it's ice-cream cones and cherry soda...

dripping down your chin! IT'S SUMMER!
Where do we begin?

Thinking I was brilliant to come up with a way to keep my kids learning and make money during the summer to spend on awesome activities, I created job charts for the summer. They included reading, writing, and workbooks a few times a week. The kids were told that every time they completed a job they would receive a quarter to place in their fancy personalized boxes I created for them. Brilliant mom, feeling good. I had everything set up for Dillan's last day of school that he would find waiting for him.

It's only our first week of summer, and the novelty of my brilliance has faded. If I remind the children about earning quarters, they get to work, but it's not what I expected. But that's summer for you. Of course, we still have many weeks left, so I'll keep my hopes up that we'll get into it more.

We started swim lessons this week. Leah has finally taken off with the water this summer, which is the rub off of how she ended last summer. She loves being in the water, has no problem putting her face in and moving forward. When there are brave kids around her that she wants to follow, she does. It's great! Only when she comes up for air does she panic, but we're working on that and hopefully by Shaver she will be 100% water safe!
Dillan is unfortunately in the wrong class. I blame myself for not having the good sense to figure out he should be in a higher level. I took the kids last month to the free evaluation and they told me Level 1. Well, from my observation, Leah (if she was 5) would be just fine in Level 1. Dillan should be in Level 2, pushing Level 3. I realized it the first day but was told I couldn't change him. So now we've told him that he needs to be the best Level 1 that he can be. So he's working hard and impressing his teacher daily. 















The last week of school the kids and I put together a huge list of everything we wanted to do this summer. We found a lot of free ideas online and came up with the rest ourselves. I printed out this list and stuck it on the fridge. The kids refer to it almost daily. This list is very important to Dillan.
Number one on the list was a sleepover. Wyatt's mom and I picked a day that would be best. Dillan had 4 days to wait. Every morning he reminded me that it was almost the day of the sleepover. To pass the time, he made a new list. The list of everything he was going to do when Wyatt was at our house. When Wyatt arrived, they pulled out the list and one-by-one got everything done. It was hilarious. Board games, handball outside, a treasure hunt, eating popcorn, watch a movie, play the Wii, build a fort, pillow fight, midnight snack, etc etc. It was his first friend sleepover and he pulled it off perfectly! Now Leah thinks it's her turn and Dillan can't wait to do it again.

It's SUMMER!

School Performances

We are finishing up our last week of PreK and 1st grade!
Leah has LOVED going to school with Ms Janae. She has made a few friends and can't wait to start Kindergarten in August. Ms Janae has been so sweet and lots of fun!
For their end of the year program/graduation, they said the Pledge of Allegiance, sang patriotic songs, showed off their Zoophonics, and ate popsicles.

 

 Leah got a certificate and gave Ms Janae a big hug! She's growing up too fast!

Dillan has been dropping hints about his end of the year program. He mentioned how the teachers wanted him to sing a solo because he had a good voice and named the boy in his class who WANTED to wear a tutu and be a dancing flower. Both of which he was NOT interested.

The theme for the first grade program was "How does your garden grow?" Referring to the little first graders as seedlings who have sprouted and grown so much during the year. Dillan warned me that one of the songs would make me cry and I should bring a tissue. He was right.

There was singing and dancing and my little farmer did a bang-up job!

He has grown so much this year, physically and academically.
He was in the top reading group (the Jumping Dolphins) the whole year, discovered a great love for math and science and has become an awesome writer. (He wrote a great story about ninjas that has been misplaced somewhere, but we HOPEFULLY will find it!)
He THA-RASHED 4 pairs of shoes this year, played on basketball and baseball teams for the first time, made lots of new friends, and is still the same sweet, tenderhearted kid he's always been!

So proud of these two and looking forward to a crazy fun-filled summer!!!

year 9

 Year 0. Pure bliss.

Year 1. Spent our first anniversary in Hawaii celebrating my parents' 25th! So much fun. Chris' back turned purple with sloppy sunscreen finger streaks after snorkeling. Yay for memories!








Year 2. Dillan is born. A week before our anniversary. Life gets crazy. Then we move to California.







Year 3. Loving life with our little guy. Lots of fun.








Year 4. Our world revolves around him. For a couple more months anyway.

 Year 5. Adjusting to life with 2. Love our cute little family.

 Year 6. Life is busy, but we still try to make time for each other.

 Year 7. These two little monkeys rule our everyday. But it's good!

 Year 8. Then there were three. New challenges, new job, and new hope for the future.

Year 9. Counting on our fingers so we never forget. We've had hard times and good. Really, it's easy to love this guy. I am so blessed and overcome with happiness.

Happy Anniversary to us!

7

 Our big number one boy is seven today. Unbelievable. I don't even know how we got here.
Seven things I love about Dillan:
1-Finishing first grade at the top of the class
2-Plays baseball, basketball, and soccer like a pro
3-Silly with friends
4-Loves playing games with his family
5-Adores his sister and brother, and a good example too
6-A smile that melts mommy's heart
7-Works hard at everything he does

Dillan,
 We are so proud of the big boy you have become and love to watch you learn and grow everyday. You are such a good example to your brother and sister and they love you so much. You make us smile and laugh often. You like to be big and make your own choices, but still know when it's okay to cuddle with mommy. We are so proud of how much you love to read and do math and all the hard work you did in first grade. It is super fun to watch you play baseball and soccer. You always do your best and work hard to get better. You are such a good listener and make everyone around you happy. You also are a good singer, just like Daddy! You are a good friend, lots of boys and girls like to be around you. You are a natural leader around your friends, and you always try to make good choices and be a good friend.
Mommy and Daddy love you so much and we are so grateful you are a part of our family!

Love, Mom and Dad      5-15-12

Party like a Ninja!

And it's birthday season!
Our birthdays seem to last longer than just a single day of celebrating!
Dillan wanted a Ninjago birthday party this year. We decided to try out Sky High. It was awesome. Honestly, a blurry whirlwind for mama, after weeks of preparations and planning, but totally worth it. I've decided sticking with party themes means so much for the kids, and one day they are not going to want a party theme, so I'll get into it now as much as possible.
Thanks to my computer and printer, I was able to make invitations, stickers, water bottle labels, ninja eyes for the balloons, and details for the goodie boxes. Thanks to my very talented dad, Dillan had the best birthday cake ever, Kai shaped! Thanks again Papa!

Dillan invited every boy in his class from school + some extras. Some of those boys had little sisters, which was perfect for Leah.
The jumping room was crazy fun. Sweaty boys all over the place, parents right and left, trying to speak to everyone, meeting some for the first time. Out of control. Then we went to the party room, and thankfully had a very helpful hostess who took care of everything. Cake, presents, then goody bags handed out like a flash, saying our goodbyes and thank yous and BOOM! It's over!
Many of the boys didn't want to leave and wanted to go back to playing, but couldn't.
My head is still spinning.
I was very proud of Dillan, however. He was gracious to all his guests and played with everyone so they weren't left out. He's growing up too fast!

Spring is here

We are enjoying the beautiful weather and keeping busy with everything. We enjoyed a nice Easter Sunday and got all dressed up for the occasion.

Dillan is wrapping up his first grade year, still going strong. We are hoping his love for reading doesn't dwindle. He seems to really love non-fiction science books. He loves reading about sharks and whales. He'll be turning 7 soon and has decided to have a Lego Ninjago party theme at Sky High with a bunch of his good friends. He's still crazy about video games and has lost 3 teeth. Baseball keeps him busy and he says he misses soccer too. He loves doing anything with Daddy, and making his baby brother crack up!

                                               

Leah goes to preschool a couple times a week and cannot WAIT to start Kindergarten in the fall. I made the mistake of telling her about registration, because she thought she was starting that day. Still, we take Dillan to school and she admires the Kindergartners and can't wait to join them! She goes to dance class once a week with her friend and has recently decided she wants to be a dance teacher when she grows up. We have been trying to get ready for Kindergarten by practicing our letters and writing our name using a capital L and lower case e-a-h. Leah agreed to play soccer to prove to Mommy that she didn't like it, but has hung in there and recently scored her first goal! She plays for the snacks at the end of the game. She loves being read to and always having a friend to play with.

Little Drew loves to be with his Mama. He also loves to dance when he hears a good beat. He makes silly faces and has started shaking his head for "no" and waving "bye-bye." He loves to eat and has not met a food he doesn't like. He also loves his shoes and holds them up when he's ready to put them on. Whenever he sees Mommy or Daddy get their car keys, he runs to the garage door and waits (while pounding on the door) to go for a drive! He is ALL BOY in that he loves pushing cars and throwing balls.

San Clemente

Cousins are those childhood playmates who grow up to be forever friends. 

Spring break camping at the beach with cousins. It's just so much fun!

Yes, there are a lot of pictures of Drewby. He was always the most convenient one to shoot! He discovered a love of balls, sticks, and eating sand. He also took many naps in the bicycle trailer. He laughed while being chased to the water, but once the cold hit his toes, he was helpless and wanted to be held.

We have the best Grandma and PaPa in the world who take good care of us when we camp. It's a lot of work for them, and we appreciate them sooooo much. It doesn't get better than this!