Happy Summer (almost)

Although the forecast said it would rain all day, Tyler & I prayed last night that the rain would hold off at least until after his parade. God did us one better and kept the rain away all day. Tyler had fun in his parade. Danielle had fun collecting the candy the kids threw...except for one box of Dots that was thrown a little too hard and hit her in the back of the head. It sounds funny, but the corner of the box hit her and actually drew blood! She cried enough to make the guy next to us feel bad (because the kids were throwing the candy at him), so he scooped up all the candy he could find and dumped it in her bag. After that we were just fine. It ended up being a nice, relaxing day.

Since Memorial Day is considered the "unofficial" start of summer, I thought I'd post these rather summery pictures of Danielle enjoying her (seedless) watermelon after dinner tonight. I also thought you might enjoy seeing how ladylike our princess really is. Our summer will officially start next Wednesday when Tyler finishes his last day of kindergarten.

Play Ball!

Today was Tyler's first t-ball game. His team (The Angels) will play 10 games but will be done by the end of June. That's a lot of ball crammed into one month!

He had fun today and did a good job. He seems to be enjoying it more this year, which is encouraging him to try harder.

Tyler and his friend Luke

They took team and individual pictures before the first game (and before everyone got their uniforms dirty).

Tyler's fans

Tyler's team will get to be in the Memorial Day parade on Monday. He's looking forward to that. I'm sure I'll have more pictures then.

I have to share this picture of our beautiful daughter. She was all dressed up for Ron's cousin's wedding this afternoon. Isn't she pretty?!!

Farm Field Trip

All the kindergarten classes at Tyler's school took a field trip to the farm today. (This is the same farm I took the kids to at the end of last summer.) Grandma C watched Danielle so I could enjoy the trip with Tyler. (Thanks, Mom.)

The parents got to ride on the bus with the kids, which Tyler thought was pretty cool.

The classes went on an animal tour where they learned a little about the various animals on this particular farm. The kids especially liked the calf, baby llama, and little kittens. There weren't any baby bunnies this time. Tyler really enjoyed feeding the deer. It's amazing to me how big the buck's antlers grow in just a few short months. He's just starting to grow them now. If you click on the farm link above and check out my pictures from August, you'll see how big his antlers were then.

After our animal tour, we took a hay ride up to the woods. The guide talked about different animal habitats and how seeds are spread. Tyler thought the guy stopped the wagon and talked too much. He just wanted to ride & cover me with straw.

After the hayride the kids had time for a break in the playbarn, then they each took a turn riding a horse. This time Tyler rode Spongebob.

Tyler's class

They finished off their trip with a picnic lunch and more time in the play barn. It was a good trip.

Once again I feel the need to thank my husband for the opportunity to be a stay-at-home-mom. I realize it's a team effort, but he works very hard to make it a reality. It would have been very difficult to be as involved as I have been this past year (including the past two days) if I had to schedule around a job. Our kids won't always want me around, but right now they're really enjoying sharing these experiences with me. I intend to take advantage of that as long as possible.

Preschool Graduation

Danielle had her preschool graduation tonight. It might have been a little more special if she was heading to kindergarten next year like some of her classmates, but we'll be doing this again next year too. (She misses the kindergarten cut-off by 8 days. I'm glad.) Of course, it was important to her and she enjoyed getting to be in the spotlight for a few minutes.

Today was also her last day of school. Her class went to the park for some games & lunch. She woke up super excited and stayed that way most of the day. After spending the morning at the park with her class, I can see why her teacher is so fond of her. Some of those kids make Tyler look like a saint!!! Danielle was so well mannered and polite. She was also a very good listener! I was so proud of her. Tyler was there today, too, and I couldn't have asked for him to behave any better. I was very proud of both of my children!

Danielle's class

Here is a video of Danielle singing Who's the King of Jungle? at her program tonight.

Ever Felt This Way?

I read this comic in Sunday's paper, and it hit a bit close to home. (Click on it to view it larger.) I was talking to another mom today who was struggling to contain her 2 1/2 year old, and she referenced the same comic. While I felt bad for her, it's nice to know I'm not alone. I think we're all a bit hesitant to share our inadequacies or perceived failures, especially when it comes to being the perfect parent (or grossly missing that mark).

Let's Go Fly a Kite...

After lunch today the kids and I went to a park to play and fly kites. Ron and I first took the kids to fly kites the summer we were living in the apartment. We didn't try last year. The kids were actually able to get the kites into the air without help a couple times today. Tyler got the hang of it a little quicker than Danielle.



Did you catch Danielle's "Uh oh!"? Right after that their lines crossed and Tyler's kite got caught on Danielle's. The spool of string slipped out of his hands and slid along her line. So basically, Danielle was flying her kite and her kite was flying Tyler's kite. As I reeled Danielle's in, his spool broke loose and his kite blew across the park. I've never seen him move so fast! Fortunately the wind died down for a minute and he was able to pounce on the spool, thus saving his $1 kite.

Danielle's Last Soccer Game

As the title suggests, today was Danielle's last soccer game of the spring season. Fortunately there is also a fall season, so she won't have to wait an entire year to play again!

Although it was extremely windy and a bit chilly, we finally made it through one game without the threat of rain. Danielle had a good time and did a great job. I think she was sad that her season is over, but she was excited about her medal and eager to play again in the fall.

I guess her season was over at the right time - next Saturday starts Tyler's t-ball season.

For Everything Else, There's ...

An apple for the road: $0.34

2 gallons of gas: $7.76

5 garage sale Barbies, 3 little sister dolls, 9 outfits, & a Barbie corvette: $3.00

An afternoon watching Danielle play quietly with her new treasures: Priceless

Making Progress?

If you recall from one of my previous posts (My "Butt" Problem), Tyler learned how to spell the word butt around the beginning of the school year. He thinks the word is pretty funny and has gotten himself into trouble more times than I can count for his misuse of the word over the past nine months. He initially started by just writing "b u t t". Then he progressed to "Mom butt" (for example). Well, after almost a full year of kindergarten, he has now progressed to full sentences, including punctuation. This is what I found on the easel in the kitchen this afternoon:

Ron and I had a good laugh about it in private. He's too smart for his own good.

Happy Mother's Day

Last week both kids came home from school bearing bags with secret gifts. Danielle brought hers home on Thursday and quickly hid it in her room. Tyler brought his gifts home on Friday. When he got off the bus that afternoon, he immediately launched into a story about how he tripped when he was getting on the bus and all the dirt spilled out but he brushed it all back in the bag and hopefully everything was ok... I felt bad for him because I could just imagine him hurrying to the bus, excited to get home with his prizes. Then he tripped and spilled everything. How disappointing. I reassured him that whatever was in the bag was probably still perfect.

When we got in the house he begged me to open his gift. Danielle ran upstairs and grabbed her gift, too. They were so excited and proud of themselves. How could I resist?

I especially liked Tyler's bag because I could tell he wrote the words on it all by himself. (It said "I love you" on the other side.) His bag held a flower (and some loose dirt). He decorated the "pot". He also made a little book to go with it. He said he wrote the note by himself, too. It was interesting to read what he enjoys doing with me. His handwriting looks so nice! It was very sweet and definitely something I'll hang onto for years to come.

Danielle proudly presented me with a butterfly and heart that said "#1 Mom". She was especially proud of the heart. They were both beautiful and I was touched by how meaningful her hand crafted items seemed to be to her. I know she had me in mind while she made these. This was the first year she got to work on something special for me, and she really took pride in it. These are going in my keepsake box, too.

This morning each kid gave me a potted plant and a card. It's so amazing to look at how much their handwriting (in their cards) has improved just since last year. My mom, stepdad, & brother came over to celebrate with us today, too, and we had a very nice time. It was a good day to be Mom.

Soccer Pictures

While we were on vacation the soccer team had team and individual pictures taken. Since this is the first organized sport Danielle has played, I really wanted a picture. We contacted the photography studio and they made arrangements to let us come in and have her picture taken. (They wouldn't paste her head over one of her team mate's in the group picture, though.)

I took her in for her pictures today and left feeling a bit disappointed. It wasn't that the picture wasn't decent, it just wasn't wonderful. It was another one of those "I could do that just as good myself for much cheaper" moments. Danielle was disappointed she didn't get her picture taken in front of the soccer goal (since we were at the studio), so I decided to find a soccer field and take my own pictures. Danielle was in the mood to pose and fool around, and we had fun laughing together. (The poses were all her idea. I just asked her what she wanted to do.) Here are some of our pictures.