Last Day of school

What a fun year it’s been and it ended with a BANG!  Both kids had field day, and then the boys and I got to come to the Mini Society sale and shop all the great products made by 3rd graders!  Halle says mini society was her favorite part of third grade.  She also loved learning about all the parts of a flower and how they worked.  My favorite part was being able to help plan and participate in the manners breakfast.  Halle’s teacher, Mrs. Cottle, was WONDERFUL!  She is moving to 4th grade next year and we have our fingers crossed that she gets her again.  Here’s Team 120 All Star group hug:

 

Josh has had such a fun kindergarten year.  He said his favorite part was learning about the chicks and watching them hatch.  He also loved that his best buddy Ez was in his class.  On the last day the kindergartener wore their celebration shirts, and all their classmates signed the back.  Mrs. Delaney also put together the sweetest slide show with pictures from every party, fieldtrip, and fun event throughout the year.  My sweet Josh is so sentimental—he cried his little eyes out and kept saying over and over, “It’s been such a great year, I don’t want it to end.”  My favorite part of kindergarten was getting to volunteer in the classroom.  Josh was always so excited when I would come in.  I hope he always feels that way ;)

Living the charmed life

Not every day is butterflies and rainbows, but I have to admit—life is good!  In between all the hard, mundane parts, we get lots of fun moments, sad moments, learning moments, and growing moments.  Here are a few moments we’ve had this Spring.

Growing moments. Blake in swimming lessons.  This was ROUGH.  Blake hates being told what to do, thus he hates swim lessons.  And, although he loves to swim, apparently he hates putting his head in the water.  After 4 months, and many expensive private lessons, he finally loves swimming lessons and is doing great!
Josh and Halle took lessons as well, and they are both becoming quite the little expert swimmers! (Halle says she’s not little)

Learning moments. Josh’s kindergarten class incubated chicks.  This is a bad picture, but two of the little chicks had just hatched and were still in the incubator.  They were so sweet and were the hit of the classroom for the 20 days they got to keep them. 

School moments.  We recently had Mustache Day, and 50’s Day at school.  They even learned the sock hop. So cute!

Sad moments.  Saying goodbye to our dear friends The Bohns.  The kids threw a little going away party that was so sad and so much fun all at the same time.  Luckily they are only going to Ft. Collins, so we’ll still get to see them.  But we will miss having them so close. 

Fun Moments!  Every year our town hosts a hot air balloon festival.  It’s only about 1/2 mile from our house.  We got to watch them set up all the balloons and then oooh and ahhh as they took to the skies.  Love this tradition.  Next year we’re gonna see if we can snag a ride in one of those balloons. :)

Learning Moments.  We are growing our little garden for the second year. We didn’t get to enjoy very much of it last year because we went to NYC and obviously the garden pretty much died while we were gone.  So we are excited to get to enjoy it all summer this year!

Mother’s Day 2013

This Mother’s Day was one for the books.  Probably the best Mother’s Day ever.  I loved every moment of it.  When I was a young mommy with tiny kids, all I wanted for Mother’s Day was a break.  A day off, far, far away from any tiny humans.  As I get older, and as my kids get a little bigger, all I want for Mother’s Day is to cherish these moments that I feel are going by way too quickly!  So, to that end, I spent the day snuggling and loving my kiddos, and being taken care of by my amazing husband and partner in parenting crime.  It started out as all good days should…..snuggling in bed.  Lots of little knees and elbows, and lots of love.

Next up, PRESENTS!  This was the best part of the day.  Halle wrote me the sweetest, most thoughtful poem, and I confess, many tears have been shed while reading it.  I have put it up on a shelf in my room and when I need a little parenting confidence boost, I just have to read this poem from my sweet girl. 

Josh made me this wonderful card with his cute little handprints, and Blake wrapped up this ball in a piece of paper and said, “Here, Mom. I don’t want this anymore, so I’m giving it to you!”  How I love that small one. 
I was treated to a fantastic gluten free, dairy free breakfast.  Josh made the bacon all by himself, and Halle made a delicious smoothie. Blake made a mess :)  I love when all the kids work together.  It makes my heart happy. 

At church,  I love to hear the primary sing anytime of the year, and this time it was extra special because it was Blake’s first time since becoming a Sunbeam.  My heart melted to see his tiny little blond head barely poking over the podium.  It melted even more when I saw that he knew every single word to the songs they sang.  Such a sweet moment.  I’ll remember it forever. 

Rusty made a veggie stir fry with peanut sauce for dinner that we enjoyed out on the patio.  I think he now appreciates me just a little more, because this simple dinner took him about 2 hours to make, and about that long to clean up.  I really appreciated the time and effort he took in making me feel special and pampered all day long.  He was exhausted by the end of the day.  It was a GEORGOUS Spring day, so we wound down this perfect day roasting marshmallows by the fire.  I may have gotten a little carried away. 

I am so grateful for these three little munchkins who made me a mother.  It is an amazing, exhausting, fun, relentless, rewarding job, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world!

My sweet Josh

It was a week to remember, full of big moments for my sweet Joshie.  First up—the loss of his first tooth.  He has been waiting FOREVER to lose a tooth.  And from the look on his face, you can tell he is ecstatic. 

  He also got to visit the lunch room and have hot lunch in preparation for 1st grade next year.  It was pizza day, so Blake and I decided to join him.  Let’s just say that my decision to pack cold lunches for my kids was reaffirmed at pizza day.  GROSS.

Next up, the Kindergarten Celebration.  The kindergarten class of 2013 regaled the audience with beautiful music such as “I like to eat apples and bananas,” and “I can’t spell hippopotamus.” Then we were treated to a slide show of all the fun moments from their year.  It was really sweet.  Josh, you are a little smarty pants and we are so proud of you!

 

And last, but not least, SOCCER.  This little all star scored 3 goals at his big game!  The game has really clicked with him this season, and it is so cute to see his determination as he runs to the ball, plows down whoever is in his way (including his own teammates), and makes his way to the goal.  This soccer mom couldn’t be more proud :)

Breaking New: We have one more thing to add to this list!  Josh ditched his training wheels and is now a full fledged bike rider!  It only took him about 2 times before he was flying around the neighborhood.  He rode to the park the first day after he learned, and rode to the pool the second day.  What a stud! 

The Princess

You might wonder what royalty does all day.  Well, I am here to give you a small sampling of some of the many, many adventures of her royal highness, Princess Halle. 

She is a soccer star on her team, The Cobras.  They wanted to be the Cleat Kicking Wolves, but the coach vetoed that suggestion.  I rather like it myself.
She is also participating in her school running club for the 3 year.  I’m amazed at the progress she is making!  She recently ran in a kids 1 mile race at her school, and she did great!

In addition to her athletic prowess, she is also an accomplished musician.  A must for a well rounded princess.  She is competing in a piano festival next week, and she wrote her own original composition, Zebra March. 
   
A princess always helps those in need.  Halle volunteered at Kids Against Hunger, and with our friends, we packaged over 9,000 meals!

Every now and then she dons her peasant clothes for a trip to the mall.  Every month she has a special date with her majesty the Queen, or the King.  Last  month we had yummy popcorn, and searched for a new shell for the royal pets, the hermit crabs.   This month we tried our hand at fashion design.


In order to effectively rule her own country one day, this princess recognizes the value of a good education.  She works hard in school, and is learning the ins and outs of business and economy in her “mini society” course.  She created these “Pen Pals” and has been learning job skills and marketing techniques.  Next week these pens will go on sale to her fellow classmates.

 

This princess is not afraid to get her hands dirty.  She recently remodeled a dresser for her royal bedchamber, which came out beautifully!

A Princess is courageous and brave.  As evidenced by her holding Rosie the Tarantula at the Butterfly Pavillion.   
She is also the picture of beauty, grace, and charm.  Her father the King escorted her to a masked ball a few weeks ago where she dazzled all her adoring subjects.  She was also looking very beautiful and regal on Easter Sunday where she attended church services at a historic church near her home. ;)   As you can see, being royalty is a lot of work!  But our Princess handles it all with dignity, and perhaps just a little bit of sass.