What a day....

Field day was a huge success.  Way to go to the Field Day team.  They did a fabulous job.  Thank you to all the volunteers who came and helped out (and got wet).  I hope you had a bit of fun.  I am pretty sure the kids had a blast.  Every year the 5th grade girls do a Maypole celebration before the start of Field Day.  I think this was the best year ever (not only because Macy was a participant but also because of the great little recorder band).  Way to go, Linda Harrell and Kathy Flatt.  Nice job.

The day began extra special at our home as the children were picked up by Officer Grisso from the Coppell Police Department.  They were able to ride to school in style in the back of a police car (hoping this is the only time ever).  We won that item at our DCE auction back in February.  WHOOHOO!

I have posted a few pics here from Field Day and the Maypole ceremony and our police ride.

Field Day

Since we have an extra week to plan for field day, I thought I would write about it.  If your child has never participated in a DCE Field Day, I have a few helpful hints for you.  Take them or leave them as you will.  Field Day at DCE is a full day event for our children.  There are approximately 6 rotations and an hour long lunch.  The classes move by grade through each of the rotations.  Some examples of past rotations are; track and field, water wars, DJ Karaoke and snack, water balloon, water slides, volleyball.  I don't know for certain what this year holds, but it will be a similar rotation list.  The dominate theme is water.  Your kids will get really wet.  If your child has water shoes (which they can run in comfortably) this is easily the best choice of footwear.  The next best choice would be tennis shoes that can withstand some water (perhaps that old pair).  If you have a daughter, she should wear her bathing suit with a water shirt.  Girls are not allowed to wear bikinis without shirts.  I always stick Macy in her bathing suit with a thin swimshirt.  She tops that with nylon wind shorts (dry quickly) and her field day tshirt.  When it comes time for the water slides, she will take off the tshirt and shorts.  For Colton, he wears his swimsuit as his shorts and wears a swimshirt topped by his field day shirt.  Both kids wear water shoes (however I have learned to send a backup pair of tennis shoes as Macy received blisters one year from her swim shoes).  You will need to send a towel and I cannot stress this enough PUT YOUR CHILD'S NAME ON THE TOWEL AND EVERYTHING THEY ARE WEARING THAT DAY!  You will also send a separate change of clothes for your child to change into at the end of the day to go home.  This is a lot of stuff for a kindergartner (or any average child) to keep track of for an entire day.

Ok, next discussion point is volunteering....  this is easily the most fun event all year for which to be a volunteer.  Many moms and dads take off work in order to spend part or all day at Field Day.  As you can imagine with 6 rotations and hundreds of children, we need a LOT of volunteers.  If you have not signed up yet but are planning to attend, PLEASE SIGN UP TO VOLUNTEER AT A PARTICULAR STATION, please do not just show up that day and follow your child around, this isn't fair to any of the dozens of volunteers who are working.  You can even pick your station and volunteer time.  You can also request a station that you know your child will be rotating through during your shift, so they are sure to see you.   We really need to know where everyone is going to be.  Please email  mpark1825@verizon.net if you can help.  We really appreciate it and need your help to make the event a success.  Your kids will LOVE seeing you there.

In closing, Field Day is a blast both for children and volunteering parents.  You will not want to miss it.

Lisa

PS.  DON'T FORGET THE SUNSCREEN and sack lunch for the kiddos (the cafeteria lines are CRAZY long on field day).

Great to see you!

I had so much fun at the social on Friday night.  What a beautiful evening.  We could have done with a bit less wind (Roya had to tie the cash box down) but what a great event.  Thank you to everyone who came and/or made cookies and/or worked a shift.  We couldn't have done it without you.

Thanks to those teachers who stopped by, it was great to see your faces in a relaxed social environment.   I think all the kids had a blast.  It was nice to see kids in all different grades playing and having fun together. I enjoy these kind of events so much more than some of our events in the past that were so labor intensive that none of the volunteers got to enjoy the event for even a minute and they required literally hundreds of volunteers to pull off.  We will continue to have socials like the one last night.  I hope that you all tell all of your friends how much fun you had so we will have even more people attend the next time.  If every family could have one volunteer for one 30 minute shift a year at any one of the socials, we wouldn't have to have the same people work every time.  Let's see if we can pull together as a community and each do our part so that we can all enjoy the time together.

Thank you again for coming.
Lisa

Happy Mother's Day!

One of the definitions of the word, Mother, in Webster's Dictionary, means something that is extreme or an ultimate example of it's kind.  I like that definition.  I am definitely extreme in most everything I do.  I am working towards being a good example.  I imagine all mothers feel that way.

Today, I wanted to say thank you to all the mothers out there who spend their free time at the school volunteering or spend their evening at home baking a treat for a teacher or to those special fathers out there, who are doing the job of both mother and father.  Bless each of you and thank you.

I am so grateful for the gift of my beautiful family.  They aren't always perfect, but I wouldn't trade a one of them for anything in the world.

That is it for this blog.  I am going to go enjoy my Mother's Day!  Do the same.
Lisa

Teacher Appreciation Week

Tomorrow marks the start of Teacher Appreciation Week at Denton Creek.   If you are like me, you struggle to get through the day just getting done the things that you must (and very often failing to finish those tasks).  I am sure if you are a working parent, you struggle even more to find time to do all the things that are required of us daily.  Yet, here we are, asking you for more.... yep..., I am......

As my children have passed through the halls of Denton Creek, they have been blessed with the best teachers.  Those teachers have made great impacts on the lives of my children and through that act, on my life as well.  A certain kindergarten teacher has become a close and dear friend, who I will have in my life always.  Another lower grade teacher is an inspiration to me daily in terms of grace and kindness and I only hope that my children learned those gifts from her.  Another teacher taught my child to believe in herself and she became more confident in herself during that year, which is an amazing blessing.  Yet another teacher pushed my child further scholastically than any had before and that will be a gift forever.  My kids will argue that the teachers they have had (and have) each year are the best at the school.  They have been known to fight this argument with friends who have different teachers (I think mine usually win the argument).  The love of music, drama, physical education are each taught at Denton Creek with love and inspiration.  My kids are constantly drawing, singing or playing some game.  

I know that I cannot teach my children half of what they need to know as they grow.  I marvel at the parents who choose to homeschool their children.  I wouldn't know where to begin.  I need my children exposed to people who can not only teach them things in books but they can also teach them by example patience, grace, quiet calm and so many other things that they are certainly not learning here by watching my daily example of the opposite.  We are so blessed at Denton Creek to have teachers and administrators who truly love what they do and who do it so well (where else is there a Principal who knows every child's name and walks the halls quizzing them on vocabulary words).  Let's take this week and thank them for what they are bringing to our child's table.  You don't need to buy them something expensive or extravagant.  I am not suggesting you should.  I just want each of you to take a moment this week and say thank you for the gift they give each day to you and your children.

Thank you teachers for all that you do for our kids.  We are sooooo lucky to have you.
Lisa