"Tricky" Monday!

Monday was Memorial Day. Monday was also BISD's bad weather make up day. Yuck. But we have a great Principal that made the day very fun (and "tricked" us all into coming to school on a National holiday!) It was "Step Up" Day. Each grade got to "step up" to the next grade to check it out. So Lily got to visit 1st grade, Logan got to visit 3rd grade and Zac got to visit 5th grade. The kids loved it! They got a close up preview of what next year holds. What a great idea!

Also, Monday was Kindergarten Splash Day. That is the day Kindergartners look forward to all year long. It is 2 hours of swimsuits, water, bubbles, shaving cream, body paint, slip-n-slides, pools, and unlimited popsicles and snacks! Wow!!!

It is a wild 6 year old free for all! And everyone loves it - even the parents! Especially since that means it is almost summer!

Lily the Proud

Lily was chosen as the "Proud Porter Panther" for her class for the last six weeks. The virtue she was chosen for was trustworthiness. She was very excited about being chosen and getting to eat huge cinnamon rolls for breakfast at school.

She received a certificate, a pencil, virtue tag and best of all (in her opinion) a Chick-fil-a certificate! Now she can go visit Mr. George at her favorite restaurant! He spoils Lily with ice cream and balloons when she eats all her food. Isn't that all a girl needs in life - someone to spoil her?!?

Way to go Lily! We are very "Proud Panther Parents"!

Summer Cut

Well, after he tried to apply sunscreen and wear his goggles to swim, Logan finally agreed to get a haircut.

Before - aka "Shaggy" had to brush his sticking up, rooster hair every morning.



After - "Mom, I think my smile is better now. Thanks for the summer cut." No problem kiddo, my pleasure.

Finally Productive!

For whatever reason, I was feeling blue last week and did not want to do anything but take a nap. Well, I have finally gotten over my "blue funk". And let me say, it's about time since there are only 3 full days of school left until summer! Yikes!! I better get busy! Here it part of what happened this week:

1. I have gotten several things marked off my list. Well, I actually had 1 list and 3 sticky notes full. I am down to just 1 list now, so I am making progress!
2. I filled all of the PTA positions for next school year. Yeah!
3. We sold the van to a sweet young couple. Yahoo!!!
4. We cleaned out Larry's closet. Whew! That was hard work. I was not able to get rid of the awful blue shirt, but he did let go of many other items that had overstayed their welcome in our closet.
5. We had a moderately successful garage sale and finally all those sacks of stuff we didn't want are sold or taken to Goodwill.

I accomplished a lot more little things, but you really don't care about all of that. You know how it is, we all have little things to pick up, drop off, buy, mail, bake, email, pay for, put away, wash, dry, plant, water, file...sleep.

Boxing?

Any guesses as to how this happened???

Notice the lovely rainbow of colors...purple, red, green, yellow...

Oh, and YES it hurts, so don't make me laugh too hard!!!

(Look in the comments for the answer.)

Lily's Last Game

Today was a very important day for Lily. Lily and Jacey (her best friend) wore their uniforms to school today. It was her final game of the season with the Diamond Girls. Awww. It was also awards night. Oooh! Lily has been very excited about getting another medal like she got for playing soccer and fall softball. I warned her that she might not get another medal, but she just knew she would get something. (That smart girl has been watching her brothers get trophys for years!) Well, she got something even better than a medal. Coach Ben handed out the awards. She received a sparkly red and gold trophy...and a chocolate chip cookie...and a blue slush that turned her tongue blue! Wow! I know one little girl will be having very sweet dreams tonight.

Oh, and PS...only 9 more days of school! Yippee!

Snaggle, Snaggle, Tooth

Well, it is all about teeth at the Tolleson house. Zachery lost another tooth at school today. Logan finally lost his top two teeth and has one of my favorite smiles ever on a kid! And Lily, well, thankfully she still has her teeth! We went for her check-up today from her stitches and she is healing well. She was very excited that she can eat regular foods again! One of her top teeth is still wiggly, but the Doctor is not concerned since she would lose it soon anyway. Her only restriction is not to bite into something real hard like an apple for a while - or the tooth may pop out! On the way back to school from her appointment, we stopped at Sonic to get her lunch. Oh my. I have never seen a child eat a grilled cheese and french fries as quickly as she did today! Poor girl must have been absolutely starving for the past two weeks! She has a list of foods that she has not gotten to eat over the past two weeks, so I guess I better get cookin'!

Give Her a Break!

Poor little Lily. She has had a rough few weeks. First the incident with her mouth and then today she went to the Doctor with Strep! She has a bad case and has been feeling pretty yucky since Saturday afternoon. Poor thing has just cried, because "it's just not fair". But she didn't cry about stitches, or about Strep. She cried because Logan lost another tooth and Zachery has one that is very loose! I think she was disappointed that the fall did not knock a few teeth out!!! Silly girl! She will have to stay home from school again tomorrow. She is missing school and her friends. I think she has finally realized that mommy cannot just play and watch movies with her all day. Poor mommy has to do the bills, dishes, laundry, cooking... Can't either one of us get a break?!?

The Count Down Begins

The kids can count it on their fingers and toes. Only 17 more days until...

SUMMER!!!

I can't wait for lazy days, sleeping in, cartoons, walks in the park, going to the beach, visiting family, riding bikes, homemade ice cream, sunscreen, tan lines, swimming, zoo trips, picnics, watermelon, Parker County peaches, no bedtime, movies, reading books for fun, play dates....Ahhh.

Old Yeller

It seems like every day I hear about another tragedy. Another illness. Another death. There are so many people that are hurting right now. Zac and I finished reading "Old Yeller" tonight. We both cried. It is such a heart-breaking story of life, love and tragedy. But there is a great message to the story.

Bad things happen. Bank on it. It is impossible to escape. But, just like Travis in the story, we have to get past it. Move on. Begin to see the joy all around us. For the families that are hurting, I pray not only for their comfort and healing, but that they can experience God.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too." 2 Cor 1:3-5

Lily's Progress

Thank you to everyone for your concern for Lily. She is starting to feel a little better. Her face is still really swollen, but she does not feel too much pain unless she gets more active. She has been pretty tired, which is very unusual for her. (Isn't it funny when kids say "I'm not tired!" as they scream and cry?!?) She is enjoying her diet of soft foods and has not complained one bit. Although who wouldn't like to have ice cream, yogurt, oatmeal, spaghettio's and popsicles all day long?
On the plus side, we were able to get her hair cut today finally! She was very specific. Shoulder length, with layers and glitter. What a girly girl!