we wish you a merry christmas

how is it possible that it is already december 3??
this year is absolutely flying by!!
i guess that's what happens when you are having fun :)

as the calendar year and first half of this school year come to a close we want to take the time to thank you for sharing your family with us
spending our days with all of your kids brings us immense joy
each child has their own personality and brings something different to the dynamic of our classrooms
walking through the building and seeing how much everyone has learned and grown so far is amazing

we hope that you all enjoy this holiday season and your time with your little ones as much as we enjoy having them here!

merry Christmas!!

Hello all!!

The first month of school is officially under our belts and things here at the little red school house couldn't be better!!

We have lots of returning friends and lots of new friends and everyone has settled in quite nicely!

October is one of my personal favorites. I love sitting in the office and listening to all of the talk on both sides of the building about halloween costumes and trick or treat plans. The silly themed songs are the background music to our lives right now and it makes me happy because halloween is such a fun holiday .. I love any excuse for a costume!!

It is so funny to hear what all of the kids want to be

Some are easy to guess .. lots of the little girls are planning to be one of the princesses .. elsa is the most popular choice as of now .. but then there are the ones that surprise you like the little girl who has older brothers and wants to be "a ninja turtle .. but not a nice one .. a mean one" or the little girl who is going to wear a sushi costume

We of course have boys who are excited about being super heroes and pirates and then there is the one who wants to be a raccoon and another who says he is going to be a balloon man

Whether the costume choice is similar to others or something a little different .. they will all be so adorable coming to school all dressed up

Now, if the weather would quit pretending that it is still August and get on board with the fact that it is fall, all will be right in the world :)

Happy Wednesday!!

with love..

nancy

Summer Fun

How is it possible that Summer Fun is already over?!?
It has been such a fun month and has just absolutely flown by!!
We have done some awesome art projects, played fun new games, enjoyed some dancing and singing, and run around outside until we just couldn't take the heat anymore!!

We have loved having your kiddos this summer!!
See you all in September :)

with love..

nancy

martha

this book is a little bit overwhelming .. but a lot AWESOME!!

 

Hello, my name is Audrey, and I wish I was Martha Stewart….

     Except that whole prison, insider trading thing. If you really think about it, Martha gets paid to be a great house keeper and a great mom; although, I have no idea if she is great at either. I would love to get a pay check for making beautiful meals, keeping a beautiful home, tending an amazing garden, and doing crafts with or for my kids. Those are my favorite things to do, if you take out the keeping house part. I LOVE my garden! I think I was born with a black thumb, but I figure if I keep messing it up and learning from those experiences, I can force my black thumb to turn green someday. I am very persistent! I LOVE doing arts and crafts projects, but I wish I could come up with the idea, get it started, and then have someone else finish it for me and clean up, and if I was Martha, that would be true. I also love to cook. When J and I got married, I didn’t know how to cook anything. My mom signed Nancy and me up for a 14 week chef certification class. I learned so much! J gained 30 pounds in 14 weeks; you can’t eat like you are in a restaurant every day and not gain weight. I now love to cook and love to bake. The only other thing is the housekeeping, and I don’t love that. I am not good at it, but God blessed me with a husband who really could not care less.  So you see, I sort-of wish I was Martha Stewart.

Oh well…

Have a good one ..

Audrey



kick kick kick your feet

we have had so much rain here in tx {praise God} that it hasn't really been great lake weather yet
even on the days when it hasn't been raining, the water is still pretty cold and the lake is murky and has lots of debris
so this past weekend was the first time i have actually gotten the littlest down to kick her little feet in the water

i didn't do it exactly right
she had already been down playing on the dock for several hours and was tired and ready to take a nap and i realized she hadn't even touched the water yet
so i took her down and let her kick her feet for a couple of minutes
she really liked it at first but quickly remembered her grumbling tummy and tired eyes so it didn't last very long
but I know she will love the lake just as much as all of her cousins some day very very soon

with love,
nancy

Road Warriors

This is a post for my fellow road warriors headed for Florida this summer!
     It is summer here in Fort Worth, although you might not guess that based on the weather! As soon as summer starts people around here start heading out on vacation and one of the favorite destinations is Watercolor/Seaside, Florida. I know this because I was there last week and saw several of our sweet families!! My husband and I have mapped out a path to get to Florida that involves really great food, and when you are on a road trip food is the thing that makes it all ok.  Pack a lunch in your ice chest so you can have lunch on the road without making yourself sick with a drive thru burger. There is great food in Florida, don't waste the calories on bad road food. Also, pack your swim suits, sunscreen, a few towels, and an old sheet for the beach.
     First, if you leave in the morning and head towards Shreveport, then take 3132 down to I-49 and head south until you get to I-10, and go through Baton Rouge. Now, here is what we have learned... even though it sounds like a good idea to stop in Baton Rouge, actually, it's not. Baton Rouge has too much traffic and too many people, so keep on going through Baton Rouge, stay on I-12, and stop for dinner in Slidell, Louisiana. There is a great Hot Dog Bar with outside seating so the kids can be crazy on the patio without disturbing anyone. It will be a later dinner, but it is worth it! The place is called Bruiser's and the address is 1904 Front Street.

     Bruiser's has several kinds of hot dogs but not such a big menu that it is hard to pick, which is very important when your brain is fried by seeing what feels like a million miles of highway pass around you. After a little out of the car time, get back in the car and keep heading east. We always stop in Daphne, Alabama. We do this for several reasons... #1 FOOD! There is a fantastic breakfast place in Daphne called the East Side Café. Holy moly, great food! Being honest, I ordered 2 breakfasts because I just couldn't decide. I had the stuffed French toast, AMAZING, and Jason and I split the Cottage Sandwich with bacon and sausage. Oh My Goodness, so, so good! The kids were happy too with outside seating and pancakes, what could be better than that?? Even my super picky eater had a few bites of pancake and a piece of bacon.

Now, you are set for a great day! You are only 2 hours from Watercolor or Seaside and you can go ahead and park in the public parking, put on your swim suits and have an extra beach day by getting there Saturday morning instead of waiting for the 3 or 4 o'clock check in. Go have lunch, and then spread your sheet on the beach, there is a public area just west of the watercolor beach, and sand shakes out of a sheet much easier that a towel. let the kids play in the water and get all their pent up wiggles out, and enjoy the beautiful sunshine!

hashtag withoutshoes

one of our cousins works for TOMS and right now they are doing an amazing campaign to raise awareness for children's health and education

we wanted to get involved and so can you 

all you have to do is post a photo to instagram that has your bare feet in it and use the hashtag #withoutshoes

for every picture TOMS will give a pair of shoes to a child in need

it can be whatever kind of picture you want .. close up .. far away .. whole body .. side of your foot .. kids feet .. dogs paws ..anything!!

just as long as you don't have shoes or socks on and you tag #withoutshoes and @toms

the campaign goes through this thursday may twenty first which is the actual day of one day without shoes when people all over the world will be going without shoes the whole day

for more info go to: toms.com/onedaywithoutshoes