Graduation Day!

It's here... our little boy is a kindergarten graduate! To say it is hard to believe is an understatement. I have the feeling that all the other years will now be a blur of memories. I want to enjoy each and every year with my kids while they are in school. We are so proud of RJ... he has made so many improvements in so many areas and has learned a ton. He is a great reader and had the highest math score in his class.

My favorite thing so far this year... RJ has been writing in a journal at school very often during the week. He usually draws pictures to go along with his journaling! How about that... my son is scrapbooking at age 6 and doesn't even know it! It is the most precious thing I have seen. It's all in his own handwriting with his own drawings, ideas and words. I absolutely love it! It is something I will treasure until I am ready to give it back to him... right now... Mom is keeping it safe and sound. (I'll post some pics soon of my favorite pages!)

 Look at that smile... he was so proud!

 RJ with his diploma

 Mrs. Brooks and RJ - we will miss her so much. She is a wonderful teacher!

 RJ and Daddy

 Mommy and RJ

Closing Ceremony

The team got to celebrate one more time all together!  They were super excited about the

League Champ t-shirt they received along with medals and a big trophy!

Fun, Summer, and Baseball

This time of year we love being outside!  We had a wonderfully busy weekend.  The regular season games for tball ended on Saturday... with two more wins for our team.  League Champs! Yay! It has been an overall fun experience... we were lucky to have a great group of parents and kids to work with.  We also have an all-star in the family (shhhh!.... he doesn't know until tonight at the closing ceremony). Which means we will be playing baseball for the just about the entire month of June. 

After the games on Saturday morning... the kids were so excited to head over to Madison's birthday party!  It is so fun to see them get excited about going to see our dear friends - Pat, Amy, Madison and Bella.  Madison's party was so much fun... the kids had a blast. 

On Sunday afternoon we celebrated the end of tball with a team party.  There was silly string, pool, whipped cream pies, baseball, trophies and lots of fun!

 Before....

 Ready, aim, fire!

 After....

Slip-n-slide

Today after t-ball practice the coaches rolled out the slip-n-slides... I can not even begin to tell you how excited the kids were! They had a blast!

Baseball and ice cream

What happens when the ice cream truck makes an appearance at tball practice?! Ha... you guessed it... practice is basically over!  Good thing we had him come at the end of practice!  It was the perfect treat for the kids... they were sooo excited. 

Oh no....

**Update:  We are not sure what happened to the birds, but I'm hoping it is not the obvious!  We found a little serpent coming out of the bird nest... we were all mortified! We used a golf club to knock down the nest and this little guy (well, about 2 foot long) fell out of the nest! This little rascal slithered his way into the bird nest much to our dismay.  We still have not figured out how he got into the nest...

Notice the bulge in the belly?!  OMG!  We were shocked!

Why I take pictures...

Borrowed from Melanie Mauer's photography page

Baby birds

We are the proud hosts of baby birds yet again this spring!  The kids are so excited to check on them daily... at least 3 or 4 times.  I'm not sure what kind of bird we have... but she has taken over our light fixture yet again in our entryway right at the front door.  We just don't have the heart to take down her nest she works so hard to make.  It is the same time as last year... it may be a fun tradition for the kids to see new baby birds each spring. 

 We have officially counted 4 babies, but I wouldn't be surprised if there is another one
tucked away inside this tiny nest. 

PS - Payton wanted to share her fruit snacks with the birds this morning, but we decided it would be better to let mama bird handle the meals! Gotta love the mind of a 3-yr-old.

Teacher Appreciation Week

RJ was super excited to get his teacher something this week.  He also gets to celebrate with the fact that he is the Star Student this week.  He gets to bring 1) a book, 2) a toy and 3) a snack to share with his classmates.  It should be a fun day and he gets to invite someone special for lunch – so Daddy will be going with him.  He also made a card for his teacher all on his own.  He decided on the picture he drew and wrote the card by himself.

He was excited to read the card to Daddy…

Of course it has a dinosaur on the front chasing Mrs. Brooks and she is yelling, Ahhhhh!

   The card reads:  “I love you. Thanks for beyeing are tesher. I like the stations. I like are school.”                     (The only word I helped him with was stations.)

Inside we are placing a gift card to Hobby Lobby.

Oreo Crunch Muffins

I’m always up for trying something new… especially when it comes to cooking and baking.  I was intrigued when I came across this recipe from The Teenage Taste – Oreo Crunch Muffins (not to mention this is a teenager coming up with her own recipes.)  They were easy to make and delicious!  I will definitely be making these more often.