First and Last

School isn't quite over yet, but today I took "last day of school" pics, and I love seeing how much they've changed. The Avery now is so smart and confident. She can read and kills it at math.

There's just such a different feel in the air between the two pictures. Can you sense it? 

The changing seasons of life is so exciting; the coming of Fall verses the coming of Summer.

The Evan now can write his name. He did it all by himself on the whiteboard the other day. 

Then he went ahead and wrote Avery's name too. I didn't help at all...I just stood back and watched nonchalantly, totally busting up in side. 

Andrew is holding his very own Edaleen's ice cream cone. That's a big developmental step in our family. 

Ahhh he's the sweetest. 

I went on a run today with him in the stroller, and I just love the back of a toddler's head. I giggled at it the whole time. Such curly, swirly hair. 

Mother's Day

I love mother's day. 

I have so much love and patience for my kids on mother's day weekend.

That may have something to do with all the handmade cards. I can't get enough of them. And this year I got a LOT of them.

Also this year, Jim had to go to Vegas Saturday and Sunday for training. 

I got to give a talk in church. Me and another friend/mom spoke about motherhood and womanhood. I am a big fan of having women speakers on mother's day. We just have so much to say on the matter. 

There was a lot packed into the meeting, so I didn't have a ton of time to say all the things I wanted to say. Essentially, I talked about how motherhood allows us to have little divine moments along our way. 

I gave examples from my life, and discovered that most of my divine moments are right around bed time, when they are either sleeping or about to go to sleep. haha. I guess that's when life is calm and I can breath properly.

Like, the other night after the kids were in bed, Jim and I were enjoying a quiet house. Andrew woke up crying. After a while it was apparent he wasn't going to go back to sleep on his own, so Jim went to console him. Andrew continued to scream, so I went up there and took him into my arms. Immediately he quieted, cuddled into me, and went back to sleep.

There in the dim of the room, rocking him to sleep, my mom heart practically burst.

This is a divine moment for me.

The end of tulip season always coincides with mother's day, so I bring them in to enjoy the whole week. 

Saturday was such a fun day too.

The kids filled their sticker charts, so we went to the bounce house. They spent three hours playing and getting sweaty.

Instead of making/cleaning/begging kids to eat dinner at home, we went to our favorite Mexican restaurant. We all totally licked the plates clean. 

Then, with a few hours before bed time to spare, we played hide and seek across the street. 

My kids make me the most frustrated I ever was,

and 

the most happy I ever was. 

Pretty Views, Cute Kids

I've subbed for Avery's class a few times this year. 

Here I made the mistake of letting Avery and Bella "do math" on the whiteboard during free time. 

All the girls swarmed. I remember not letting my students write on my white board. It's just irksome for many reasons. 

Sleepy Evan. Sometimes getting mad and throwing fits about everything makes him tired. Poor thing. 

My favorite is when he says 

"Oh deeeeear!"

He's actually making progress in the "coping" area. Kind of. He will say "try again" when something goes wrong. That's big. 

We went on a hike the other day.

There were seals laying on a rock out in the water. 

I printed out a scavenger hunt check list, so we had to stop *a lot* for Avery to check things off. 

We played hide and seek in the boulders on the beach. 

On a bike ride, the bald eagles were back, and Mt Baker was out.

I shake my head *every time* I ride out here. I can't believe the beauty. 

There is a little market down by the bay. We go there when we need to get one or two things, like cough medicine on a Sunday evening. 

I love the view when you come out the door. I feel like we are camping somewhere. 

Hello there, Birch Bay. 

There is an actual live phone booth at the market. I don't know if it functions though. 

"Closed for Evan" 

Today I noticed she added

"steel" (still)

I love this baby. 

Waiting at the border after ballet,

this is the lovely view while we eat snacks and wait our turn. 

Our nexus fast passes are gonna come in the mail any day, and then there will be no more waiting at the border for us. 

For some reason I'm kinda sad. I like the down time sitting in the car together waiting. 

No one needs anything...I just sit and read while they hang out. 

Ballet

Pictures of Me

Avery took over the camera the other day.

I always like to see what she comes up with.

And hey! There are a bunch of pictures of me. I'm always the one behind the camera, so it's fun to see what I'm up to. haha

 

He's giving me tulip petals.

"I liked them better on the stems, thanks anyway."

I haven't worn those pants in a long time. They are so bell bottom-y. I ended up peg rolling them because they bugged me, flopping around everywhere.

 

 This is my favorite place to sit in the sunshine while the kids play.

Sunday Evening

Sunday evening we were hanging out back in the sunshine.

Andrew was poopy and ready for bed.

The sun is up long after the kids are tucked away. Especially Andrew. Luckily he still sleeps in my closet, so he doesn't know.

I put Andrew to bed and came back to find them playing this fun little chase game.

Jimi would tag them with the bat...