Let's Glow Birthday Party

Make a wish Hayden! (Colored flame candles.)

Freeze tag. The boys each had several glow sticks. The "it" person had to wear a glow mask!

Glow in the dark Bowling

The boys catching frogs. Yes, we have tons of frogs right now.

Hayden's Birthday Party was Friday night. And can I say I am so glad birthday's are only once a year! Phew! Hayden had a great time with his friends. Hayden was very grateful, and must have said thank you a hundred times! It was very sweet. A few highlights of the evening were freeze tag, an Easter egg hunt with glow bracelets inside, glowing bowling and football. I wanted to make glow in the dark slime but I didn't have any takers, they just wanted to wrestle and play football! Oh boys will be boys! This party was fun.

If I were to do it again I would definitely find a big black light, because it wasn't dark enough to see everything glow. All I could find was a scorpion hunting black light, which is tiny! So plan ahead and order online. The Easter egg hunt was so cool, but you have to have the larger eggs to fit the bracelets inside. It took me forever to squeeze them into the regular eggs. I couldn't get a good picture to show the eggs glowing because of the flash on my camera so you just have to trust me-its a must do! Also next time I would start decorating a lot earlier because the glow bracelets last a really long time so its OK to light them up early. And my last piece of advice would be two and a half hours is way to long! Two hours would have been plenty!! What was I thinking!

Party Invite

We are pulling together a super fun party for Hayden this weekend. He wanted to do games in the backyard. But I thought, what is better then games in the backyard? Games in the dark, that's what! We are going to do some fun games with glow sticks. And maybe even some fun experiments with glow water; which who knew you can make from a highlighter? So cool. Can't wait. Hopefully it won't rain, or be to hot. Or both. Oh gotta love AZ weather.

Preschool Time

Welcome to my new classroom! This is my three year old preschool class. If you follow me on pinterest you may have already guessed at my new job. Possibly because of the bombardment of all the preschool activities that I've been pinning. Sorry! I am teaching two classes, and both of my classes are so great. We just started on Monday, and I've already received lots of hugs and even a declaration of love! Preschool is decidedly the BEST! Last year I was teaching at the high school so I am loving all the genuine sweet love in the room this year. We definitely still have some attitude, but at least there aren't any swear words being tossed around the room (my ears appreciate it). I just got the job two weeks ago so it was a mad rush to get my classroom pulled together and organized before the "Meet the Teacher Orientation" last week. Thank goodness for my Mom and Darryl; they came to my rescue. We spent several long days, and one long night where everyone was being quite silly, I think we were tired because everything was funny, cleaning and hanging up bulletin boards. I had so much fun with them and seriously could not have done it with out their help.

I think this job is going to be a good fit for me right now.  I am home in the morning and can help the boys get ready for school, and I am done by nap time for Libby. And...Libby gets to go to preschool too. An added bonus! Although it still costs an arm and a leg for her to go there. It is great program. She will have two days of Spanish (Si!), and two days of gymnastics! As I was putting together my lesson plans for our first week of school, I realized how fun preschool is. I get to sing songs, do crafts and play! All my favorite things! We are going to have so much fun this year. I'll keep you posted on fun activities that are worth doing with your toddler.

Doing something new is scary! I feel completely out of my comfort level for sure. I've been filled with self doubt, questioning my ability to do this. And I keep thinking that is why I need to do this. Its my ammo. Just to prove it to myself. Is that the wrong reason to do something. Maybe. But I will be a good preschool teacher. So watch out. (a little overboard? Ya, probably. I'll tone it down in the future.)

School and A Birthday

Back to school shopping and lunch at our favorite place.

Waffles, whip cream and blueberries!

Cupcakes and ice cream. Everyone is focused on dessert.

Oh man it has been a busy end of summer. I can not believe how fast summer vacation flew by. Blah. I hate that. The last few weeks of summer were spent swimming, hanging with cousin Xander, and Lovey and Grandpa Darryl. It was a great finale for a fun summer.

Monday Ethan started 7th grade, at a new school. He changes class every period, and has a locker! Big stuff. He already really likes it. Hayden started 3rd grade. He really likes his teacher, but I think he misses having his brother at school. And Libby started preschool. My babies are all growing up. (Sob, sob!)

Tuesday was Hayden's 8th Birthday! He brought treats to school to share with his friends, and we had Grandma, Poppa, and Noah over for his special dinner. Hayden was very excited about getting a new bike, a football and even some cash. We are having a "Glow in the Dark" birthday party next week with his friends. And he will get baptized in September. Eight is a big year! I love you Hayden. Happy Birthday!