Playdate at Colton's

The kids always get to excited to have a playdate at Colton and Carson's house.  We went swimming in their community pool then went back to their house to grill out and play.

Ethan and Colton rode their bikes from Traci's to the pool. 

All the kids eating together.  Little Ashlyn joins in on the fun too.  :-)

Before we left for the night we had a little cool down time with popcorn and a movie.

Ahh...tired kids.  :-)

Blaine's High School Graduation

Well, I officially feel old.  My nephew graduated from high school in May at a church in Acton (close to Granbury).  I remember how excited I was to become an aunt 18 years ago when I was in high school.  I used to babysit him all the time.  And now he's all grown up.  :-( 

These crazy critters went to the graduation too.

We rode with my parents since Mondo had to work late and couldn't come.  I was freezing in the back seat so Caleb put his arm around me for almost the whole hour ride!  He said he would give me his warm to take away my cold.  Aww...melt my heart!!

The graduate walking down the aisle.

The shaking of the hand and getting the diploma.

Moving the tassel over.

The kids went down and gave a flower to their favorite teacher or someone who helped them out/mentored them through the years.

The boys waiting for him to walk back down the aisle.

He gave Ethan his hat since he was done with it.  ;-)

It matched his shirt perfectly!

 

We went downstairs after for some cookies and punch.  Of course the boys chowed down.  ;-)

A week or two later we had a graduation lunch for him at my parent's house.  All of those pictures behind him are ones that he made at Nana's house throughout the years.  It was fun to have all the grandkids together to celebrate.  I made him a graduation cake too.

Here's a close up.

Field Day

The week before school was out Ethan had Field Day.  Mondo and I were both able to go and the weather was great.  Nice and cloudy.  He participated in a softball throw, a run, "over-under", and a hula hoop chain with his class.  He got to hang outside and buy snacks like candy, nachos, and pizza.  Mondo and I stayed and helped work the concession stand.

Standing where his baseball landed.

Crazy group of boys.

Over-under.  The boys stood in a line and passed a ball over their head then the next person had to pass the ball under their legs.

First place in over-under.

Hula hoop chain.

 

Second place in the hula hoop chain.



End of Pre-K

It was bittersweet when Caleb finished his pre-k.  It wrapped up his time at Park Row and that was hard to swallow.  Someone from our family has gone to that school every year for probably 15 years.  And now it has come to an end.  Even his teacher said I was going to need to adopt and send another kid to school there so I could keep the tradition alive.  ;-)  But...I am SUPER happy to not have to make that 15 minute drive several time a week anymore.  Now he will be going to school right across the street!

He was so animated at home singing all of his cute little school songs...then he got on stage and barely moved his mouth or did the motions.  ;-)

His little class.  Such a sweet group.  It was pretty sad when they were all hugging goodbye after
school.  :-(



They finished the program with all the kids signing together.

We loved his teacher Ms. Dianne.  We were blessed with great teachers throughout the years at Park Row.



We love Ms. Burkett!  She was the helper in most of my kid's classes and she's great!



Mother's Day



I love my critters!!!



The moms went to kid church and the kids did the program.  Ethan did the intro.  He was so funny.  He was worried that he would mess up because he says he has "stage fright".  He so doesn't.





One of the things I love about Mother's Day is getting hand made gifts from the kids.  These were from Ethan.  I LOVE the pic he drew of me making a cake.  Perfect. 

Caleb made me flowers and a paper basket to put them in.

Second Grade Field Trip

One of the perks of working weekend nights is that I'm avaliable to go on field trips with my critters!  I was a chaperone for Ethan's second grade field trip to the Planetarium at UTA.  Mondo was bummed that he couldn't go because he loves learning about space and planets.  ;-)  It was actually pretty cool and I had never been. Ethan enjoyed it but ended up with a headache from the motion.  It's like a smaller version of the Omni theater.  Poor kid.  He got my headaches.  :-(

That's a lot of kids to keep up with!

His buddy Jacob.

After the Planetarium we went to a park to play and have lunch.  Luckily it wasn't too hot that day.





Some of you may have heard of his "girlfriend" Michelle.  This is her.  She's a sweet girl.  Look at him beaming...oh dear...

Ranger Games

We took Caleb to a Ranger game last year...and he hated it.  He said it was too loud.  Especially when they got a home run and the fireworks went off.  We decided to try going to a game this year and sat in the nosebleed section just in case he didn't like it...but he loved it!  He looked at me at one point and said "I love this place!"  What a difference a year makes.

"I love Ranger games!"

Caleb's legs were tired from all the walking so he hitched a ride on Mondo's shoulders.

So...fast forward a couple of weeks to another game we went to.  It was FREEZING!  In May.  So weird.

I'm not kidding with how cold it was.  It was really windy too which made it worse.  The kids had their blankets wrapped around their heads.

The twins.

Caleb could hardly feel his fingers.  Yes, he brings his DS for when he gets bored.  ;-)

We made it a few innings and had to leave because we were SO COLD.  Here is Caleb dancing his way out when a song came on.  Brrr!