Are you ready for some football?

Ryan and Mason went with some friends on Saturday to see another Kansas City Chiefs game. The coolest part about this was they were able to go through the tunnel and out on the field while the team was warming up (thanks to Columbia Youth Football League).
Ryan took this picture to show me just how close they were able to get to the players! This is Mason and Austin waiting to go out on the field.

Mason was so excited!!!!! Who knows maybe one day he will be out there warming up.

The boys were very tired after the game.

Sunday night was Mason's first game of the season. He was so excited. Mason is the starting quarterback for our team. Sunday he made two touchdowns and two extra points. Mason told his Dad that his football pants make him faster!

How cute is this??

Warming up before the game.

Mason has the ball and is running for a touchdown.

One of the other little sisters brought pom poms to cheer with so my girls were taking a turn. We had a blast and the weather could not have been any better! All the boys had fun and are ready to play again really soon.

First Day of School!

This week was the first week of school for us. Ryley was so excited to be going to preschool. She didn't cry just like she said. When we picked her up she said she had a great time and couldn't wait to go back. However, later in the evening the anxiety/stress got the better of her and she had a good 30 min. cry. All I could do was hold her and smile, because the harder she cried the harder Jodie cried too. At one point I am holding Ryley in one hand, Jodie in the other, and the dog has his head on my shoulder totally confused as to why everyone is crying. All the while the boys are in Mason's room discussing why he hates school. Oh the joys of change!

Mason's first day of school was fine too. He was excited and nervous, but didn't cry this year. However, he has decided he never wants to go back again. He says the kids are stupid because they won't listen to the teacher. I have basically had to drag him out of the car every day because he doesn't want to go. Plus, his backpack broke so we had to get a new one. That's what I get for buying a $5 backpack.

This was taken after football practice.

Jodie "walking" the dog. She loves her dog.

Need Advice!!!

Ok so no pictures today, but I promise I will post some next week! Right now I need advice, and opinions on schooling!

We had Mason's open house last night and found out that there may be a large influx of children coming into his school. The class sizes could be as large as 25 or more children, which seems terribly cramped. There are a few issues we have with his school anyway, but things I have been willing to overlook due to the fact that we adore his teacher, we like the ideas of the school, and the class sizes have always been under the DESE guidelines.

I am not against public education, let me just say that first! However, I am very concerned about the issues that will come with larger class sizes, teacher moral, and overall school quality. I have never felt the need to judge a school due to its test scores, because for my part the test can go into the river! A good teacher should not be judged according to some test, if you want to know if the teacher is a good teacher watch him/her in action. Visit the school, talk with the principal, and talk with your student.

Now with all this being said we are at a crossroad! Ryan and I are considering our options for schooling next year they are: change schools in the district, home school, or possibly private school. There are of course pros and cons to each, but I am still unsure which would be the best for our family!

If we go the private school route there are several in town, the biggest draw back for me is the cost! The only other issue I see is the lack of diversity. I do like the idea of a college prep school or a christian school, but again I am not sure.

The homeschooling option is not everyone's favorite idea and to be quite honest I am not sure either. There is tons of resource material out there for homeschooling, and a couple groups here that we could become apart of. I am trying to look at this very carefully because I truly want them to have the very best education possible. However, I am not sure I am capable of giving it to them. I have tried to think realistically about this and I think I could do it, but do I want to??

The nice thing about living here is we have tons of resources and activities that the kids could be involved in regardless of where they go to school. Mason could still be in football, basketball, baseball. There is gymnastics, dance, and even cheer leading for Ryley and Jodie. We have swimming, and music lessons plus a host of other things we could be involved in.

So what do you think? Please don't be shy about opinions, trust me when I say all the advice will be welcome and you will not hurt my feelings in the least. We know that at the end of the day this is God's decision and he will make it clear in time!

Thanks for reading my scattered thoughts!

Grant's Farm and Camping

Friday Ryan took the day off so we could go to the zoo. However, the zoo was packed so we decided to go to Grant's Farm instead. After getting lost thanks to my amazing map reading skills, we finally headed in the right direction and made it to the farm.
Mason and Ryley fed the goats.

Jodie liked all the animals, but she kept calling them all puppies.

So now you all know another use for the Happy Meal box.

It makes a great hat!

Saturday night we decided to set up our tent and camp in the backyard.

Our tent is huge!! We all slept outside, but Jodie had had enough by 2:00 am so I took her inside. Then there was some commotion outside (some intoxicated people who were lost!) and the big kids and Ryan came in about 4:30 am.