Ponder Pumpkin Party

Tonight was Meg’s school’s annual Halloween party.  Last year, was our first experience and Meg loved it.  I knew then that we would definitely not miss it this year.  Meg loves the movie Avatar, so it came as no surprise to me when she asked if she could dress up like Neytiri for Halloween. 

She was pretty disappointed when we weren’t able to find an Avatar costume.  She settled for Spider Girl, but I could tell she wasn’t really happy about it.  After searching for an Avatar costume, I finally found one.  So, while Megan was at school, I picked up the Avatar costume.  When she got home from school, I couldn’t wait to show her the costume. 

Meg was so excited that I had found the costume.  Sheryl & Kyle were here, so we went on a mission to find Meg some Avatar accessories and were very successful.  We were able to find her a bow and arrow set.  The set was for an Indian costume, so we had make a few changes.  It wasn’t too hard, we just bought some paint, ribbon and feathers and we were good to go. 

Tonight, Meg and I sat down at the kitchen table to put her make up on for the Pumpkin Party.  I wasn’t exactly sure if I was going to be able to make Megan look like an Avatar.  

 

I mixed some white and blue face paint and got started on Meg’s avatar face. 

We all loved the finished product.  Meg was very happy about it and couldn’t wait to get to the school to show her friends and teachers. 

We had Meg pose for a few pictures out front before we headed to the school for the fun. She grabbed her bow and struck a pose.  Thankfully I was able to capture it before she realized that she was wasting valuable time and that we should be heading to the school. 

 

***Meg and Daddy***
 

***Meg and Mommy***

***Meg and Sophie***

A Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Last Friday, I went with Megan and her classmates for a walk down to the church for a visit to the pumpkin patch.  As I was heading up to the school for Meg’s field trip, the skies were getting dark and the clouds were rolling in.  I was worried that the rain wasn’t going to hold off, but luckily for us, it did. 

Meg has a new girl in her class and has taken quite a liking to her.  They held hands the whole way on our walk to the pumpkin patch.  It was sweet to watch. 

 

After we walked from the school to the pumpkin patch, an adorable scarecrow read a book to the kids.  It’s amazing to watch 60 1st graders pay such close attention to a story that is being read.  They were definitely a great audience. 

After story time, all the kids got a stamp on their faces and were able to pick out a small pumpkin. 

We were able to group Meg’s entire class together for a group shot.  We did silly faces and a picture with their teacher.  They were all very excited to be out of the classroom, even if it was just for an hour. 

After a few group pictures, it was time to head back to school and finish up the rest of the school day. 

{First Day, First Grade}

Meg started FIRST grade this week!   It seems like time won’t slow down no matter how much I complain about the speed at which it seems to be flying by.  Wasn’t it just last week that I was waking Meg up for her first day of Kindergarten?  This morning wasn’t much different for me than her first morning of Kindergarten…when my alarm went off, I laid in bed and thought to myself “another first is coming and going”. 

Meg will turn SIX next Tuesday, which means that she has almost completed 1/3 of her life under my roof.  Because, lets face it…at 18 (probably before since she is a baby for her class), she will likely be ready to move out, go to college, leave my house and house rules.  Boo hoo!!! 

As I walked into Meg’s room bright and early on Monday morning, I was a little surprised when I found her bed empty.  I was a little confused because I know that there was no way Meg had woken up on her own (she’s a lot like me in the mornings, a total bear). 

So, I headed back into my bedroom and noticed a pink “lump” laying on her mattress.  Jarrad and I have a rule that she’s not allowed to sleep with us – she’s a bed hog…so, we have her crib mattress under our bed and she pulls it out if she wants to sleep in our room.  She was covered from head to toe and absolutely adorable. 

 

Meg is not a morning person – as I’ve mentioned.  So, I slowly woke her up.  The first few mornings are always pretty easy convincing her to get out of bed, so this morning wasn’t much of a fight.  

Meg got up, brushed her hair and teeth, had some breakfast and got dressed.  She bought this dress specifically for the first day of school.  She’s such a girly girl.  Jarrad wasn’t able to go with us on the first day, so I snapped a picture of them in the kitchen before he headed out. 

After we had her lunch packed and everything ready, we headed out to the front for some first day of school pictures.  She fought me at first, but I finally convinced her that she had to do it – I’m pretty sure I threatened to ground her if she didn’t cooperate.  I was able to snap tons, but this was my favorite.  

Since Jarrad had to leave early, I had to break out my tri-pod :)  I had to have a picture of me and my baby girl on her first day of first grade.  Meg was a doll and didn’t complain once when while we were waiting for the self timer to go off. 

After all the picture taking, we loaded up the car and headed to school.  Meg was so excited.  She has a few kiddos in her class this year from last year and some friends that she made last year that weren’t in her class.  She’s very excited about the year. 

 

***Megan & Mrs. Grigar***

***Meg sitting at her desk, working on her birthday crown***

Let’s hope that Megan’s First Grade year gets off to a better start than Kindergarten did!  

Ponder Panther

I picked Meg up a few days ago and she was so excited to show me her Ponder Panther.  She won this for her sales for Jump Rope for Heart.  She was so proud of herself.  She told me that her name was called over the morning announcements and Mrs. Kelly sent her to the office to collect her prize. 

I’m so proud of her!  

Making Valentines & school V-day party

 

 

Megan picked out Puppy & Kitten Valentine’s Day cards for her classmates this year.  She was so excited about them because they had tattoos that came with them. 

She told me that all of her classmates would love them because they were for boys & girls.  Meg makes me so happy when she thinks about the “group” as a whole.  Meg has a heart of gold and always thinks about other people. 

She has grown up so much this year.  Once a child who could be selfish and bratty, she is now a very selfless child. 

 

Meg and I sat down one afternoon after school so she could start working on her Valentine’s Day cards.  As she was signing all of them, she decided to also add a heart.  So sweet

 

 

 

Because of the snow day, Meg’s school party was postponed to Tuesday after Valentine’s Day.  Megan was so worried that there wasn’t going to be a party.  After I told her it would just be rescheduled, she seemed ok with it.  The postponement of the party actually worked to our advantage since Meg was sick on Friday.  She would have had to miss the party if it weren’t for the snow day.  Funny how things work out sometimes. 

The school party was a huge success.  All the children had a great time giving out their Valentine’s day cards to all of their classmates.  I’m so thankful that I’m the room mom.  I love to watch Meg interact with her classmates.  She’s as goofy as ever, but doing really well in school.   

I decided to take her home with me after the party.  The only thing she would miss was free choice time, so I didn’t see the harm.  Plus, she couldn’t WAIT to get home to look thru all of her Valentine’s that she received from her classmates. 

 

 

Ouch!

Last night, there was a "Math & Literacy night" at Megan's school. I wasn't really sure what it was, but we all went up there anyway.

While we were walking into the school, Meg was carrying her purse. I mentioned to her that I wasn't going to carry her purse for her if she got tired of carrying it. She decided she should put it back in her car.

As she was running back to my car, she got tripped up and went heels over head (yes, she did an endo). I went running when it happened because she had a lollipop in her mouth and I was horrified that she had hit face on the ground. As I was running, she turned around with huge tears in her eyes and she was screaming and crying (the lollipop fell out of her mouth). As my eyes scanned over her body, I couldn't help be to notice her bloody knees. She hit hard!

Thankfully, Meg had band aids in her purse (a little ironic, I know). Daddy grabbed me two band aid out of her purse, and we walked into the school to go to the bathroom to wipe them off a little before putting on the band aids. Before we went inside, I had to pull my camera out to snap a picture.

***scraped up knees***After we finally got her calmed down, we went into the cafeteria for cookies and nachos. At first, Meg wanted neither...she was still a little upset about falling in the parking lot. As more and more people started filling up the cafeteria, she started coming back to life.

She saw one of her classmates and slowly limped her way over to sit with Carson for a few minutes. I grabbed Jarrad and I a drink and nachos to share. And, of course, I got Meg a cookie. Nothing fixes boo-boos like a chocolate chip cookie.

When Meg finally came back over to the table, she was doing much better, but still limping and still a little sad. When I presented her with a cookie, she temporarily forgot all about her knees hurting.

Jarrad and Meg were sitting across the table from me and started telling secrets. Jarrad was telling Meg how clumsy I am and that when I was younger I used to trip over "nothing". I would just fall down for no reason. This is a very true statement and I'm glad it made Meg smile.

***Meg giggling at me after daddy revealed the "big secret"***

***daddy telling more secrets***

After we left the cafeteria, we headed down to Meg's classroom for the "Math & Lit night". There were two kindergarten rooms open (one for math and one for lit). We went into Meg's classroom for the Math portion and next door for the Lit portion.

We learned a lot of little things we can work on with Megan at the house and were given lots of hand outs to take home with us. Meg's excited about all the new "games" we can play.

***Meg looking up at her daddy***