Tyler's first week of school

After figuring out the carpool line and which direction you are supposed to go (it can be a little confusing), etc... Tyler gets in the car and says (after his first day) 'Well, I didn't learn to read today... Maybe I will learn that tomorrow.' Made me laugh!!

I took pictures each morning of Tyler's first week and wrote down a few things.

Monday: His teacher walked him out to my car and said he was a fun little guy!! She also mentioned that he could work a little bit on his voice level (Tyler can get very loud at times) but that he had a great day and did very well. Good job, Tyler!

Tuesday: Today Tyler came home with a picture of R2D2. I know it was R2D2 because he wrote the letters "R2D2" above the picture... and it kind of looked like him, too!! How he came home with a picture of R2D2 I do not know, but that is my guy!!!!

Wednesday: Tyler came home pretty excited about school today. He was going on and on about a drawing/story that he didn't get to finish so when we got home we finished it! He drew a picture of a person, a pizza and a person playing games all on the same sheet of paper. He wanted to write a story about the drawing so this is how it went: "A guy is at a party. The guy was eating pizza. And then the guy was playing party games." The end! Too funny

Thursday: Tyler also said he enjoyed school today. He came home with a drawing of Alex. He kept talking about Alex and I of course thought it was a boy... Nope, this Alex is Alexandra!!! Could it be a crush, already? Please no!! As it turns out, Alex sits right in front of Tyler at his table... I guess it makes sense for him to talk of her a lot.

Friday: Still excited for school! Tyler came home and explained to me all of their kindergarten 'rules'... They have different 'codes' for voice levels, walking in the hall, raising hand, etc... His teacher sent home a sheet explainig them and Tyler knew them all really well. He actually does listen!! His teacher walked him out to my car and said he was a great little guy. I was beaming with pride and joy on the way home!!

Tyler's First Day of School

Wow! What an exciting and heart wrenching day! I was excited for my baby boy to start this new adventure, but so sad to let him go. I did get teary eyed several times that morning but dried it up very quickly because I didn't want Tyler to see me and to think this day was sad. The worst part for me was in the classroom and I started telling Tyler the same things that we used to tell him when he went to preschool: "1. Listen, 2. Be respectful, 3. Do as you are told, and 4. Have fun!!" For some reason, that really put me ove the edge and I had to get up and walk away because the tears came on strong. But, then I see Tyler sitting at this desk and so eager to start things that he asks the teacher, " Ms. Faughn, what do we do next?" He had been sitting at his table for a while now and I think was getting bored. He wanted to get this show on the road!! Ms. Faughn politely explained to Tyler that this morning might take a little longer to get things started and then she added "Good question, Tyler" ... made me chuckle a bit!! Here is our excited Kindergartner!!!

Meet the Teacher Night - Tyler

I can't believe my baby boy is leaving the 'mommy bubble' and will be entering a totally different world. I was really worried at first but after we went to Meet the Teacher Night at Lovejoy, my fears were put aside and I felt much better. Seeing Tyler check out his new desk and chair, the school supplies, seeing him so eager to get things started really calmed me down. And, seeing and meeting Tyler's new teacher really put me at ease. She was cute and bubbly and you could definitely tell she was excited to be at Lovejoy and for the year to start. She was what you would want to see when entering into a Kindergarten room and meeting a teacher for the very first time.
Pic of Tyler outside the new school playground (school was still under construction!)

Palin makes the cut!

I like the Palin pick!!!

Some qutoes said about her:

"Sarah Palin is pro-life. She is a hunter and fisher. She is a mom. She is a reformer... from what we've seen already, she is awesome."

"I am absolutely delighted by this selection. Once again, John McCain has shown that he is an independent thinker who paints in bold strokes. Sarah Palin is a conservative reformer with executive experience who will bring a breath of fresh air to Washington. She will be an ideal running mate for John McCain, and will make a major contribution to our country's future."

"Sarah Palin Runs A State. Barack Obama Runs His Mouth."

Singing in the Rain

The week before school started we got some good rain down here in Allen, TX! It was actually in the 70's, not too humid, and no lightning so the boys and I put on our rain boots and went out to play in the rain. We had a fun time!

Kindergarten Round Up

Our neighborhood has a little party every year for the soon to be Kinder kids... I love the idea, gives the kids and moms a chance to meet. A friend and I organized the party and we had a pretty good turnout. The party was at our community pool - pizza, juice boxes, good times!!

Super Heroes

Is this a good looking group of Super Heroes, or what? The masked bandits are: Jack Jr-Optimus Prime transformer costume and Tyler-Spiderman costume.

Due to the lack of dress up clothes in toy stores for boys, I have always kept my eye out after Halloween for inexpensive costumes I thought the boys might enjoy. Over the years, I have managed to gather a pretty good costume collection. They are usually a hit with all the kiddos!

Summertime Fun

The Big Yellow Cup

Don't you just love a good Dickey's cup? Not only are they good for rinsing out the kids hair in the bathtub, watering plants, filling up the dog bowl, shower cleaning, but apparently they make great pool toys, too! Colby had to have a Dickey's cup when in the pool. Who knew filling a cup up with water and pouring it out over and over again would be so much fun?!!

Funny Pic

Doesn't every mother have some sort of picture like this? I guess Tyler thought he would use Colby as a canvas to practice his brush strokes! In Tyler's defense (somewhat), Colby did have the marker first and had drawn on himself so Tyler only added marks... Anyway, this picture does not do their 'art work' justice... you should have seen Colby's arms/legs. I'm just thankful it was a washable marker! Tyler did admit to me that he drew on his brother so he had to help me clean Colby off. Luckily the washable markers come off super easy!

Tyler Preschool Graduation

I can not believe how time flies. And I can't believe my baby boy is going to be in kindergarten this fall. On the last day of preschool Cottonwood had a little graduation for all the soon to be Kindergartners. It was a real cute little ceremony... they all wore little graduation caps and walked the stage to receive their diplomas. As the children crossed the stage something was read about each them (written by the teacher) ... when Tyler walked teacher read "Tyler Tucker - Our future Lawyer. Always negotiating and could win over any jury!" This really cracked me up because if you have ever spent any amount of time with my son you know how accurate this saying is! He will try and talk his way, negotiate, barter, do anything to get an answer he thinks is sufficient. He does not act snotty when he is 'negotiating' and he does not throw tantrums, he just talks and literally debates with you until he gets a sufficient answer. Here are a few pics from graduation:

Muffins with Mom

Every year Tyler's preschool has a Muffins with Mom around Mothers Day. All the moms go to the classroom for breakfast and then the kids sing songs and give us a cute little gift that they made. It is always a joy to see Tyler in his school setting... I love it! THis year he decorated a ceramic pot and put beans in it to make a pen holder! The pens have big blue and pink flowers attached to them - very cute!

Camping with the Boys

Tyler finally got to go on a real camping trip!! Jason decided to organize an annual camping trip with the dads and the kids. Woohoo for the moms!!! Jason called around and found a great area at Lake Ray Roberts - not too far from where we live (wanted to stay pretty close incase someone had to bail and come home). They set up their tent, grilled hot dogs, fished, threw rocks, went on hikes, and did boy things! When Tyler got home he said he had a great time. Next year maybe baby brother will be able to tag along! Here is a group photo

Colby Birthday Party

We had a super small birthday party for Colby... had a few friends over, ordered some pizza (one of Colby's favorites), ate some cake and played some Guitar Hero!!


THis picture below just cracks me up!! I opened the pantry door and snapped a picture real quick and look at their expression... I think they were up to something!!!

Colby's Birthday (4/17/06)

I can't believe Colby turned 2 already! The 2nd baby seems to go by much faster. When Colby woke up on his birthday I made him a birthday breakfast, french toast, and then we sang Happy Birthday to him. (On Colby's actual birthday we were getting our carpets cleaned so that is why you see practically all of our furniture in the kitchen behind him.)

Later that day when Daddy Duda got home we all went and played outside. Since we had to pretty much be out of the house because our carpets were wet we decided to go out to eat for his birthday and then went and saw a movie - Horton Hears a WHo I think it was called (not a very good movie). Colby was so worn out from the days events that we postponed the cake and presents and did it the next day. I did get some cute pics of him trying to blow out his candles... he was soo cute!! I just love this age (well except for the tantrums)! Happy Birthday to my precious Cheese Man!!!

Easter

We celebrated Easter a day early this year because on Easter morning we had to get up and drive to OK. Easter actually fell on my mother's 60th birthday so my dad (my sis and I helped) planned a surprise party for her. My Mom and Dad went to church as usual that morning and had planned to go out to eat afterwards. My dad managed to keep my mother busy at church after the service so that their friends could rush over to the restaurant and meet up with my sister, brother, and I. And, it all turned out perfect. My mother did not suspect a thing and everything went as planned. After lunch we went back to my parents and later that evening drove back home. Busy, busy day! Here is apic of the boys all dressed up in their Easter duds and a few pics of us coloring Easter eggs. (humm.. I can't seem to find the pics from my moms party and the good pics of the boys in their Easter outfits... will try and post later)

Oh, and here is my Martha Stewart moment... happens about once a year. I read about using silk ties to dye Easter eggs and I just have to say that it actually works. Too cool! Check out a few below:

Tyler's Pirate Party

ARRGGHHH!!!! For Tyler's 5 year old birthday party we didn't want to do anything too big so decided to have a pirate party at our house. We invited a few friends over and played some pirate games. Tyler was super excited about his Pirate theme and couldn't wait for the party to start!

When the kids arrived they had to swab the deck so they could earn their official Pirate Name (Tyler was 'Pirate Finn the Bucko')...we had kid size brooms for them to swab the floors with. After all the kids arrived and received their pirate name the kids went on a scavenger hunt around the house.

They had about 8 different boxes to find and inside each box was something pirate related for them to put on ... in the end, they all had pirate hats, eye patches, mustaches, pirate swords, beads, jewels, and gold coins. The kids really seemed to enjoy the scavenger hunt and it was pretty hilarious seeing all the kids in their pirate get up and talking 'pirate talk' ... I tried to get a good pic of all the kids but you know how that goes...

Tyler is 5

Here is apic of Tyler with his birthday breakfast... he chose (for me to cook) french toast!!! Yumm!

After celebrating at school with his classmates (I took brownies up for his friends) we had our own little family birthday party. He opened gifts from mom and dad and of course we had a little cake for him to blow out candles! Can you say sugar overload?! His big gift he got from us was a Wii!! He loves it and I am so glad we have it.

(baby bro waiting for cake!!)

Look at this sweet little face! The girls are gonna come a runnin'!! Tyler, you bring me joy every single day and I love and thank God for you so much.

Super Bowl

Every year on the day of the Super Bowl, our husbands play their annual flag football game. Jason's team ended up losing the Boy's Bowl and he actually broke a finger towards the end of the game (in 2 different places). Too old and too brittle!!! Here is a pic of 'The Boys' ...

I of course dressed my little ones in their Cowboy jerseys and just look how cute they are!

Here are the kids running through a banner to start the game off right!