We Learned a lot at Open House!

 

Thursday night was Open House at Kenley’s school. I took some photos so that any of you who wanted to see what he was learning about could have a peek as well!

This is Kenley’s 1st Grade Teacher, Mrs. Cushman.  This is her first year at Page as she had taught 5th grade previously. She has taught 1st grade in the past, however!  Kenley seems to love her and she is absolutely WONDERFUL at keeping us informed with what the kids are working on in the classroom!

I seriously don’t know how these little kids can learn so much!!  It amazes me though how he seems to be so eager to learn things and he really does seem to be improving at reading! He has weekly spelling tests on Friday.  Last week’s he didn’t do so well on, so I think we didn’t work with him enough at home.  Guess we’ll have to start “playing school” again soon!

 

One of Kenley’s friends brought in a Praying Mantis.  It laid an egg sac this week and then apparently died.  There were lots of other insects there to see as well!

               

We also got to look through his journal which they write in daily.  They had one “published” journal entry which we particularly liked!

We also learned about what they are learning in Math, which is Kenley’s favorite subject.

Here is where Kenley sits and inside his locker!

We also went to see his Art teacher and Music Teacher who share a room. I wish I would have gotten photos of them as well!

These are Kenley’s classmates!  His face is on the far left. 

Out in the hallway, they had drawn photos of themselves.  We found his.  Grandma Sherry says, what is this?  I expected him to say “ME”, but he instead said, “A self-portrait”!

It was a very fun night and our whole family learned a lot! Thanks to Mrs. Cushman for welcoming us to the classroom! 1st Grade is FUN!

More for Pinterest

Pinterest

 

Just sharing some photos to put on Pinterest.  If you are not yet addicted to Pinterest, check it out! I can send you an invite!!

Not Your Ordinary Joe!

 

Most of you have seen the amazing photos that were taken of our family by Joe Ehrecke of 706 Photography.  I am still simply amazed by the absolutely great time our kids had with Joe taking photos at our home AND with the PRICELESS photos that he captured!!

706 Photography’s photos have been on display at the Café Diem in downtown Ames, IA since April 9th and I have been meaning to blog to tell you all to stop in and take a peek.  I just did this myself today and was completely overwhelmed seeing my kids on the walls larger than life while probably 25-30 people were enjoying themselves inside the quaint coffee shop.  I walked in, looked around and walked back out with a few tears in my eyes.  I hope to take the kids in to see them before they come down this coming Sunday (5/8).  Christie Vilsack also held a gathering at Café Diem yesterday with over 100 in attendance!

Once again, I encourage you to check out Joe’s website at www.706photography.com.I also encourage you to visit Café Diem in Ames before Sunday when the photos will be removed.  At a later date, they will be on display at the Café Diem in Ankeny location. 

Thanks to Joe and 706 Photography!!!

TRANSPORTATION!

 

This story TOTALLY CRACKED ME UP and I think Lila's daycare teachers will get a kick out of it too!  My husband neglected to share this funny story with me until tonight at my niece's birthday party!

Last Friday, Mike took Lila with him to a doctor's appointment.  They were waiting in the waiting area and Lila picked up a magazine, he thinks US World News or something like that.  She started flipping through the pages and he asked her what she was looking for.  She proudly told him.....TRANSPORTATION!  She proceeded to find a bus and said...."See a bus....TRANSPORTATION!".  Then, she found a boat and said...."See a boat....TRANSPORTATION!".  Then, a car and she said....."TRANSPORTATION!". 

I found this just HILARIOUS!!!

Then, I remembered one of the papers that she brought home from daycare the other day!

See……she really is learning!!!!!!!

No more Hiatus for my DREAM Oasis!

 

Ok….I have always LOVED dreaming about home design, watching HGTV, etc.  I have NEVER been given the opportunity to really “design” something for my own home, however.  Well….I take that back….little projects, but nothing like this! We are really making progress on our master bedroom suite addition which we started nearly 2 years ago!  It has been on “hiatus” due to lack of money and lack of time to devote to it.  We are now on a roll and I can see the end in sight!  I am having SO much fun picking out materials!!!  It is stressful as my husband and I are not very good at making decisions and Mike admits he cannot “envision” what things will look like finished.

Back on November 27th, we visited the “Tile Shop” in Urbandale and I fell in love with some glass tile.  We spent a LONG time trying to find other flooring, trim pieces, etc. and thought we came to a decision.  We got a quote from them and it was much more than Mike had expected.  So, again….HIATUS!  Saturday, we packed up both kids, lunches and snacks, and headed to Des Moines with a mission of making decisions!  Well, we were gone most of the day….POOR KIDS…..but we got SO  much accomplished!  We went to the “Tile Shop” and bought the glass tile we loved. 

It was expensive, but Mike promised me “the moon” when we moved out here and everything has kinda fallenl through, so this was our one splurge.  We then went to “The Flooring Warehouse” just down Hickman Rd.  I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS PLACE!!! We have gone there MANY, MANY times in the past and they are VERY HELPFUL AND EXTREMELY REASONABLY PRICED!  We got our floor tile (at more than half the price at the Tile Shop), plus BEAUTIFUL carpet for our bedroom and closet, with pad ALL FOR THE SAME PRICE that we were quoted at the Tile Shop!  Therefore, we basically got $1100 worth of carpet for free (if you look at it on the bright side). 

We then went to Lowes and got sink vanity top, toilet, towel bars, etc. so pretty much everything is purchased!!!  I MUST add that while at Lowes, BOTH kids had to go to the bathroom twice so I was in there 4 times just for the short bit we were there.  Ugh!!!

I am SO PUMPED and trying to be patient waiting for everything to fall into place!  I’ve included some photos!  The ceilings are painted and Mike got the walls in the bathroom  painted last night (with a little help from Kenley).

Now…..Remember me asking a while back about what to use to fill my lamps?  Here is one of our lamps.  Mike had these when we got together and I admit they are not very fun/trendy, but he is all about saving $ and I KNOW he won’t let me buy new lamps!

Yes…..these are like 20 years old and STILL HAVE THE PLASTIC ON THE SHADE!!!! Below, are the items I have purchased to fill these lamp bases and use in other containers in the bathroom to tie everything together.  I think they match really well!  Oh this is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO FUN!  I could use help though on HOW exactly to put these in the vases so it doesn’t look too “hodge-podge”??

SO…..what do ya’ll think????