Summer Bucket List

Well, the summer is officially here!!  I am really looking forward to it especially not having to jump out of bed in the morning and rush out the door. I really want it to be a fun summer full of activities we wouldn't normally have time for during the school year. I saw this quote on a blog I read and it is really so true:


"You only get 18 summers with your kids before they are gone . . . "


So to make the most out of this summer, I came up with a "Bucket List" of some things I want us to do that will hopefully keep everyone entertained as well as help us beat the heat! Hopefully we can accomplish most of this list . . .

Summer Bucket List (in no particular order)

1. Swim at the pool
2. Catch lighting bugs
3. Make homemade popsicles
4. Go to the farmer's market
5. Make at least one new recipe a week
6. Make cupcakes
7. Bake cookies and decorate them with sprinkles
8. Go to the free movies at the Boardwalk
9. Check out the "Itty Bitty Scientist" camp at Sci-Port
10. Make a visit to Gator and Friends
11. Help Daddy with the garden
12. Go get snowcones
13. Play in the sprinkler
14. Pick blueberries at the Blueberry Farm
15. Go on boat rides at the lake

*I'll be adding to this as I come up with new ideas!

Sanders' last day of K-4

Little Sanders' last day of K-4 in Mrs. Caraway's class sure was bittersweet. He has had such a great year, it is always sad to leave a teacher your child loves so much. I can't believe he is going to be in kindergarten next year. He is growing up so fast.

Here are a few pictures of their "city bus ride" and their little party at the "big playground" afterwards. It was a fun way to end a great year!

Mrs. Caraway's class waiting for the bus

Sanders and Savannah

giving their money to the bus driver

there they go!

Sanders and Hannah on the playground afterwards

Backyard Fun

Here are a few pictures of Sanders and his friends playing with the sprinkler on the slide. They had a blast!

Savannah

Sarah Ellis spraying the water hose for Sanders

Trevor's turn

they got a little wild with the hose

they stopped to pose for a picture for me! so cute!

Little Sanders 1st Black Eye

Sanders got a little bruiser on the playground at school today. He bumped into one of his friends while there playing around. He was pretty upset but calmed down once Mrs. Caraway gave him some skittles.

I guess a black eye is bound to happen to little boys at some point . . .

Creative Lighting Class

I thought I'd post a few pictures that I took for this Creative Lighting class I am taking online. The first assignment is Dramatic Light - shooting eye-catching silhouettes and shadow shots while still keeping the texture and depth of your photo. We were supposed to take a picture of our subject in front of a window and convert it to Black and White. This was definitely hard to do but Mae cooperated pretty well - thanks to the bag of chips I bribed her with! We'll see what kind of critique I get back.

Teacher appreciation week

This week was Teacher Appreciation week at Sanders' school. We had a fun week planned for Mrs. Caraway to let her know how much we appreciate everything she does.

On Sunday, Julie and I went up to the school and decorated her door. The theme was "Hollywood/Movie Star" so we had pictures of the kids and why they thought Mrs. Caraway deserved the "Oscar for Best Teacher". It turned out really cute!

On Monday, we made t-shirts for the kids that said "I love Mrs. Caraway". They all looked so cute wearing them and it helped start off the week with a "bang"!

On Tuesday, we made Mrs. Caraway a scrapbook with pictures of her with each child and included a note on why "they love Mrs. Caraway". It turned out really cute!!!

this was the class picture on the front cover:

i had a picture of each child with Mrs. Caraway:

On Wednesday, each child brought in something sweet for Mrs. Caraway and included a thoughtful note. Sanders gave Mrs. Caraway rainbow colored popcorn with a note that said "Mrs. Caraway is a POP star teacher". We had a big red bucket for everyone to put their candy in.

On Thursday we had a lot of fun! We found seed paper and cut them into hearts and put them on sticks in a pot that the kids decorated with their thumbprints. We put a note that said "Your love helps us grow". It turned out really cute and I think she really liked it. It will be fun for her to plant the seed paper and watch the wildflowers grow.

On the final day of teacher appreciation, we gave her a basket full of some goodies like a personalized platter, a post-it note holder, a bulletin board, an apron with all the kids handprints, and a little clay dish that said "Inspire . . . Mrs. Caraway".

Julie and I had so much fun coming up with all the ideas for teacher appreciation week. We really wanted Mrs. Caraway to know how much we appreciate everything she does for our children! She is so special to them.

A rough week at the Graf House

We have had a rough couple of days here at the Graf House. Last Thursday night little Sanders came down with the stomach bug that has been going around EVERYWHERE! He woke up at 10:30pm and got sick but luckily it was short-lived. He went back to sleep shortly after we cleaned everything up and slept all night. He even woke asking for pancakes. I guess we got lucky with the stomach virus this time - I just hope none of the rest of us get it.

Then last night, when we were getting the kids out of the bath tub - Mae ran off to her room to get her pajamas but slipped and fell on the hardwood floor. As soon as we picked her up we noticed her chin was cut and bleeding. Thankfully our doctor friend Jim Cotter let us come over to his house and he quickly glued it up with Dermabond. Thank goodness it didn't need stitches! She was a tough little cookie considering it was her first real cut. She handled it all very well! Hopefully this will teach her to slow down a little!

Never a dull moment around here . . .

showing off her cut

she is not sure what to think of the "fancy bandaid"