Shawn's Special Award!

Shawn was given a special award at his school last week. He nominated by his teacher and then chosen to be his school's Character Counts Student of the Month! They choose one child from the High School, the Jr. High, and each of the 4 Elementary Schools. They had them (and their families) come to the School Board Meeting on Wednesday, December 14th so they could present them to the school board. It was really cool. We are so proud of Shawn!!! Here are a few pics we took of him receiving his award.

 

When they called his name, they had him come up to the podium and they read the nomination letter from his teacher so everyone could hear why he was chosen. I was such a proud mamma!!!

Here is what she wrote:

"Shawn McDougal is a very bright boy and worthy of receiving this student of the month award for displaying the character trait of caring.

His daily actions show his display of caring towards his fellow students. Shawn is very smart, however, he never holds it over other students who may not have his love for learning. At the beginning of the year he would explode with enthusiasm in answering every question before anyone even understood the question. I took him aside and explained that I knew he knew the answers but he must wait and give others a moment to think so they would have a chance to respond to a question. He said he understood. To this day Shawn is the first one to raise his hand, but will wait patiently for others to catch up and even though I can tell he is bursting at the seems with the answer he will concede to another student.

Shawn McDougal is worthy of recognition for displaying good character and being a caring Simonton Stallion!"

After receiving the award he got to walk down the path and shake all the school board's hands.

Then they had all the kids come together for a picture. (There were 3 extra kids there this time because they weren't able to attend last month - in case you're wondering why there are so many.)

Shawn at home with his certificate they gave him. He was given that along with a copy of the letter from his teacher, and a gift certificate to Sweetie Peaz yogurt!

Way to go Shawn!!! We are so very proud of you and the caring person you are!!!

Brady's 7th Birthday

Brady turned 7 years old on 12/12! It's so hard to believe he is already 7!!! He is in the first grade this year and doing very well in school. He loves school and learning, and especially loves the social part of making new friends! Brady's birthday was on a Monday this year, therefore he had school on his birthday. But he was excited because he got to take cupcakes to school to share with his class. :) 

Here is Brady later that evening after eating...??? {Something blue?!}

What a lovely blue face you have! lol

Brady before opening his gifts. He was so excited to open them, and had to wait ALL DAY to do so. (Dad left for work early so we had to wait until he got home later that night to open them. Also, we wanted to wait until all mom's daycare kids had gone home so we could enjoy the time as a family.)

And here is the birthday boy showing off all the fun things he got!

After his choice of dinner - Shells with Cheese (fancy mac&cheese) and Hot Wings - it was time for dessert!
And it wouldn't be a birthday without a birthday cake - yum!

Brady had wanted to go to the "Sweetie Peaz" yogurt shop for his birthday, so that's what we did, then we just came home and lit the candles on the cake and sang "Happy Birthday" and blew out the candles. {I shouldn't even tell you that we didn't even eat the cake until the next day!}

Connor just adores his big brothers and couldn't keep his eyes off of Brady for one second on his special day! He is such a cutie! He just loves everyone and everything!

Happy Birthday Brady!

Christmas Lights Photo Shoot...

I realized that I didn't really have many current pictures of our family (or the kids besides "events") to use for our Christmas card this year. So yesterday we decided to have a little photo shoot in our family room - and with that we decided to have some fun with Christmas lights! 

Now, it's always really hard to get all three of my boys looking at the camera and smiling good all at the same time. I don't understand why it's so hard for kids to smile "normal" in pictures either. I think that is one of the great mysteries that I'll never know/understand! Now, these are no professional photos (just a mom with her camera). But I think they turned out pretty cute! {and some rather funny!}

First off was Connor (3 years old) 

Next up: Brady (7 years old)

And finally, Shawn (9 years old)

Then, of course, the tricky part - all three together!

Yup! Those are my 3 silly boys! Who happen to just love to goof off for pictures! Gotta love them! They were good sports through it all though - mom was a little crazy trying to get at least one good picture that I could send to people! haha :) Guess if you get a Christmas card from us, you'll just have to wait and see how they turn out....

"It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!"

Christmastime is here!!! This is my absolutely favorite time of the year! Not because of the presents and Santa Clause {although that stuff is fun too - especially when you have kids!} but just the season itself. I love the lights, the decorations, the trees, the music, and just the whole feeling in the air everywhere you go! It's wonderful! 

There are so many fun things to do all month long too! We had our Ward Christmas Party on Friday December 2nd. The kids had fun making different crafts in "The Elf's Workshop"  and of course, seeing Santa himself!

Saturday (3rd) the boys had more flag football games. Here are our three cuties playing around at the games.

As I already mentioned, I love Christmas decorations! The kids and I have sure been enjoying our tree so far this month!

One of my very favorite things to do all month long in the evenings is turn off the lights in the house and watch a tv show (or Christmas movie!) by light of the tree! Absolutely love it!

And of course it wouldn't be Christmas without a nativity scene (or 2 or 3!) around the house! Such a great reminder of the reason we celebrate Christmas! This is one of my faves - a glass block one I made a couple years ago. One reason I love it is because I can have it down low and don't have to worry about the kids playing with it!! :)

I won't bore you with the rest of the household decorations. :) But I love them!!! 

Hope everyone has a great holiday season since this is...

"The most wonderful time of the year!"