First Day of School

Off to school they go!  Aaron's first day of Pre-K at St Joe Christian.  After Back to School night on Monday night, he didn't understand why he couldn't go on Tuesday.  He was very excited, which is a great sign for his year of learning ahead!

 Standing outside Mrs. Dobbs' Pre-K class

 Sibling hug before Aaron left for school

After we got Aaron to school, it was Rebekah's turn.  She starts Kindergarten at Bessie Ellison.  We walked down to the bus stop and got there just as the bus was pulling up to her stop-perfect timing!

Joshua waiting with Rebekah at the bus stop

 Big smile from our Kindergartener!

Joshua may not have started school yet, but he's still pretty excited.  He got to choose what chair he sat in for breakfast-it's the little things in life that excite him!

Eating in Rebekah's chair

Home from school they came!  Rebekah had an early out, so she was home first.  She had a big smile coming off the bus, and said the day went really good!  Highlights of her day: having 2 girl friends in her class she already knew and getting to choose strawberry milk at lunch.

 After 1st day of Kindergarten

Aaron's comment when we picked him up was "well, that was fun!"  He came home very excited about the craft he made, the 3 recesses he had, and having 2 kids from his MDO class in his class this year.

 Aaron with his certificate for a great first day of school and his pre-k gold star sticker

While the other kids were at school, Joshua and I spent our day playing with Ayden, a new friend who we will be watching during the school year.  We also made banana bread as a special after-school snack.

Joshua trying to engage Ayden in playing with toys, but he really just wanted to watch the fan!

May

OK, so this officially started on April 30, but the pictures were taken on May 1 so it ends up on our May update.  Anyway, Joshua is potty trained!!!  Yeah!  No more diapers in this house (except for the box that was delivered because I forgot to cancel our automatic ordering-oops!).  Happy to report that after 5 1/2 years, we are a diaper free family!  In the early days of training, we go without pants to make things easier and quicker, so I had to grab some shots.  These were taken on day #2 because day #1 was spent mostly in the bathroom!

Who doesn't mow their lawn in their undies?!!

 A welcome look around our house-no diapers

We had our first bonfire of the summer in early May.  It was a great night-freshly cut grass, cool weather, and a crackling fire!

 Roasting marshmallows

 The best part of a bonfire-eating s'mores!

For Mother's Day, Daddy was in charge of lunch, so we went out for chinese food and had a nice relaxing afternoon watching a movie.  We had a picnic for supper and a nice walk on some trails, then went home for a little dessert.  Loved being together as a family!

 Mommy and the kids enjoying some ice cream

Ever since gymnastics started, the kids have loved hanging on things-counter tops, door knobs, chairs, just about anything that holds still, so we decided we needed something a little more appropriate for them to hang on.  This has been a great addition to our swing set.  They have many tricks to show anyone willing to watch!

The two acrobats of the Hero Three Ring Circus

Rebekah has finished her Pre-K year at St Joe Christian and had a great end of the year program!  As a whole grade (Class of 2025) they performed the poem, verse, and song they learned during each month.  It was quite impressive they remembered them all!  They ended with a finale that included duck hats (her teacher loves ducks) and a floral lei.

 Looking at this picture, I'm not sure if she graduated Pre-K or high school!  What a little lady!

 Rebekah and Mrs. Bocquin

The end of Pre-K means looking forward to the beginning of Kindergarten!  Rebekah attended summer school for two weeks to get used to her new school she will attend in the fall, meet some classmates, and get used to riding the bus!  Can't believe our girl is old enough to ride a bus to school!

 Excitedly waiting for the bus on the first day

  She hopped right on the bus and found a seat by the window

 Aaron and Joshua waiting for her to get dropped off

Memorial Day Weekend is the kick off to summer, and for us it was the kick off to boating!  Jeremey took Friday off and we headed to Lake Perry for the day.  It was mostly cloudy, but it did get sunny for about 1 1/2 hours which was perfect timing to go swimming.  We also headed out on Sunday and spent another great time at the lake swimming and watching daddy tube and ski. 

Kids ready to go on our first boating trip of the summer

 Daddy and Aaron swimming

 Joshua has taken over the front spot in the boat

On Memorial Day, our friends the Worcesters came up from Kansas City for a BBQ.  It was a great time to catch up and let the kids play together.

Aaron, Ali, and Rebekah playing in the sprinkler

All 3 kids attended a sports camp the last week of May.  Rebekah spent 4 nights doing cheerleading. They learned 2 cheers, did jumps, practiced tumbling, and even did stunts! 

 Rebekah in half extension

The boys spent 2 nights in soccer camp.  Aaron loved every minute of it, especially kicking goals and running the length of the field while dribbling.  Joshua wasn't happy about being there and was very clingy to mom the first night.  Daddy was able to join us on the second night, and he eventually did better.

 Daddy encouraging Joshua to join his teammates

 Joshua and Aaron taking their turns stopping the ball and kicking it back to the coach

Aaron, Rebekah, and Joshua on the Awards Night

April

Because I've gotten a little behind in keeping up our blog, I've decided to bring you up to speed month by month.  Here's a recap of what we did in April:

We started April by making some Easter treats, including Rice Krispies eggs with jelly beans inside.  Joshua really got into this sweet craft!

As a family, we went bowling on Good Friday.  This was the first time for the kids, so they got a little tutorial by daddy.  Must have really sunk in for Joshua, because he won the first game with 155 points!

Daddy helping Joshua position the bowling ball onto the ramp

Explaining the game of bowling to the kids

Grandpa and Grandma H. joined us for the weekend, and we spent some time as girls (thanks for the pedicures, Grandma!) and boys then did two Easter egg hunts on Sunday after church.

Grandma showing the kids where to look

Grandpa helping Joshua get the good ones

Joshua, Rebekah, and Aaron on Easter morning

Family picture

Rebekah lost tooth #2 about 2 weeks after she lost her first one.  This tooth was really loose one night, and we wanted to try to pull it out.  She didn't want to, so she went to bed and woke up the next morning without it!  Yep, must have swallowed it in her sleep.  She was bummed about that, but happy to get her $1 bill folded into a ring.

Rebekah and Aaron both started gymnastics during April.  For Rebekah this was the first time in about 15 months, and for Aaron this was his first class.  Both really enjoyed it, and are very diligent to practice their tumbling at home.

Miss Millie helping Aaron on the balance beam

Daddy and the kids made an awesome craft/computer desk downstairs.  Now the kids have a place all their own to spread out and create their masterpieces (and I have my kitchen counter back!) plus they have their own computer to play games on.  Win-win all around, and a great desk!

Rebekah and Aaron enjoying the fruit of their labors

What should we do?

After the sudden loss of tooth #1 we had to scramble to figure out what we were going to do to celebrate! The kids already know tooth fairy isn't real, so we weren't doing any of the "put the tooth under your pillow, follow the fairy dust in the morning to find a present" stuff. I decided to give $1, but in a special way. I looked online and followed directions for origami money folding, so this morning Rebekah found a special box at her seat with a surprise waiting inside.

Wondering "what is this?"

"It's a heart! It's money!"

I expected her to keep it folded for awhile, admiring the beautiful handiwork, showing it to daddy and possibly her friends at school. Nope, not this girl-she immediately unfolded it and made her own shapes (very creatively, I might add!). She then showed it to Aaron and put it in her piggy bank. Good thing I got pictures right away!

Update

It's been awhile since I've done a post for the kids, so here's a quick look at what they're up to.

Posing for the April picture we send to Great Grandparents. Love the blooming tree in the background. It's definitely spring around here!

Rebekah is growing up right before our eyes! Last night we went to Kindergarten Round-up. Kindergarten Round-up...what in the world-is she old enough for that?!! And just two weeks ago she started to wiggle her first loose tooth. Tonight, while eating an apple at supper, we noticed it was really loose. Daddy said "after supper let's look at that tooth and see if we should pull it out." About a minute later she said "I pulled it out!" Very brave young lady!

Earlier this month after doing a puzzle with daddy-notice all teeth in place.

Notice the red hole on the bottom-tooth is gone!

Aaron was sitting on the kitchen floor yesterday and started copying numbers off the kitchen clock. This was the first time he's ever done this, and he did a great job-all by himself! He has also shown great improvement in his coloring and writing skills! He loves to do crafts and make things to give people. He is registered to start all-day Pre-K in the fall.

Numbers 1-12, starting in the bottom left hand corner. Kind of hard to see because he circled all of them. The "4" in the upper right was an example I had given him, otherwise he did them all simply by looking at the clock & copying them.

Joshua. . .what can you say about this cute, suddenly independent two year old? He loves to copy what his siblings do, but wants to do everything by himself. He actually went on the potty chair two times last night, though I'm not saying we're actually starting training. It's just exciting to know it should be soon, and will be our last! I always told Jeremey I'll do potty training but it's up to him to take care of teeth-who knew we'd have them at the same time!

What a ham! Here's his squishy face. Gotta love those cheeks!

Our pantry is just big enough for him to fit inside and shut the door with out anyone knowing. Very handy when he wants to help himself to some cereal!

Although we have to limit his nap time or he won't go to sleep at a good time at night, he is still tuckered out during the day! This was late afternoon this past weekend, after we had spent the morning and early afternoon outside playing in the yard (and some of this time was without shoes, as you can tell by the bottom of his socks!). I was glad to see I'm not the only one who gets drowsy when reading books!

Snow Day

Our first snow day of the year didn't happen until February 13! We got about 3", which wasn't much, but was enough to cancel school for the day and get out the shovel!

Rebekah was a great helper with the shoveling. She stayed out the longest of all the kids and had a great time! She took off her gloves because, and I quote, "I'm working so hard that my hands are hot!"

A little hard to shovel when the shovel is as tall as you!

Lightning McQueen-AKA Aaron and a stroller-racing around Grandma's van

Joshua's protests to being outside. He spent most of his time in the garage, but here's my evidence that he really did go outside!

Rebekah and Aaron spent a LOT of time in the back yard playing! They got on their "horse" with help from the basketball hoop (gray part underneath Aaron's boot).

And yes, all the kids have horribly mismatched coats and snow pants. That comes from getting dressed at different times, in much excitement, and not realizing when you've put on someone else's things! Oh well-at least they were outside & enjoyed themselves!