Irony

The kids had their final soccer games last night. They were make-up games because of a rain-out. . . .and yes, it was absolutely lay-down, pooling, running, dripping, standing-in-the-tub-with-all-your-clothes-on-while-the-shower-pours-directly-on-your-head, rain.

So thankful the season is over - hoorah!

Elementary Assembly

We headed up to the elementary assembly after the graduation party - this was the first year for us! Kayte earned a medal for "Outstanding Example." Joe and I were so proud of her! We know she is a little sweetheart. . .and it was nice to see her honored in front of the whole assembly!
I have yet to get through all the papers and little books that she brought home that she worked on all year and I can't wait - there is nothing quite like reading a story your little baby girl thought up all on her own - gets you a good look into that little head of hers!

Denise has been such a great teacher - I'm glad Will gets her next year too!
What a good year!

Will Graduates!!!

My little bud graduated today, and in classic mom-style, I couldn't help bawling a bit through the whole thing. My little heart just bursts with pride at my handsome, tender-hearted son. (I'm so happy he takes after his dad so much!)
Mom did great at her grad speech and each kid got a spot in the spotlight and a medal (which Will calls his trophy!), and best of all, a pack of gum :)

The proof:

What a great kid! Love him!

Days are long, years are short.

First Day of School:

Last Day of School:

And before you know it, they will be standing here again, with a little Sara by their side, headed off for another round.
Slow. Down.

Colonial Times:

The parents were invited to stop by the school last week to hear the first-graders recite some of their history facts that they learned over the past year. When we arrived, we found them all in costume and they performed the cutest little recitation up on stage for us all. Ava was Martha Washington with a very enviable shiny blue dress and Kayte was a pilgrim! What fun!

After spending so much time reading about colonial times, Kayte has learned so much! The other day the kids were all out playing at the park and hollering "The British are coming! The British are coming!"
I love that!

And little Kayte too. . .

Kayte never likes to miss out on the fun! The very next morning she pulled out her own loose tooth and we had one more visit from the tooth fairy!
She says, "Look! Now I have two windows!"
. . .my little second grader(!!!)

Oh My Goodness!!!

Will was hanging out with me as I did laundry this weekend and all of a sudden he says, "Mom? Did I lose my tooth???"
Thinking this was pretty unlikely, since I checked his teeth for loose candidates just two weeks ago, "Let's see!"
Sure enough, that tooth was gone! No one knows when or why or where, but Will has a hole in his mouth!
He immediately dialed up the whole family to share the news! This was Will's first tooth and now he gets to put his name on the tooth in the kindergarten classroom (just in the nick of time, as tomorrow is the last day of school!)

Note to the tooth fairy (since we couldn't find his tooth!):


And Will's funny little tooth joke:

That one never gets old! What a goober :)

Lightning Bolt Lane.

They are building a road out to 'our' property this week. This is the little name I've always planned on using for the road we built. But I'm pretty sure they aren't going to leave that up to me :) Oh well. I'll just be happy to own it.

Sara's Birthday!!!

Joe cleaned up our computer this weekend, and as a result, I'm having a little trouble navigating through my usual paths. . .I will have to post Sara's birthday pics later!

Kids.

Kayte decorated our table with white lilacs the other night for dinner. It was a little surprise for us - she loves surprises!
You know what I think the greatest things about kids is, they can always make you smile, even if you are on the verge of completely losing it!
The other day after a particularly grueling trip to WinCo, when I'd finally loaded up and bagged all my groceries, Ben looks over my shoulder at the grocer and hollers, "Good-bye!!! Mwah!" and throws the guy a great big kiss.
And yesterday, after Ben wet his pants all over his chair at church and we, humiliated, packed up quickly and fled (with the chair!) we got back in the car, and the kids in all their hilarity made us laugh all the way home. I can't even remember what it was about. . .but Joe and I looked at each other and we both knew, nothing else matters.
Seriously. I don't know what I would do without them. They totally make my day (and make it a little-bit-more-than-crazy too!)

Where do I start. . .

Let's start with the allergies, I think that will set the stage nicely for my little tale of doom and gloom. Two weeks, 6 hours, and 19 minutes ago, my seasonal allergies descended on me like a thief in the night. I loaded myself up with OTC drugs and boxes upon boxes of lotion-lined kleenex, but what I really needed was a great big screwdriver (two would even be better!) to shove in my eardrums and make the crazy tingling itchiness swelling achiness stop. I have no sense of smell, no appetite, and my gums are swore from the intense pressure of my sinuses gearing up to explode at any given moment. (The appetite thing isn't so bad, swim season is just around the corner.)

And to add to all that fun, my hair is falling out in clumps and lumps. . .which brings me to my next problem. This house-selling thing is not so much fun anymore. The other day my 5 o'clock no-show from Wednesday showed up at my house at 5:05 on Thursday with no warning! I was given ten minutes to whip my house into shape and get the heck out of there. Which I did! (Well, technically it was 12 minutes, but it was definitely a record for me! Especially considering the children's rooms were wall-to-wall toys!) But whatever. . .June is almost here and we will sign on our perfect little plot of land and we will have our perfect little house plan all ready and the rest will just be timing!

. . .but then the bank calls. Apparently the loan we were approved for 6 months ago is not valid because the bank doesn't "do" raw land loans. They only do 'developed' land loans and apparently this is 'new news' to the loan officer. . .so our options are:

1. come up with an additional $30,000 within the week and maybe they will think about it.

2. have $200,000 in liquid assets lying around.

3. pay $20,000+ out of empty pockets to develop the land.

Nice, huh?

We found this out at 4:00 Friday afternoon and so it was a little black rain cloud hanging over our weekend. The only thing I can think about is, "What is God trying to tell us here?"

Obviously this is all part of God's greater plan, but I've never been one for suspense. I just like to know things now. (Which probably answers my question!)

Anywho, we talked to the realtor this morning, who sent us to a creditor who will in fact lend us money and the wheels started turning again, just two hours after the banks opened today. Phew. (Hopefully the owners aren't fed up with us and will agree to delay closing yet again :)

Anyway, the good news of the day is, we have another showing tonite and maybe our house will sell tomorrow and all this stuff will be something we laugh about by next week.

Truthfully, I'm just so thankful for a God who is in charge. . .and a husband who never lets me forget it :)

Easy to Please:

The most wildly-anticipated birthday gift in the history of our 4 year-old. . .hee hee! I love birthdays!

Real. Life.

Snotty, thumb-sucking, brownie-faced, disheveled little kiddies.
Certainly not the Christmas photo of the year. . .but sweet just the same.
They are watching Toy Story (again!), because sometimes I just need them all in one place for a bit. Boy they are growing so fast!!!

Packing Heat

Carefully tucked into it's own little pouch, away from spelling lists and memory verses, I found Will's arsenal of caps for his cap gun.
"Always be prepared!"
(. . .too bad they won't let him bring the actual gun!)

Grandparent's Day!

Grandparent's Day was last Friday, and as is the custom, the first-graders get to do an opera on-stage for the assembly that day!
This year was the Little Red Hen, and as you can see, Kayte was a chick!
These are the best mom-moments!

How cute are they?
The kids are so lucky to have all four of their grandparents close by (who I didn't actually get a photo of that day, cause I didn't have my camera and I actually stole these three pics from K! But you all know what they look like!)
Will also had a little recitation on-stage, which he rocked, of course! And that evening we got to walk through all the classrooms and see what these kids have been up to all year - what fun!
9 more days of school!!!

Having tea with Kirsten:

Grandma Annie has a Kirsten doll that Kayte and Felicity like to visit with often. These little adventurers span centuries!

From the Archives:

Will, age 2 1/2

New Kayte-isms:

"Hasta la vista!"
and
"Faster than two shakes of a monkey's tail!"
. . .Where does she get this stuff?

Umm. . .

Yeah. . . .The yard might be getting a little crowded. . . .Maybe if everybody took one-third?

Mom's Day!

Ahh. . .the very best thing about Mother's Day this year? The complete lack of crazy! It was the most relaxing weekend I've spent in a very very long time!
We started out at my mom's Saturday night with dinner with the whole family and all the cousins. We made peanut chicken, the kids played non-stop, and it felt as close to summertime as it has in a while! The next morning I slept in very late and was greeted by the kids with donuts and eggs and bacon and flowers and presents and cards - super-cute cards that I will have to scan and post. . .(Did I mention I'm a big fan of Mother's Day?) We loaded up in the jeep and went to check out the bears, our yearly pilgrimage west. We got home just in time for naps, and Joe and I lounged in the sunshine for a couple of hours. Then we headed to the Casebolt home for The Best Meatloaf Ever. The boys were in charge of the food and it was fantastic. We drank wine on the porch as the sun went down. . .Does it get any better than that???
Joe definitely succeeded in making me feel like Queen for the Day, or as Kayte would call it: the Queen Mom!

And of course, Happy Mother's Day to my own mom who has always been the best, and now a best friend (I hope to be her when I grow up :)
And to my Mom-in-Law, who treats me like one of her own.
I'm definitely one very lucky girl!

Yep. . .I'm a little behind. . .

. . .but the sunshine that I've been missing for ever-so-long is beckoning. I've got my lounge chair positioned just-so, my new aviators and straw hat, an easy-read novel, and a cold Mike's. And. . .the kids are asleep!

See you on the flip-side.

Will:

"That is a whole lot of apples!!!"
Spring has sprung! (finally!)