The Graduate!

Congratulations Annie Frances on your graduation from pre-school today!

Annie’s Class Singing the Alphabet Song

It is hard to believe that our little girl is already five and headed to Kindergarten next year. For the past 4.5 years she has gone to Parents Choice for Kids daycare and next week will be her last week there as we are getting a nanny for the summer. She has made some great friends and I know will miss them dearly but we promised to schedule more play dates so they keep in touch.

The Three Amigos!!!

Annie and her “boyfriend” of the last few years!

Her graduation ceremony brought tears to mine and Brian’s eyes as we watched our little girl complete this phase of her childhood. She is such an amazing little girl with a free spirit that makes us smile and laugh daily. I have no doubt in my mind that Annie will do awesome as a Kindergartener next year.  Her years at PCFK have provided her with a solid foundation both educationally and socially. I am so excited for her to embark on her new adventures in Mrs. Reed’s class next year! 

Getting her diploma!

The whole Rainbow Class!

Annie and her teachers, Greg and Gloria!

Congratulations Annie! Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you and we love you more than than words can tell!!!!

What won’t he eat!

Tonight Katelin was yelling at James while they were in the mud room telling him “No, stop!” and he of course proceeded to cry.  I asked what was going on and Kate told me that James pulled one of the marshmallow teeth off of her drawing from school and ate it!  Katelin then said that there are many teeth missing from her picture.  Sure enough, we counted 11 missing teeth! I wonder how many hard marshmallows with glue on them are inside James’ tummy! (Did I mention the picture is three months+ old!!!!)

Memorial Weekend Memories

Another weekend full of good times and fun memories! The weekend started with Brian and I going to the Twins/Tigers game on Friday night. It was a last minute opportunity that we had to take advantage of because, as we all know, Brian is a Tigers fan! It was a great night out and has become somewhat of an annual tradition for the two of us.

On Saturday morning the girls and I hit up a garage sale at a mansion on Lake Harriet. We scored big time for James as I got a lot of shorts and polo shirts for 50 cents each! The girls got hula hoops and we also got a Power Wheels ride on toy for $2!  James is too little for it but Annie has been having a ton of fun riding it around.  Brings back lots of memories for me and Brian!

Saturday afternoon and evening the girls spent some time with their cousin.  They went to the Pirates movie and then to Grand Slam.  They had a ton of fun and James and I got a lot done around the house (not so much fun but much needed!).

Sunday we got to spend some time with my friends from college and their families! The girls had a blast playing with their friends they don’t get to see very often. I want to make an effort to spend more time with these special friends as the adults and the kids always have such a great time!!!  A few of the friends got to spend the night at our house and so the girls loved having a little sleep over.  Their only complaint was that they didn’t get to play with everyone long enough.

Crazy Kids!

The first plunge!

Mags and Kate helping James get undressed

Swiping fruit!

The girls and their American Dolls & Bitty Babies!

Memorial Day wasn’t as fun as we didn’t get to spend time together as a family as house projects kept us apart.  But Brian got a lot accomplished even though he had to spend many hours at Home Depot, The Tile Shop and Ikea. The kids and I tried to enjoy the weather and spend some time outside (one of James’ favorite things!). We had a great time playing in the yard but unfortunately our walk didn’t turn out so peaceful. When we were probably 1/2 mile away Katelin’s chain on her new bike came off and of course I couldn’t fix it.  Then Annie took a spill and was bleeding and crying. So I ended up walking both bikes home while Kate pushed James complaining the whole time about the wind! Now I can laugh about it!

Malachi from his sisters!

Eating as usual!

“Blue Steel”

Always posing for pictures!

James waving goodbye to cars as they pass (and playing with his new favorite toy…a pink lawn mower!)

We hope everyone else had a safe and fun Memorial weekend. And to all the brave men and women (especially my Dad and Bapa) who  are serving or served our country to defend our freedom I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Bring on the freezies!

The girls and Brian are HUGE freezie fans and the start of warm weather means it is time to get the jumbo box of freezies! We now have one more member in the family who loves them as well…James! He had his first freezie and within a few sucks he was hooked as well.  As soon as he was done with the first one he ran to the freezer and was saying “I want one”!!! I couldn’t resist snapping a few pics of James enjoying his first of many freezies!  Oh, and check out his silly hair.  Now that it is actually growing it is becoming a little unruly but I love it!

Down on Grandpa’s Farm

Yesterday Katelin had her Kindergarten concert, Down on Grandpa’s Farm.  All the kids were instructed to wear white shirts, bandanas and jean bottoms. Katelin didn’t share much about her concert with us except that they were practicing every day and she had a special part in the show. She was SUPER excited!

The kids sang 9 different songs all themed around the farm yard. Katelin was on the top row of the risers and sang her little heart out.  Once she found us in the audience, we got a lot of smiles and waves throughout the show (and a few thumbs up as well).  She truly was having a blast and so proud of herself!

After the concert the girls enjoyed playing on the stage with each other and having a little extra fun.  I loved seeing Kate have so much fun with her friends and she even let Annie in on some of the play time after the show!

It’s hard to believe that the school year is almost over.  We have enjoyed watching Katelin grow so much this year and look forward to seeing what next year brings for both her and Annie!

Whirlwind Weekend!

WOW, what a busy but awesome weekend!  Grandma Shirley and Uncle Terry got to our house on Friday for a weekend visit and to enjoy all the festivities. Friday night I spent until 2AM working on getting things ready for our busy Saturday. 

The day started with Annie’s soccer practice at 10:30 and then on to Kate’s game at noon.   Once again the Pink Flamingos claimed a victory! 

We quickly hurried home after the game to get to the girls’ friend’s birthday party. They had a fabulous time at the pirate party and were a little disappointed to have to leave it early to get to Annie’s dance recital.  Here is a great pic though of Bri and Chris posing in their pirate gear!

Annie did a terrific job at her dance recital.  It was the first one she did where Kate didn’t dance with her.  We weren’t sure if she would be too shy to go on stage but she was awesome and one of the best little dancers in her group!

Right after the show we rushed home to host her family birthday party.  We had a delicious BBQ, opened LOTS of presents, had Annie’s favorite DQ ice cream cake, and enjoyed spending time with our family.  Here are some pics of Annie and her presents.  You will see she got a lot of pink things (including a new pink Razor scooter! and LOTS of Hello Kitty themed clothes, accessories, etc.!)

Then today I spent the majority of the day up in my bedroom trying to organize and fold like 8 loads of laundry that were scattered all over our room for days (it looked like a college dorm!).  Brian and Terry spent the day working on demolishing the girls’ bathroom. Unfortunately two hours into the project Brian had to make a little pit stop at Urgent Care for 10 stitches to his arm.  We were joking that he needs to stop getting “tattoos” when he does house projects as he also needed stitches to his leg when he put in our hardwood floors.  Good thing he can handle blood as I would have passed out if I would have had to look at it.  I am really excited to see what the bathroom is going to look like when we (or rather Brian) finishes it!

So now I sit writing this blog (with my bedroom still in total disarray) but am so thankful for having had such a wonderful weekend with my family!