Singing PEPsters

In 5th grade, the kids have to get to choose an elective--Band, Choir or Orchestra.  Russ chose Choir.  Being a proud Choir Nerd myself I asked what made him choose Choir.  His answer: It was the only option that didn't require playing (and therefore, practicing) an instrument.  Oh.  Bummer.

But, I have enjoyed listening to him sing more.  And since he took piano for 5 years, he seems to have a very good ear for the notes he's reading and then singing.

The Choir and Orchestra performed at the mall before Christmas.  It was fun to get to watch them!

Russ and another girl in Choir both have little siblings that were there to watch.  It was fun to watch the kids trying to get the younger siblings to wave or blow kisses.  Here's the whole group waiting to sing.

Sam and Russ.

Singing!  They sounded good and really seemed to enjoy the chance to perform, but they look quite bored and uninterested in this pic...

A close up of 3 of the 4 boys in Choir.

It's fun to be a Choir Mom. ...Okay, that didn't sound as cool as being a Band Mom or a Soccer Mom or whatever, but that's okay!

Skating at PEP

Each year, Hudson PEP has a two-week period where the kids' PE activity is skating!  They LOVE it!  The first few years the kids have to wear regular skates, but in either 3rd or 4th, they can get rollerblades if they want.  Russ, of course, went with rollerblades as soon as he can.  Randall is happy in regular skates.  

I have put Judson in his stroller the last two years, but this year, he was big enough to walk around a bit.  I had to keep him from taking off and chasing the skaters, tho.

I know I took pics of Rand, but I can't find them... So, just picture Randall with a huge grin on his face and you'll know what the pics looked like.  He loved it this year!  I love seeing him stretched out of his comfort zone and doing great.

Russ and one of our favorites, Sam.

Russ, Jose and Kristopher.

They do some fun dances and games, like this one:

It is such a fun few weeks and the kids come home telling all about what they got to do.  I'm glad they have this experience.  Russ is the kind of kid that will skate no matter what.  Randall wouldn't skate if you paid him until he *had* to for school.  The first year, he moved like a turtle.  The second, a little faster.  And this year, like I said above, he loved it.  Such great skaters!!

Camp Gilmont or Bust!

One of the neatest things that Hudson PEP does is give the 5th graders a few days (and nights!) at an outdoor school, Camp Gilmont.

Camp Gilmont is in Gilmer and the kids head there on a Tuesday morning and come home Friday afternoon. They spend the week doing outdoor learning.  They did Aquatic Biology where they waded into a lake with a net to catch bugs and such to study.  They had Forestry where they measured an area in the woods and, in their group, they measured trees, found out types of trees, saw what kinds of animals/bugs lived in the area, etc.  They hiked and hiked and hiked.  In their down time, they were taught string tricks and whittling.  It was just a wonderful week for Russ.

Here he is writing out his packing list.  I helped him look over the list after he wrote it and he packed himself from the list.

I sent three envelopes that were stamped and addressed, with a sheet of paper folded inside.  He got the hint and I got three letters!  He said he teared up the first night that he wrote us because he was missing us.  So sweet.

It's such a great experience for the students and comes at a perfect age.  5th grade is a good time for us parents to start letting go of a lot of the control that we've held for the last 10 years.  I prayed for him to make good decisions in his free time conversations, to be a good friend, to listen to and obey his instructors, to do everything with a good attitude as unto the Lord and to just have a great time making new memories with his classmates.

When he got home, Slade was out of town so my mom took Randall and Judson while Russ and I went out for a catch up dinner.  And, boy, did we catch up!  He talked and talked and talked!  I loved it!  He shared everything he could think of.  He had such a great time and it was such a good experience.

One of the things he was worried about was whether he would like the food or not.  He's a little foodie.  He was pleasantly surprised to discover that he liked pretty much everything they served.  And I liked that it was homemade and healthy.

Russell is growing up too quickly.  It's so true that the days go slowly but the years fly by.  I'm so proud of the young man he is becoming.

First Day of School (yes, this *is* a bit late...)

Well, I have proved that I am unable to consistently blog.  But, I have so much I want to remember!  So, I will just keep trekking along.

I'm backtracking a tiny bit a few months to the beginning of school.

Russ is in 5th grade and Rand is in 3rd.  These pics are from the beginning of the year, so we didn't know at that point what a great year it would be, but it has been a very good year!

I strongly believe that it is best to *not* request a certain teacher.  If I trust that God is in control, then I don't need to help Him along.  It's okay if you disagree with me on this one--my opinion isn't based on Scripture. *grin* Had I been given a choice, I probably would've chosen a different teacher for Randall.  Not for any good reasons, just opinions and feelings.  But his teacher has been a perfect fit for him.  She is very understanding of his little quirks and not bothered by his tendency to be extremely literal.  She seems to think the world of him and he really enjoys her, too.  God is gracious to us!

Russ has a wonderful teacher that used to teach middle school so she's not bothered by the difficult stage that the 5th graders are in--sarcastic, forgetful, sometimes disrespectful, etc.  Russ loves that, for the most part, only the person misbehaving gets in trouble instead of the whole class.  He's big on "fair" and that feels more fair to him.  He's doing great this year!

Both boys have made straight A's this year and, if I remember correctly, neither has had anything below a 95.  They amaze and impress me with their great study habits and ability to do/turn in homework on time without my nagging help.

We have taken a First Day of School picture with our sweet neighbor, Danielle, since she and Russ were in Kindergarten!  Such wonderful memories with this precious girl.  We are no longer neighbors, but that's a story for a separate blog post. *sniff*

The year is about half-way over now and it's continuing to be another great one!!  We are so pleased with the boys' experience at Hudson PEP and have been so thankful for the friendships that both have made (this year and in previous years).  We are right where we feel like we need to be.  God is so good.

Teacher Valentine Hearts

These are the "valentines" that the boys gave their teachers.


Russ said he drew the Texas Rangers because his teacher likes them. Then he wrote the note. He said he didn't know if she would eat them or not because she doesn't like to eat too much sugar. I said that probably someone in her house would help her out if she needed it. *grin*

Randall wrote on and drew on these cookies for his teacher.


He drew a frog and wrote "frog" with an arrow pointing to it. His teacher likes frogs and the whole room is decorated in them. It's a cute room. He also loves to label his drawings and draw long, squiggly arrows to them.


I love how the food markers stand out on the white icing. I also love how this is a unique idea and it's edible. Two good combinations in my book. I have seen this idea before on a few blogs, so I don't remember who to give the credit to.

Valentine Cookies - Basketball Hearts

So, Russ wanted basketball hearts to take to his class. No problem, right?... I mixed the dough, rolled it out, baked it, mixed my icing and iced the cookies in about 3 hours! Not bad!

Unfortunately, for some reason, I couldn't seem to keep my lines from being wiggly or the icing from blobbing and such. I changed tips a few times and it still kept happening. But, Russ was pleased and that's all that matters.

I didn't take as many pictures because the process was the same, just in orange frosting, instead of the red and black.


The plain white ones in the top left are for an idea that I will share soon.

I had the bright idea to add hearts to the girls' cookies to make them a little more girly. Great idea, but it didn't work out so well. The red frosting was a little too runny and the cute hearts died...


I had to turn the fan on to dry the icing quickly before it had a chance to flatten. It kinda helped.

And here are most of the cookies packaged and ready to go.


All in all, I was pleased. You can tell what they are and Russ said they taste good. Mission accomplished.

Randall's new game

A few weeks ago, Randall was home with what we think was the flu. By the end of it, he felt just fine, but couldn't shake his fever, so he couldn't go to school. He missed an entire week when he only felt yucky for about 2 days.

But, I enjoyed having him around and he was lots of fun to play with. One day, he invented a game for us to play.

You start with a lincoln log house and ladder. One player is Luigi and one is a tiger. You need a dice, too.


Player 1 rolls his dice and, starting at the bottom of the ladder, climbs up the number of spaces he rolled. Player 2 goes next. Play continues up ladder and around the top of the roof (with each corner counting as one space). If, at any time, you land exactly at the top of the ladder, the Boo from Mario would swoop in and knock you off the roof and you had to start over.


To win the game, you have to roll the exact number of spaces to end on the ground. If you have 3 spaces to get to the ground and you roll a 4, you go back 4 instead of forward 3 of the 4.

We played and played that game. It was a blast! Then when Russ got home from school, we taught it to him and played it some more. Slade played when he got home from work, too.

Randall thought through the rules all by himself and I was so impressed with how thorough he was. He says he wants to own his own ice cream shop when he grows up, but if that falls through, I see potential for other avenues. *grin*

Skating at PEP with Rand

I somehow took more pictures of Randall skating than I did of Russell, but I think it was because he didn't move quite as fast as Russ did.

Randall was in a goofy mood and was having a blast! Here he is with his friend, Preston, who was in his Kindergarten class at Alpine Christian Academy.


Judson is hanging out.


Randall's getting faster!


There was a dance song on with a fast beat and Randall couldn't stand still for the picture...


He fell a few times, but did great and had a lot of fun!


Waving


It was fun to be at the school and get to watch both boys interact with their friends and enjoy their skating. Once again, I'm so thankful that Russ and Rand have the privilege of going to Hudson PEP. We have enjoyed our experience so much!

Skating at PEP with Russ

The boys are skating at school right now in P.E. They are both really enjoying it. I got to go up and help out (and take pictures) the first week. Here are some pictures from Russell's class.

Russ with two friends


He was bummed that you can't have rollerblades until 4th grade. The school has knee, elbow and wrist guards, along with helmets, but by 3rd grade, the kids get to decide if they need the knee and elbow guards.


On the go--it's all a blur...


All good things must come to an end. Putting his skates and gear away.


Judson stayed awake for most of the time and did well with the loud, giggling girls that kept stopping by his stroller as they made laps around the gym. But, it's hard work being so cute and he finally fell asleep.


Coach Floyd is very good with the kids and they enjoyed skating and fun games on skates.

Star Students

I have been so behind in my posting that I never posted about Randall and Russell being chosen as Student of the Week. Randall was chosen back in September and Russ was the beginning of October.

I'll start with Randall. Randall was chosen for the character trait "Trustworthy". When he got in the car Thursday, he said, "I want you to check my planner right now and not wait until we get home." I asked him why and he just grinned and handed me his planner. Inside, his teacher had written that he was the star that week and would be honored at the assembly. He was so excited.

Earlier in the week, he'd brought home a note saying he got to sing the Good Morning song at the assembly with the other students that had been chosen, all for their big smiles and good attitudes while singing in music class. He was excited about that and then when he found out he was Star Student, too, he said, "I can't wait for Friday! It's going to be a GREAT day!" He was right! It was so fun to watch him be so excited and just grin all morning.

Here he is on stage singing.


Randall and his teacher, Ms. Thornburgh. She had such sweet things to say about him and has been such a wonderful teacher for his personality. She is patient and so sweet.


I am so thankful to God that He knew that Randall needed her.


Proud Mama


Proud kid. Randall didn't stop smiling the whole assembly. And it was contagious because neither did Slade or I. *smile*



I won't write out everything Ms. Thornburgh said, but one thing she said that stuck out to me was, "When I tell the class to do a specific task, I know that Randall will be doing it. I can trust him to do what he's supposed to do." That's one of the areas we struggle with at home because he gets distracted so easily and we feel like we never know if he's going to be doing what he's supposed to be doing or some random thing that caught his attention. *grin* I was so glad to know that he's dependable and trustworthy.

Russell was chosen for the character trait "Personal Best". Personal Best is talking about always doing your best and giving 100% in whatever you are doing.

Unlike Randall, Russ said he wasn't excited to be the Star and he didn't even look up when Mrs. Vazquez announced it to the class. He was joking, but it was interesting to see the difference in how he and Randall expressed their emotions. Now that Russell is in third grade, he's really aware of what is and isn't cool. It's no longer cool to run up to accept your Star Student ribbon at assembly (in Russell's opinion--I did see other third through fifth graders running up to get theirs). But, I did notice that he was walking very quickly and grinning from ear to ear.

Here, Mrs. Vazquez is pinning his ribbon on. He's holding their class mascot "Lil Lobo". Each class has a mascot and the Star Student gets to take it home for the weekend and write in it's journal about what they did together.


Such a handsome kid. And Russell's teacher has also been wonderful this year, too. From what Russ shares, she really talks to the class and he'll tell us about her family and things like that. Russell hasn't whined one time this year about disliking school or about having to go.


So proud of him!


What a joy to be a part of a school that is teaching our kids about positive qualities that they should be exhibiting. And, it's such a special experience for each student to be chosen and celebrated. Yay for two awesome PEPsters!

The Randler

Randall had a hard time the first week of school with getting ready to go. He gets easily distracted and it was a battle every morning. The second week was much better, but not without it's bumps, too.

Sometimes I feel like I get to see the worst of my kids while others get to see the good. I often say, "Would you talk to your teacher the way you just talked to me?" and they always say they wouldn't. I am glad they don't talk that way to their teachers, but I want them to think about how they talk to me. It makes me sad sometimes.

Randall handed me a letter yesterday when he got home from school. It read:
"Dear mommy I hope your haveing a great day at home. I am haveing a great day at scool. love Randall. I love you so much!" And it had lots of red hearts, one with a smiley face inside.


I am putting it on the fridge so that when I feel discouraged with the not so fun part of disciplining and training, I can remember that it's all worth it.

Russell Man

Last night, we had Small Group at our house and Russell was in the livingroom with the adults. I told him he ought to go play with the other kids. He said he didn't want to because he didn't want to have to help clean up all the mess they would make with the toys. I told him he would have to help even if he didn't play with them because A.) he knows where they go since they're his toys and B.) we all chip in and help so it goes faster.

He did eventually go in and play. When Small Group was over, he came up and sat next to me, smiled and said, "I helped clean up the toys without you telling me to." I told him I appreciated that and thanked him.

When we were getting the boys ready for bed, Russ said, "We played a game in PE today to learn about honesty. Coach Floyd rolled a ball and if it hit our feet, we were supposed to be honest and step out of the circle. I thought about that tonight when it was time to clean up the toys after Small Group. I thought about sitting in the bedroom while everyone else cleaned up and then coming out and acting like I had helped like you said. But, then I decided to help clean up instead so I could tell you that I had helped and not be lying."

I was so surprised not only to get such a long speech out of him, but also all that he had thought about. He recognized that he had a choice. I probably wouldn't have known he was lying if he said he cleaned up but really hadn't. Small Group nights are usually a little chaotic and I just assume the kids are doing what they're supposed to be doing (good parenting, eh?). So, he knew he could've gotten away with it and, obviously, cleaning up the toys was something he didn't want to do. But, he made the right choice, even after considering the wrong choice.

I told him that I was so proud of him for doing the right thing, especially in a situation where I might not have realized he was lying. I told him that I appreciated his honesty and that doing the right thing even when no one knows is called integrity. Being a person of integrity is one of the most important qualities anyone can have. I also told him that even if I didn't see him do the right or wrong thing, God did. And, I know that God was very proud of him for doing the right thing.


It's neat to get glimpses of their character developing.

Overnight French Toast

I had so much fun over the summer having a menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner and I've decided to keep it going during the school year, too. The boys' school offers free breakfasts that are pretty healthy (unless you're Randall and you get Lucky Charms every morning), but I enjoy those few minutes together before they rush off with Slade for school.

I try to vary what they eat so they don't get too picky or stuck on one food. So, this morning, we had Overnight French Toast. I assembled it last night and it was very easy and quick. I served it with banana slices, milk and warm syrup for dipping.

Overnight French Toast
from the book Cool Meals to Start Your Wheels

Ingredients:
1 24-in baguette (I used wheat bread, but I've also used french bread)
4 large eggs
2/3 C whole milk
1/4 t salt
4 t sugar
1/4 t cinnamon
opt: 1 t orange zest and 1 T orange juice
cream cheese frosting for dipping

Directions:
The night before, cut bread into 3/4-inch slices (I cut my slices of bread into strips to make french toast dipping sticks--more time consuming, but the kids liked getting to hold them and dip them). Put into 9x13 pan.
Whisk eggs, milk and salt. Pour over bread. Let sit 10 min. Turn each piece over. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
The morning of, preheat oven to 450. Grease baking sheet. Put bread, wet side up, on baking sheet. Mix cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle over bread. Bake 15-20 min.
Place slices, bottom up, on serving plates.


Shhh, that's not my picture. I stole it from google images... But, that's very similar to what they looked like.

It was simple, but still took a bit of time to preheat the oven and bake the french toast. I'll remember that next time. Everyone loved it and it was fun and different.

First Day of School Pictures

Well, the boys have survived two days of school and are getting into the routine of things. Here they are on their first day:

This was what I got when I said, "1-2-3, Smile!"


Let's try that again...


There we go. Now, let's do them individually.


*sigh* A not-silly one, please Russ.


Thank you. And, Randall.


Geez, what is up with you boys?! Can't I get a normal picture on the first try?


Thank you.

Randall wanted me to count for him, but I knew better... Remember the Calvin and Hobbes where Calvin's dad is trying to get one, just one, good picture of Calvin and Calvin will smile perfectly until his dad gets to "3" and then he'll make some awful face? Yeah, well, that's what Randall wanted to do. Silly kid.

Then we were off for school.


Over the last year and a half, the Hudson PEP students met in an unused school while the old school was totally rebuilt. It is big, beautiful and like a maze!

In the cafeteria, students type in their memorized ID number whenever they get the free breakfast or buy a lunch. Here they are getting breakfast.


The sweet lady on the left is Ms. Lee and she is the wonderful cafeteria lady. She's in charge and you can tell that she rubs off on all the other lunchroom staff. Everyone is very sweet and there are always smiles for the students. I wasn't very pleased with Russ' cafeteria experience in Kindergarten, so we appreciate Ms. Lee and the cafeteria atmosphere at Hudson PEP. Ms. Lee was one of the first people I told two years ago when Russell asked Jesus to be his Savior and she got all teary-eyed and as soon as she saw him, she gave him a big hug and told him how proud she was of him. She remembers so many of the students by name and works to make each one feel special. She's wonderful!

And, Randall with his teacher, Mrs. Thornburg. This is her first year to teach at PEP, but she was a sub last year and I heard good things about her.


Randall hasn't decided yet if he likes school or if he's just going to endure it. But, it got better from the first day to the second, so I hope that continues. He is transitioning from a small, private school to a pretty big, public school and I think it'll take some adjusting. His teacher said he was really sweet, though, when we dropped him off this morning. I appreciated that.

Next, we dropped Russ at his class. His teacher is also new to Hudson PEP, although she's been teaching for years.


My usually quiet and even-tempered Russ has gone on and on both days about Mrs. Vasquez. She did this, she told us about this, she has cool chapter books, she's this old and so on and so on. He's talked as much as Randall has! I'm very pleased to see him having some excitement about school. He loves, loves to read, but usually says he doesn't like school. Maybe this year will be different. I remember having a wonderful teacher in 3rd grade and I pray for him to have the same great experience that I had.

So far, so good. Both boys have been very hungry when they get home and are having to remember how to eat quickly in the amount of time they have. They've also both been tired. But, they're doing well and I am looking forward to a wonderful school year.