Summer Kick-off Party at Church

At the beginning of summer we had a summer kick-off party at church.  We had food, discussed upcoming summer events, and then the kids played outside.  We had a great time.  (That's the inside of our new church for those of you who haven't seen it.)

The playground has been a huge hit!

They played kick ball till it got dark!

Will, Ethan, and Tyler in the front.

Showing me a butterfly he captured.

Mondo got out there and helped.  I'm not sure he was playing fair.  ;-)

Will, Ethan, Tyler.

Caleb loves his Maddie.

Memorial Day

Yep.  There was a Memorial Day land at my parent's house.  The handsome dude in the glasses is my dad.  He served in Viet Nam.  The other guy is my mom's dad (Dadaddy to some of you).  And those sure are gummy soldiers speared on a gum drop tree.  My mom is nothing if not authentic.

We headed to the golf course on Memorial Day for a pool party.  The kids had a great time swimming and playing.

Caleb had Maddie pull him around on a raft.

Then he stole some baby's floating and floated around in it until we noticed and kicked him out.  He's a little hoarder at the pool.  He usually ends up with so many toys he can hardly swim!

They had a contest to see who could do the biggest cannon ball.  Of course Caleb had to get in on the action!

Ethan opted for the "can opener" and actually made a pretty big wave.

My view for the day.  Hope my legs don't blind you. 

The had a limbo contest and Ethan lasted pretty long.

This picture doesn't really do the sunburn justice.  I promise I applied sunscreen...at least once.  You'd think by now I would know how not to get a sunburn.  I blistered/peeled for a week.  It was bad.  Can't wait to go to the beach!

End of First Grade

I wasn't quite as emotional with the end of first grade as I was with the end of kindergarten.  But...it's still sad to see my tiny baby grow up.  He learned so many things in first grade.  His reading greatly improved so much that he was one of the Advanced Readers in his class and was able to attend some special breakfasts for it!  He also learned many new sayings like "jinks, you owe me a soda", "spell icup", "you're a loser who sits and cries, I'm a winner see my prize".  The list is endless.  During the last week of school he had an award ceremony and a party.  Here are the pics.

Receiving his packet of awards from his teacher.  He got awards for good behavior, for always having his reading log done, and for being a top reader in his class.  I'm just a little proud.  ;-)

His class with their awards.

We had their party outside and this was the view.  Clouds started rolling in right when it was time for the party.

We set up four tents with different games and snacks.  I didn't get many pictures because I was too busy helping.

  



We gave each kid a passport to go to the different "islands".  Love his excited face in the pic!





The party made it about an hour until the sky opened up and it started pouring and lightening to the ground so we ran inside.  Ethan's class played bingo while we waited for the pizza to come.

My silly boy.  I love being off during the week so I can help at his parties!

End of Baseball Season

The end of baseball season was bitter sweet. It was tough at times with both boys having games/practices all the time but luckily I'm married to super dad who was able to shuffle them around while I slept/worked. We miss hanging out at the baseball fields but it's nice not to have to schedule our week around baseball.

They friends remainded after playing several games against each other.  They were unphased.

Yes this picture is posed.  Ethan lost his game and Will won his.

But they didn't want to stop playing even after it was over!

After the game we had a swimming/pizza party at a nearby hotel to celebrate a great season with the Astros.  Of course Caleb participated too.

Our poor team mate Brock broke his arm a few weeks before the last game.  I felt so bad for him stuck in the heat at a pool party!





Have you seen Kung Fu Panda? He was doing the scene where Po pretends to be Master Shifu. Pretty funny.





They all received a trophy for a job well done.

And all of the parents chipped in a got some gift cards for the coach and his wife for doing such a great job this season.



Silly boys.

We love Coach Bailey! (Who, by the way, I went to elementary/middle school with. Weird!)

Caleb's Last Day of School

It's a little bitter sweet that Caleb is all finished with his "3's" class at school.  Only one more year then he'll be in kindergarten!!  Yikes.  The last Tuesday he was there they had a little end of school program.  It was for all of the grades and preschool.  I was impressed that Caleb actually participated.  And apparently he was the only one not dressed up.  He chose to wear his octopus shirt that day.  :-)

Singing a little song with hand motions.

Don't they all look thrilled to be waving their flags?

This was taken on the actual last day of school.  That's his teacher Ms. Janie.  We loved her!  Of course he wouldn't smile.  Little turkey.

I loved looking through all of his papers to see how he's progressed throughout the year.  I really like how she did this on the outside of his folder.

All of this is right on the money!  Except for the tv show.  That changes every few weeks.  Right now he's really into Octonauts.  It's a nice little educational show that teaches him about sea creatures, hence the octopus shirt.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day came early for me this year.  I came out of the shower on Saturday to get ready for work and found flowers...and a Kindle Fire waiting for me by my make-up!  I was STUNNED!  Mondo and the kids bought it that day and the kids were going to tell me about it so he gave it to me early.  Then on Mother's Day we went to church, went to Mom's for lunch, then headed to Southlake to do some shopping and have dinner.  I had a great day just spending time with my critters.  :-)

All dressed for church.  I wish I was as brown as they are!

My goodies.

Oh how this makes me smile.  It's a coaster he made at church.  It looks like a little mug shot.  ;-)

Ethan made this magnet at school.  Apparently he thinks he's pretty dark.

He also made me a coupon book.  This one says "no video games".  I doubt I can ever really redeem these.  Funny story:  That morning after church Ethan was being really whiney.  I told him all I wanted for Mother's Day was a day of no whining!  Very seriously he responded, "That's not one of my coupons."  Haha!!

"No fighting all day"

"Breakfast in bed"

"Feed the dog"