summer fun!

I uploaded these pictures before vacation...and it seems that vacation has erased my long-term memory as to why I put all of these in one post. Oh well, enjoy the pictures.

First day at the pool

This is a companion post to my previous about the last day of school. The kids had been looking forward to the pool opening for months. As we walked in the door from Scott's last day of school, the boys discovered the summer storage box sitting in the middle of the living room floor. It took less than five minutes for me to see this:


The day was overcast and cool, but these three did not seem to mind the cold water and air...

Last day of school

Today was Scott's last day of kindergarten. It was a weird kind of day for me. I was both happy and sad for Scott. Happy because he really enjoyed the year, got a great start on learning, made good friends, had a wonderful teacher, began to read and write, is ready for first grade, loves his bus driver and riding the bus, really enjoys PE and recess, and has an easy time making the transition to and from school.

But sad because I know he will never have that exact same group of sweet kids again and his school day will be more academic next year with less room in the schedule for free time and extra activities. But, Scott doesn't know any of this, so he was simply happy and thrilled to share his last day with Andrew, Amanda and me (along with all of the other families).

We began with Miss Laurie reading the kids a story. They responded to each page with a phrase they had learned. Look carefully at the picture...see who is ready for school? Yes, Andrew took a seat next to Scott and acted as if he had been in class all year. In fact, he hasn't even ever been to preschool. Who says the second child doesn't have an advantage?!?


Then, Mr. Charlie sang songs with the kids. Mr. Charlie is Eliott's dad. He came to the class every Friday for an hour and sang songs with the kids. This was in additon to their weekly music class. Scott's class had so many wonderful parent volunteers who used their special skills to benefit the class.



Here we are enjoying the music.


If Andrew already has an advantage, imagine what Amanda will be ready to do when she enters kindergarten! She will have spent all of her life exposed to classroom life, whereas Scott never entered a classroom (except Derrick's class) until he was 5.


Miss Kelly was Scott's parapro for the last part of the year.

Little troubles

Here's what I get when I ask the kids to entertain themselves while I try to do a bit of sewing...


Oh well, that mess isn't too much to clean up, considering my Mom and I designed some great doll clothes today! And, Amanda is going to have some new outfits herself. I'll post those later.

Strawberries!

I often compose blogs in my head while I'm playing with the kids or driving the car. I compose them while taking pictures and listening to the kids' stories. I sometimes even think about what to write as I'm falling asleep at night.

And sometimes, I have deja vu and think, "that sounds like something I've written before." (Maybe I've even written this thought before.)

It's May, so we have the same story...same pictures...but the kids are a year older. While it may be slightly boring for my readers to see the same things year after year, it just warms my heart to see the traditions that are being created in the family. While new activities are fun, it's the things that we do year after year that build into great memories.

Here are some pictures from our 2010 strawberry picking adventures! We took my niece Callie with us and had a blast.

Rahab's house

On Friday, Andrew disappeared while I was getting Amanda ready for her nap. When she was settled and sleeping, I came out to find him wedged in a corner of the living room building an elaborate town with his blocks. He told me he was building Jericho.

Now, Jericho is one of his favorite Bible stories. After all, what four-year old doesn't like an excuse to build with blocks, march and then knock it down? (Samson is almost as fun!)

With his imagination soaring, Andrew zoomed in to what Rahab's house must be like. After several rebuildings, the whole structure eventually became her house. In this version, her bed is the orange block in the back. The kitchen is in the front right and the living room is on the left. Later, the structure became larger and more elaborate, with even giraffes and chickens.

waiting for Scott...

Life with little ones is never dull and never the same. Our activities vary with the seasons, weather and everyone's mood. Sometimes we are inside; other times we are outside. Andrew, Amanda and I fill our days at the library, park, friends' houses, bible study and playing endless games at our house.

But no matter what, we have one activity that has stayed the same all year - stand in our front yard and wait for Scott's bus to arrive. At 2:40, I announce that Scott should be home soon. Andrew runs to get his shoes. Farley starts pacing and whining at the door. Amanda will hear the bus on the back side of the neighborhood and start saying "Scott, Scott, Scott." There is much excitement in the house.

One day last week, I promised Andrew that we would try to fly his kite as our "wait for the bus" activity. Isn't this just the picture of childhood? As the UPS man drove by, I saw the flash of joy in his eyes just looking at Andrew having so much fun.



Farley took a moment to catch his breath, after chasing the ball for quite a while.



Finally, the bus arrived. Farley always greets the bus driver and all the kids know him by name. I'm somewhat concerned that one day he is going to try to board the bus, but so far all he does is wait for Scott to get off.




It never takes Scott very long to ease back into family life.

spring soccer

It's soccer season around here again. I spend so much time running after Amanda and playing ball with Andrew that I don't take as many pictures. But I remembered the camera last weekend.

Scott has really improved and these pictures look as if he is really into the game. He looks really competitive and aggressive...





But, really Scott would rather be picking the clovers and looking for bugs.


And there are still occasional stops in the game for the coach to tie shoes.


Practices and games are family events. This picture looks really sweet, but Derrick has Amanda in "jail" here to give me the chance to take some pictures of the game.

Nana's eyes

I've decided that if I have trouble seeing the world through the eyes of my children, I should instead see the world through these eyes...



My Mom spent the night with us. We had a glorious afternoon picking strawberries. In Nana's eyes, there is always time for one more ride on the swing...one more time on the slide. "Sure, take your shoes off if you want." "Yes, you may have another piece of cake." She always has Popsicles in her freezer, in case a grandchild (or young neighbor) comes for a visit.

This morning, Nana was in charge while I brushed my teeth. She came into my room, gushing over the "cutest thing" that Amanda just did...taking the dog bowl and pouring scoop after scoop of food for him.

This particular delight of Amanda's is one great source of frustration for me. When she decides Farley needs to be fed, it is all I can do to keep her away from the food. I end up spending all my time chasing her.

But, looking through Nana's eyes, I have to admit that it is really cute. And, as this stage passes, I will look back and laugh at her insistence on making our dog fat. :)

through their eyes...

As I raise my kids, sometimes I find it best to try to see the world through their eyes. It makes my life easier.

Take for instance these eyes...

I walked into my bedroom last week and discovered Amanda sitting in the middle of a huge pile of Kleenex. She had the box in her lap and was pulling them out one at a time. I stuffed all of the stray tissues back in the box and am frustrated now every time I try to pull out one and get a whole wad.

But looking through her eyes, I see something wonderful and magical. I mean how exciting to pull one and another magically appears in it's place! Thinking this way almost makes me what to get a whole box of Kleenex just for myself to pull!


...and these superhero eyes are full of stories.


Andrew's Cici went on vacation (i.e. time out) yesterday because he somehow was caught in a crystal candlestick on our mantel. We found Andrew trying to pull him down (and pull down the candlestick and a picture frame in the process.) Andrew was distraught, and it was my job to console him.

I sat down to find out what happened and he launched into a great story about how his Scarfy is taller than Cici, but she does not like to be flung. But, Cici thinks it is great fun and often gets into trouble doing naughty things. He also proceeded to tell me about how his elephant Gerald does not like to be thrown.

Seeing the world through his eyes, softened my view of the situation, although Cici did not come out of time out until bedtime. I hope Andrew now understands that none of his "friends" like to be thrown or slung.

These eyes are older...


and I don't need to work as hard to see the world as they see it. It makes me sad that his eyes are starting to see the world more like mine. But, there are times when I see glimpses of the little eyes.

The boys know they must ask for "building permits" to move the cushions to build forts. When they get permission to build, their imagination goes wild. I love to hear Scott directing the building of a ship or an underground secret tunnel. He speaks with such imagination ("We are in a secret underground tunnel...), but also with such precision (..."mold is everywhere, but don't worry, we have oxygen masks on, so we breathe safe air.)