End of the Year!

This past Friday I was able to go and join in on the fun of the end of school year activities. I have never really been able to do these things in the past due to work or things of the such. The kids are finishing up 2nd grade and this year they had a day packed of all kinds of fun.

First was a book signing! All of the children in the 2nd grade became published writers. They were able to write a story on how they have shown a random act of kindness to someone (or on about half the stories how someone has shown a random of act of kindness to them). The kids were able to sit with their classmates as the parents went around and had the kids sign next to their story. We were encouraged to get all the kids from our child's class and then if we wanted, linger on to the other children. Well as expected, I had 3 classes to go to so I seriously got about 60% of the 2nd grade class' signatures. :)


May I have your autograph?

Then right after they had an awards ceremony. Now in the kids' previous school they had an awards ceremony every 9 weeks. It included awards in all sorts of different categories. A couple of weeks ago, I got an email from 2 out of 3 teachers stating the kids won an award and they would have a ceremony. I went and all they were awarding was for fairness.



I found it odd, but just shrugged it off. Apparently they saved the big award ceremony for the end of the school year. They had all the kids sit on the stage and as they called on which kid won, they would stand and once the category ended we'd all clap and they'd sit. It was interesting, and I was glad all three got an award! It would have been heartbreaking had someone missed out. One of the awards was for perfect attendance!! I was shocked because I was for certain everyone had missed a day. I guess my girl beat out the boys and was healthy all year round!



The day just kept going. After all of that it was time for a picnic!! Hot dogs, chips & cookies. What a way to end the school year, and kick start the holiday weekend.



The kids were stoked about it all, had I brought Baby J, that would have been icing on the cake for them. But I couldn't pass up the fact that he was sound asleep and that would have left me hands free for the couple of hours I was there.

So the end of the school year is here and I now have three third graders! ... WOW!

Wordless Wednesday : Celebrating My First Birthday

I figured with my birthday next week, we'd take a look back at my 1st! ;)

I Swore I'd Never ...

So the question was put out there by Mama Kat's Writing Workshop .. "Name something you swore you'd never do when you had kids, but now find yourself doing." Here's a few things.

1. I always swore that two was the max.


Well we all know how THAT one turned out.

2. I would never dress my kids the same.


But they just looked so cute!

3. I would not let my boys play with dolls.


I guess there wasn't enough toys to play with that Christmas morning.

4. I would never cut my daughter's hair short.


She got lucky that was the shortest it ever got. I on the other hand .. was not.

5. I would not let my kids be dragged around and have their picture taken in the wildflowers.


I guess this is a battle I'll never win.

Also! Find me and other mothers of multiples linking up every Monday over at Multiples Monday.

Caldo de Pollo

When I first saw this over at my go to site for authentic Mexican food (La Cocina De Leslie) I couldn't believe it was that simple. And it is!! I love how it is just throwing everything in the pot and within an hour and a half, it's done!

What is it you ask!? CHICKEN SOUP!! This is definitely something to have on a cold winter's day .. or in my house, just a regular day in April. The last time I made this, I had spent the whole morning grocery shopping. I was in such a hurry to get the groceries put up, baby fed, homework done all before class. I didn't have time to stand in front of the stove to cook so I chose this. And it worked out because I had some veggies in the fridge that needed to be used ASAP.

CALDO DE POLLO (CHICKEN SOUP)
10 chicken legs and/or thighs
3 ears of corn, cut up into small sections
1 medium onion, cut in quarters
1/2-3/4 bag (small) of baby carrots
1/2 head of cabbage, cut into wedges
3-4 stems of celery, cut into chunks
2 cloves of minced garlic
Salt
Water

GARNISH
Lime, diced onion, serrano peppers



Now this is real simple. If you blink, you'll miss it. Ready?



Put all veggies and chicken in the pot. Cover with water. Season with salt. Bring to a boil for about 15 minutes, let simmer until chicken is done (60-75 minutes). And that's it!! What did I tell you?



AND! if you're anything like my husband, you'll need a little of this.



ENJOY!