Ten Things I {Loved} About Summer '12

This has been the craziest busiest summer of my life.  Even though I didn't attend any professional development workshops, share information at any educational conferences, or take a vacation I feel like I have been running a marathon!  The main reason for that is that I have a 4 1/2 year old, 28 month old, and an almost 3 month old.

With that being said, I want you to know that despite the late late late night hours, temper tantrums, potty training, requests for food every 5 minutes, and shedding a few tears as I think to myself what in the world am I doing?!?, I wouldn't change anything about my summer for a million dollars!

My teacher buds and family members are asking me if I'll miss teaching, and I know I will in many ways, but in so many ways I'm still teaching.  I believe that parents are a child's first teacher.  I have always been able to tell which students got lots of quality time with parents and took part in lots of "real life" experiences.  So I consider myself tremendously blessed to be able to spend these few years with my little guys.  I haven't blogged nearly as often as I wanted to {for obvious reasons} so I thought I'd just post something that captures some of my favorite memories of summer '12!

1.  Jaxon {our newest addition}

  I love this little guy SO much!

2.  A "mini" Family Reunion

My family is AMAZING!  I am so blessed with wonderful parents and siblings, I have an awesome brother-in-law,  and I have the most adorable nieces {yes, my sister has 3 beautiful girls}!  Oh, and Mr. Perry is pretty incredible himself!

My sister {the Dr.}, brother {the lawyer}, and you know who!

This is Mr. Perry's side of the family.  Once again, I have to say that I have wonderful in-laws, three handsome brother in laws, and a sweet sister in law!  This was supposed to be a goofy pic, but I'm afraid I'm looking quite normal!  Here's a silly one. . .

3.  Cow Appreciation Day

These are some of the cutest cows I've ever seen!  We had fun playing "dress up," and I seriously heard "mooing" for about 3 straight hours. . .thought I might lose my mind!

4.  Science Week.  . .These boys love science, and when we made lava lamps, crystals, and all kinds of other messes experiments in our kitchen it was right up their alley!  I will forever cherish the light in their eyes and the look of awe and amazement!  

My little scientist's notes. . .

5.  Pizza Week. . .this was one of my favorites for sure.  

So much that we decided to stretch it out over two weeks!  

Sol's tiny fingers are getting ready for scissors and he's been our "master paper tearer" this summer!

Our pizza song. . .

Christian has become a cutting expert!

Another one of Sol's jobs is the "official trash collector."  He sometimes gets frustrated because he can't cut with scissors yet so I give him something else to do!

We made a giant pizza to go along with the poem "A Pizza the Size of the Sun."

Christian is learning about labeling, and I love his cute little spelling!

We are really working on following directions {preferably the first time and without whining} so the boys made little chefs as a reminder.  The template came from one of my favorite TpT sellers 

"Miss Kindergarten Love."  Click on the picture that's below to snag a copy!

  

Here are some great books we've enjoyed!

 We "followed" directions and made pizza bagels which are easy, cheap, and fun to make!

 6.  Alpha Pops! I cannot tell you how much I love this product by Learning Resources Co.  They are so much fun!  I purchased one set for the boys to try them out, and then decided to get two sets so they would each have their own.  My favorite thing about them is their versatility.  

ABC order. . .

 Letter Recognition. . .

 Color Review. . . 

Matching upper/lowercase letters

 

They're also great for pretend play!  We LOVE alpha pops!

 7.  My New DIY Post-it Calendar

 

8.  A new boppy cover that tricks helps Solomon practice his ABC's...multitasking is no longer optional!  I must entertain, feed, monitor, play, and try to do a bazillion things at the same time!

9.  Jaxon, Jaxon, Jaxon {couldn't resist adding him to the list again} He's just so darn cute!

10.  My handsome men!

  

I hope your summer was wonderful too! 

 Jax is sleeping pretty well at night so I'll be back to regular blog posts soon with lots of great stuff!

Some Bunny Loves Me!

I know it's a little late, but I thought I'd share a few updates about my handsome boys!  This weekend was a fun time for us.  Here's a project that Christian and I worked on.  He's learning how to use his scissors so well.  He has a brand new pair of "fiskars" that he adores {ahhhh. . .a boy and his scissors-who knew?!?}!

We read a great new book together {which has been a big hit with the boys}, and then we made these cute little "egg" chicks and bunny rabbits.  

We decided on the name "Jaxon."  He's growing and doing just fine!  I can't wait to meet him {hopefully in mid May, but it might be June if he's really comfy.}

{This is a tummy shot except I couldn't find the "hello my name is. . ." labels, 

but that's what I was going for}

 Here are some spring pictures of my little guys. . .I'm hoping to take some great maternity pics soon and get an updated family photo as well.

Solomon will be 2 years old later this month, and his party planning is underway!  Here's a picture of part of his invitation.  

{Thank you Rachel for sharing your adorable graphics!}

His guests will sign a 24 piece puzzle in honor of him reaching the 24 month mark!  He also has a copy of the book {which he adores} so they'll probably sign the book too.  I'm hoping to frame the puzzle and display it in the boys' playroom. 

After spending time with my family this weekend I know that I am incredibly blessed, and some "bunny" really loves me.  Mr. Perry gave me a few things over the Easter break. . .

and

I hope you had a wonderful Easter as well.  Ours was low key, calm, and stress free! 

God's love, mercy, and grace never cease to amaze me!