Before Thanksgiving we attended Briggs’ classroom “family traditions” learning event. His school is pushing regular learning events where parents come in to the classroom to see presentations. They’re usually pretty quick – think 2nd graders – and sometimes I wonder if they’re even worth attending.
But then I walk in and see my kid beaming and I’m reminded why I show up. He wants us there – even if it’s for less than 5 minutes and then he begs us to take him out of school early.
(It made me think of a video I saw earlier this week of kids spotting their parents at events and how they light up. Take a look if you want to smile.)
Briggs is thankful for the following hobbies: Soccer, football, basketball, tennis, baseball, and… art.
The people he’s thankful for: Family, grandparents, teachers, friends and best friends.
Food he’s thankful for: Cotton candy, pears and grapes.
We spent the 4th of July in Idaho with my parents and two of my brothers and their families and it was just as magical as we had hoped. My brother’s property is what kid’s dreams are made of and we look forward to celebrating our nation’s freedom every year by shooting off fireworks over his private pond – after spending the afternoon fishing and riding ATVs.
We thought it may be fun to go watch the local firework show but the boys decided they would much rather light off fireworks than watch someone else light off fireworks. Hallie and her cousins disagreed. So they enjoyed the local show while we stayed back and let the boys be boys.
Here’s a picture recap of Mother’s Day 2023. We have early church so we opted for a nice breakfast-for-lunch instead of a rushed breakfast. And my new handy dandy crepe maker worked like a dream and Hunter is now a pro at making crepes which is another gift for me!
We had every fruit and berry and filling (Chocolate and vanilla) and nutella and peanut butter and whipped cream…everything needed for a nice Sunday sugar coma.
Each of the kids filled out the annual interview sheet which just gets better the older they get. It’s cute what they say about you when they’re young and then it’s more touching the older they get. They also wrote memories on hearts for me around the kitchen – fun to see what sticks out to them with all the memories we share.
This memory had me chuckling because it’s spot on. My mom was visiting and I knew Hallie’s friends were at the dance but she was trying to get a hold of them and they weren’t answering – even though I knew they were already there. We really were running to target and when we left the house, I had no intentions of dropping her off at the dance. But as we started driving and I realized we were going to be close to the dance we just made a quick pit stop and dropped her off! 🙂
Steve and the kids do such a great job of celebrating me. It’s fun to be the center of attention for a day where every kid is surprisingly obedient and helpful in every possible way.
I showed Briggs the magic of pinterest. He chose the snake – which was surprising because I thought for sure he’d lean towards a soccer or football themed box – or even the Suns. But he chose the snake and it was an easy project. This is made from an oatmeal container and some foam that covers copper pipe from home depot. We hot glued it around the canister and then sprayed painted. I wasn’t sure the glue would hold but it held great. In fact, we didn’t even glue it to the box, it’s just glued to each other as it climbs up the can.
I’m grateful for older siblings who are willing to help out. Hallie helped Briggs with hot gluing the hearts on and he was so proud of their work together.
Cannon remembered Hunter had created a lego box and he wanted to do the same. This project was a little frustrating for him as he couldn’t find the right colored pieces and once again an older sibling, Hunter, stepped in to save the day.
I think Bennett felt a little short changed because his teachers decided they wouldn’t be exchanging valentines. It’s his last year in elementary school and he was bummed to miss out. I’m not sure what his teachers’ reasons were but Bennett feels as though childhood is being stripped away a little too quickly. Especially since they even removed one of their recesses this year – he lives for recess. Evidently, they need more seat time in spanish – Bennett would rather skip spanish and get more soccer time!
Hallie enjoyed her first bouquet of roses from her friend. (Oddly enough it was Valentine’s day of my junior year that I received my first roses.) She also received a single rose from a boy in a suit at school today. A senior has spent the last three years handing out roses on Valentine’s day to unsuspecting girls on campus. Seeing as though he’s about to graduate, he decided to go all out and sought donations and they had an entourage in suits handing out 600 roses to girls today. I was on campus and saw so many girls proudly carrying their rose around. There is so much good in our kids today.
I shared previously Hunter had asked a girl to be his Valentine. Hallie and I took him and a friend to target last night and he picked up a little gift and he dropped it by her house today with a scavenger hunt as to where to find it. This kid is awesome and so thoughtful.
We came home this evening to find a plate of home baked goods and a gift for Hunter. (He also made sure to where a pink sure today which happens to be one of his soccer jerseys.)
Our day of love was successful and Steve and I are excited for them to go to school tomorrow so we can extend our love day a little longer as we enjoy our Valentine’s date tomorrow.
It is Valentine’s Day which means kids across elementary classrooms are stuffing valentines in homemade boxes or decorated paper bags. But what happens when you move to junior high and you no longer pass out valentines? Evidently at our junior high, you ask a girl to be your Valentine in advance and then the day of you give them a gift. This may or may not be someone you actually like – they may just be your valentine for the day.
Hunter is a thoughtful and creative kid and he decided he was going to ask someone to be his valentine by making paper flowers (using crepe paper rolls from amazon found here). He downloaded the pattern and followed the directions from this site and he sat at the counter on a Sunday afternoon with a hot glue gun and went to town. This was not a quick project, but he was patient and they turned out great and he had all the girls wishing they had received paper flowers. 🙂
Here’s a round-up of Valentine’s cards I’ve created over the years for my kids’ classroom parties. Click on any picture below to download a free printable for your favorite Valentine’s Day Card!
