thank you for helping me grow

May 2012- It is a busy time of year with the end of school wrapping up for the boys.  I wanted to give their teachers something for a gift for the end of the school year.  I thought about gift cards or something fun for summer, but then I found a cute (and free!) tag to download from Pinterest.

It says "Thank You for Helping me Grow this Year!"  I thought it was appropriate for both of the boys.  And it was easy so that's what we did.  I printed and laminated them, then used a glue dot to attach them to a yellow #2 pencil and stuck it in the pot.  Voila!  It might have been the easiest teacher gift I've ever put together.  

Here are the ones we gave Brazos' teachers at his Mom's Morning Off program.

Here's the plant we gave Pecos' Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Sander's.

This is Mrs. Fiedler.  She was the teacher's aide and computer lab teacher for Pecos this year.  She was even wearing a flower shirt the day we delivered her geranium flower to her!  She was a very sweet lady and told me so many times during the year how much she enjoyed having Pecos and what a good boy he was.  What mom doesn't want to hear that?!  She is retiring this year and we'll sure miss having her at school.

the graduate

May 23, 2012- Today he's graduating kindergarten and in the blink of an eye it will be high school.  

This is such a bittersweet milestone for us.  Bitter because he is growing up so fast.  Sweet because we get to do it again!  We've made the decision for Pecos to do kindergarten another year.  

Pecos is the youngest out of the 35 that were in kindergarten this year.  And while his teacher has assured us he is ready to move on academically we just feel it would be best in the long run to have him go through school not having to be the youngest in his class...he is a full 15 months younger than some of them.  We're really gonna miss some of the friends and families as they move on up to first grade but since Harper is a small school we know we'll see them often.

3 amigos ~ pecos, jace & emma

bryson & pecos

I guess in the back of my mind I knew all year this would be our decision.  I didn't even put up a blog post with pictures of his first day of his first year of kindergarten.  How awful of me.  SUre, things were busy around here but that's no excuse, so I guess I'll include som o f them here with his graduation photos.

This is the letter he received before school started.

Meet the Teacher night

 Ready for his first day of his first year of Kindergarten. {These are a size 5 slim jeans....about a month before the last day of school I bought him size 7 slim!}

Pecos on the last day of school wearing the t-shirt his teacher gave him for graduation.

Pecos and Jace on the first day of school.

The graduation program was incredibly cute and the kids and teachers worked so hard to make it a good one.

Pecos led the assembly in the Texas pledge.  With a name like Pecos you've got to lead the Texas pledge, right?

Sometimes I think Pecos is an old man in a young boy's body.  

Receiving his diploma from the principal, Mr. Harper.  How neat is it that the principal for Harper Elementary is named Mr. Harper!

And a hug from Mrs. Sanders.  We were so blessed to have her for his teacher this year.  She was so kind and nurturing for his gentle soul.

Knowing we would be doing this again next year made the program a bit more fun and enjoyable.  Next year I'm sure I'll be an emotional wreck.

the graduate with Oma & Opa

Pecos & Mrs. Sanders on the first day of school.

Pecos & Mrs. Sanders at graduation.

Who says you can't turn back time?  We sure can- sort of- we get to do this all again!  One more time for gingerbread men, show and tell, 100 day celebration and collection, kindergarten rodeo, graduation and so much more!

stepping back in time

May 2012- We went over to Oma & Opa's neighbor's ranch to fetch this boat.  Oma needed to borrow it for her church's upcoming Vacation Bible School program.  

Then we proceeded to drive it half a mile down the highway like this.  Oma, Pecos, Brazos, Casey and myself.  And the boat.  What, doesn't everyone transport a boat down the road from their neighbor's ranch like this?

Here's the best part.  While we were trying to locate the boat...no one currently lives at the ranch and the daughter told Oma it was in one of the barns...I found so many neat things.  Even though the family still uses the ranch no one has been living here for quite some time.  It sounds so cliché, but it really was like stepping back in time.   

Oh how I'd love to have this.  Can you imagine the fun times the kids had on it?

I wonder how many animals have been watered from this trough?

Or fed from this hay rack?

Or how many calves passed through this chute?

Or how many have been loaded through this chute?

The windmill now stands idle but I bet it has turned millions of times in the Hill Country breeze and pumped thousands of gallons of water through the years.

And these trees.  How terribly sad to see them this way.  I'm sure they once provided an abundance of shade but they have fallen victim to Oak Wilt disease.  

This windmill tail vane is in perfect vintage condition.  I really, really wanted this but it wasn't mine to have.  I'm not sure exactly what I'd do with it but if I come across one at a decent price some day I think I'll have to get it.

my bag of tricks

May 2012- With Brazos turning 2 last week and then trying to clean out my purse for an upcoming trip, it hit me.  I won't always need to carry around this bag of tricks to keep my children entertained, sanitized, fed and UV protected.   

So I thought I'd document what is in my bag at this stage of our lives:

sippy cup

boogie wipes

truck book for brazos

truck

2 trailers {for the truck because 1 trailer is never enough}

toy duck- for the trailers {because one day brazos wanted to put a horse in it that was too big; i didn't have a horse small enough so i put the duck in there.  now he thinks that is the only thing that is allowed in the trailer}

tractor with a front loader {if you think any other tractor would suffice you are sadly mistaken}

excavator

bulldozer

dump truck

alfie the excavator from thomas the train

container with brazos sized utensils

hand sanitizer

sunblock- 2 of them

gum {pecos' favorite from a mexican food restaurant}

peppermints {for pecos- from a mexican food restaurant- i feel like it's the only place we ever eat besides mcdonald's and fuddrucker's}

granola bar {smashed and crumbled because it has been forgotten at the bottom of the bag}

children's tylenol {& mommy tylenol}

At this point you may be thinking there is nothing in there for me.  I feel that way too most of the time.  But here's my stuff:

gum

sharpies, markers & pens

hair clip

ipod {that hasn't been updated with new music in ages- i don't have time to listen to it anyway}

digital camera {in case i don't have the monster camera with me}

3 lip glosses & 1 lip stick {that i rarely ever wear}

chapstick

a powder compact {as if i ever think to reapply during the day}

my business card {yes, i do have one and it dosen't say pecos & brazos mom on it}

5 hour energy drink {that i never seem to remember to drink until it is too late at night and i don't have 5 hours to stay awake}

a grocery list {from 3 weeks ago}

bank receipts {no less than 3 at any given time}

a coupon {that is probably expired}

checkbook {with the same cover i've had since i opened the account in high school}

wallet

These things are normally in my bag but were missing from the picture:

toy horse {that doesn't fit in the trailers, brazos needed it for a different- and larger- trailer that was hooked to a different- and larger- truck in the living room}


Cheerios {how would my children avoid starvation without them?  the container was in the kitchen awaiting a refill}

diapers & wipes in a cute cowboy carrying case {they are still in the back of the car from a diaper change for brazos while we were at t-ball practice yesterday}

blackberry smartphone {it was on the counter for faster access}

ipad {pecos was playing a game on it}


keys {i can't ever find them!}

Now does it make sense why I carry around such a large bag all the time?  This is why I can never find my keys.  And, NO, you may not ask me to carry something for you.

brazos' tractor party

May 2012- Happy Birthday to Brazos!  It became clear to us about 6 months ago that tractors are one of his favorite things so that is what I've been planning for his party theme.  It was an explosion of green and yellow.

The invitation.

Family picture with the birthday boy.  But in true Casey style, he refused to dress in correct party color attire.  He does own a green shirt and it was clean and hanging in his closet.  But for some reason he didn't wear it.  He has a slight defiant streak that often interferes with my plans.  But he worked really hard to get everything around the house and in the yard ready for the party so I tried not to give him too hard of a time about it.

MiMi & Paw Paw with the birthday boy.  

Brothers.

And now for the party decor.  

A tractor tire filled with corn for digging.

The digging table Casey built for Brazos' birthday.

Some hanging tractor decor.

They were flying around in the wind and I was afraid they'd be destroyed before the party even started. So I weighed them down with a tractor.

Birthday Banner that miraculously stayed in tact despite the gusts of wind.

Cupcakes and tractor cookies.

Goodie Bags.

Birthday boy enjoying his cupcake.  Too much wind to light the candles!

Desi enjoying her cupcake.

Everyone seemed to have a great time.  Brazos sure did!

Presents!

Pinata!

Always looking for more...

Brazos with his sweet Godmother, Mignonne.  Brazos has this thing where he refuses to look at the camera when I'm taking pictures.  So after 5 snaps this is still what I got.  I think he does it just because he knows it really gets to me.

Our party guests.

The 2 two-year-olds at the party.

After a loooooooooong nap we headed into Fredericksburg for dinner at Hondo's.  A perfect way to end the day of celebrating Brazos' 2nd birthday.