Happy Memorial Day!

We had a nice weekend visit with Nate's parent who flew in from Michigan.  We went hiking, went to the Memorial Day fair, shopped, did house projects, watched the Rolling Thunder Harley Davidson parade, church and went downtown....

 in between the tick in Sam's leg, 4 foot snake episode (involving the police) in my flower bed, and my finger getting smashed in the door! 

 We also celebrated Grace's birthday with them.  She got "Kit" from Grandma and Grandpa.  She loves it so much and was so surprised.  She said, "Mommy, I thought you told me I wasn't getting an American Girl Doll."

 Happy Memorial Day.
We went to Iwo Jima and the Air Force Memorial - what a fun reminder of how close we live to some AWESOME places.

Grandfriends Day!

Grace and Rita had a performance at school on Friday for Memorial Day and to celebrate grandparents.  My parents came for the morning (Nate's parents flew in that night.)  It was so precious seeing all the kids dressed up and singing songs like "Anchors Away."

 Grace's self portrait was displayed in the hallway on the bulletin board.  She was so proud of it!  Can you see which one??

Also, the answer to what was in the box is....

A BEANBAG CHAIR!

Girls Morning Out!

It is a rare event that my nieces are together at once!  My brothers both live in different states.  My Maryland brother came over to fix my computer and brought Audrey.  The girls just love to be with her and see her more often than my their other cousins.  My California brother came out for a conference and brought Martha with him.  It has been so fun to have a little playmate for my girls!  They have played so well together and will be sad when she leaves tomorrow morning.  So my mom and I took my brothers' girls out for a morning last Saturday.  

 We first stopped to get a piece of bread at Great Harvest nearby.  The girls had such big eyes trying to pick out their piece of bread!  

 Then we went to the American Girl Cafe nearby.  My mom and I really had fun being together and with their girls.  They really entertain themselves so much that it isn't hard having them together until they get tired or hungry.

 This was hilarious to my mom and I... a holder for the doll in the bathroom - brilliant!

 This doll was Audrey's favorite.  She is a gymnast and comes with a cast on her leg!!??!!

 Martha and Rita ran around the store with their pink balloons touching everything.  It was great!

 The girls asked each other the questions that they put in a box on the table.  They are Table Toppers and they were really into that.  The store also gives out loaner dolls - which we conveniently used so our dolls wouldn't get nasty with food.

 This photo is funny to me because I didn't notice this at the time but everyone is staring at us!

What a FUN FUN FUN time the girls had.  I am so excited to show these photos to my sister in laws!!!

May 17th - Grace is 8!

I went into Grace's class for lunch to bring in a treat.  

The teacher prayed for Grace and they sang to her.  Grace's teacher was a perfect fit for her this year.  They had a really special relationship and we had no problems at all!  Grace looks forward to school, loves to read, and talks about Mrs. Gale all the time.

 After a taco dinner (Grace's pick) we had cake and a family party.

 Aunt Lindsay hid a gift for Grace in the house when she was visiting and sent Grace to find it over the telephone.  That was very creative Aunt Lindsay - although I think she found it ahead of time but was so excited to open it.

 MONEY!!!

 This was Grace's big gift.  

What do you think it was?

Happy Mothers Day!

  Mothers Day in Reality:

Coffee Spilled

 Dresser fell over WITH A CHILD underneath (not pictured)

 Flower pot + 4 1/2 children in bed

 On our way to church at 9:15 AM (28ish weeks pregnant)

Grace's 8th Birthday Party

Grace was thrilled this year that it wasn't a "quiet party" birthday year.  Every other year we have done real birthday parties for the older girls and this was Grace's year.  We found this movie theater near our home that does birthday parties on Saturday mornings.  The entire theater (not just the theater, the whole facility!) is reserved and you can pick the movie.  It is tricky because at the last minute is when you find out what movie is playing but it worked out this time.

Grace invited the girls in her class and a few neighbors.  Add her friend's parents, her own siblings, parents and grandparents and you have quite a little group.  They got to see the Secret World of Arrietty.  There is absolutely nothing offensive in this movie and Nate and I figured out that it is actually a Japanese movie based on "The Borrowers" - it had a Japanese feel to it.  It is worth getting on Netflix for a family movie night.

Here are six of her friends, you can see that she is just so excited!

 Every girl had a "ticket" on their invite to get a popcorn and soda.

 We also got a backstage tour of the movie theater which was interesting.  Most movie theaters are going digital and this theater still operates on reels.  So they mail back their reels after each movie release.  The girls got to see how they "thread" the reel through this huge machine and play the movie.  I have never been up in the booth where you can view the entire theater below.  

 After the party, we had time to have cake and play charades.  Who ever thought that 8 year old girls were so confident and into a game like charades?  That is what Grace wanted to play and they loved it.  Very low-key.  We also made goodie bags with balloons attached with candy buttons, Jelly Belly popcorn jelly beans, a pack of tissues, and some cookies.

Kindergarten Mothers Day Tea

I am back!  My computer got a bad virus - I think it was when I was looking up something about taking good family photos.  My brother said I get more viruses than anyone he knows.  I have a lot to post from Mothers Day, family visiting, and Graces birthday...  

Nate also ran a 13.1 race last weekend that he had been training for with some guys from church for months.  He would never come right out and share this and I can give you the details if you email me.  I don't want to embarrass him but he did well.  I think he was something like 52nd out of 6,000+ runners.  He had some funny stories about the people he was talking with as he ran.

Rita's teacher threw a brunch for Mothers Day and it was beautiful.  I felt so pampered.  The kids were all instructed to serve their mommas and they were so into it.  They didn't eat any of our food (they ate earlier), served us and carried our plates.  I just loved it.

Here is Rita with her best buddy Kayla at the front of the food line.  One of the neat things about my kids starting school was getting to know new families.  Kayla's mom Jess is so wonderful and sweet, I have enjoyed getting to know her this year - a huge blessing indeed.  

 This is Rita's full time assistant teacher in front of the spread!  

LOOK AT THAT FOOD!  Salad, wraps, TONS of fresh fruit and veggies.

 Rita deciding what I would enjoy.  That was fun to watch.  See all the salad on the plate!

 How precious is this?  We got a favor!  A jar of local jelly with a beautiful ribbon.  Seriously, when I grow up, I want to be like Rita's teacher.

 Here she is... I am not able to get into the classroom a lot but I am 110% confident and comfortable with her teaching and caring for Rita Roo (her nickname from the teacher) daily.  Rita comes home with the funniest stories about her teacher.  She will be at the most random place (like a dentist office) and have to tell the adults there that her teacher is a nurse (her original job) AND a teacher!  

It was so much fun for me to be with Rita one on one.

 Mrs Connor made 5 desserts from scratch!  

 Lastly, Mrs Connor's shoes that she wore that day were very important to Rita... aren't they perfect??

Shoe Tying School!

Okay we are ready to move on from Spring Break photos and update on other happenings around here!  When we got back from Spring Break, I had the older girls (now we are going to have a set of older girls and younger girls!!) go with me on a fun morning out to the mall.  We had signed up for a shoe tying class.  I was skeptical but it was really neat. 

They came into the store before it opened and they were sent to the fish tank to color some coloring sheets. Being in a store an hour before it opened was a huge treat alone but to have the whole area to ourselves was fun!  

 The girls sat in a circle and introduced themselves, their ages and their favorite movies (Grace said Cars Too and Rita said Shirley Temple.)  

 Step by step, they learned a fancy way to tie their own shoes and it really worked!  They even got to practice on a men's size 14 shoe which was fun.

 By the time they were finished, they were graduates of shoe tying school and Rita was ready to swap out her Velcros for a real pair of shoes at school.  No more Velcro for Grace and Rita!!  Rita is even tying my shoes now.  They left with a goodie bag full of fun treats and a shoe that they can practice on with real shoelaces.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell Vol. 30