Sweet Martha

Dear Mrs. Field's,

 So sorry, it's Sweet Martha that stole our heart.  Wow, she's amazing.  You should totally get her recipe.

Yours truly,

The Humphrey Family

The Night Before Kindergarten

Dear Christian,
       Tomorrow you begin kindergarten.  I am not sad.  I am not nervous.  I am proud of you.  I know you'll do well.  You do your very best in the school setting.  I walked by you and daddy during your orientation a couple days ago and you were looking right at the teacher paying attention.  I think kindergarten will be so good for you.  Plus, we'll kind of be together all day.  I'll see you in the halls, maybe even at lunch.  I'll certainly stop by for a minute or two in the afternoon to see how awesome you are doing.  Victoria will be on the bus with you for the ride to school.  I already made her promise to sit with you, even though she wants to sit with her best friend too.
        I'm looking forward to hearing about your first day.  About your new friends.  About the teacher I know you'll love.  I look forward to watching you walk the halls for the kindergarten Halloween Parade.  I look forward to seeing your Spiderman backpack hang on your hook when I walk by.  I look forward to attending your conferences.  I look forward to your art work and especially your writings coming home.  I'm looking forward to watching you grow academically and socially.  When I watch you with other kids I think you are very mature.  I think you will thank your big sis for that one day.  You love to listen to stories. You said your kindergarten goal is to learn how to read.  I know you will.
         I packed your very first lunch for you tonight.  I put a lot of food in there.  I don't know what you'll be in the mood for.  I don't know how hungry you'll be.  I don't know how messy you'll get.  (I'll try to stop by to make sure you're not the kid with food all over your face.)  I put you a note.  I'm not sure if you'll know to raise your hand to have it read to you.  Maybe you'll save it to have me read it to you when we get home.  Maybe you'll be having so much fun you'll just toss it.
        You picked out your outfit for tomorrow.  I pulled out comfortable black shorts and a monster truck t-shirt.  You told me you had to dress fancy for kindergarten and pointed to a collared striped shirt hanging in your closet.  You even tried on the army green shorts and jumped up and down in them so you 'won't be embarrassed if they fell down.'  Your shorts have only fallen once in your life - but you're still a bit traumatized from that.
        I do know I am proud to be your Mommy and proud of the little boy you are.  You are smart.  You are kind to your friends.  You are a rule follower.  You are a good listener.  You are strong and coordinated.  You are my favorite #1 son.  I love you to pieces and can't wait to see you in school tomorrow.

                                   Love you always and forever no matter what,
                                                        Mommy


Odelis just texted me this poem:

The First Day of School

I used to be little, but not anymore.

Tomorrow I'll get up and walk out the door.

I'm going to school - it's the first time for me.

It's going to be big, but I'm scared as can be.

My tummy's in knots.  Do you want to know why?

I'm thinking that maybe, just maybe, I'll cry!

When Dad leaves the school and I'm there all alone,

I'm thinking that maybe I'll want to go home.

But wait- Mommy said I'll play lots of new games.

And meet lots of friends - I can learn all their names.

The first day of school, oh there's so much to do!

There's painting and books and a big playground too.

I sued to be little, but not anymore.

Tomorrow I'll get up and walk out the door.

I'm going to school - it's my first day you see,

It's great to be big!  I'm so glad that I'm me!

To Fall

What's my favorite season you ask...Summer.  No question about it.  No work.  Loads of family time.  No question.  Summer.

But summer would only be so sweet because it's temporary.

Very temporary.

Tomorrow, it's officially over.

That's when I realize I actually like fall.  There's lots to love about fall.  And there's lots to dislike about fall.  The things I dislike are going to happen anyway so I may as well enjoy what I like.

One of the best things about having a baby are enjoying the FIRSTS of his year.  To think this is his first fall.  To plan his first Halloween.  So exciting.

So here's to fall.  Here's to firsts.  Here's to starting the new year with a positive outlook and looking forward to making my students' feel amazing tomorrow.

5 Month Recap

Our little man turned five months during our road trip from Colorado.

We happened to be at Mount Rushmore on August 17th.

The five month mark was a big one for Brecken.

He started eating solid foods less than a week before he turned 5 months.

It was life changing.

Ask him.

It's his favorite thing to do.

He started with oatmeal mixed with breast milk at dinner time.

Soon, it was added to his breakfast routine as well.

Not long after we added, peas (which he despised) then banana and peaches.

He can move all over.

He's getting his knees up under his body ready to crawl.

He opens his mouth super wide and grabs your cheeks (if you're lucky) 

and gives huge kisses while baby sliming your whole lower face.

He prefers to be held by Mommy. 

But he's also happy with Daddy.

Unless Mommy is near by.

He adores Victoria.

He'll reach out to grab her hair or kiss her.

He loves to look at Christian's face.

He stares at him while he talks.

Sometimes he looks confused, sometimes he laughs.

He always pays attention.

He slept 11 hours and 45 minutes.

Almost the full 12 hours we're looking for.

He's the best baby God could have blesses us with.

He couldn't be loved any more than he is!

4 Month Recap

Seriously.  Does it get any cuter?!?

Four months old.

I couldn't love him any more than I do.

He's perfect.

He's cuddly.

He's super strong.

Every time any holds him they immediately ask how old he is and says how strong he is.

He laughs.  

He adores his brother and sister.

He is:

2'1.5" (Is that the cutest height ever?!)  65%tile

15lb 15 oz 60%tile

By far the biggest baby we've ever had.

Kindergarten Assessment

The day after the kids got home from WI Dells Christian had his kindergarten assessment at school.  He was nervous. Really nervous.  How barely spoke above a whisper to his teacher.  I filled out paperwork while he completed his assessment.

If I had to guess before it began I would have said I thought he'd come out average.

He ended up actually scoring one point higher than Victoria did when she took it for the literacy portion.  One day she will read this and not believe me, so I tucked the assessment aside for further verification.

He scored average on the math.  I was disappointed to see he couldn't recognize as many numbers as I would have guessed.  Guess why.   I'm obsessed with teaching reading and if I never taught math another day in my life I'd be cool with that.  But, it really showed up in this particular assessment.  So we kicked it into high gear and he made some flash cards and we're on track for kindergarten.

He has a couple hour orientation tomorrow and full time starts Thursday.

I am so happy he's in kindergarten.  He's ready.  It will be so good for him.  It will be so good for me to be able to see him whenever I want during the day.  I'm looking forward to seeing how V & C act when they see each other throughout the day at school.

Mrs. Field's

Dear Mrs. Field's,
        What the hell do you put in your cookies?
Sincerely,
The Humphrey Family


**We've never bought them before.  Pretty sure we started a new tradition.