Valentines Mailbox Season is Open

I can't expressed how thrilled I was to learn my kids got to not only HAVE a Valentine's Day party in their school class this year, but also make their own Valentine mailbox to receive Valentines! Yipee! I LOVED doing that as a kid!

So, Hunti, in light of the Mardi Gras season, chose to theme her mailbox after a Mardi Gras joker character. We paper mached her box first with all kinds of crazy scrapbook papers. We cut open a hole for the mouth so her friends could put her cards in there. Then we added a nose and eyes, and Hunti added the finishing touches with a pointed jester hat, 3-D hair and an inscription saying "Mardi Gras Valentines Day!" Very nice work my Hunti.



Mike wanted to honor the Mario Cart theme by making his box into a Toad-mobile. This was a blast to make. Thank you card board and tacky glue! Check this baby out!

Do You Know the Pretzel Kids?

Oh do you know the pretzel kids, the pretzel kids, the pretzel kids?
Oh do you know the pretzel kids who live on Goodall Court?

We were having yummy chicken and wild rice soup for dinner and grandma decided to make bread to go with it! She let Hunti, Michael and Elle try their hand at sculpting the dough into lots of fun shapes. Grandma started out teaching them how to make pretzel knots, but they quickly made up their own ideas. Hunti actually sculpted a rose bud (tiny in the far back left corner). Michael proudly showed off his horseshoe shapes (center back). Ellie made "a ball one, a not-a-rose one, a line one and a tiny little horseshoe one."


Golden brown and warm:


They were SO yummy there was not one pretzel left after dinner!

Happy Valentine's Day from Auntie Janice

Auntie Janice sent a monster Valentine's Day package for the kiddies. They loved everything she picked out - maybe the styrofoam peanuts most of all.






Elle was so pleased with her Valentine's dress that she wore it 3 days straight before I could sneak it into the wash.

Creepy Crawly Show

Spider Dave visited Clayton Elementary for their Science Fair night. Check out the amazing arachnids he brought with him!

Notice Michael standing a safe 15 feet away for the show.

3 Cheers for Playgrounds!

This might surprise some of you Louisianans, but the schools in Texas have "playgrounds" (pronounced pley-grownd).

After school one day we stayed late and played on the playground. The favorite toy: dirt. Hunti and Michael and their friend Samuel we building castles and roads and kingdoms. Yeah, it was awesome.

Michael and Hunti's First Day at Clayton

Michael and Hunti (no longer spelled "Huntie" as this is the beginning of a new era for my girl) began their new school Clayton Elementary today!

Yes, it was still dark - AND COLD - outside when we left for school at 7AM. Woowee!



Michael has Mrs. Chrissie Laird for the mornings and Mrs. Jennifer Friend in the afternoons. I guess in first grade they have a morning teacher and a different afternoon teacher. It seems to work out great. They are both wonderful and already care about my little Michael. Well, as he IS a full head taller than most of his classmates, I guess he's my BIG Michael. :)

He had a perfect day, minus the icky girl complications. He had to dance with girls in PE today - YUCK! It took him a good 2 hours after school was out to share this terrible news. I can tell he'll get over it soon, as he half smiled throughout the entire explanation of the ordeal. Poor fella. I love Michael.

Hunter informed me all she wanted was a teacher who was CRAZY - like her cousin Sage who's teacher was a guy (crazy), had long greasy shoulder-length hair (also crazy), and loves Star Wars (seal-the-deal crazy). We saw this crazy looking custodian guy booking it through the halls before school this morning working out with arm stretchie resistance band things as he rushed around. Low and behold, our muscly friend is Mr. Roth, Hunti's fourth grade homeroom, math and science teacher! He is PERFECT!

Not only did Hunti remember him from the hall as an ideally crazy choice, but we also heard only fantastic things about this teacher from everyone at school. Michael's teacher, Mrs. Friend, cheerfully said Mr. Roth is SO great and she hopes her 2nd grade son gets him for fourth grade too. He seems like a blast. The office staff said he is the best teacher at the school. They also said he easily tell his students he has ADHD. HA! Talk about crazy. I love him already too!

Mrs. Ami Cole teaches Hunti languages arts, reading and social studies. She seems very very nice. We are so blessed. Hunti was kicking and screaming, in jest of course, that she had to wait an entire day to go back to school again. Nice. Very nice.

We Love Our Meggie

On our way out of Houma when moving to Austin, we stopped to see our wonderful Megan just one last time. Here are some pictures of our favorite teenager. We love you Meggie!