While waiting for Owen to finish his after school program, Katie wanted to run.
And she liked our shadows.
And hanging like a monkey.
Category Archives: School
Showing Gramma Jean her classroom!
Swinging with GJ
I brought Gramma today to pick up Katie and wait for Owen… Swings are Katie’s favorite and she had fun competing with Gramma!
A Mothers Day surprise!
Katie kept telling me the present was for her, even though it had my name on it! She didn’t want me to wait to open it (she’s definitely my daughter!).
Owen’s class in DC!
The entire first grade went to visit DC monuments today! This is the class pic a mom friend/chaperone sent me. (Can you find Owen? Back row, center, green coat.)
Someone saw a fire truck today!
Waiting for Owen
On Mondays if it’s nice when I pick Katie up, we stay and play at the playground while waiting for Owen to finish his after school athletics program. She loves it.
Showing me the flowers her class planted. (Yes, they’re fake.)
She wanted to show me her picture outside the classroom!
Katie’s first pre-k newsletter!
This was sent home with Katie today!
After school athletics program!
I picked Katie up at 4 and we stayed until Owen was done at 5:15. It was 80° and sunny so was a little hot to stay on the playground so we went in to watch Owen…and of course Katie ended up playing, too. 🙂
Katie helping the kids play dodgeball:
Playing basketball with Owen:
Mount Vernon field trip!
The entire first grade went to Mount Vernon today. They all had to wear their first grade tee.
A mom friend was a chaperone and sent me these pics:
Owen’s class being scientists.
When I arrived to pick up Katie, I saw a class of kids heading inside. I thought the teacher sounded familiar and it was—Owen’s teacher! I heard her say something about being scientists and they all had notebooks. Mrs. Talley waved and Owen happened to turn around and saw me. 🙂
I didn’t get to ask him about it after school since it was a mad rush to get him ready and out the door to baseball with Papa and Grannie (Tom and I had a retirement dinner to attend) but these pics were posted on Facebook!
Katie’s first field trip!
Katie’s first field trip—to Frying Pan Park (a working farm) in Herndon!
Katie: I’m so excited to take the bus!!
He was taking a dirt bath!
Katie got to pet the sheep but I didn’t get a picture of it!
She was frustrated that the little boy was climbing behind her!
Probably the best pic of the day! She loved the animals but she really liked playing on the tractors!
This little boy in his old-timey cap just cracked me up. I love this pic—they look like an old married couple being forced to sit for a photo. 🙂
Then soon it was snack time…
And time to go home…
She had a great time!
Katie’s classroom!
After I picked Katie up today, we stayed at the school since Owen had an after school sports program and needed to be picked up at 5:15 (and it was so nice we planned to play on the playground). She had to go potty so we went in and then ended up going to Katie’s pre-K room so she could show it to me.
In front of her cubby (she’s the red square):
Her job this week.
Me: Katie, what does the straw helper do?
Katie: We put straws in cups!
“Look! TWO dollhouses! TWO!”
And then it was back outside to the playground.
Katie: Mama, what do you want?
Me: Fries and a chocolate shake!
She has no fear.
Owen saw a cow at school!
Owen came home telling us they saw a cow in a truck at school today! We did get a few more details, but I’ll let the Facebook photos (that were posted this evening) tell the story instead. 🙂
We had a great morning at Halley when Sally the Jersey cow and the Mobile Dairy Classroom visited Halley to teach us a little bit about our food sources. The students were very excited to learn more about raising cows and even got to see a milking demonstration, provided by Instructor Amanda Griffith! The students asked great questions and learned a lot together! 🙂
Can you find Owen in these last two photos? Hint: he’s wearing his green MSU hoodie. 🙂
Katie’s first day of school!
She was very excited! And even though she was perfectly happy to use Owen’s old Minion backpack, I will be looking for a different one because I don’t actually like that backpack (it zips through the middle and it’s hard to fit the lunch bag in it).
Owen’s poetry reading
Owen’s class read a poem at Morning Program today.
Practicing his reading last night:
Owen’s PJ & Movie Day
Owen’s class earned a PJ and movie day with their Boosterthon pledges and today was that day. They were also allowed to bring a blanket or a stuffed animal.
Katie, are you excited about starting school?
I think so. 🙂
My prayers have been answered! I got an email Tuesday night saying they now have room for her in the peer modeling program! It’s only two afternoons a week (12:40-4) but that’s seven hours of sanity I get back every week! 🙂 Today we went in to meet the head teacher (love her!) and see Katie’s room. Katie made herself right at home—took her jacket off and started playing! It was the end of their morning, though, so it was actually time to put toys away and she jumped right in and helped! They told me she could actually stay for the afternoon if we wanted but we already had plans to meet friends at the park. (Dang!)
Katie had been very concerned that we had forgotten her backpack but I assured her we didn’t need it today and we’d have it ready for Monday. (She has decided she’ll use Owen’s old Minions backpack!)
The only downsides are that she’s supposed to have lunch and a snack there so that’s another lunch and snack I have to prep. (She could eat the school lunch but A) I don’t see that happening and B) I’m not paying $3/day for that—I won’t even do it for Owen.) She could eat at home beforehand, but then what’s she supposed to do while everyone is eating lunch? (Worst case I guess I could do two snacks. I mean, she loves snacks so that might be a bonus for her.) And of course I have to drop her off and pick her up (actual students have their own bus) but even so, I don’t have to physically go into he classroom—they meet us on the curb. Woohoo!
Needless to say we’re all very, very excited!!
It’s class picture day so he let me do his hair!
Boosterthon Fun Run Success!
Owen did AMAZING! They had two tracks running at the same time—Kindergarten and 1st grades on one and 2nd and 3rd on the other. The VIPs (parents, family, etc.) were in the center of each ring to cheer them on. Of course, Owen was on the outside of the track almost every time (which also meant that other kids were blocking my view) so I didn’t get many good pictures of him. I had been wondering how they were going to keep track of laps run, but the kids all had Boosterthon T-shirts with boxes on the back so every time they crossed the starting line, they had teachers and volunteers marking off boxes. Owen completed…ALL 35 POSSIBLE LAPS!! For a total pledge donation amount of…$390!! We are SOOOOO proud of him!! (The only slightly disappointing thing [for me] was at the end of the event—the kids got to take a “victory lap” with family and friends so Katie and I rushed out to walk with Owen…and he didn’t want anything to do with it and just went off on his own. I swear he’s 7-going-on-14.) If the amounts on the website can be trusted, the school hit 99% of their goal…which means the kids get the technology updates AND the playground equipment!!!
Tom wasn’t able to make it to the fun run, but Katie and I were there! Of course, she was pouting about something (I can’t even remember what since it happens so often).
Owen’s class coming onto the field.
National anthem.
Can you see Owen? (Hint in next pic.)
They had theme laps like clapping, walk with a friend, and slow-motion. This was the kangaroo lap (his favorite). 🙂
He started with the headband on, then it came off pretty quickly, and here it’s back again.
It came off again soon after.
Katie was an awesome cheerleader for Owen and all our other friends!
Westin, a kindergarten friend (we ate at their house for Thanksgiving).
Our across-the-street neighbors.
Owen and Colton (he was in his class last year and is on his baseball team this year) running together.
They had music playing the entire time so Katie did a lot of dancing!
Hazel, our kindergarten neighbor.
More dancing!
Katie helping clean up!
And the attempted class picture afterwards:
Since it was the end of the day, we went back to Owen’s classroom to take him home. This was the class goal sheet. I love to see the order of importance. 🙂
Boosterthon Fun Run Fundraising!
Owen is raising funds for playground and technology!
On Friday, March 18, he’ll complete 30 to 35 laps to help his school. If you’d like to be one of his sponsors, his goal is $10 per lap (but any amount is appreciated)!
CLICK HERE TO DONATE!
Bingo Night
Katie was frustrated that I wouldn’t let her play and stamp the bingo sheets…so I gave her the pizza box. Which kept her busy for a whole 10 minutes.
Pics the principal took (the lights were off so we could see the overhead projector…which made for not-great pics):
We thought Owen won the last game but one of his stamp marks was a little overzealous so he was one short. 🙁
100th Day of School
My first-ever attempt at making Owen 100 years old for his 100th day of school:
Oops! Forgot the glasses!
Typical Owen. 🙂
And of course little sister had to grab the glasses. 🙂
Pictures from the school’s Facebook page:
Crazy Hair Day
He was super excited for this day. He remembered we had the colored gel—and exactly what colors we have!
I’m not sure where he got this pose, but it was the very first thing he did. 🙂
Green on one side…
Orange on the other…
And pics from the school’s Facebook page:
Snow Day 7.5
If you can believe it, we had a 2-hour delay today! On a day that’s supposed to be 63°! I think you could hear the collective gasp throughout the county as the text came in!
Following an assessment of roads and sidewalks throughout the county, despite rising temperatures today, a significant number of sidewalks and crosswalks remain impassable. In order to provide additional daylight for morning travel, including more than 40,000 students that walk to school, all Fairfax County public schools will open two hours late Monday February 1, 2016.
We watched a neighbor kid because his parents had to go to work…and Owen and Katie were in heaven. You’d think we never had friends over before!
We donated a new Box Tops collection container!
At the last PTO meeting I went to, the principal mentioned that the current Box Tops display was getting a little ragged and needed to be fixed again. The Box Tops coordinator said she had tried to find a replacement but the company no longer offers them for sale. I immediately got the idea to see if we (me and Tom) could fix it—like maybe Tom could build the same thing but out of wood to make it more sturdy…
But once I got home and dove into Pinterest, I had better ideas! Once I got the okay from the principal and we actually decided what we were doing, it didn’t take too long. We ordered a mailbox from Amazon and Tom used wood that we already had…and this was born.
Once Tom got it painted and I got done designing the sticker and logo placements (a chore in itself considering how anal I am about this stuff and how perfect I wanted it to be), it looked damn good if I do say so myself.
So this morning I delivered it to the school.
And here it is right when you walk in the school. 🙂
(Jamey Chianetta is the principal.)
So now there will be a small part of our family at Halley for many years to come, even after we’re gone. 🙂
How you wear a hat when it’s 28° but you’ve spiked your hair.
First grade school picture!
Once again, Owen rocked his school picture! I love this kid! (I would have preferred a blue background, but you had to pay extra for that!)
And his first three years (the fall pictures only):
And if you include the spring pictures as well:
Are you sensing a trend in the outfits I pick? 🙂 I can’t wait to see how many years I can do it!
Our snowflake ornaments up close!
These are the snowflake ornaments we all painted at Owen’s school before Christmas.
Morning Program Poetry Helper
Every week, 10 students help read a poem during Morning Program. This week was finally Owen’s turn! Daddy didn’t think he was going to be able to make it…but he did! And Uncle Rob was there, too!
We couldn’t hear him, of course, but his lips were moving and he wasn’t crying or hiding so it was all good!
