Summer "School"

I am determined to have a productive summer with learning centered activities. I started last summer the exact same way with good intentions but somewhere along the way I dropped the ball...and I will admit pretty early on. Since I will also have 3 additional little friends a few days each week this summer, I decided to make lesson plans...the teacher in me is coming out! We have a "Flexible Daily Summer Schedule" and I am hoping it will keep me on track. We will see :-)

So far, this is what it looks like...

 

Plus whatever else I brainstorm from previous classroom experience and Pinterest. The goal is a QUICK activity that truly does not have a lot of prep. My subjects are not the most attentive pupils ;-)

 

One of our first activites was a Hide-and-Seek sensory bowl with uncooked pasta and hidden raisins for a treat for the little ones...

 While the big kids learned about various AB patterns using colored pasta.

 

 

 On another day, the big kids identified various shapes, then cut them out and created a "Geo-Man." After that, we got to read a book online from wegivebooks.org.

 And we'll throw in a few field trips, too.

Our favorite stop...Sonic for grilled cheese sandwiches!

 

Here's to hoping we continue this trend!

 





Summertime!

Summertime means LOTS of playing outside! The boys LOVE to be outside and we try to make it happen as much as possible. Now that the warm weather is here and the rain has moved out, we are finally getting outside on a daily basis.

 

Ethan has shown us that he is growing up. We have tried for a year and a half to get him to ride his tricycle but he has been completely uninterested in the concept of peddling. This week that ALL changed! After about 10 minutes on the tricycle, he thought he was ready for the bigtime.

 

 AND...TA DA!

He totally loves riding his big boy bike and it is the first thing he goes for every time we walk outside. We're hoping for no training wheels by the end of the summer!

Of course, there's a little jeep action thrown in there, too.

 

And, I had to put this one in as well.

These are the sweet faces that I get to play with on Sunday mornings!

 

 

Hope you're enjoying this beautiful weather, too!

End of Year School Parties

Whew! It has been another terrific year at Shadowbrook and we couldn't be more thankful for the ladies that have loved on our boys throughout this school year! It was such a tender moment to see each of their teachers tear up saying goodbye when I came to pick them up early today. It has been amazing to watch Ethan learn and grow this year and a true blessing to see Caden get so excited knowing that he got to go see Ms. Mary and Ms. Heidi when he woke up on school days. He has LOVED going to school and was so sad every single Friday when Ethan got to go without him. We can't wait until next year!

 

We were so excited to give them their presents, they truly earned them! Tucked inside of a cute bag, each teacher was given a pair of flip flops with a gift card for a spa pedicure.

Ethan's class had an end of year pizza party then got to have ice cream outside.

 Oops...wasn't paying attention and my finger was in the way :-)

 Then parents were able to bring their scooters from home so the kids could ride them outside. They had bubbles, sidewalk chalk, and water tables to play with as well.

After Caden's class had lunch, their end of year party moved outside where water tables were set up for them. He had a blast and got totally soaked! I should have taken a picture of the naked baby coming home in the car after it was over just to prove my point. They also had cute water buckets set up, a bubble machine, and sidewalk chalk to play with, too. The little ones loved it!

 Then there were ice cream cones.
Cute! Bubbles in the picture!

 

What a wonderful way to end the year!

We will miss seeing Ms. Beth, Ms. Marsha, Ms. Mary, and Ms. Heidi every week!

 



Munchies with Mom

Today was Shadowbrook's annual Munchies with Mom Mother's Day luncheon. It is supercute because they serve lunch, then the kids come in and sing a few songs before sitting down with you to show off all of the special gifts they have made for you.

 

Our place settings with their special gifts
Caden's

 Ethan's



 Ethan was amazing!

He did not get overly excited like he normally does during programs.

  Caden actually smiled!

 Take 1 of the three of us...not great of the boys

 Take 2...great of the boys, not great of me.
I look like I am gritting my teeth and trying to hold on to Caden.

 Ethan's class made us muffins and this poem came along with it. I laughed out loud when I read it! So true! It now hangs on the refrigerator. Hopefully it will be large enough to read when the picture is clicked.

Loved spending this special time with the boys and so grateful for the amazing program they are a part of! 

Celebrating the big ONE with Kaylynn!

This weekend we headed to Athens to celebrate little Kaylynn's first birthday with some great friends! It was a precious fish themed birthday party with an amazingly decorated two tier cake and cute little fish smash cake.



Of course, the eyes came off first



 After Mom took off the fondant covering, Dad helped her dig in!

 

 Sweetness!



And then there's Caden slinking up to the side. You can see him looking around and thinking,

"I wonder if anyone will notice if I take a taste?"

 

Happy birthday Kaylynn!