1st Grade Performance

Last night Brayden had his First Grade Performance. It was super cute! It was a pirate theme and although Brayden looked frightened to death the entire time and barely sing, all of his classmates looked like they were having a blast and I was happy he participated. :) All week leading up to it, he kept telling me that he didn't want to go to it. His complaints ranged from "what's the point, I don't even have a speaking part" and "the performance is sooooo long, my legs hurt from having to stand so much while we sing" to "I have stage fright and I don't want everyone looking at me." After hearing this every night, he almost had me convinced that it wouldn't be worth going, especially if he was going to have that kind of attitude towards it. But I decided I would definitely regret it if we skipped out. So for all of our family and friends who couldn't make it to the performance, and would like to see Brayden's First Grade Performance....here are are the songs they sang (minus all the speaking parts in between):

This one is called "I have a loose tooth"...I think it is one of the only ones that Brayden actually sang- must be one of his favorites. :)

Down by the Bay....His Stage Fright started to kick in at this point and he just had a petrified, scared to death look on his face...














At the end of the performance, one of the music teachers let all the parents take pictures of the first graders. Brayden's stage freight was out the door and he had the biggest smile on his face....
Pretty cute, I must say! :)

Back to Blogging

Recently we have had a few events in our life that have made me want to get back into blogging on a more consistent basis, rather than just a few times a year. I've asked Brayden and Jason to help make sure that I post at least once a week and to hold me to it. :)

A lot has happened since my last post---I can't believe I went a whole summer break without posting. I will fill you in on our summer in another post. Moving on to the school year, Brayden is now in first grade and LOVING it. I have switched to teaching third grade (from first) and although I was hesitant at first because I wanted to be in first grade with Brayden and my teaching buddies, I am really enjoying third grade. I have an AWESOME class and they definitely make coming to work each day a joy.

Here is Brayden at our Meet the Teacher Night with his first grade teacher/my friend...Mrs. Kendle.
He was really excited to see he had several of his friends from his kindergarten class in his first grade class too. Here is a pic of Brayden and I on our first day....


Brayden on the first day of school putting his backpack in his locker. Getting him to take a backpack this year was a big deal because last year he didn't like using a backpack...probably because his backpack was practically bigger than he was, but this year with all of his things he needs to carry his own.

In first grade he has met a lot of new friends and is starting to become more responsible. After school, I work an extra hour for the academic portion of our afterschool care and I work with the first graders, so Brayden gets to spend more time with a few of his friends working on homework and studying for his spelling tests. Overall, he is really enjoying it and I can't wait to see the growth he makes at the end of the school year!

Kindergarten Open House

Every March before Spring Break, our school has an Open House. This is a great way for the students to show off all their hard work that they have been working on the previous months. From a teacher perspective, it is a VERY stressful time trying to make sure every student gets EVERY project finished in time. From a parent perspective, it is a wonderful opportunity to see your child beam with pride as they show off all their hard work. This year, Brayden's class had a rainforest theme and his teacher went above and beyond transforming the classroom into a rainforest. He was so proud of it!! He learned so much about the rainforest and many different rainforest animals, he was even able to teach me a few things. :) I had to take a picture of him showing off each piece of his work:

Brayden showing off his rainforest diorama with his clay macaw that he made.

Showing off his Poison Dart Frog.

Showing off his butterfly and spider monkey.

Layers of the rainforest.

Showing off his macaw book that he made:

In case you can't tell, he has definitely perfected the "cheese" smile. :)

I'm so proud of Brayden and all his hard work!! It's no wonder he is TOTALLY exhausted at the end of the day. :)

100th Day of Kindergarten

Today was our 100th day of school....Brayden's 100th day of kindergarten. It is just so amazing how quickly the time flies by!!! It seems like yesterday we were anxiously preparing for his first day of kindergarten.

After a busy first day, he was fast asleep on our way home.

And now here he is, 100 school days later...

Still fast asleep afterwards... (and yes, he really is sleeping in this pic...I know his eyes look just closed, but I promise he really is sleeping.) :)

Doesn't he look so grown up now?!? He can barely even squeeze into the Hobby Lobby shopping carts!!

While he has been in kindergarten he has done a lot studying.....

[When I asked him what he has learned this year, he claimed "EVERYTHING!!"]
He has met a lot of new friends building those social skills and a lot of new lil girls to crush on...

He has discovered Friday is his favorite weekday. Hmmm... I wonder why?!? :)

And one thing for sure we have discovered....kindergarten completely exhausts him!!! Most days afterschool you can find him fast asleep taking an afternoon nap...and it can be found ANYWHERE...


It's so hard to believe that it won't be long before he is in first grade with me! He is very excited to graduate kindergarten and move on to first grade. :)

He also wanted me to show you his 100th day of school project that he made. He is very proud of it. :)

A Gumdrop Picture Frame