.


This is a mum!

Here is Texas they have this tradition of making and giving mums!  What is it, you ask?  It's a fake flower that you embellish and then embellish some more.  The girls' mum is bigger and the boys' mum is attached to a garter that he wears on the arm.  But it's only for pictures!  They don't wear them at the dance, but whatever!  So a couple of weeks before the dance, Dakota and I went over to Sarah's (a Texan native) so she could help us.  I really enjoyed it!  And actually made another one for a friend!  

So now that the mum was made, Dakota and I went to the mall to find him an appropriate outfit that wasn't shorts or jeans!  It took awhile, but we finally found pants, a shirt, a tie! (his first) and a pair of Vans! (making uncle sooo proud!)  Having never worn a tie before, dad had to help him out!

Chillin' before time to leave!

A pose with mom!

 The complete package!!!

So the plan was that we would meet Mati at a friend's house and that all of the parents would take turns transporting the kids for the evening.  First was Kelly's house for pictures, then off to dinner, then to George Bush Library for more pictures, then to the Expo Center for the dance and finally pick up at Midnight and drop off at homes!  Here are some picts of the couple!

 I made them pose funny!

And then the double date!

All in all I think he had a fun time!  And it was a High School experience and memory for sure!  I couldn't believe how perfect his tie matched her dress!

School's Out for Summer!!

Dakota and Kye completed school today!

Headed to 8th grade!!!

1st Grade...check!

Headed to 2nd grade!

I asked the boys to show me their

school's out smile and this is what I got!

Everyone is excited about our trip

to Colorado in a few days!!!

YAY! SUMMER!!!

Kru Completes Pre-K!

Thursday was Kru's last day of school!

As he walked into the building,

I couldn't believe how fast this year has gone!

I love Covenant Day School and

these 2 ladies,

Mrs. Davis and Mrs. Braden.

Kru's teachers!

(they were Kye's too!)

Such a bittersweet moment!

Wanting Kru to continue into Kindergarten,

but at the sametime wanting him

to remain.

He's growin' up!!!

1/2 day Kindergarten for him next year!

Wasn't it just a few days ago that he was born?!?

Kye's Fall Sing-a-Long - 70s Style

Friday, Kye's school had their Fall Sing-a-Long!

70's Style!!!

Kye was totally groovy and felt it 100%!!!

Between "I Will Survive", "Boogie Fever",

and "YMCA", it was a great show!

He looked super!

And as I said, was feelin' the beat!!!

If you know my Kye at all,

you know he loves to sing and dance!

Needless to say, this was a pretty good day for him!!

Love you, Kye-Kye!

You did a fabulous job!!!

P.S.

Thanks to Ms. Cindy for the groovy vest!

It accented the afro perfectly!! ;o)

Kye, the Fabulous Falcon!!

A week or so ago,

Kye was one of the Fabulous Falcons at school

"for being super good." (quote from Kye)

He is always so proud of his purple ribbon,

pencil and prize from the treasure box!

As a teacher and mom,

it always makes me smile that for the

past 2 years, he has been selected within

the first month of school! :o)

Way to go Kye!!!!

In case you missed it last year,

here's the post from Kindergarten!!!

A Middle Schooler, 1st grader and Pre-schooler!!!

Today was the last day of school!

I now have a middle schooler!!!

Dakota will be in 7th grade in 83 days!

Kye will be in 1st grade!

and Kru will be in Pre-School 3 days a week!

Next year will be very different for all of us!

So I was a bit teary-eyed at Forest Ridge today for the Kindergarten celebration.

Dakota admitted that he would miss Cypress Grove as he will be going to College Station Middle School next year.

The boys had great years!  They both excelled in their studies.  Kye is reading!! YAY!! And Dakota continued to thrive in his advanced classes.  They had wonderful teachers and finished the year strong!

I can't believe how fast the year flew!  

Now on to summer!!!!!!

A Fabulous Falcon!!!

Today, Kye got in the car with a HUGE smile on his face and this purple ribbon stuck to his shirt!

"Mom, do you know what I got today?"

"What, Babe?"

"I was a Fabulous Falcon today!!!"

"Really, what is that?"

From there it got a little fuzzy, but this is what I understand that to mean.

Every so often, a child (I'm assuming from each classroom) gets selected to be a Fabulous Falcon (Forest Ridge Falcons).  They receive a star sticker, a ribbon and a toy.  Kye chose or received a mini-flashlight necklace.  He also had his picture taken and it will hang in the hallway somewhere near the cafeteria.

"And I had to stand up in front and tell everyone my name, favorite animal, food and color."

"My favorite animal is a cheetah."

"My favorite food is oranges, and my favorite color is orange."

"Then we got our award and toy and picture."

"Kye, why did you get this ribbon today?"

"Because I listen very well and I shared everyone my smile."

"I got to wear this all day, but I lost my first one out on the playground, so they got me another one!"

Have to tell y'all that we are very proud of Kye!  After being concerned for a while for this year to happen, we have been pleased by how well he is doing!  In his Monday folder, Mrs. B remarked how well Kye listens and how he is a good example to the others in class!  

I'm hoping that that continues.  We have parent-teacher conferences on Tuesday and I will be interested in seeing how he is doing.  Just today we were talking about the crab we have in the fishtank, and I heard Kye say, cc-rrr-aaa-bbb.  

Just wanted to brag a bit on our Kye-Kye!

WAY TO GO BUB!!!!!

1 week down, only 35 more to go!!!!!

Yes!  We made it through the first week of school!

Exhausted!

But we made it!  

YAY!!!

Dakota is enjoying his advanced classes, except homework has already hit!  It is good for him and I KNOW he will learn a ton this year!  Really impressed with the 6th grade team that he is on, he is a Cheetah.  He's not so sure about this dressing down thing for PE, though.  But he likes it that he wears deodorant now!  I guess I can remember back to when I wanted to do that too!  

Kye did better than I thought he would!  He was way excited and that continued throughout the week.  He has been super tired, but still getting up and ready in the morning!  He doesn't tell me much about his days, but he was really jazzed about computer class the other day!  At rest time all week, but Friday, he slept.  He really seems to like it and I'm praying that that will continue.

Friday I actually subbed in his classroom.  It was neat to see what he does at school all day long.  He interacts well with the kids and he was surprisingly obedient to me, so I'm hoping he is that way with Mrs. B.  The Lord will again be teaching me about trusting in Him and only Him, while my boys are away from me.  I can't think about it too much, I have to lay it down, pray and trust believing in faith that Jesus will be with them this year and that they will be ok.

So we are recouping from our week this weekend.  Trying to sleep in this morning and hope so tomorrow.  Of course today when we could sleep in, the boys were up early!  Murphy's law!

I hope y'all have a blessed weekend!

First Day of Kindergarten and 6th Grade!!!!

Today was the day!!!

Kye had been counting down the days and actually woke up just fine this morning.

Dakota had been counting down the days left of "freedom." :)

We rolled out about 7:30 to drop Kye first, but of course we had to take the yearly pictures!!!




These are the classic pictures we take every year. By the front door and then in their seatbelts.

Kye walking into Forest Ridge

Kru comes along too, Dakota waited in the car!

Getting a nametag from Mrs. Birkenhoff

Putting away his backpack

Kye settled right in. Kissing and hugging us good-bye, he sat down at a table with animals to sort and didn't even blink! I'm thankful, because if he had had a tough time, I know I would have been a mess. The Lord is good and he was fine and so was I!!!

And then we took Dakota to Cypress Grove. This was old hat as this was the same school he went to last year. He was a tiny bit nervous, but you couldn't really tell. We began the day with worship and prayer and I KNOW that helped me and I think it did for him as well.

I thought of them often throughout the day, but had an inner peace about everything! God is good, because that for sure was the Lord!!! I wondered what they were doing when, how they were doing, did Kye remember his lunch pin #, is he listening, obeying, paying attention, did Dakota remember which classroom to go to next, etc... I wondered, not worried!

As 3:00 approached, I loaded up Kru and a few guests I had with me (Nichole and Ari, who I was watching for the day) and we headed back up to Kye's school. After 1 HOUR and 15 minutes in the carpool lane! No I'm NOT kidding!!!! Kye was in sight and ready to get in the van!
And then we went and got Dakota!! They were tuckered for sure! In fact, Kye said that he fell asleep during rest time on his towel at school and when we got home, he went straight up to his bed to rest. He didn't sleep, but definitely zoned out for awhile! By Friday he is going to be exhausted!!!!

The school year has begun and it's hard to believe! I am looking forward to all this year will bring and wonder how God will grow all of us this year. My prayer is that these little men would come to know Him more than they do right now, and fall more in love with Jesus everyday. That they would make friends and shine a light in their schools, to children and teachers alike, and know that knowing and loving Jesus is more important than school, grades, tests, making friends, sports, recess, pe, drama or art!

So 1 down..... how many to go!!???!! :o)

Change is a Comin'

Today is the last day of our summer "freedom." It makes me a little sad, actually, my feelings are all over the place today..... ready for the boys to get back into a routine and structure, but yet enjoying the laid back schedule of summer; loving to hear all 3 of their voices together, but yet ready for them to not fight everyday! Bittersweet!

All of this is soon to change on Monday. Kindergarten!!!!

Last night we went to Kye's new school, Forest Ridge, to meet his teacher. We dropped off his supplies, looked at his room and saw where he would have PE, Art, Music, lunch and recess. He wasn't super excited, but wasn't nervous either. He just was, if that makes sense.

Kye has gone to pre-school and even went to half/day Kindergarten last year, but all of that has been at small private schools and I guess I haven't considered it "real."

This is REAL!

This is BIG!!! Over 800 kids go to this school!

But, this is what has been decided and I have to tell you I DO have God's peace in all of this! Even Darrin said last night after meeting the teacher that he feels a lot more comfortable with it!

As we were considering other options for Kye, I have been reminded that God loves Kye way more than I do and God understands and knows Kye better than I do too!!!

I know that Kye is in God's hand and that He will be watching over Kye this year and his entire life!

I'm not tellin' ya that Monday won't be hard on this Mommy, but I know my God is faithful and I am trusting Him!!!

Don't know about you, but I don't like change! I'm thankful that Dakota is going to be at the same school so we aren't having to learn the ropes at another new school plant, that will be next year for 7th grade!

So for those of you who are experiencing change of your own....

God is the same today, yesterday and tomorrow!
God is good!
God is faithful!
And God is love!

May this new school year be filled with His peace, His love and in His will!!!