The Last Day of School

I can't believe it. School is out, summer starts. Winter seems to have drug on forever this year, yet it all went by so quickly. T-ball starts Monday and that is always the official sign of summertime. Hopefully summer will be as fun as the school year was!

Piano Recital

Maddi's piano recital was last night. She did a great job. Michael had to watch it from the lobby. Olivia was done before it ever started. Zeke didn't last too long into it. I spent part of the time going back and forth from the lobby to the bench. Zeke had a poopy diaper before Maddi played and Olivia had one she played. Towards the end, Zeke started crying and wouldn't stop so Michael took him out to the car. By this time we had all moved out to the lobby. Olivia must have thought that she was supposed to sing along to the music because she sat out in the lobby squealing. Eventually the squeals turned to screams and we hoped that it would all end soon. Afterwards, they had a little reception in the cultural hall. There was a cute cake that looked like a piano keyboard and some red punch. Well, Zeke was still in the car crying so I took Olvia to Michael and went back in to round up the other kids. They were already in line for cake and punch. I was trying to coax them out of the line explaining to them that we were not staying for treats because the little ones were crying. Well, it didn't exactly register. They ended up all getting a punch and the teacher told them to get some cake so I got it all on one plate to go. Then we marched out to the van. They drank their punch on the way home, Zeke and Olivia slept and I ate the black keys (which just happened to be kitkats) off the top of the cake. I did it for a good cause, only tow of the pieces had candy, I didn't want a fight to start! Anyways, Maddi did great and we were very proud of her. She is finishing her second books and getting ready to start her third set.

S'more Fun

Sunday evening we were able to have our friends, the Olsens, come over for dinner. We cooked hamburgers and hotdogs over the fire pit and then roasted marshmallows and ate s'mores. The Olsens have a girl that's Maddi's age, one that's Makenna's age, one that will be in school with Dillon (her name is Ellie and she loves Zane) and a little boy who is 4 months old. They are getting ready to leave for the summer so we had them over one last time before school is out. Chad custom farms and they head to Oklahoma as soon as school ends and travel with him and his crew. Anyways, we had a fun evening together. They played in the dirt, as you can see from Zeke's picture, got extremely sticky from the marshmallows, which also helped Zeke along, and then Michael took them in the truck to feed the horses by the lake. The weather was beautiful - sunny and around 80 degrees.

Field Day Fun

Yesterday was the elementary school field day. It was cold in the wind and hot when you were out of the wind. The girls had a fun time. I took the other kids and we spent the day watching the girls, playing with friends and we ate lunch with Makenna. Michael got to come watch for a little bit too. They had potato sack races, shoe kicks, football throws, softball throws, long jump, long distance run. 50 yard dash, and tug-o-war. At the end they had the awards ceremony. They gave out place ribbons for the running, long jump and softball throw. Maddi got first place for the girls in her class for the long distance run, 50 yard dash, and softball throw. Makenna got 2nd place for the girls in her class for the long jump. Everyone got a participation ribbon. The boys and I got to help in the tug-o-war. They loved that. It was a fun day and everyone slept really good last night!

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New pajamas

This week we got our semi-annual shipment of pajamas from Auntie Stace. The kids absolutely love getting these pajamas in the mail. It's like Christmas at our house every spring and fall. So here is a picture of all of them in their new pajamas. Thanks Stacey!

Happy Birthday Lala!

Yesterday was Princess Lala's first birthday. The kids were so excited. She, of course, had no clue what day it was, but was very excited to get to eat M&M's (her favorite) and have cake. Zane decided what kind of cake to make her. She loves chocolate so he picked out a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and an M&M smiley face. It was a hit! I can't believe it has been a year. I think back to this time last year and it's crazy that here we are dodng the same thing again. Time has gone by so quickly.

Terrific Kid

On Monday Maddi got selected as one of two kids to be the Kiwanis Terrific Kids. They got to go to the Kiwanis club and have ice cream, get their picture taken for the newspaper and they got a certificate, a bumper sticker and a pin. Terrific kids stand for Thoughtful, Enthusiastic, Respectful, Responsible, Influential, Friendly, Impeccable and Caring. Her teacher said she was kind to everyone and never teased or made fun of the other kids and always did what she was supposed to do. She was so excited about it. We are very proud of her for being such a good person and such a good example.

Summer Fun

Come with me, we'll have some fun.
We'll play together in the sun.
We'll build castles in the sand.
We'll play together hand in hand.
We'll put on our swimsuit and jump right in.
Then we'll hop back out and do it again!
While we're swimming all around,
We'll see if any fish can be found.
After all our water play is done,
We'll dry off in the summer sun.
We'll play tag and hide-and-seek
Until the moon begins to peek.
Come with me, we'll have some fun.
We'll play together in the sun.

Play date

This morning we had the group that Zeke and Dillon had open gym with come over and have a little play date. It was fun. We played outside and decorated cupcakes. Then we had sand pails full of treats and toys that they each got to take home. All the parents contributed to the buckets. They are such a fun group of kids. Most of them are Dillon's age. I am glad that he will have such good kids to go to school with and I am glad that I will have such good parents to team up with.

Planting the garden

Today is a beautiful day. This morning Maddi, Makenna and Zane went to soccer camp and I took Dillon and Zeke to the park. After lunch we planted our garden. The kids had fun helping push the seeds in to the dirt. Makenna didn't get into it too much but she watched and played outside while the others planted. Every now and then one of the kids would take a break and play with Lala. We're not sure exactly what will grow and where it will grow at but something should grow. Dillon will be disappointed in the morning when the corn isn't ready to pick. He was wanting corn on the cob tomorrow.