Photographers in Training

Every once in a while when I download pictures from my camera there are pictures there that cause me to wonder where they came from, who took them and where in the world was I when the culprit had my camera? Who is in charge around here anyway? Here are a few of these from the past couple weeks...

I think I know who took this one!

Fourth of July Weekend

As I mentioned in the last post, my mom and dad came up for the holiday weekend and brought our friend Miss Cara with them. We had such a great time...Picking cherries in the backyard and making jam with Nana...Birthday gifts for the girls...matching outfits...Reading outside on a Sunday afternoon (the kids followed Cara around all weekend--she was GREAT with them)...

Flags and stories about my Grandpa who served in the military from Papa...A hike to one of our favorite spots...Playing croquet with Miss Cara...Eating homemade ice cream while waiting for the sun to go down...A fireworks show put on by this classy looking guy (we all agreed he looked like the guy on "Honey I Shrunk the Kids"...what a good sport to pose for me)....

Gracie is TWO

Warning: this is the birthday that went on and on and on....

Two days after Kate's birthday, it was Gracie's turn for a birthday. Luckily she had been watching her big sister carefully, so she knew just what was going on.

We took all the kids to the local Grange Co-op to celebrate one thing that Gracie loves...ANIMALS! She started squealing as soon as we walked through the doors. Too cute. Why do I see a pet in our future?In the evening we had a rice crispy treat heart cake.
Gracie's favorite gift? A furry puppy with it's own carrying case...Thank you Courtright family! Of course she loved her other gifts as well and is thrilled to have some more things to call "mine". The day ended with dancing and somersaults...oh how I wish I could bottle her excitement.
A few days later Gracie's friend, Sarah, also turned two. We just couldn't help but celebrate together, especially because my parents and our friend, Cara, were in town.MORE presents
(Check out Sarah in her cut swim suit and sun glasses)After cake it was straight to the bath. Meanwhile...The big kids played in the "warm tub" as they called it. What a fun celebration with the Robinsons! How lucky to have kids the same ages AND like the parents as well. :)Celebration #3...Miss Loretta and Miss Carol were at it again. Check out their creations for Gracie (with a little help from Jenny, Brian and Pete?)...Okay, so it's official, Gracie is spoiled as well as Owen, Davis and Kate...
Some of Gracie's favorite things...
Food: She is not really a sweet eater, but will pick salami over a cookie any day
Thing to do: Play dough, side walk chalk, pet furry animals, draw, wave to Daddy in the morning
Habits we can't seem to break: She still twirls her hair into knots...UGH!
Newest Phrase: "My turn!" (sounds like a 4th child thing to say, right?)

How can you not love this girl?!? We love you Gracie!

Kate is FOUR

Kate has spent at least the last 6 months planning her fourth birthday party...A Fancy Nancy Soiree! She made the guest list, planned the activities, helped prepare decorations, picked out the guest's accessories (the invitation told the girls to wear something fancy and we would provide the accessories) and then she continued to dream about her special day. I have to admit it was all pretty magical. I had a hard time containing myself as these tiny little girls arrived at our house in tu-tus, princess dresses, twirly skirts and clicky shoes...too much fun!One thing that I love about the Fancy Nancy series of books is that Nancy is actually a nice girl. She is not sassy like so many of the characters in other book series that target little girls. She is just a little girl who likes to use big words and appreciates things that are "fancy". Anyway, back to the party...
As our guests arrived, we got started with Fancy Nancy picture coloring.
Then we moved on to a skit about being fancy by Owen and Davis (the little girls really didn't get it, but Kate thought that it was great that her brothers wanted to plan something "just for her").
Next we read the original Fancy Nancy book and added some accessories to our ensembles. Adorable, if I do say so myself....
From there we made bracelets and got ready for the cake...
As a surprise for Kate, our friends Miss Carol and Miss Loretta made these fancy creations. Her first reaction was priceless, "Oh, I LOVE them!" They were quite the hit.She opened presents and felt thoroughly excited and loved. Thank you to all who made her day "better than she thought it would be"!
So, happy birthday to our spunky, determined, fancy little four year old! We love you!
A few of Kate's favorite things....
Colors: Pink, Purple and Green
Thing to Do: Play with her new Barbie
Food: Pizza and Hamburgers
Flower: Daisies (she thought of this question by herself)
What she wants to be when she grows up: Mommy/Ballerina/Princess/Fairy/Mermaid
Place to go: Wendy's with Daddy (that's where she always chooses to go on their "dates")
Book: Obviously, Fancy Nancy

Summer Bucket Lists 2011

Since the first day of Summer Vacation the kid's "bucket lists" have been posted and we are in full Swing here....

The first day of our school vacation just happened to be my birthday. Thank you to all of my friends and family who made it a special day. Carmen and Kelly brought me lunch--love them!
Frog O'Fare Children's Festival at the ParkArt Class with Miss Tammy
Swimming Lessons
And we are just getting started!

Three of the most important women in our lives...

Wow! I have so much to catch up on, but before I do I have to post a small tribute to three of the most important women in our family's lives over the past ten months...our teachers...As I drove away from the school on Owen's last day and saw the teachers and staff who came out to wave to the kids as they drove away I was grateful for my sun glasses because I had tears pouring out of my eyes. We were rocking out to the Phineas and Ferb theme song ("There's 104 days of summer vacation...", thank you for the CD Auntie Amy!), so I don't think the boys noticed. I was simply overwhelmed by the many good people who spend their time educating my children...

Mrs. Smith--LOVE her! Honestly, the best possible fit for Owen this year. She provided the perfect balance of encouragement, positive feedback and humbling experiences for our little "sponge". Owen loved her enthusiasm, stories about her family and clever songs (he sings them around our house...constantly). I appreciated the hours that she spent searching for ways to keep him engaged and her organizational skills never ceased to amaze me. It was no small miracle that he never complained about going to school...thank you Mrs. Smith!Teacher Cindy--If you were to look up "perfect preschool teacher" in the dictionary, there would be a picture of Teacher Cindy. Honestly, she has a way of letting the kids know that they are loved, but that she expects their best behavior, within the first 10 minutes of class. I love how animated and excited she gets with the kids and how she encourages them to be curious, kind and to think outside of the box.

Teacher Mandy--Pure love...that's how I think of Mandy. I think that Davis knew after the first day of school that Mandy was a "safe place" for him. He was so nervous (she spent a half hour in the bathroom with him on that first day...poor kid...poor Mandy!) and she made him feel calm and safe. I think that one of the reasons that Davis loved writing in his journal so much this year was he knew that Mandy would be there to listen to his ideas.

So to these three women, teachers, mothers and friends I say..."Thank you!" Oh, and don't worry...you have more of our kids to look forward to in the near future!

Below I have posted pics of the boys on the first day of school and then again at the end of the year...they have definitely grown and changed...