Doesn't take much...

...to make Grade 1 friends happy. Yesterday, Conrad cut 200 wood blocks:

I brought them to school today:

and when I demonstrated how to use sand paper and let all of them sand their own blocks it was declared to be "the best day ever!" Who knew sand paper and wood blocks would mean so much?!

Then again, these Epicure Selections donuts did bring a smile to my face this evening:

Apparently, it doesn't take much to make my day either! :)

Sports Nut

It's been a weekend of sports...this time not just for my kids! Kiandra and I attended the football game on Friday night and today was full of sporting events too. First, Kaden had his first hockey try-outs of the season, then after church I dropped him off at a birthday party where they went rock climbing:

Then, after a quick nap ;) Conrad and I went to my very first hockey pool party. I. Know. I can't. believe it either. I think it's pretty awesome to work at a school where people enjoy being with each other so much that we schedule things to be together on the weekends too. That is pretty amazing. First was the BBQ supper on our Grade 6 teacher's amazing country yard:

Then dessert in his awesome house:

Then a hockey pool selection party:

With the help of my awesome husband and son, I think I've managed to create a fairly decent team...umm I think because I don't actually know any of the players!!

WHo knew I'd become such a sports nut? lol!

Yes...again...

GNO...at the football game??!!

It's probably the last place you'd expect to find me and Kiandra on a Friday night out together but this evening Kiandra and I had a girls night out at a football game. Remember how much Kiandra likes football...or baseball??

Kaden graciously let me wear his jersey I was surprised at how well it fit...yes it's a bit big on him but still...

We arrived a bit late because I dropped Kaden and Kezia off at youth before going to the game AND it was the first time I had ever dealt with parking at the new stadium and ended up being suckered into parking on the campus which was $20. Seriously??!! 

We finally made it to our seats when the sky opened and the rain fell. Perfect.

Our friends (who are season ticket holders) have these awesome fan coats to keep dry:

Finally, it was time for the show!

Kiandra had wanted me to come along with her to the game because she wanted me to video the performance and I guess didn't trust Conrad. :)

It was hard to watch it and take a video but here's what I got:

It did stay warm enough for the girls to wear their "cheerleader" shorts but they did put hoodies and yoga pants back on after this photo:

We splurged on mini donuts ($10) and as you can tell that went over well:

I was ready to head home after that and I laughed when I saw that Conrad had texted me "are you on your way home" right after the half time show. However, the junior cheer team was allowed on to the field after the game for some photos and so Kiandra wanted to stay for that. 

We were one of the last ones to leave the stadium and we were literally the last vehicle in the parkade. This did, however, make it easier for Kiandra to practice leaving a parkade and find her way home with little traffic.

Terry Fox Run

Today was our school's annual Terry Fox Run. One of the exciting events is the campus to campus run that takes place in the morning. A few students from each campus meet at one site and make the over 20 km run (relay style) to the other school. This year Kaden was chosen as one of the runners. Conrad snapped this pic of them starting out.

The principal took the lead on his bike, the other runners followed behind in our school van driven by our gym teacher. They arrived at our school just before 11:00 and then we ran one lap around the neighbourhood before the thunder and lightening and rain brought us inside. Apparently, this is the first rained out run in many, many years. 

Have I mentioned that I am more of an inside kind of girl??? Days like today remind me of this.

Cheer Camp Dress Rehearsal

Big half-time show in 2 days! 

Arriving at the community centre for the final practice:

Practicing the routine:

(Kiandra is in the light green in the middle with her hands touching on top of her head)

Practicing the entire routine with their new shirts for game day:

The whole group shot:

Kiandra and her friend Meguire:

...and with their cheerleader coach:

Kiandra is looking forward to game day...that's something I never thought I'd say!

What should I wear?

We've been spoiled with some unseasonably warm weather at this time of the year. It's hard to know what to wear to school each day. I recently stumbled onto this awesome weather forecast site made especially for schools in Canada which shows (in clothing!) what to wear for the school day. You can select your school from the list here and then check out the clothing recommendations. I pop it up on my smartboard each morning during our calendar time and we talk about the clothing choices for that day.

Here's a screen shot of tomorrow's forecast for my school:

A shorts day at the end of September?! I'll take it!

Good Things

Riding to school with all my kids today... the girls had a day off and decided to come and help.

Hearing some good news about a teacher at my school this morning.

Setting out a LONG to-do list for my girls (including portfolios) and having them finish EVERYTHING! 

Sharing my girls with the kindergarten teacher and having them complete all of her to-do list as well. My girls are amazing helpers.

Stopping for some ice cream after a quick supper at Little Caesars.

Paying for that ice cream in gift cards.

Arriving at Kezia's last soccer game on time.

Sitting outside on a nice evening at the end of September watching her team play their hearts out.

Knowing that despite the 2-0 loss, they have had a great outdoor season and indoor soccer is just around the corner.

Gifts

I have been the lucky recipient of some random gifts of kindness lately. Today I received some "sunshine" (she called it) from a friend at church. It was a random gift and yet its contents were so me:

I used to think that my love language was NOT gifts but I think over the years I have begun to enjoy getting little things that tell me people are thinking about me. Maybe my love language is gifts....

Lazy Saturday

It's been very unusual around our house lately. Our extracurricular activities are not in full swing yet and so I'm finding that we are spending much of time outside of school just hanging around our house. Today, Kezia had a friend over and we spent some time playing our newest games.

The Game of Things:

and Sounds like a Plan:

In the evening, Kiandra had one of her friends over and the 4 of them walked to Starbucks before returning to watch a movie. I love that they all enjoyed hanging out together. I love that the basement is done and that it is a perfect place for them to hang out. I love that we have enjoyed some lazy Saturdays lately. 

Closing the chapter

Things change. Don't I know that. What's that saying?.....The only thing that is constant is change. Yesterday, I received the news that I was losing a student. There were no specific details about why only that it was going to be a better situation for their family. I'm not sure if it was a financial decision, logistics of getting to and from school, or something else. I only know today was the last day for one of my new Grade 1 friends.

Of course, there was that tiny nagging thought that it was me. Even the thank you card and gift this morning didn't quite shake the feeling that I was the reason for the switch. I mean who changes schools 11 days in? It was a bit emotional for me as I packed up the pieces of our time together:


1 bulletin board name plate
1 started printing book with a spaceman
1 first day of school hand drawn picture with a photograph attached
4 picture sorts
1 started math journal
1 toilet paper tube owl
1 September morning job book
1pattern initial
1 Monday morning journal
3 photos from our number wall
1 self portrait on canvas
1 bat book
1 Pete the Cat retelling craft

and (not shown)
1  TWAS journal (This Week At School)
1 Poem of the Week book
1 agenda
1 paint splattered painting shirt
1 pr of head phones used once in the lab

and one book of letters to this student from our class.

There it was. On my round table. The evidence of a busy and productive 11 days. The end of this chapter for this student. Good byes are tough and this one was too even if our time together was so short...or maybe because it was.

You learn a new thing every day

It was our first staff meeting of the year and we had the health nurse in to give us a lesson on using epi-pens. We have three students with life threatening peanut allergies in our school. This is a trainer demo of the epi-pens they use:

This one talks!! Seriously! It gives you recorded instructions on how to use it.

Amazing. I didn't even know such a thing existed!