2012 Week 24

The first whole week of summer and boy have we been enjoying it and taking advantage of all the free time.

Plenty of time at the pool means lots of snack are needed.  The kids had a lot of fun making their own trail mix.

Another berry picking outing with our berry picking buddies.  (Maci and Zander and their mom, Jessica)  Our plan was to pick raspberries, but even with an early start they were all gone by the time we got there.  So we loaded up on blackberries and blueberries.  But without the raspberries we weren't quite satisfied so we took our berry picking selves to the other farm (from our previous outing) and picked some more strawberries (end of the season for those so they were harder to pick).  They had a lot of veggies at the stand there too so we stocked up on tiny potatoes, green beans, and sweet corn. 

The kids love berry picking, even Tyler, who doesn't really want to eat the berries.  They were pretty excited to get home to start enjoying them in their favorite form - fruit shakes! (smoothies).  After lunch and some resting time we met up with our friends again for some swimming at the pool.

Even after all that Kaitlyn still had energy to help me make a batch of blackberry/blueberry freezer jam that night.  It turned out really yummy.

Friday found us at the zoo with Audrey and the kids.  It was perfect weather for it (not too hot - and good timing on that too as after the weekend the temps have risen to the 90s and stayed there) and the kids were really enjoying themselves.  For once, they were content to really look at all the animals and pay attention to the information instead of rushing from one exhibit to the next.

Saturday was fun family time.  We took the kids bowling (Kaitlyn won!) and out to lunch.

Sunday morning was Father's Day!  Tyler wanted to make the muffins for Sam's special breakfast himself (fresh blueberry of course) and was up early to do so.  (Also of course, as they weren't from the mix he's used to he wasn't much of a fan of the flavor and tried to get me to make the other kind too *sigh*)

The kids really do love their daddy and I think he's doing a great job as their dad.

2012 Week 23

Last week of school!

Blew up a ton of balloons Sunday night to turn into balloon flowers for Kaitlyn's class play.  We delivered them Monday morning and got quite a few quizzical looks from people and even a few compliments

Kaitlyn's play and awards ceremony was on Tuesday in her classroom.  Kaitlyn had one of the largest speaking parts and she did a great job.

In preparation for summer, Tyler's teacher sent home all his work and art projects and a whole packets of worksheet for him to practice with during the summer.  Tyler thought he should get started on the worksheets right away and sat right down and did a whole stack of them.  I'm starting to think our little guy might turn out almost as dedicated to learning/school work as his sister - yay!

Thursday was field day for Tyler's preschool class and I spent the day there helping out.  They had all kinds of fun activities set out on the grass outside their classroom and spent pretty much the whole day out there.  The kids were too excited to focus though, so what started out as an orderly rotation from station to station soon turned into a "play with whatever you want" free for all for the rest of the day.  The big favorites were the bouncy house and the sprinklers.

*need to add photo(s) from my phone

Last day of school!  Friday was only a half day for the last day of school and everyone was pretty happy about it.  To celebrate, we invited all the neighborhood kids to join us for a popsicle party at the pool that afternoon.  Everyone had a great time.

2012 Week 22

The first official love note from my sweet little boy.  And he's still in preschool and doesn't actually know how to read yet - what a little smartie!

On the list of projects this week - giant flower stems (balloon flowers to be added later) for Kaitlyn's class play.  We made 12 and toted them to the school one morning.  Kaitlyn is so excited for her play, though she says she is a bit nervous about having a speaking part.

We've had lots and lots of rain lately.  The poor Glads were too tall and couldn't take it :(  (luckily they were just the first of many.  Hopefully the rest won't fall down)

but the back yard is loving it and we are FINALLY started to see some grass sprouts in our giant weed patch.

Tyler was on a roll with the pretend play that day.  What a cutie.

Friday night was Tyler's preschool graduation - so cute!  All those little caps and gowns (which Ty referred to as his "costume") were adorable.  I got a little emotional during the slide show at the beginning of the ceremony as I realized how quickly he's growing up.  But as soon as they marched in I was able to avoid the tears and concentrate on how cute and funny kids are at that age.  How they fidget and wave while on stage.  How enthusiastically (and inexpertly) they sang the two songs they had learned.  How Tyler accepted his "diploma" (we found out when we got it home that it was a blank piece of paper and his real certificate was given to us afterward) and used it as a "telescope" to look at the audience when he made it back to his seat.  Too funny.

His sweet teachers gave him a $5 gift card to Walmart and he was so proud and excited to have it.  First thing the next morning we had to head out to the store to let him spend it, Tyler clutching the gift card in his hand the whole time he went up and down the toy aisles trying to decide what he wanted to buy.

Oh - and I finally remembered to take the camera down to the pool!  A friend invited us to join them at the pool Sunday afternoon.  (Sam was at work so it was just me and the kids)  We had the pool to ourselves until they showed up so I took the opportunity to get a few photos of the kids doing their favorite things.  Tyler's favorite is obviously to jump off the edge at the shallow end of the pool.  He also likes to "swim" - which for him is doggy paddle style for 5 or so feet at a time.  Kaitlyn's favorite thing is swimming under water, either back and forth from one side of the pool while seeing how long she can hold her breath, or diving for the dive toys.  And they both love sunning themselves on the loungers when they get tired or too cold (it was a windy day so the cold thing happened more than it usually does).

2012 Week 21

Ack!  Really?!?  Not a single photo taken this week.  Sad, because there were probably a lot of opportunities, I just didn't take the camera out and about with us.  That and the fact that I was sick, sick, sick for a lot of the week.  At the very least I need to go out and take some detail photos that relate to what we've been up to this week.  (sewing ruffles for the duvet, pool, sale pending sign next door!)
Let's see - what happened this past week?  Our 13th wedding anniversary!  That was on Tuesday.  We kept the celebrating pretty low key, skipped the babysitter and just went out to dinner as a family.  Though the kids did let us sit together on one side of the table, for once :)  It was a nice dinner, and we had fun.  Then we stopped on the way home and grabbed dessert from the grocery store.
Then of course I got a scratchy throat that night and was pretty sick for the next few days.
We've been really excited for our neighborhood pool to be open, especially with the really hot weather we have had most of the month, and it opened just in time for Memorial Day weekend - yay!  Sam had Friday off and he drug me to the grocery store to stock up on picnic type food to take with us to the pool.  As soon as Kaitlyn got off the bus Friday afternoon we headed to the pool and spent the rest of the evening there.  Saturday we had a playdate at the pool with one of Kaitlyn's friend's from school and her family.  The girls had been wanting to play together but we didn't know her family so I thought this was a good way to get to know them.  Other than the fact that they were an hour late, it turned out to be a great idea and we all had a lot of fun.  I can see ourselves doing other things with their family in the future. 
We divided our time during the last two days of the long weekend working on projects (lots and lots of projects - drying racks, the yard, etc etc) and at the pool.  It was a great way to have fun on a holiday weekend without having to go anywhere or spend any money.  And with the constantly rotating number of neighbors in and out at the pool, it felt like one giant party.  We really like the people in our neighborhood, and have had a lot of fun meeting even more new neighbors.  I'm finding that I really like the idea of having "our" pool too.  It's been a great way to combat the heat and humidity and not have to stay inside.  And the kids have an absolute blast any time we are down there.  Kaitlyn swims like a litte fish (and even gets comments from people about how well she swims) and loves swimming under water.  And Tyler is in love with the water and completely fearless.  He started out the weekend without much control when it came to swimming and prefering to either jump into the shallow end where he could touch (yay!  he couldn't last year so it was harder) or using his kickboard or a noodle to float with.  But now he can propel himself for at least 5-6 feet at a time and thinks it's really fun to swim from me to Sam and back or from one of us to the edge of the pool.  I'm predicting he will have the swimming thing pretty well mastered by the end of the summer.

2012 Week 20

"Mom I need a drink!"
The combination of warm temperatures, high humidity, and Tyler being more prone to sweat than most kids means the little guy comes in with his hair matted to his forehead quite often.  Sometimes he even looks like this when I pick him up from school.

Kaitlyn's dance recital was on Saturday and the final dance class as well as the dress rehearsal was earlier in the week.  Kaitlyn was very excited for it, (not scared a bit) and did a terrific job in the two danced (tap and jazz) her class performed.

Saturday night we rented the movie We Bought a Zoo, so it seemed fitting to head to the zoo the next day when we wanted to do something fun for the family.  The day was beautiful and not too hot.  The kids were happy, and we all enjoyed it (and completely wore ourselves out - it's a big zoo with a lot of walking). 

Kaitlyn put herself in charge of the map and determined our course throughout the day.  She cited the zebras as her favorite thing at the zoo.  Tyler was very excited about the new animatronic dinosaur section.  And I though the baby babboon was the highlight of the day.  He put on quite the show, first cuddling with his mom, then running around teasing some of the others and generally acting like a kid on a sugar high.

2012 Week 19

I pulled the camera out for some photo practice more than once this week, including during a rain storm we had one day.  It's kind of fun to take photos, just for the sake of taking photos, especially with models as cute as mine.

Yesterday was Mother's Day, which is usually a pretty good day.  This year was no exception, in fact we kind of celebrated the whole weekend.  When Sam asked me a few days ago what I wanted for a gift I told him most of my top items I wanted to pick out myself.  So that is exactly what he did - he and the kids took me shopping at the Outlet mall on Saturday.  I ended up with a new pair of athletic shoes, 2 new shirts, door mats for the screen porch, and even a new swimsuit (which was surprisingly easy to find despite the fact that I haven't managed to get myself completly in shape as I had hoped by this point).  And of course the kids gave me some great handmade gifts and cards for Mother's Day as well.  (the flower pot and handprint pot holder in the photo are from Ty, the rest from Kate)

Kaitlyn has been waking up at 6AM and Mother's Day was no exception.  In fact, Tyler even managed to roll out of bed on his own around that time.  Kaitlyn had been sure to pull her Dad aside for a planning session Friday night, so he knew she wanted to make breakfast.  By the time Sam had forced himself out of bed to check on the kiddos, Kaitlyn already had the muffins mixed and in the oven all by herself.

After taking our time getting started with the day (and putting in a little time planing down a board we were hoping to use for countdown blocks - ick.  I ended up with sore arms and some bruises and scrapes on my forearms from handling the big 6x6) we decided our fun thing for the day would be making a couple different kinds of cookies.  So we loaded into the car to hit the grocery store, stopping first to get lunch at Sonic and let the kids play on the playground.  Then we all helped make the cookies, and lick the bowl :)

Kaitlyn is getting pretty good at food prep.  She did the eggs all by herself.

Sam bought me flowers while we were at the store.  He also had a nice dinner planned, including ribs on the smoker.  But sadly one of the wood chips decided to burn instead of smoke and the poor ribs ended up practically unusable crispy critters.  In the end we had chicken nuggest and fries.  Not ideal, but still a good day.  I love my kids and husband!

2012 Week 18

Lots of photos, not many words this week

Tyler is a very funny kid.  It's usually pretty amusing just to sit back and watch how his mind works.  Or watch him go crazy/silly, which is what he was doing in this case.  He would stand up tall, do a sommersault, then sprawl out on the floor for a minute before jumping up to do it all over again.  And again.  And again.

Isn't she looking so grown up?  My pretty little girl, patiently modeling hairbows for me. 

My little exercise buddy.

We spent a good chunk of the weekend getting gifts ready for May - Teacher appreciation (this coming week), Mother's Day, Graduation cards, etc.  I had to take a photo of the kids modeling the scarves we made the Gmas for Mother's Day before we sent them off.