Flag Football Season 1

Leo has been asking to play football for years and this season his dreams came true!  The Colts flag football league at our school started in first grade.  He was so excited to get to play.

Leo learned so much, played hard and was sad to see the season end.  He had an awesome coach that nicknamed him Big Dawg.  And he encouraged Leo to play in beast mode which always got him pumped up.  His coach was encouraging, gave Leo good feedback and made sure the boys always had fun.  It was so much fun to watch him learn and grow in a whole new way this season.

Leo loved wearing a jersey, loved playing defense, got faster as the season went on and was so proud when he'd complete a pass, catch the ball in a game, score a touchdown, pull a flag or hike the ball well.  He did not love playing in the SUPER heat or wearing a mouth guard, but he powered through and was excited to show up to every practice and game.  I really enjoyed seeing so many of my former students on the football field.  It was awesome to reconnect with so many former families.  I'll always be cheering for their kids!  It was fun to see his team work together to play well.  The whole league's mission is to teach the kids the fundamentals of football, work as a team, grow in your skills and grow closer to God through sports.

Leo is pumped to practice in the off season to make sure he's ready to play again next year.  We can't wait to cheer for him!

Good coaches makes all the difference!!

I'm so proud of him for trying something new and for doing something that was hard!

Grandparent's Day

Last week was a doozy!  We had 2 field trips, 3 sick days for 2 different kids, football, rearranged plans and then we ended the week with Grandparent's Day at school.  I'm happy to have managed it all.

My parents and Kevin's parents were able to head to school to visit both boys in their classrooms.  It was so sweet to see our whole school filled to the brim with grandparents.  I think I heard the final number was 1, 700+ grandparents visiting grandkids at all of our campuses!  WOW!

They got to visit first grade, fifth grade and me in kindergarten!  My parents.

Kevin's parents.  It was a fun afternoon for everyone!

I'm so thankful that everyone was happy and healthy enough to attend a really fun day at school.

Lucky to Have a Sick Day with You

Leo came home from school on Monday and kept saying his mouth hurt.  He was sluggish and cried easily.  I couldn't see anything wrong in his mouth, but it was obvious that he didn't feel good.  

I was on high alert as all working moms would be during the school week.  We kept a close eye on him all evening and night.  I made a game plan with Kevin since my day the following day was the lightest, easiest to miss.  He'd help get the kids to school, I'd pick up and stay home with Leo if needed.

I stayed up late to write emergency sub plans for my assistant (really just added in all the extra details to my own plan book in case she was the one teaching the following day), woke up early to call into work since Leo didn't sleep well, sent texts to my team, email all the people and make sure my school day was fully planned out so that I could give Leo my full attention at home.

5-7am was stressful, but we did it!  Olive wasn't feeling great.  Leo didn't sleep well and woke up worse.  They both stayed home with me.  Fletcher wasn't thrilled to miss out on staying home but he went to school with Kevin doing drop off.  We rearranged pick ups.  And worked on all the chores/projects at home that needed attention.

I ordered a grocery delivery to stock up on popsicles, sore throat medicine, cold stuff and some favorite foods to be delivered in the morning.

We watched movies, snuggled and enjoyed a day at home together.

Leo looked at me and said "I'm so lucky to get to have a sick day with you!"  That was a good reminder for me to take the sick days even if they are a lot of work and that I can still do a job that I love and be the kind of mom that I want to be.

I got a glimpse of what the cats do all day.  We line up our backpacks at night, but since we were all home the cats took advantage of the cozy sleep spots.

Thank goodness for grocery delivery.

I surprised Fletcher with fun field trip lunch options for his field trip the next day.

It was the first day of Fall so I made sure to make this staple snack mix.  Olive managed her school work and I helped Leo work on his.  I kept close tabs on my school emails and parent app messages.

I delivered hot chocolate to cozy snuggle spots.

And finished the day with homemade cookies and running back to school to get Fletcher.  I did a quick reset of my classroom, got my Wednesday basket ready to go for the following day, set out morning work and got my classroom ready for the following day.  Then we headed home and it was time for taco night.

Thinking of all my mom friends finding themselves in similar boats this Fall and Winter.  You can do it!

Nana is 90!

We got to celebrate Kevin's Nana turning 90 over the weekend!  What a big milestone!  She worked so hard with her girls to plan the perfect gathering for family and friends.  She had relatives come in town and we all gathered at a cute country church to celebrate her.

Nana loves to cook for her family, makes all your favorite food, shares her recipes and is thrilled when you call or visit her.

She decorates for the holidays, is crafty and a great gardener.  Her house is filled with ceramic decorations that she hand painted years ago.

Nana still lovse to host everyone at her house, she always looks so cute and she makes you feel like the most important person in the room when you are together.  Nana always wants to know more about you!  She's a treasure!

I have known Nana since I was little.  I'd go to her house when Kevin and I were dating.  They'd host holidays and an epic Halloween bonfire out in the country.  She welcomed me into the family long before I was officially in the family.  We always enjoy our time with Nana.

She's so easy to celebrate.  I want to be just like Nana when I grow up.

I loved looking through all the old pictures.

September Favorites

Happy Friday!!  I've got a September favorites recap for you today.  

The best parts of this month are:

1. Flag Football has been so fun and SO HOT.  The Midwest and probably where you live have been roasting lately.  We have had to change up practices and have 8am games.  This is how hot it was for our 8am game one Saturday morning.  But we forget it all with some celebration donuts.

2. My little brother joined the 40 club.  We got to celebrate with him!

3. Peanut loves a good backpack snuggle session.

4. Olive got a surprise Fall boo basket delivery from a friend.

5. Peanut on a pumpkin blanket.  We are all ready for cooler weather.

6. We celebrated Kevin's mom's birthday.

7. Fletcher and I love a grocery store run to our favorite store - Schnucks!  We grabbed a few extra things for the week and some skeleton decorations for Halloween for the boys.

8. Pumpkin is the most handsome guy.

10. Dollar tree surprised me with this cute football garland.  It was $1.50/garland and I got three.  It worked perfect for our team - Notre Dame and it was so much cheaper than one I had seen at HomeGoods.  I think that one was smaller and not as cute for $15.  It looks really cute on my mantle.  I think they had pumpkins, mushrooms and football garlands in the Fall section.

11. Peanut is the sweetest alarm clock. He starts purring as soon as he hears your alarm go off.

12. Leo surprised us an lost a tooth at school! I  don't think it was even that wiggly, but he came home with a tiny tooth treasure box.

13. Bookclub at Pangea!  My bookclub met over a delicious dinner.  I always look forward to our monthly dinners.

14. Leo doesn't wantto listen to me telling him to brush his teeth, but he was absolutely listen to the tooth fairy about brushing his teeth.  Go figure!

15. More flag football!  Not quite so hot.  Thank goodness!  This was Leo's best game yet - one touchdown, two pulled flags, he's getting faster!

16. Car hang outs.  My kids and probably all kids love a run through their favorite drive thru with some errands and alone time with mom.  Olive's choice was Chick-Fil-A with errands at Five Below, Target and Sams.  We got caught up on all the things.

17. Did you see my recipe for Twice Baked Potato Bites?  They were so good that I made them twice!

18. We don't do scary Halloween decorations, but Leo loves to look at them in stores.  Once the temps get under 90, we'll get out the pumpkin decorations.

19. When you learn about a new lip product with a friend and then she buys you both matching lipstick to try.  This was pretty.  The color lasted for 24hours, but the texture/dry feeling on your lips might take a minute to get used to.  It never looks dry, but it feels a little dry.

20. Surprise Chick-Fil-A Chicken Minis for your teachers!?  Yes, please!  A sweet student suprised us with these one day this week.  Yum!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!  We've got a busy one.  See you back here on Monday.

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