Strawberries in February??

That was my response, too. After receiving an email from Ambrose Farms where we participate in the CSA, Brett announced on Saturday morning he wanted to go pick strawberries. I told him I was pretty sure strawberries were not in season but we called and sure enough, were informed there were plenty of ripe strawberries waiting to be picked. The kids were great helpers and enjoyed the whole experience. We picked two buckets full of big, red, juicy berries in about 20 minutes.

Jude showing off what he believed to be the largest berry we picked.

Conor just showing off.....

Chapel with her crop.

Eli and Jude with their buckets.

And Eli with a big red grin after a sampling the goodies. Also, did I mention he lost two teeth in one week??? Here is an unclose shot of his new toothless smile!

Second Grade Rocks

The school years seems to be flying by at a rapid pace - I can't believe summer will be here in 3 months. We stay so on-th-go with the daily routine of school and after school activities that it can at times be exhausting for mom and the kiddos. I always complain that it is just such a long day for them. They leave the house at 7 in the morning and we usually don't get home until around 5. So what goes on during all those school hours? You can always ask and ask when you pick them up, but usually the answers are short and they are ready to NOT talk about school for a few minutes. They had rather play and joke around. I am lucky that Ms. Kuenzel, Chapel's teacher this year, keeps online photo albums of all the important happenings. I love looking at these pictures for two reasons: 1. they keep me informed and 2. I get to see my little girl in her natural school environment.

The year begins....

A group project. Look at that smile!

Cypress Gardens field trip - a serious student.

Smiling and joking as usual - maybe the class clown??

Reading at her desk.

Another group presentation.

Special friends day with PaPa.

Class Christmas party.

And a field trip this week to the College of Charleston Science Building.

Based on these, I think second grade looks like a great time. And even more so, I think Chapel looks like she is having a AWESOME time!

Here Comes The Hotstepper

Back in the fall, I decided Eli needed a new after school activity. I checked the recreation department and saw where basketball sign-ups were being offered as one of their winter activities. I sent out an email to three of my girlfriends that have boys the same age as Eli and suggested that we sign all the boys up, requesting they all be on the same team in the event we needed to rely on each other for carpooling, etc. They all agreed, and thus the Ninjas basketball team was born.

Now as you know, Eli is not always one to get excited about sports. During the practices he did not show much enthusiasm and was at times reluctant about attending. Fast forward to his first game and, oh my, did he catch me by surprise. Not only did I see my kiddo running up and down the court, I also witnessed a little man who tried to steal the ball and was not afraid of getting in the middle of the action. As a family, we were thrilled. Brett, as he always does, found the perfect pre-game pump up song to play for Eli, and thus the Hotstepper got his nickname. And, yes, we did make it a family tradition to play Here Comes the Hotstepper before each and every game!

Eli, number 4, keeping his eye on the ball and blocking the opponent.

Running up and down the court.

Showing off his mad muscles to his teammates.

Don't ge me wrong - my man still enjoyed sitting on the sidelines now and then. Here he is with his friend, Owen, taking a break.

The season ended this week with a cupcake and trophy party. He was SO PROUD of his trophy.

And he had two great coaches, Mr. Beran on the right and Owen's dad, Russ Mease on the left. Russ stepped in at the first practice and offered his coaching assistance!

Waving around his much earned trophy and entertaining the team.

It's In the Cards

What started as a bedtime brainstorm, ended in 4 of the cutest Valentine designs you have ever seen. I asked each kiddo that night what they wanted their Valentines to look like. Each one had a theme in mind. Chapel wanted a puppy dog valentine and even came up with a catchy phrase to put on the design. Pooch Smooch. I found a great dog design to use and she worked meticulously adding embellishments to her little pup. Her finished POOCH SMOOCH card was a detailed delight! To pull the pooch and the smooch idea together, she suggested using Hershey kisses to fill her treat bags.

Conor wanted a butterfly theme. She also picked purple and pink as her primary design colors. What made the design really pop was the princess stickers and stamps she applied. She even took her butterfly princess theme a to a higher level when she chose princess fun dip as the candy to include in her bag. I give you the final product, BUTTERFLY KISSES.....

Jude's first choice was a lion theme. However, when we started looking at the book of animals we could cut using our Cricut, he saw a lizard - more like a gecko- that caught his eye. And speaking of eyes, he also decided is lizard would need googly eyes. How smart is he? They eyes were what MADE his valentine card. He was so cute making them, he kept laughing when he glued on an eye and commented how "funny" his lizards were. Here you have LEAPING LIZARDS....

I can't say Eli's was my favorite but I can say it was the one that challenged me the most and made me smile with delight when finished. Having chose an army theme, we began looking at army themed party favors. I found a picture of juice boxes wrapped to resemble walkie talkies and knew immediately that was our design inspiration. And boy did we go all out. OPERATION VALENTINE was a labor of love, adding little design elements here and there that made these little boxes transform into something much, much more impressive. We were so enamored, we invited Teague over to make them with us.

Here you have....OPERATION VALENTINE!

What did my kids learn during this nearly 3 week process? They learned to bring an idea to life. Chapel learned that the right font can really set a mood to your project. They all learned to improvise with materials we had to get results we needed. They learned to be patient and they learned the pride associated with making your own valentines and giving them to the people you care about.