The Past Month

June and July have been a bit of a blur - just look at the photos as proof. I apologize for the shaky photography - most of these images were snapped either in haste OR by my phone so they aren't great. T had a trip (mostly work) planned for every week in June and the first week into July, so I have been a bit in survival mode. We've had lots of fun as the kids wrapped up their school year and we headed into summer mode.

In early June, B "Graduated" from Kindergarten. I have a hard time with this concept because, as a friend pointed out, graduation implies the ability to stop once you are done. I haven't heard of many kids saying, "OK. Kinder is over. I think I'll take the next 6 months off to find myself before moving on to first grade." Either way, the ceremony was ADORABLE! The teachers put lots of hard work into getting the 60 Kinders organized for their program and walk across the stage. There was a nice reception afterward as well.

B shakes hands with his wonderful teacher, Mrs. D.

B says goodbye to his teaching assistant, Mrs. P.

B gets a group hug from two of his favorite people, A with his big sister, L.

Now that B was done with Kindergarten, he was eligible to begin Cub Scouts as an incoming First Grader. I was so proud to watch him at his Tiger Cub induction!

Once he had his uniform ready, he was able to participate with his Pack at a local July 4th Parade. (Forgive the puffy face - we had to get up at the crack of dawn that morning.)

Though G would have preferred to participate in the parade, she was happy to join the mad dash for candy as a spectator with Daddy that day.

B rides the float (notice the very fun campsite theme of the float) and

tosses candy to G and Dad.

The float was so cleaver, they won 1st place in the youth division!

We spent the afternoon of the 4th riding bikes and trying to help B perfect riding without training wheels.

We've also had some time to hang out with the cousins.

G was excited to hold Cousin M, who joined the family in April when T's cousin gave birth.


Cousin A came for a visit, too!

B started attending some morning athletic summer camps.

The favorite so far has been rock climbing.

I'll keep taking photos and trying to find time to keep up.

Where have we been?

I haven't been feeling creative this past month, so I apologize for the lack of posts.

Much of what would be blogging time has been spent supervising B's work on his science project. It isn't a complicated project, however, when you type one letter at a time, getting all of the information ready to print on a display board can be a bit time consuming. Even though I tried to keep his input time to about 20 minutes every few days, it did take a bit of teeth pulling to get him to finish it. Thankfully, it is done.

Here's a photo that sums up G in a nutshell - 3 going on 25!

It wouldn't be a typical day if she hasn't:

1. Thrown herself on the floor for a good old fashioned tantrum

2. Answered a question with an exaggerated, "Yehhhhh - esssss"

3. Told me how much she is mad at me or is unhappy in general

4. Picked a fight with her brother

5. Given me (and her brother and Daddy) several unsolicited "I love you!"s

Such is the world of the bi-polar toddler.

Carnival Fun

B's school had a Halloween Carnival at the end of October. One of the games with the longest line was the "Cash Machine" only they weren't giving out cash, but "Free Dress Coupons". Since they wear uniforms to his school, it is a very big deal to earn these coupons.

We even got a video of G taking a turn. I am not sure if the princess helped or hurt her endeavor, but it was entertaining either way.

All We Need is

LOVE!

Fancy B

A few days ago, B & G were arguing in the back of the car about which movie they were going to watch for Friday Night Movie night. Every suggestion he made, she shot down. Every suggestion she made, he shot down.

Suddenly, B shouts, "G. Let's compromise!"

She gets quiet. He continues.

"Let's watch what I want."

She likes the compromise idea. "OK."

At first, I thought he was being very clever. Well, I then remembered a new favorite book in this house.

Fancy Nancy Splediferous Christmas.

"But my dad says we must comprise. That means we end up with the tree my mom wants."

Since this is one of my favorite lessons in the book, I have mentioned it a time or two (or twenty, but who is counting?). I guess he really is paying attention.

Halloween Sweetness!

Adorable...(I am not biased or anything)

We were helping celebrate Little L's 2nd Birthday. She was so cute telling all of us that she is now "Twoooooo". Photo credit goes to her amazing Mama. Thanks, K, for sharing these photos.

Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes

Next week is the last week of school for both kiddos. We decided we are going to take the summer off from formal school, especially since B will be starting Full-Day Kindergarten in September. I also decided to withdraw G from her gymnastics class for the summer. I am not sure who will have more trouble with our less structured schedule, me or the kids. Then again, they won't be sitting around watching TV all summer. Super Annie will be joining us several times a week and we've signed up for a few fun events (Safety Town, t-ball, golf camp, Munchkins Sports). I hope the summer will bring lots of time outside in our yard, the local parks, play dates with dear friends and some quality time with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

I don't think these two will mind the "break" at all!

Keeping it Real

Yes. I love to brag about my beautiful kids. They are both photogenic (when they feel like cooperating). This isn't always the case. Now, we get to be very picky with our photos because we get lots of gems (as illustrated by the new header and border photos I added today). But I thought it would be fun to "show off" those that didn't make the cut.

How does my string-bean of a boy look so chubby??

Photographer wanted them to go in circles. Didn't work.

Most honest expression of the entire session, but not sure I wanted to pay to memorialize the attitude I get to deal with too often these days.

We did order this one...

Last photo...WE ARE DONE, MOM!!!

Tip Toe Tip Toe Tip Toe

With two back-to-back beautiful days, the setting was perfect for a trip to our local tulip fields.

Happy Easter!

I feel like I am cheating...

I am blessed to have a friend who is raising chickens so she and her girls can enjoy fresh eggs. She has shared the wealth and I am forever grateful. Well, I wanted to dye eggs this year (first time for the kids) and I didn't want to use our wonderful organic cage-free delicious eggs because even though they will be boiled, I am not sure how much time they will spend out of the fridge being played with on Sunday. So, the likelihood of the dyed eggs being consumed is pretty low. So, I bought eggs. I bought white non-organic eggs. (GASP! THE HORROR!!)

G thought this whole process was beneath her (or she got tired of Mama saying she had to wait while Mama took some photos).

B thought it was really fun, but he was able to get closer to the dye.

Blue egg, blue shirt, blue eyes

I guess it wasn't a total bust.

Winter Olympics Here We Come...not so much

For play group last week, our hostess thought it would be fun to try a trip to the ice rink. One of her friends with 2 children younger than all of ours, said her two loved it. We are all pretty much willing to try anything once. So, baby sitters were called for the smallest of the small ones and we headed to a local rink.

No complaints about the boots. No complaints about the helmets. A few complaints about the mittens, but those who wouldn't keep them on soon learned why they were there in the first place.

Then they realized that ice is a bit, well, slippery. G was TERRIFIED. B was fine, but if he moved at all, he typically landed right on his, well, rear end.

Because of our 1 parent to 2 kid ratio, we started taking turns leaving a group on a bench just outside the rink with one mom, while the rest of us took our kids, one at a time, for a spin around the ice.

G, after moving about 20 feet with me, decided she was done. "Too scary, Mom." The promise of Pirate Booty and trail mix and spending some time with her buddies was way more appealing. B was a good sport, for about 10 minutes. His contemporaries who stuck with it really seemed to enjoy themselves. He also chose snacking over skating.

Most exciting TWENTY MINUTES of our week.

Happy Sunday