End of Kinder...

Our school does not have a Kinder graduation so we decided to have our own little fun at the end of last year to celebrate a wonderful year of learning, making friends, and loving school. Here is a glimpse of the goodies...

Kindergarten Read In

Birthday cupcakes at school and lunch with Nana.

Last day donuts.

(We ran into my friend Missy (camera in hand) who had the same idea.)

Here's a comparison of the 1st and Last Day!

(The loot in the last day pic was from Mommy and Daddy. We both wrote inside of the book.)

Here is the end of year gift that we gave her teacher.  She loved it!

If you'd like a copy of the labels & sign Click HERE. I used my 2 1/2 " circle punch for the stickers.

Needless to say we are proud of our girl and thankful for an amazing Kindergarten experience.  Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the wonderful weather.





Donuts & Dolls...a Lala Breakfast Party

Well apparently summer vacation meant no family blogging either.  Now that we are somewhat back on schedule it's time to start sharing.  To begin, I'll back it up to Lil' C's 6th birthday party.  I've always thought a breakfast/brunch birthday party would be a ton of fun. Once the birthday girl decided on a lalaloopsy theme, we began planning Donuts & Dolls. With a little help from The Hole Thing (our local posh donut shop) and some inspiration from pinterest the celebration came to life.

The donut tower cake.

Fab fruit cups

Mini pancake skewers

Goodies.

Place markers

Party time.

Favors.

Friends & Family.

Just so much fun!! (Thanks for being the family photographer Karyn.)

Clowning Around...

One of the things that we were most excited about Kindergarten was being a part of Kindergarten Circus.  Just about every Kindergartner that has gone through our district has participated in the circus.  (It's a 30+ year tradition) We've discussed circus characters the entire year and after a little costume browsing Lil C settled on the decision of clown.  Her decision was totally inspired by the Lalaloopsy Squirt Little Top. (Sew cute) Here she is clownin around.

She was the first act of the show and totally nailed the juggling performance. (haha)

Uncle B came for support. Member of the Kinder Circus Class of 1991. (He was a strong man.)

Our favorite Kinder Teacher.

Our favorite principal.

Our favorite friends.

Circus was all we hoped it would be and such a fun happy memory.



Our Dancin' Girl

Well it's been a tough couple of weeks but we've managed to find more than a handful of smiles by toting around and keeping busy with our dancin girl. I have to admit, this has been a true joy for me with my dance passion and history.  I didn't have her begin dance as early as she could've because I didn't want to push anything on her that she didn't want herself.  We started with gymnastics at 3 years old, soccer, t-ball, then dance at 4.  We wanted her to try it all and find what she enjoyed. (and of course we're not done exploring.) Well this is year 2 for dance and it looks like it may be here to stay.  Not only is she taking ballet/tap and hip hop, but she's also started to explore camp and clinic life.

She started with the Crandall Gold Dusters Mini Camp.  This was a 2 hour camp with the high school drill team followed by a performance in their Spring Show the next weekend.  For those that aren't aware, this was my high school drill team so it's super special to me!!

She danced to Crocodile Rock from Gnomeo and Juliet!

And then the next weekend was the monster camp! The Dallas Mavs Dancer Camp. We were super excited about this one but also nervous. It was a 4 hour camp. We had no idea how a full day would work out and if she'd be begging to go home on the lunch break.

Lunch...ready to go home?

Not a chance.

Our favorite Mavs Dancers: Jenna and Savannah. (Forney girls)

She did such a great job and asked to go back.

It's so much fun to watch her dance. She may not have the best technique yet and is sometimes a few counts behind BUT she shows the biggest smile on the floor.  Right now, I just hope she's falling in love and I think that she is...

(This next one is a little blurry but I LOVE the costume.)

 

OUR DANCIN' GIRL!!!

What I'm Loving (Obsessing) This Week...

Well of course the NCAA tournament began this week and our TV has been tuned in non-stop. Usually I'm all in, but this year an early upset has me a bit tuned out.  As a result, I'm going to take this time to escape and share a bit of what I'm obsessing loving this week.

First, THE STICKY BUN BREAKFAST RING.  Made this little pinterest inspired yummy last weekend.  It was so quick and easy and we absolutely devoured it.

Click here for the recipe.

As most of the state of Texas was out of school this week on Spring Break (including the king of the castle), my district was not...and trust me a break is well due for both the kids and teachers.  A few key front office staff members realized the need for a re-charge and planned some excellent activities and goodies for the teachers and titled the week Spring Fling.  It was such a hit. Hot dogs and movies in the lounge, wearing flip flops one day, a scavenger hunt, and here's what I'm loving....FRUIT SLUSHES. They were delectable, and made with a couple of these handy dandy machines which I am now eye-balling on Amazon and trying to justify the purchase.  Do any of you have one?? I am in love.

A couple of weeks ago I hosted a Thirty-One catalog party for a good friend at work.  Here are a couple of my hostess gifts that I just adore.  They are so sweet and I'm wondering if a certain 5 year old will try to claim them before I get them stuffed with my "stuff."

Yesterday, I set out to purchase a new pair of ballet slippers for my little dancer and this tres chic bag caught my eye. I quickly flashed to my "take me shopping" pinterest board and thought it would be a fabulous addition to multiple spring looks.  I can't wait to carry it this week.

This weekend I mixed a few bars in my Scentsy (really just didn't want to clean out one before adding the other). Coconut Lemongrass + Rio Beach = an urge to schedule a tropical escape.

This next obsession was just discovered yesterday. YOPLAIT BITES. Oh my word...they are uh-mazing. I highly recommend you try these little bites of heaven.  They say 30 calories a bite, but by the time you hit bite number 2-3 you will highly likely take care of the rest of the bag.  Key lime pie flavored is my fave.



 This last one is always on my mind, but this week he has me especially attentive. My hero, my little brother,  Brandon (on the right) is working his last couple of weeks in Afghanistan. Unfortunately right now, tension is high over there.  I'm praying that he can finish up his last few days of his year tour safely before heading back to Hawaii in a few weeks.  He clearly deserves a little relaxation and toes in the sand. We love you B and can't wait till your back on US soil.

Well I hope everyone has an excellent week and can find a few things you're lovin too!!



Interested in Helping My Classroom?

Interested in helping my first graders receive this listening center and listening supplies for our classroom? Well it's easy and you can. There's a wonderful site called Donor's Choose. They allow teachers to write grants for classroom supplies and add them to the site.  Anyone can donate ANY amount...$10, $20, $50.  Once the full amount of the project is funded, they ship the supplies straight to our classroom. Nice huh? This is the 3rd grant that I have posted.  This summer, donors (some of my closest friends, family, and classroom parents) pulled together to help me begin an amazing classroom library of leveled books.  Take a look...

My 2nd project for mp3 players was not fully funded before the deadline.  Which brings us to now...My 3rd project.  I'm trying to raise funds to purchase listening center items for my first graders to use on a daily basis.  You can find more details on how these supplies will be used by going to my project page HERE and checking it out.  Normally, I just purchase supplies out of pocket for my classroom which is what I have done in the past for listening center supplies. However, this new listening center is more kid friendly and allows multiple students to listen to a story at a time, which is what I need. I'd love for you to check it out and help if you can.  It's a quick and easy way to help support a teacher, education, and most importantly students. Another way that you can help is by sharing the project with anyone that you think may be interested in donating.  Here's the cool thing..right now you can use the code CHASE and Chase/Clear Channel are doubling donation amounts. Just Fabulous. Thanks everyone, I appreciate your support.

So Proud of the Boys...

Well it's time to catch up on this little family blog but the truth is there's one thing going on in the Curtis household right now and that is FALCON BASKETBALL. It's been amazing to watch this group come as far as they have.  For the 4 seniors on the team, they have been playing for Coach all 4 years of their high school career.  The first year of varsity ball for the new program was exciting and seems so long ago.  Now here we are 3 years later and they are an amazing team.  We are so proud of their achievements this year and all that they have accomplished as Falcons.  Congrats to the Falcon Hoops program. District Champs, Bi-District Champs, and Area Champs...Regional Quaterfinal game this Tuesday at 8:00pm in Commerce against Texarkana Pleasant Grove.  Let's go boys. You can do it.

Peace, love, and Falcon Basketball.