Kindergarten!!

Ok, the following was written Monday, when I had every intention of posting photos, but just never got around to it! So it may be old news, but here it is: (and I'll update at the bottom!)


Well, Luke and I both survived his first day of kindergarten today! He wasn't at all afraid to say goodbye to me, which made me so proud! I saw him during the day twice and it was so weird to just look out in the hall and see my little guy walking around! At the end of the day, he was all smiles and so happy. His teacher, Mrs. Gonder (and my good friend) said he was like her best friend, talking away to her, which was a good thing. He even got an award, one of 2 kids, for best behavior in the hallway. He is more than ready to go back tomorrow, and told me he'll never get in trouble, because he's 5 years old!



Getting a photo this morning was the hardest part of the day because it was still dark out when we left, and our indoor lighting is so poor. Plus, it was 6:30 am and Luke was pretty tired! But at least I captured the moment.

Friday Night Updates...
Well, I didn't really capture the moment as it turns out. The photos were way too dark and blurry, so we did retakes after school, so that's what I'll share! Luke loved school all week, and really did well. His teacher said he "thinks ahead" alot.

As for me, my class is pretty good. Third grade has the most kids per teacher. Our limit is 22, and right now all teachers have 22 but I have 21. I was the "lucky" one that only had 20, so even though he has no business being in my tag class, the very angry boy who just returned from alternative school got put in my class thursday! Awesome. I am doing my best with him, but he's already showing some pretty angry behavior. But the rest, besides being talkative, are great. An interesting mix of kids, that's for sure! I'm really enjoying my grade level. Our new teacher has so much personality and is a bit crazy too, so she fits right in. A good change from the man we had last year that never showed an ounce of personality!

Tomorrow is an exciting day for Luke... he's (and the rest of us too!) going to Carsyn's new house with lots of stairs! We're headed up to Ft. Worth for the day and will return Sunday. Brenda and I made the plan that we will do nothing. Sounds great to all of us the first weekend after heading back to work.

Alright, I've probably already lost most of you with my super long update. I finally have an ounce of energy to blog though, so wanted to share. Hope all the other teachers out there are surviving if you've already started back!

Here's parts of Luke's room - instead of painting, we chose to paint a shelf and hang wall stickers. MUCH easier!

Ok, who can guess what they are doing? My money is on Brenda...

Luke is on the phone with Carsyn, debriefing at the end of their first day of kinder. It took him 3 phone calls to her to get all the conversation in! And he cracked me up... he kept saying, "So anyway..."

Is it really possible to be this tired?????

What a week! First off, I will let you know there are no photos coming. That is just asking way too much at this point! Don't even have it in me to write complete thoughts any longer, so you're about to get a bulleted list of the happenings of the past week!

*First, I discovered that if I sit on my bed, I can pick up someone's wireless signal, so I've enjoyed hanging out in here this week, getting some school work (ok, and a little surfing and emailing) done!!

*Went back to work. Mia went to daycare and Luke stayed home with a babysitter(s) who was absolutely wonderful! Thanks for the hookup Brenda! 

*Work has been ok. Grade level is pretty good this year. Got a new teacher who seems to have a personality so already a huge step up from the guy we had last year. Just very tired from getting back into a routine.

*Had a party last Friday at the house for coworkers, and had a good time hanging out and showing off the house.

*Survived Meet the Teacher Night. Have a lot of really good parents this year so hopefully things will go well.

*Luke was tested for kinder and made it into the TAG cluster class (for those non-texans, that stands for talented and gifted). My good friend is teaching it, and I am teaching her daughter this year. Plus, Luke's friend that he went swimming with over the summer will be in his class.

*Mia made it 3 days into the year at daycare before getting sick. Really? We couldn't make it a month, or even a full week? She went to the dr. today and has a viral infection. Hopefully she'll be good to go Monday!

*Mom and dad popped down from Brenda's for 2 days before heading home for good. It's a good treat for Luke and Mia before starting back to school.

*Our friends Jill and Doug (that went with us to Vegas last year) had their first baby girl, Alexandra Renee, today! Can't wait to make a side trip when we visit Brenda to squeeze the baby.

*After a little peer pressure from a high school friend, I joined Facebook 2 days ago and have enjoyed finding a few long lost friends and even a former youth pastor. Just seeing their photos online is wonderful after so many years.

I'm sure there's more, but I'm about to fall asleep on my laptop, so time to sign off for the night! 

Q: What have the Minatrea's been up to??

A: A lot!!

We have been working on the house, hosting visitors, trying to do some fun things with the kids, getting ready to go back to work, etc etc etc.

My parents arrived last Thursday, just in time for Brenda to move out of her home. Friday night we had the 4 of us, my parents, and Brenda's family all enjoying our new home for the night! Friday the Elliotts officially left town, and it was a bit hard for me to absorb, but knowing we will visit them (hopefully!) labor day weekend made it much easier to say bye! We miss you guys already and can't wait to come see your new home soon!!

With mom and dad visiting, we've tried to balance relaxing with getting a few things done around here, and even managed a trip for shaved ice (Amy and Chris - dad had the butterscotch love nest and mom and I tried Rootbeer love nest -- yummy!). A huge thanks to dad for figuring out our lighting system and getting things to work properly, along with creating shelves in some closets. Today we all went to the Austin Children's Museum. I found a great book in their store that I can't wait to use with my gifted kids this year. Anyone ever heard of "Not a Stick"? There's also "Not a Box". Great use of creativity... check it out.
Time to post photos. I'll add more as they come this week.

Finally having time to enjoy the Jacuzzi tub...


Luke and Carsyn doing what 5 year olds do best... making a mess! (They also painted parts of the house, a ball glove, and the bucket)


How cute is she??? Notice the bows? We've finally been able to do piggies and bows. The best is when I do two on top, then she gets food in them and they stick straight up like antenna! (Jill, she's wearing one of your outfits!)


Now two CALM 5 year olds playing with Leapsters. Amy and I got Carsyn hers for her birthday.


Friday night, when everyone was staying, I decided to celebrate a few things. I found this cute little puppy cake for Carsyn's birthday...


An ice cream cake for Mom and Dad's 40th Anniversary...


And I wanted to celebrate the Elliotts selling their home but didn't think a third cake was necessary, so they got a banana moon pie!


Payton, Luke, and Carsyn cooling off in the sprinklers...


...and Grandpa distracting Mia so she'd stay out of them!


Children's museum




Luke wanted his photo taken in our tree out front... Amy, are you proud of my good photo spot??


And finally, Luke helping Grandpa cut shelves for Mia's closet

Off to Kinder!

I enrolled Luke in kinder today, so he's officially ready to start school in a few weeks. Still can't believe he's old enough already! I also got my room keys for school today and spent the day working on getting it ready, and surprisingly got a lot done! And our last piece of furniture that was on order came in - our server/console table! It looks so good in our house. So the house is coming together, except our room which is so big and beige and needs some help!

Challenge: I have a bit of a challenge for my teachery friends and family. I found some things that are bugs and flowers, with quite a few sunflowers, and plan to make a welcome board for the hallway with it. Each student will have their name on a flower/bug, but I need a catchy welcome to my class title. Also, possibly a job chart will come from the same things, so could use a title for that. Anyone???

Mom and dad start their journey down to visit tomorrow. It'll be different since there is a 2-3 hour drive between my house and Brenda's instead of 30 minutes, so we can't spend as much time together as we usually do. Marc's parents are coming this weekend too, so they'll all get to see the new home together!

On a happy little note, when I checked the mail today there was a check for $678 from our home insurance that we totally weren't expecting! I guess ours was already paid right before we paid off the old house, so in my eyes, it's free money since we didn't count on it!

And back to reality big time with a full day of inservice tomorrow. A big thanks to mom and dad for arriving Thursday so that I can skip out on another full day of math textbook training! :)

New Additions

Friday some of our new furniture came in, so now we don't have a big empty room as soon as you walk in. I picked up the little table at Target last night, and not sure about it. Plus the curtains are ugly (came with house) and so are the throw pillows on the couch, and I plan to add a light rug. But it is much better than it was before! This came out dark, but the sofa is a green/grey color.








We are still waiting on a server/table and our big floor rug, which was also delayed.

Here's our new futon - not the one we ordered, which also fell through!! - but we're happy with this. It also has storage underneath which is always great. This is in the study. Now we're ready for company to come and stay!



The rest of the house is a bit at a stand still, with nothing much on the walls yet. The only problems we have are the lights still and the lawn, which died while sitting empty and doesn't seem to want to come back to life.