1st Day of Kindergarten

I can't believe that Victoria is old enough to start school! She is so smart and way ready. She'll do awesome but we will miss her at home tons! She's been my big helper forever! What am I gonna do with out you kiddo? LOL!

She got up and got all ready with the kids this morning. Then after we let the older kids off at the corner, we headed over to the Kindergarten Center. Victoria was very brave walking into the school and into her classroom, hanging up her bag and getting to her seat. She looked so grown up sitting there. Have a great day, Sis!

Victoria had a great day! She only got a little nervous one time on the playground! After school she rode the bus to the Elementary where she met Liberty & Justice and her friends to walk home. They had a little glitch with the bus driver today but she really liked riding it so hopefully tomorrow will go smoother. Way to go, Victoria! Good Luck at school, little lady! XOXO!

1st Day of School 2011-12

Wake up sleepyheads, Summers over! LOL After a good breakfast, we decided to walk to school this morning. It was a bit chilly but the kids loved walking! They got their stuff in their lockers and off they went to class.

Looks like they had a fantastic 1st day of school! Good Luck this year! Love ya!

[PS Kindergarten doesn't start until Monday]

Ready, Set, Learn!

Supplies are bought, new outfits are picked out, back packs are filled, teachers are assigned. We are READY! We can't believe Summer is at an end. Now we just need to SET a better bedtime & wake up schedule because unfortunately school does NOT start at 10 am. LOL! Then we'll be ready to have a fabulous year of LEARNing!

Here's kids at Registration:

Here's the kids meeting their teachers:

Good Luck guys. You'll do great!

Go Wildcats!

Last Day of School

I can't even believe another School year is over! Absolutely crazy! The kids have grown a lot this year but glad it's over. We sent them off today for their last day with a sack lunch and treats for their teachers. Yeah- no more early mornings and no more school work. Wahoo!

Remember Hurricane Fargo? Well... the winds blew this THING into our yard during the storm. Hopefully we will be able to find the owner. But for now, the little girls spent their last day without the older kids playing in it. They are way excited to have Liberty & Justice home for the Summer!

Liberty's Talent Show

Liberty was bummed last year when she didn't get into the Westside Talent Show. But she is a great persevere-er! She has been taking Piano lessons for a year now and is so good at it. She found a song called "The Dragon Hunt" and practiced it diligently. Because of her hard work, she made it into the Talent Show this year! Our whole family went to support her. They had dancing, Magic shows, Comedy skits, Tae Kwan Do, Hula Hooping (she was amazing!) and several musical talents. I have to say--Liberty was the BEST Piano Player in the show! Awesome job, Sis!

Here's what we recorded. Hope you can hear what a great job she did!

{I'll see if I can cut it a bit so I can load it!}

We are very Proud of You, Liberty!

Bonanzaville Fieldtrip

One disadvantage to volunteering on a regular basis in your kids class is that in a bind- they think they can count on you! You just might find yourself on a fieldtrip or two that you never even signed up for. LOL. Mrs. Spanier had told me (not asked- mind you) that I was coming to the bread-making day. Not a problem- I made it work. I did my duty, right? You'd think I did. But then Liberty came home Friday and informed me that I was a chaperon for the all day fieldtrip to Bonanzaville today. I already was assigned a group and had a packet to study! Lucky me! ;) It worked out fine though. I found a babysitter and had a fabulous time!
We paired up with one of Liberty's best friends and her Mom's group for the tour. My group was a lot of fun. It consisted of 2 good-hearted boys and Liberty's little Ethnic-diversity posse. LOL. Such cute girls! They always flock to Liberty when I am there. Seba's family is from India, Gianella is from the Dominican Rebublic, Aluel is from Africa and Kaitlin is from the US. So fun! I was so glad I got to spend one last day with them before the end of the year. It was chilly and a chance of showers but we walked the mile or so from the school. We tried to not get blown away. Quite appropriate, I thought since we were going to study Pioneers. ;)

This was my 1st time at Bonanzaville. We saw and learned lots of cool things. Some of the kids favorites were the Air Museum, the naked manikins (in the Iron lung and the Barber shop--totally funny), the free candy, ringing the LOUD train bell a million times and running as fast as they could between buildings. What a fun day!

Bread Making

I got to volunteer at the School today for a "Bread in a Bag" Project for the 4th grade. A lady comes and talks about Farming in ND and teaches the kids to make Bread in a Bag. It was fun to spend time with Liberty & her friends one last time before the year ends. 10 more days! Can you believe it?
Liberty's bread turned out amazing! We had it with some of our home-made strawberry jam for dinner! Delicious!

Funny little the Mormon saves the Day story-
I got there early to help set up things. There were 2 ladies in charge telling the parent helpers what to do. The 2nd lady asked the Main lady where she wanted to set up the wheat grinding stuff. [That way the kids get to see first hand how the wheat they were going to talk about gets from the field to their bread- a once in a lifetime experience for some of the kids] The Main lady said she had run out of wheat so they were NOT going to do it this time. Well... "I have wheat," I said. She was a bit surprised but said she hadn't brought the grinder. Well.... "I have a grinder," I said. I actually have a hand grinder and an electric grinder- which one do you prefer? She asked where I live and one of the other moms who knows me said "like one minute away". Well... OK then. So, I quickly ran home to raid my food storage. I grabbed both grinders and one of my 5 gallon buckets of wheat. Back at the school, people were amazed at how much wheat I had. I didn't dare tell them I have like 20 to 30 times that much at home- (Mormon food storage to the rescue). LOL! So by some random turn of events, I got put in charge of showing the Westside 4th graders how to grind wheat. Too funny! Oh the joys of unexpected opportunities to share my food storage with others! I love it!

Justice's Music Program

Justice had his 2nd Grade Music Program today. He did a fantastic job! He really likes to learn all the songs. I'm so glad we can support the kids in their programs. Thanks for inviting us Buddy!

Mrs. Dyrdahl has decided to retire this year so this is her final class of her career. Good luck to her in her new adventures!

Kindergarten Round-Up

Turning FIVE means that my little girl will soon be joining the school-bound crew! No more sleeping in, hanging out all day in pjs, helping Mom with everything, watching Glory, going to playgroup & preschool, mid-day runs to the bank, TV days, and being Mommy's little girl! BUT- there will be lots of learning, making new friends, bus rides, Penny & Pal concerts, field trips, actual lunches, backpacks, and growing up! It will be a fun Adventure!

This week was Kindergarten Round-Up. With Brett gone, I decided not to go to the 7:00 Parent Meeting. Instead I took the girls over this morning before preschool. It was PERFECT timing because they were having a Penny & Pals Concert. The girls sat in the hallway and enjoyed the music while I filled out the paperwork. They think Kindergarten is amazing!!! ;) Now just a few more months, a couple shots, a copy of her birth certificate, a little pep talking and we will have a Kindergartner on our hands!

Back in Time

They had a Rock-n-Roll 50's day at the kids' school today. Justice is home sick (again!) but Liberty looked Neat-o! (A real bonafide Sock Hop Beauty!)

Peachy-keen Princess! ;)

Fall into Fitness

The Elementary put on a Partay tonight! It was called "Fall into Fitness". They have been crazy health freaks this year and so it fit right along with their yearly theme. (The kids are no longer allowed to bring treats to school. Not even for their birthdays. They have a once a month Bday party with Principal Slette for those who had birthdays that month. "It's about the fun not food!" (Kinda lame but whacha do, right?) I understand that the polls say that the nation is getting a bit out of control on weight stuff but parents need to step it up a bit and stop turning all the parenting jobs to the school system. Be responsible and get you kids some exercise and help them eat as healthy as they can but allow a bit of sweetness in their lives as well. ;)
O.K.... off the soap box & back to the fun!!!! LOL!
Along with the PTA's help, the school threw a really fun night. They had tons of businesses from the community come (any that had a tie to healthy living) and participate in a Fitness carnival. There was WF Fitness Center (our friends own it- Yeah for the Lepirds!), American Gold Gymnastics, the Police Department, a crazy kick-boxing Postive Motion guy, Apex Therapy, Halftime by Sheri dance, Northwest Martial Arts, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Courts Plus, YMCA, MSUM Swim School, Fargo Force Hockey, Sam's Club, Subway, and tons more. They had hands-on demonstrations, games with prizes, door prizes and a Subway sack lunch for dinner. The kids had a blast!! Even the mascot came and signed autographed pictures of him doing healthy exercises [sporty things-baseball, hockey, basketball, etc]. After she warmed up a bit, Glory loved him!!!
Here's some of the fun we had!
Fitness Games & Prizes:

Hands-on Demonstrations:

Dinner & Hanging out with Friends:

Meeting Mascots:

"Wiley the Wildcat leaves PAWSitive prints. Do your part to be respectful, be responsible, be safe and be healthy!"

PAWSitive People

This year the kids Elementary School started a new Program called PAWSitive Prints. When Wildcat students are found exhibiting PAWSitive behavior by fellow students or teachers or office staff, their names are placed in envelopes on a bulletin board by the office. At the end of each week, thePrincipal holds a drawing for a PAWSitive Winner from each classroom. They get a prize and a certificate as well as their picture taken. The "Winners picture" is hung in the office for the entire next week.
Well, just turns out that in this 1st month of school so far, BOTH Liberty & Justice have had their names drawn. Way to go you two! We are so proud of you!!!!

The JKKS Preschool

Victoria & Glory started at the Just Kute Kids PreSchool  today! They had a fabulous time!
Actually-- a few lady friends & I decided to do a little Co-op Preschool for our kiddos that aren't in school. (Jen, KBro, KTuck and Shay as teachers) Between moves and kindergarten and those putting their kids into real preschools, our stay-at-home-kid numbers drastically dropped this year. Well, we decided on Fridays because 1- we only wanted to do it once a week and 2-still have a day between Mommy & Me Playgroup and our little Preschool day. We made it a longer amount of time than in years past because well, truth be told, we just want a day out to run errands without any kids. LOL! Three hours seemed like a good amount of time to drop off, do what you needed to do and get back. BUT because we want to feel like awesome parents [not that we aren't anyways] we are officially calling it PRESCHOOL! (it sounds way better than Run Your Errands group ;) We are assigning a LETTER and a NUMBER to each Preschool day so we can count it as such.

The kids are really excited that they get to go to Preschool. I LOVE it!! Glory even wore a backpack today and Victoria made sure she took a pencil. AND KBro always does a fabulous job! She set the bar WAY high today! Thanks  alot lady! They colored Apples, wrote their letter Aa, went on a walk in the blustery wind to collect ONE of a bunch of things, played a violent Ant game LOL, ate clown sandwiches for lunch, and played with toys. They had a great time! I had to drag them out.

As for me- I got to run an errand, drive home and unload it all, get some laundry done, take a shower, do my make-up, drop some stuff at the school and make it back on time. Wahoo! Thanks ladies- I'm so excited!

First Day of School

The kids were so excited for school today! They requested a "real" breakfast (I know- slacker mother, I am) so I actually made french toast and eggs and a home-made smoothie. (Are you so proud of me, Cheri? LOL) They ate really good! I didn't get a picture of it though. Guess there's no evidence that I stepped up my game. Oh well! The kids were pretty comfortable with already knowing the school from last year then, going and getting settled in their classrooms last night so they didn't even have me walk them in. I dropped them off at the far curb of the round driveway and they walked into the school all by themselves! Actually they ran to the door. That's a good sign, right?

After school, we ran into a couple friends and got to play on the playground together and visit for a bit. Everyone seemed to have had a fabulous 1st day of new experiences. We had to practically drag them away from the school. It was like a First Day of School partay!

When we all said our goodbyes, my little fam took Andrew Ray with us and made a stop at Sandy's Donuts for an after-school treat. Once again- no picture! No proof- once again- what a fabulous first-day-of-school-Mom I am! Dang! LOL!

Liberty's 1st Day of the 4th Grade

Justice's 1st Day of the 2nd Grade

Liberty & Justice-I am so glad you had a great first day kiddos!

We're so proud of you!

Ready, Set, Go...

We're all ready for school to start tomorrow. Holy cow! Where did the Summer go?
We did our essential school shopping earlier this month so, we just did a little toy shopping for our last day of Summer...

Did a little Swimming in our home-made hot tub....

Checked out the new teachers and classes at Back to School Night...
Liberty & Mrs. Spainer

Justice & Mrs. Gerri Dyrdahl & their Student teacher, Kate Seaberg

Then, after School Priesthood Blessings by Dad and a fun-filled FHE, the excited kids tried to get to bed early! (We are such night owls- dang!)

Good Luck tomorrow guys!

CTR!

You'll do great!

Our Back to School Partay

School starts on Tuesday so, for our Friday Movie Night we had a couple friends over to celebrate our last weekend of Summer. A big Back to School Partay- hurray!

The Larsens, the Elders & the Tuckers came over for pizza, some water fun, and a movie. (Well, the Elders came just for dinner but it was good to have them) We got all the kids some food and that was about the last time we saw them until we started the movie. They play really well together! We set up a couple pools and the sprinkler by the tramp for them to play in. It was a nice, hot, muggy night so they thorougly enjoyed being in any and all of the water. We actually just had to start the movie and tell them several times before they would even come in. 

We did excuse the Tuckers to go home before the "girly" movie so that KTuck could have time to prepare for her ONE WOMAN ACT on Sunday. (Good Luck lady!) Then, the Larsens and us watched High School Musical in honor of going back to school. We love those shows!!! Brett seranaded all the kids along with the movie and there was a lot of eye rolling going on. Too funny! Just wait until all these girlies get older and wish some good-lookin' guy would sing to them! ;) I AM one lucky woman!

Good luck to all the kiddies in school this year! Have fun, be smart, be good, & Choose the Right!!!

Best Family Vacation Ever: More Duluth

The family choose to spend most of our Duluth time in the Waterpark but we HAD to make it down to Lake Superior once at least. We walked across the Hotel Walkway over the freeway and down to the shore. We went down on the rocks and had a blast playing there. Everyone had to take turns throwing rocks in the water. Brett says there nothing like throwing a humungous rock as far as you can to make you feel like a real man. I'll take his word on that one! LOL! We even got to see one of the big ships so it was perfect timing. It's was just beautiful!

Before, we headed back to Hill City, we made a stop at Olive Garden. When school got out, we told the kids we'd take them there to celebrate their great school year for some Zuppa Toscana. We are very proud of you, Liberty & Justice on what a great job you do at school! Way to go! Luv ya!

School's Out!

Seriously!!!! Where does time fly?
Today is the last day of school for the 2009-2010 season. The two youngest and I celebrated our last day with a trip to McDees with Allison & Alex Cudney and Cooper West. We haven't had a chance to spend much time with them lately so it was extra special. The girls and I also did a little shopping for our Fam trip tomorrow and bought more plants for our garden. I'm excited for days of freedom from the time schedule of school but I am sure gonna miss my alone time with these two little ones. They are such fabulous girls!

A month or so ago, Liberty & Justice were begging to walk home from school so we worked it out with our neighbors next door for all 3 of our kids to walk home together on Thursdays. Well, even though today was their last day--they opted to walk home. It was a hot day so they are a little red. :)

Great job guys finishing out the year!

We are very proud of what fabulous students you are!!!!

AND Yeah for Summer!!!

Here's what we'll be doing a lot of this Summer if the weather's good:

(They LOVE the sprinkler under the trampoline!:)

Musical Talent

The kids had their end of the year Music Program this week. They did a terrific job! Thanks for letting us come see you guys. You were fabulous!
Justice's Class

Justice's favorite song was A Sailor Went to Sea. He got to be in a small group with the ribbon sticks for the song Weave Me the Sunshine and played an instrument for Ten Little Angels.
Liberty's Class

Liberty's favorite song was I'm a Believer from Shrek all decked out with actions that her class came up with. [Liberty and her friend are planning on doing this song with actions for the School's Talent Show at the end of the month] She got to be in small groups for the dances to the songs, Alabama Gal & Rocky Mountain High. And she played the bells for Oh Lord- an African folk song.

Way to go!!! We are very proud of you both!!!!