June is great!

Peyton's last day of kindergarten

New hair cut for summer

Summer is here and so far I haven't heard the words, "I'm bored!" We have been very busy since Peyton's last day of school. We visited Nonna in Richmond for a few days, stopped by the family farm for an afternoon, and have been taking swimming lessons. It has been crazy hot so we haven't spent a lot of time outside. We are taking a one hour rest almost every day and that has been fantastic for me. I get to rest and take it easy and they are quiet in their rooms, reading, playing, resting. We did take an afternoon to weed out some toys from their rooms and we're going to tackle the basement next. There are WAY too many toys in our house and it's been good to have them involved in making the decision about what stays and what goes. We have such a full summer planned that I'm savoring these days at home with just a few things on the schedule!

Rainy Day Fun & a Visitor

Last Saturday we had a substantial downpour (that lasted all of 5 minutes or so). Mark had been standing on the porch with Peyton and Liam and he said, "I'm going to go run around the apple tree" and then took off. Before I knew it, all three were playing in the rain. They ran in the yard, up and down the street, in the driveway, and sat in the gutters letting the rain water hit them like a mini tidal wave. They were hilarious and so of course I grabbed my camera!

Our special visitor was a beautiful luna moth that arrived one morning and stayed on the front of our house all day. We were fascinated by it and kept going out to see if it was still there.

We are very excited by the fact that there are only 3 days of school left for Peyton. We cannot wait to experience summer and all of the fun things we have planned!

Late spring photos

This nest of robin's eggs is in the tree by our garage. The mama shrieks at us every time we get in and out of our car. I had to balance quite precariously on a stepladder and aim the camera without looking to get this shot!

Meet Carol, the ladybug (named by Peyton). She lived in the bottom of a milk jug for about 30 minutes before being released back into the wild!
Celebrating Peyton's lost tooth with local bakery goods!
Quite excited by the gap in her mouth!
We had a two headed gerber daisy in the front planter
Just off the bus - only a few more days until summer!

We are gearing up for an incredibly busy summer. We'll be out and about a lot, so I'll probably not be updating this site very often. I am very much looking forward to the end of the school year. Peyton only has 7 more days and 2 of those are half days. Liam is done for the year and so we're finding time to visit the Children's Museum, the park, etc. We are also running errands, which is NOT his favorite thing at all. He is, right now in fact, throwing a small whiny fit because we are about to run out for gas and a few groceries!

Another milestone- lost tooth!

Peyton finally lost a tooth. She has been waiting for this moment for a very long time (long for a 5 year old is like a few months!) She discovered a wiggly tooth about 2 months ago and has been very reluctant to wiggle it. It got really loose this week and she was crying about it falling out. She was scared that it would bleed and that it would hurt. I told her this morning that I could pull it for her and she said no that it was just going to fall out, but apparently she pulled it herself at school. When I picked her up this afternoon I was so surprised and excited.

Dance Recital - part 2

Liam's turn! This was his first time taking dance and he asked to do it because he had seen Peyton enjoying it last year. He was the only boy in the class and was well liked by the other little girls. When the little girl hugged him during the recital, she got huge laughs, so she kept doing it! I'm not sure if he'll dance this fall, but we'll let him decide.

Dance Recital - part 1

Peyton took part in her second dance recital this weekend. She danced through parks and recreation this semester and did some more ballet and a little tap. Her group tap danced in the recital. She was shaking her hips and wiggling her butt. I was so proud of her and can't get over how grown up she looks. She has asked to dance again in the fall, in the hip hop class. I told her we'll see what is offered for her age group and what works for mama and dad's schedules! I blurred out the other dancers because I don't want to post other kid's pictures without their parent's permission.

Part 2 soon.....Liam's dance!

We celebrated Mother's Day a week later and it was a fantastic day for me. The kids came in while I was reading my Bible with a sweet little breakfast on a tray. Then they gave me some itunes gift cards and a new hammock! Mark put it up later in the day, but then took it down. We are still trying to decide where to hang it or if we want to go look for a different kind. The place he hung it originally is too narrow. We need to find a spot where the trees are farther apart. I think if we can find a better spot, we'll keep it. It's super comfortable and I can't wait to sit in it and read.

We are insanely busy this week. Liam's preschool has an end of the season program, we have dress rehearsal and then the dance recital, plus fellowship dinner at church, and a church picnic! Lots to do, but mostly fun stuff. Only a week and a half left of preschool and about 3.5 weeks of school until both children are home for the summer. We are already filling the calendar with stuff. I still hope we'll find time to go camping.

This is Liam's reaction when I want to take his picture. He either makes an angry face or runs away screaming!