A Lot of This & That

First, I guess I was a little too prophetic in my rainbow posting about the calm between the storms the other day. Later that night after I had already put the kids to bed, we had a tornado warning and spent some time camping out in the basement. This tornado warning wasn’t as scary for the kids as the one we had a couple weeks ago probably because they were so groggy. In fact, Danielle didn’t remember it at all the next morning and she even walked down to the basement on her own. Obviously a tornado didn’t touch down and we lived. Phew.

We had a busy last half of the week. The kids attended Vacation Bible School this week. One of the common VBS programs this year is The Power Lab, which is what our kids attended. It was a nice change, I thought. It had a science theme, and all the crafts, games, and snacks were experiment related. Tyler loves that kind of thing, so it really was a lot of fun for him. Danielle really enjoyed it, too. Our friends had their 3rd baby last week, so we transported their girls every day, too. I think that was part of the fun for Danielle.

The VBS program was immediately after Tyler’s tball game on Thursday. (That’s why he looks a little tired and sweaty.) Last year he goofed off the entire time the kids were singing. This year he actually tried to sing the words. What I thought was funny, though, was that he stood perfectly still during the song (rather than doing the motions) but started wiggling around and moving all over the place as soon as the song was finished. The younger kids are at a disadvantage because they can’t read the words on the screen, but that didn’t stop Danielle from trying to keep up with the motions. I thought the difference between Tyler & Danielle in this video was funny.


Also on Thursday we kept our friends’ kids and all attended a program at the library. As we were walking in, Danielle commented on all the pretty flowers someone had planted around the building. Tyler said, “Someone must have used Roll ‘N Grow!” I thought that was pretty funny.

The Wildlife Center did a presentation for the kids. The lady who did the presentation was probably very good at her job, but she was not so good at entertaining children. She used big words and had little expression in her voice. Although the kids were a little restless at times, they did have fun. They got to touch a couple different species of cockroaches and see some crawfish, a flying squirrel, and a screech owl. Screech owls don’t get very big and are actually very cute in a bird-like way. The owl coughed up a pellet in the middle of the presentation, which interested the kids more than anything else the lady had planned to discuss. When Ron called to talk to the kids that night (he was gone part of the week), Danielle excitedly told him about the screech owl. She talked nonstop and told him that it even made “little whos because it was a little owl”. Actually the lady said the owl was making “quiet vocalizations”, but Danielle’s description was much cuter.

Yesterday afternoon we delivered the flowers the kids grew to the cemetery and spent the afternoon with Grandma & Grandpa C.

Today was Tyler’s last tball game. He had a lot of fun this season. Ron took a red-eye flight back from L.A. and arrived home at 6am this morning because he didn’t want to miss Tyler’s last game. I know Tyler doesn’t understand all Ron had to go through to do that, but he was glad his dad was there to cheer him on. I was a little insensitive (not on purpose) and reminded Tyler that this was his last tball game ever because next year he’ll play coach pitch baseball if he plays. He said, “That makes me so sad I think I’m going to cry.” And when I looked back at him, he had a tear rolling down each cheek. Boy did I feel like a heel. He recovered nicely, though, and had a great last game. He hit a pitch each time he was up to bat and had a lot of fun joking around with the coaches.

This afternoon he registered to play flag football, which starts in August. Maybe we'll have a month without any Saturday sports.



Finally, the kids are working on special shirts to wear on July 4th. Once again I’d like to appear creative, but this idea is from the latest Family Fun magazine. Danielle started hers yesterday, so she’s a day ahead of Tyler. He will splatter paint his stars tomorrow. Once the paint is dry, we’ll take the stencils off. I think the shirts are going to look really cool. I’ll be sure to post pictures of our finished products.

Calm Between the Storms

It has been raining on and off since mid afternoon today. In fact, I hear thunder rumbling even now. Although the rain stopped for a couple hours this evening and it was actually pretty decent out, Tyler's tball game was cancelled because the field was flooded. He only has 2 games left. We were fortunate enough to see a double rainbow this evening, though. The top one is kind of hard to see in the pictures. They were pretty and the kids enjoyed getting to go out in the rain to see them.

Our Bike Ride

Now that Tyler can ride without training wheels, he’s been asking to go on longer bike rides (more than just up and down the street). Danielle refuses to be left out and has insisted she can keep up on her little bike. So, yesterday I promised them we would ride to the post office today and then maybe to the library.

We got ready to go after lunch. I checked the weather radar before leaving because it looked a little cloudy. The radar was totally clear. The only green/red/yellow blurbs were to our east and moving further eastward.

We rode out of our development and crossed to the street the post office is on. We were within sight of the building when it suddenly started to pour big, fat rain drops. We stopped under a tree, hoping to wait it out. Then it started to thunder, and Danielle started to cry. I decided we probably shouldn’t wait under the tree if there was a chance of lightning, so I convinced Danielle to ride another block to the post office. We made it inside and waited for a few minutes for the rain to pass. The thunder was still grumbling, but it was quickly moving away from us. Thinking we were in the clear, we decided to proceed to the library.

We didn’t hear any thunder while we were in the library, but when I glanced out the window, I noticed it was just pouring! I was afraid things were only going to get worse, so I hurried the kids along and we left when the rain slowed. Thankfully the thunder didn’t get really grumbly until we were almost home. As we pulled into our driveway Danielle insisted she saw lightening in the distance. We all looked like we had wet ourselves and our shirts were soaked, but we had a good laugh about it. It certainly was a memorable first “real” bike ride.

When I looked at the weather radar after we got home, not only did it suddenly show lots of green, red, and yellow rain blurbs, but we also happened to be under a severe thunderstorm warning. The National Weather Service warned that these storms could be “capable of producing penny sized hail”. Now that certainly would have added something to the experience!

It was funny to listen to the kids relay the experience to Ron at dinner.

Reading News

Tonight Tyler read his first "chapter" book: Henry and Mudge and the Snowman Plan. Granted, the chapters are very short, but there were still 3 distinct chapters, and he read the entire book by himself. I only helped him with 2 words: "elbow" and "dachshund"!

Mamaw gave us a pile of Level 2 and 3 books a couple weeks ago. I had planned to put them away for later, but never got around to it and left them sitting on the steps instead. Tyler has been slowly picking through the pile and stashing them away in his room to read at night when he's supposed to be sleeping. This was one of those books, and he wanted to read it to Danielle before bed tonight. How could I refuse?

I shouldn't have been, but I was a little surprised he was able to read this with so little help from me. And his reading wasn't all choppy, either. He even read with inflection. Sometimes he would stop reading out loud and laugh because he was reading ahead silently. It is so amazing to watch our kids grow.

I feel like I've short changed Danielle a bit lately with all the posts about Tyler. She thinks she needs to keep up with Tyler, and she really wants to learn how to read. She's been working on writing her lower case letters better. This week we started "reading" with some of the first books Tyler brought home from kindergarten. Her memory is every bit as impressive as Tyler's and she quickly added "the" and "my" to the growing list of words she can spell and read. (Her preschool teacher is going to hate us this fall!)

(I linked to the book on Amazon so you can actually click on the book to see some of the pages of text. Click on "surprise me" and then use the arrows to scroll through a couple pages.)

Another Tball Post

Tyler is really enjoying tball this summer. He had 3 games this week. Next Saturday is his last game. He had a couple really solid hits today. The video is of his second hit. The picture is his team warming up before the game. They all look so cute and so little in their uniforms. (They all look alike, too. Tyler is circled.)

Tyler's Accomplishment

Hooray for Tyler! He learned to ride his bike without training wheels this afternoon! This was one of his first solo attempts this afternoon. He has gotten more steady already. He's very proud of himself...understandably!

Our Pray & Play Date

A group of moms from the church associated with Danielle's preschool formed a Pray & Play group for the summer months. Today the kids and I joined them for an outing to a paint-your-own ceramics place. I have wanted to try this with the kids anyway, so this was a great opportunity. This place was much less expensive than the other places I've checked out, too.

The kids each picked out 3 pieces to paint. Danielle picked a big cat, a little monkey, and a "baby" turtle. Tyler picked out a big turtle, a lizard, and small seashell. Tyler also painted a butterfly for his great-great aunt (whom he went to visit this evening).

We just used the acrylics today (rather than the glazes) because I didn't want to drive back out, and I thought the kids would be disappointed if they didn't get to take something home today. The kids really enjoyed picking out and painting their pieces. It never ceases to amaze me at how different 2 siblings can be. Tyler concentrated on using just one or two basic colors. Danielle used multiple colors on her pieces. Tyler finished his rather quickly. Danielle was slow and methodical. It was fun and the kids cherished their work.

After the painting we went to a nearby school for a picnic and some play time. Three of the kids had been in Danielle's preschool class this year, so she was very comfortable and enjoyed playing with her friends. Tyler's never met a stranger, so he had fun, too. We had a nice time.

Yesterday our local library had its summer reading program kick-off. They had a magician, goody bags, and cake for everyone. The magic show was really good (and funny) and all the kids got a balloon animal afterwards. I was again reminded of how lucky we are to live in a small town. Well, probably not just any small town; How lucky we are to live in this small town!

Touring the ice cream factory, playing on our water slide, picking strawberries, attending a magic show, and painting our own pottery - our summer is off to a good start!

Father's Day Preview

Earlier this week I took the kids in to have their pictures taken for Ron for Father's Day. He has been complaining that he needs an updated picture of the kids (together) for his office, so I thought it would be a good idea. If you don't have kids, you may think this is the easy way out; however, if you DO have children, you understand exactly how much effort goes into the entire picture taking process. Fortunately Tyler & Danielle are old enough that they're relatively cooperative once we actually get to the picture taking part. I thought the pictures turned out great - they totally captured our kids: unruly hair, warts, and silly grins. They're perfect and I'm looking forward to giving them to Ron. Unbelievably the kids have not leaked one word of this gift to Ron!

The kids also made cards for Ron. They took their tasks quite seriously this year and spent a lot of time working on them. A couple weeks ago Mom R and I commented about teaching Tyler to use apostrophes. Well, as you can see, he seems to have grasped that concept now. I did not help him with his card at all! Danielle's card showcases a couple things she's been working on, too: lower case letters in her name and drawing stars. I didn't help her with any of her card either (even the spelling!). At the last minute she added a crown on Ron "because he's the king". I assume she gave herself one because she is a princess. While they were working on their cards, they started talking about why their daddy is so special. It was really neat, so I quickly grabbed my camera and taped their conversation. I was looking forward to surprising Ron with that on Father's Day, too, but the kids told him all about that at dinner Friday night. He thought it was really cute, though, and it still meant a lot to him.

We're looking forward to celebrating Father's Day tomorrow.

Picking Strawberries & Playing Baseball

The strawberries are in! The kids and I visited the farm to pick strawberries today. We had a really nice time.

Danielle was quite serious about picking the berries and did a nice job filling her bucket. Well, I thought she did a good job. When I dumped them into the sink at home to clean them, I noticed she had more pink ones than red ones. She had fun, though.

Once again Tyler was more interested in eating them rather than picking them. Also, the plants were a little wet this morning and he didn't really want to get his hands wet. He watched over my shoulder while I parted the plants, looking for berries. When he saw one he wanted, he reached over me, grabbed it, and gobbled it up.

When we were done we enjoyed our fresh strawberry slushies in the rocking chairs on the front porch of the barn. It was very nice. I paid for almost 3 1/2 lbs of strawberries, but once I cut off the stems and bad parts and tossed all the pink ones Danielle picked, we ended up with about 2 lbs. It turned out to be just the right amount. After Tyler's game tonight, Grandma & Grandpa C & Uncle Ron stopped by for fresh strawberries and "shortcake". The berries were wonderful!

I had to include these 2 pictures from the past 2 years of strawberry picking. I can't believe the difference a couple years make!

Tyler had his third T-ball game tonight. He is enjoying this season so much more than last year. Tonight he played 2nd base so he got to see a little more fielding action than the past two games. Here are some videos and pictures from his game.

Selling & Sliding

On Friday and Saturday we had a garage sale. I don't think it went as well as last year's, but it wasn't a total waste of time. The kids sold brownies and lemonade again. Tyler wrote the words; Danielle drew the pictures. They didn't make as much as last year either, but they worked hard. I think we're going to go to the store while we're out tomorrow so they can get something small with their earnings.

It has been HOT here the past few days. Today we pulled out the pool and slip & slide. Tyler has discovered he can jump and clear the sides of the pool. It hurts my knees to watch! Of course, Danielle thought it looked like fun and had to try it, too.

No Longer a Kindergartener!

This morning Tyler left for school a kindergartener and returned home a first grader! Looking back, the year seems to have flown by!

This is Tyler before his last day of school. He's holding the present he made for his teacher. This year we opted for impatiens so we could play on the word "patient". Tyler got the joke and thought it was perfect. (Last year we used forget-me-nots.) I took him to school this morning so he didn't have to tote it on the bus. His teacher loved it and was properly enthusiastic about his work.









Tyler brought home a couple journals he'd been working on over the year. It was neat to look at his progress. At the beginning of the year his sentences consisted of a couple words in shaky handwriting. By the end of the year, his handwriting was much neater, his pictures more detailed, and his sentences formed a paragraph. Very cool and certainly items I will hang on to! He also brought home his grade card, which officially declared him a first grader. His grade card was absolutely perfect and filled with praise from his teacher. The cool thing was that he was able to read all her comments for himself (with the exception of "excellent" and "successful"). He has learned so much this year! We couldn't be more proud of him.

Tonight we went to Chuck E. Cheese's to celebrate the great year both our kids had. We had a really good time and are looking forward to a fun summer together.

Almost the End

Tomorrow is Tyler's last day of school. I can't believe the school year is over. It seems like it was just yesterday I was getting all weepy about him leaving for kindergarten. Now I have an almost first grader (and I still feel a little weepy). Time just goes so fast.

Today the kindergarteners had a family picnic and field day. It was very rainy here today, but they chanced a walk to the park before the storms hit. Danielle and I met his class at the park. Ron took a long lunch so he could eat with Tyler, too. After lunch the kids broke into teams and rotated through several stations of games. Tyler's teacher specifically told Danielle she should participate, too (yet another reason I love his teacher), and Danielle had a great time. I had to work the water relay game, so Ron took the pictures. The kids rotated through about 3 games before it started to rain. Since it was supposed to rain the rest of the day, the teachers walked the kids back to the school when the rain slowed down a bit. I don't know how the teachers felt, but I think the kids enjoyed being in the rain. Despite having the day cut a little short, it was still a lot of fun.

I also wanted to share this. (Click on the images to view them larger.) I thought Tyler's spelling was so cute. This is at least a couple months old but he brought it home today. It was hanging in the hallway when I was at his school last month, so I would say he made it in March or possibly early April sometime. When they do writing like this, they work in small groups with the teacher. Depending on the group of kids, the teacher offers varying amounts of help. I know with Tyler's group (Tyler & 2 girls), she let's them sound out the words for themselves and spell the words accordingly without offering much assistance.

Ice Cream & a Water Slide

Today the kids and I joined Mamaw, Papaw, Sebby, & Beth for a "field trip" to an ice cream manufacturer. They have a lot of outside activities, and it was a beautiful day to be outside!

We had a picnic lunch and then took a tour of the facility. Part of the tour was outside. The kids did a good job listening.

After our tour and walk through the ice cream museum, we had to sample the ice cream for ourselves! In case you can't tell, it was very good.

The kids enjoyed feeding the ducks and geese. They also got to pet a sheep and some kids, and they saw some eggs in an abandoned nest.

Before we left the kids played on the playground. Danielle finally made it across the monkey bars! I didn't capture her first trip all the way across the monkey bars, but I did get this one afterwards. She was tired out, though, and couldn't make it all the way across again.

We had a lot of fun.

When we got home, we pulled out our new water slide and tried it out. That was a lot of fun, too!

And...Tyler now has 2 loose teeth! His bottom front teeth are both loose.