School is Cool

In first grade the children are required to take timed math tests.  Tyler is really good at math, but he's had a few tests that he's struggled with.  He is so used to succeeding that the first time he didn't pass the test in the time allowed he got upset.  We wanted him to know how proud of him we are no matter what and he worked hard to memorize the math facts and the next week he passed the test!  He wanted to know if he could get some Baskin Robbins ice cream as a reward and his Dad told him he'd earned that.  Little rewards can go a long way!  And cause blue teeth...

 New this year at school is Bulldog Breakfast.  Tyler and Lucy have made it a weekly routine to get up early on Fridays and rush to school for the pancakes and sausage.  It gives Tyler a chance to hang out with some friends before school, get a good breakfast, and Lucy gets to eat and feel like a Bulldog as well.

 To kick off Red Ribbon Week the PTA sponsored an assembly featuring trick BMX riders.  These guys talked about drugs being uncool and showed the kids how to be cool.  The day before the assembly a question was posted on Facebook and the first 10 parents to respond won their child a poster and the chance to have it autographed by the BMX riders.  Because Jenn is ALWAYS on Facebook Tyler was one of the winners!  Here he is getting autographs from the guys.

During Red Ribbon Week the school had spirit days.  The first one was to wear red, the second one was crazy hair day (which Tyler totally got into), backwards day, sunglasses day, and then your favorite sports jersey.  Tyler participated all week and really got into the spirit.  He is really enjoying his school...and that makes Mommy and Daddy so happy!

Pumpkins at the Patch

This year we tried a new pumpkin patch...Cardanini's.  You could cut the pumpkins right off the vine, but the decorations around the place were a little scary.  I don't think the kids were fans of the body parts and danger signs everywhere.  I think this place was a one hit wonder for us.  Next year we might pose for pictures on the pumpkins in front of Safeway.

This is one pumpkin I would pay to take home!

These kids are just too cute!

My pumpkins picked out pumpkins!

Love, Love, Love My Family!

She is the cutest thing EVER!

After the pumpkin patch we headed over to High Hill Ranch for some apple cider and donuts.  That was the highlight of the morning.  Well, the highlight after these cute kids!

Birthday Party BASH!

Matea turned 5 on October 8th!  It's crazy to think that she's 5 years old now.  And it means Lucy is that much closer to being 5 also.  There's just something about that number that seems so BIG.  Matea celebrated with her friends at Tumble Time and had a Jessie (from Toy Story) theme.  The kids had a great time celebrating one of their best friends!

Conference Time!

Even if you think your kid is pretty AWESOME and doing a great job in school, you just never really know until you have that parent/teacher conference.  Luckily Zach was able to attend so he could finally meet Mrs. Fritts and see Tyler's classroom.  The conference went VERY well and Tyler is progressing nicely at school.  He's a social kid (hmmm...wonder where he gets that from?!), but he also has a hard time not blurting out the answer and showing that he's smart (again, where does that come from?!).  Mrs. Fritts had some very complimentary things to say about our little guy.

Tyler is enjoying being involved in school activities.  We attend the Bulldog breakfast at least once a week and he enjoys filling buckets around the school.  First grade has been a great experience for Tyler (for the most part) so far.

International Walk to School Day

Every year the PTA sponsors the International Walk To School Day to promote an active lifestyle and to get the kids excited about exercise.  This year it was raining on walk to school day, but the kids were still very excited to walk, so we did.  We met up with Jill and Lucas and walked from Grandma Karla's house to the school.  We hitched a ride on the "train" with Mr. Stewart leading the pack. 



Blue Oak Movie Night

The school holds a movie night fundraiser once or twice a year and the kids LOVE IT!.  They bring sleeping bags, pillows (or Pillow Pets in our case), and get ready to snuggle in and watch a movie.  The school sells snacks and movie-style popcorn and plays a pretty new release.  This time it was Rio.  We hung out with Jill and Lucas and invited the cousins to attend as well.  It was fun to introduce Joey and Anna to some elementary school fun.

All the kids are snuggling in for the show

Lucy LOVES the popcorn!

Best Friends!

The Boys

The Girls

The movie night was a success!  Lucy partied pretty hard. :)

The school does these once or twice a year and it's a GREAT fundraiser.  We will definitely go to the next one!