Minshew Polar Express - Choo Choo!!!

Every year in McKinney the Jaycees host a lighted holiday parade. And every year that Minshew has been open, the PTA has entered a float in the parade. Last year we won for the 3rd year in a row!! Going for the fourth-peat was daunting, nerve wracking and a lot of FUN!!!!

The theme this year was "A Kid's Christmas". We decided that we would recreate the movie The Polar Express. Ideas were abundant on how to pull this off, and the week after Thanksgiving was when the magic all happened!

The float included artwork from every Minshew student:

• Ornaments for our Christmas tree were provided by the Kindergarten and First Grades.
• Snowflakes were created by the Second and Third Grades.
• Hot Chocolate mugs that stated "A Kid's Christmas is..." were designed by the Fourth and Fifth Grades. (Sydney's mug was picked by her class to be on the float!!)

The engine and train cars (yes, I said cars...we had two passenger cars) were 3 trailers that with a lot of hard work, coroplast and wood became a great likeness to the movie. Oh, and can't forget the vinyl stripes and letters that Joni, Jen and I put on the cars!

Friday, November 30 was the big day and we spent literally all day of that putting the finishing touches on the train. Lots of lights, presents, Christmas tree, and then later that night all of the Minshew Colts we could squeeze on. It was a lot of fun and........definitely worth it as we brought home our FOURTH WIN!!!! Yay Minshew PTA and Minshew Colts!!

Again, there are lots of pictures, so enjoy the show. And a good tip: It doesn't matter if you have your camera with you or not, if you don't have good batteries to work it!!! So, all of the pictures here were provided by Joni and our historian, Trish. Thanks for the pics, girls!

November Colt RoundUp

For those who aren't a Minshew Colt or related to a Minshew Colt, then you may not be aware of the monthly spirit and awards celebration that is held at our girls' school. It is held at the end of every month and awards are given out to students for cititzenship, leadership, and being outstanding students. I mentioned in a previous post that Hayley won the Blue Ribbon Colt Award in October. That award is given out to 2 students in every class, so she was one of the two chosen for her class by her teacher for that month. Well.....in November, Hayley was chosen as the Principal's Award Winner for First Grade!! This award winner is chosen by the team of teachers for each grade and is awarded to two students from each grade! We are sooo very proud of her!!!

Also, at the Colt RoundUp the school counselor announces the Chick-Fil-A Core Value for the next month. When a student is caught displaying a facet of that month's core value, they are given a certificate for a free kid's meal. Well, since Sydney is a Peer Mediator this year, and works very closely with the school counselor, she and the other 5th grade mediators did a cute little skit about December's value which was Peace. It was really cute! Way to go, Syd!! (Sydney is in the light blue shirt in the back. Her Best Friend is the one with the microphone.)

**Sorry for the quality of the pictures. I can't ever take a good picture in that gym!!! Very frustrating!

Everybody's Doing It....

So why shouldn't we do it, too? Remodel something in our house, that is! ;o) My parents are finally doing a major overhaul in their way too small kitchen and dining room. My in-laws are totally redoing a house. My friend, Danielle is installing wood floors. My friend, Stephanie just redid her hallway. And can't forget Joni's new wood floors last spring! So, why shouldn't we join in on the fun, right?

Last May when I went home for my reunion, we all picnicked at one of my old friend's houses. It was a new house that they had just built and being out in the country, they opted to have stained concrete flooring in their downstairs. Bill and I instantly thought, "hhhmmmm!". I have wanted wood floors for forever because I think it would enhance my country decor...lol! I just cracked myself up. Anyway, we saw this staining concept as an inexpensive way we could get rid of carpets and hopefully some of the allergens in our house.

Once we got home from that trip, Bill was instantly online looking for the stain, found it and ordered it. The plan, such as it was, was to try out the stain on our sad little patio. One catch, though....Chloe. How would we keep her off of the patio while it is drying? Well, time went on, and it got pushed to the back burner.

Well, anyone with a new puppy knows how hard it is to housebreak! Chloe just wasn't getting it, and I just wasn't spending enough time with her on it. Nighttime was the worst and we would wake up to really gross messes in our family room. We invested in a very easy to use carpet cleaner, but it just wasn't getting it all. Gross, I know! Then the little light bulb flashed over Bill's head....what about pulling up that nasty carpet in our family room and using our stain on that floor???? I was very hesitant at first, but the idea started growing on me....especially as time went by and Chloe still wasn't getting it. But, again, since the family room is Chloe's room, when could we find a time to empty out the furniture, pull up the carpet, stain the floor, let the floor dry and put all the furniture back without Chloe's help?? So, again, time went on....

Then it happened! I called the vet where we board Chloe to make reservations for her to stay while we went to Okla for part of the Thanksgiving break. It never dawned on me that they would want a vacation, too. DUH! Anyway, turned out instead of boarding her from Friday-Monday, we were going to have to board her Wednesday-Monday. So, opportunity just knocked for us, and we decided Wednesday night we would prep the living room and Thanksgiving morning we would add the first coat. Again, best laid plans....

While Bill was working on Wednesday, I moved as much furniture as I could. I left him with the tv stuff and the couch. He got home early that day and went to town. He had the rest of the furniture moved,










the carpet up and










the first (and only) coat of stain on the floor before dinner!











Easy as pie, right? Well, not so much....We learned a few tips along the way....

• Supplies are very important - a nice clean roller brush is needed to spread the stain.
• Getting the floor nice and clean is a really good idea before applying stain.
• Measure out your space before you decide to stain to ensure that you have enough for two coats.
• Don't try to do it all in one day as there may be some suprsies when pulling up carpet for the first time....nail strips, pock marks in the concrete, what to do with the space under the base boards, how to trim off where the concrete meets the linoleum of the dining room, etc.

All in all, though, we really do like it. It definitely needs a second coat applied with a nice roller brush to even it out. We still have one nail strip down where the family room meets with dining room. We re-arranged our furniture and then re-arranged it again once we put up our Christmas tree. A lot of our spots are hidden now. Hopefully after the holidays, we can get some more stain, send the puppy off for a day and get it evened out. Chloe is doing really well now, and the doggy door we added helps, too, but that's another blog for another day....

Science Fair

Early in November, our school's PTA sponsored a Family Science Night that included a Science Fair. The 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades were required to include an exhibit while it was optional for the other grades. Sydney submitted a project dealing with different liquids and their affect on solids (smarties). Hayley wanted to participate also, even though it was optional. She did a project how additives in water affect the freezing time. Neither one of the girls one a prize in the fair, but they had a great time doing their experiment, and I had a "great" time putting helping to put together their project boards! ;o)

Time got away....

Well, a lot has happened since the New Miss Emyley, and time just got away from me and I didn't blog about it. So....I am going to try to go back in time and catch you all up! Happy Reading.....

The New Miss Emyley

Emyley has been talking for quite awhile now about getting her haircut like "her guys". She was talking about back when her sisters got their haircut pretty short with it fringed on the edges so it would flip. I was very adamant that she couldn't get her haircut that short. But, her hair was getting tangly and starting to look straggly, so I knew it was time for a cut. I was thinking that a little past her shoulders would be really cute. I even showed her how long her sisters' hair is now, and she agreed that that would work. So, off we went today to the haircut place. We all agreed on how much to cut off, but well, as it usually goes, it is a little shorter than we intended. But, oh my goodness it is so cute and she looks so grown up! We kept her hair for her "baby book"....that part was pretty sad...holding that ponytail that will never be again. Oh well, she is very happy, and hair grows back, right?!?

Before:













After:

Halloween 2007

Well, there really isn't much to share about this since I already showed off the costumes in an earlier post, but I can't just leave it hanging, either! Let's see...We aren't big trick or treaters. I mean we like to trick or treat, but after about 10 houses, the girls start to complain about their bag being too heavy, their feet are tired, blah blah blah, so we just made the loop around our "lake" and back down the street again. The girls got plenty enough candy to last awhile and everyone had a great time. There was one house on our block that I must mention....they went all out with the Spooky Halloween decorating, complete with a CSI-like crime scene on their front porch (think luminol and black light). They also had 2, yep I said 2, Saint Bernards that stood at the front door behind a baby gate to greet the trick or treaters! They were so sweet and just wanted lots of head scratches. But pretty weird, too! We did notice more kids out this year, and yet, we managed to only hand out candy to 3 kids. So glad I didn't go all out buying the candy this year!

Bill and his tattoos!

Sydney - the Bad Spirit Cheerleader

Hayley - Elizabeth from Pirates of the Caribbean

Emyley - Batgirl