May Update: Our Month of Crazy

May was a crazy busy month for our family.  Between our first family concert, two major road trips to see family, and everything in between, we kept busy and had a lot of fun along the way.  Here are the links to the latest posts I have written.  I am not sure if its the nesting with the baby or just my realization that I slacked off, but I made myself update as much of May as I could.  I have more posts for the rest of the year that will come later.  Enjoy :-)

May 6th:  Fresh Beat Band Concert

May 12th: Can I have this Dance? Ida's Dance Recital

May 13th: Happy Mother's Day

May 21st: Visit to G-ma's House

May 22nd: Visit to the Gardens

May 23rd: High School Musical (well Graduation)

May 25th: KK Graduates from Preschool

May 26th: Happy Birthday Daddy & Happy 1st Day at the Pool

Happy Birthday Daddy & Happy 1st Day at the POOL!

Happy Birthday to our wonderful and awesome daddy!  While this month has been crazy with travels and parties, we did make sure to take the time to celebrate the best daddy and sweetest hubby in the world.  And how do you show just how much you love a guy who doesn't want anything?  Take him to dinner at Babes for fried chicken and then top it all off with Ice Cream Cake!!!  His favs - it was a smashing success.



 

Here are the kids line dancing to the hokey pokey!  Dinner and a show, it doesn't get much better.

Of course you can't blow out candles without a serenade from the cutest four kids you know...

and of course, those cute four kiddos will assist you in your old age in blowing out said candles at the end of the song :-)

We decided to wrap the celebrate up with another super duper exciting activity: THE POOL!  Finally after nine long months of waiting (maybe not patiently waiting but waiting none-the-less), the POOL was open.  Let's just say the smiles on KK and AJ's faces lit up the sky.  I found myself smiling from cheek to cheek just watching them as they dove in and floated in the water.  So simple and yet they found pure bliss in that hour at the pool.

Of course, the party had to come to an end, as all things normally do.  My blissful babies decided to show me and the camera exactly how they felt about having to go home.  Note that no babies were left pouting for long once they were reminded that we were returning the next day for a pool party.

And there is one more baby to add to our pictures - despite my preference that I not be pictured at the pool this summer, baby "Trace" had to be included for documentation purposes:

We will see if Trace gets to join us this pool season or waits until next summer to enjoy the waves!

I also wanted to show our fun little party for Daddy at G-ma's house last week.  All great parties include homemade punch, stirred by two cute grandkids:

The critics say: best punch ever!  G-ma and the gang got daddy a yummy birthday cake and even managed to surprise him with it and some very sweet and thoughtful gifts.  It was awesome getting to celebrate our best guy with the rest of the family before heading home from vacation.

So Happy Birthday sweetheart!  We love you more than words and pictures can show - here is to sharing another year with you that I am sure will be full of fun and laughs!  KK, AJ and I love you bunches & bunches, to the moon and BACK!

KK Graduates from Pre-K

Here she is... my "baby" girl.  All dressed up in a cap and gown graduating from preschool.  We are so very proud of our KK.  She loves going to school, being with her friends and learning from her teacher.  She thinks learning and school are fun and exciting, and I pray that she keeps that love for both the rest of her life.  She was so excited to graduate.  When I told her she would be walking across the stage in cap and gown, she exclaimed "like High School Musical"!  I am still laughing about how cute she is ~ I am sure if they let her, she would have broken into song at the program about how they are "all in this together"!

For most parents this ceremony probably isn't that emotional. I mean it is a wonderful chance to celebrate just how much they learned in the last year - and wow have they learned a lot.  They are learning phonics and counting that I didn't learn until 1st or 2nd grade.

But for me, her six months pregnant mommy, this was slightly more emotional than that.  This is the end of last five years in which I was her biggest teacher, her best play mate.  We got to spend our days together doing whatever we liked, on whatever schedule we liked.  A picnic at the park, a day at the zoo - whatever we decided we could pack up and go or stay in and snuggle with a movie or some books.  Sure preschool meant some schedules and structure, but I know it is nothing compared to next fall when we are at the mercy of a school schedule that takes her five days a week.  So while my heart was bursting with pride at all she has learned thus far in her two years at preschool, my hormones were also making me a tad watery and dare I say overly emotional.  It sure doesn't help that she is my first baby to head towards Kindergarten...

Here is KK with her class - each class went through a few activities to show us all they have learned over the past year.  From vowel sounds to reading and writing full sentences, these kids have been busy and amazed us all with how much they have learned.  A friend told me they will be reading by the end of Kindergarten, and that doesn't surprise me after seeing all they already know.  Way to go!  (Yes, her dad and I already realized that at this rate of learning, she will officially be smarter than us in about ten years, masters degree be darned).

Here is a shot of KK's class on stage - they did a cute song about "kindergarten here we come, we know we'll have lots of fun"! It was adorable.



KK leaving the stage with a wave to us (AJ and our cousin were sitting in the aisle with Mommy watching the performance and cheering her on - she was so excited to see us).  After the exit - they changed into cap and gowns for the official graduation ceremony:

 

Walking down the aisle - so sweet!

Here is our graduate!!!

Crossing the stage the teacher read off what KK wanted to be when she grows up: A girl scout!  We had a great laugh at that one, as she has never mentioned it to us.  But what a great dream.  She also said she hopes to learn how to read big books in Kindergarten next year.  I am sure that is a goal she will reach in no time :-)

Getting our diploma from our teacher

And that's it - we are officially on our way to Kindergarten!!!

Of course we celebrated with cookies and punch and took pictures with our sweet family and best friends!

My favorite picture is our family with the graduate - yes AJ is eating a cookie but he is doing it in happiness for her.

KK with Ms. K - she is the most amazing and sweetest teacher.  We wish we could keep her for next year!

  And a final picture with our friend KJ - congrats to him as well!  Can you believe these cuties are on their way to school?  Watch out world, here they come.  God, watch our babies as they grow up just a little bit more next year. 

High School Musical (well Graduation) - Go Aunt Wiz!

As you will read in the previous posts, we traveled this month to see both families.  Our trip to Grandma and Grandpa's house was to witness a very special occasion for a very special Aunt/Sister:  Aunt Wiz graduated from high school! 

We are so very proud of her - she worked hard and we loved getting to cheer her on as she walked across the stage (and cheered we did, we stood up and we screamed her name so everyone around knew that was our graduate down there crossing the stage)!  Just in case the screaming wasn't enough, we snuck in a forbidden sign so we could be sure she knew what we were screaming (go Aunt Ju-Ju for making the sign and making it on a piece of fabric, go me for calling it a blanket when my bag was checked... maybe these people are a bad influence haha, but for Wiz I would do it again):

If you look closely you will see our graduate - front row in yellow.  No?  Well out of 370 we thought she stood out very clearly!

Daddy was our camera man and even went down to capture pictures of her crossing the stage while we were cheering her on from the rafters (family tradition, show up barely on time and still manage to find a row to seat 8+).  Here she is grabbing that dipolma.  We were impressed by her skills.  Shake with your right, grab the diploma with your left, smile for the camera and don't fall while wearing adorable but extremely tall heels - no wonder she graduated - that's talent people!

Afterwards it was a picture frenzy to capture a moment with Aunt Wiz and celebrate her achievement.. here are a few of my fav's:

AJ and Ju were quite the pair that night

Grandpa, Grandma, Wiz and of course KK.  KK didn't want to leave Wiz's side (a theme you will see as she is in every picture we took lol)

Did Grandpa and Grandma really think they could get a picture alone? Nope, KK photo bombed the picture right as I took it!  Cracks me up!

The family

The siblings and grandkids together

Sisters (plus KK, surprised by that yet?) and the Brothers (KK was being held back I think)

Our family with our graduate! 

Luckily - our Aunt Wiz is amazing and still loved on her very devoted niece (try shaking her off, its impossible).  KK was so sweet during the ceremony, she refused to move or talk until Aunt Wiz crossed the stage.  She didn't want to miss the big moment, such dedication for someone who is five.  She loves her Wiz!

AJ loves his Wiz too - his shoes were off and he was ready for bed, but he made sure to smile (and afterwards kiss) our graduate and tell her congrats.

Daddy and AJ - can you tell Daddy dressed them?  Little twins from the hairstyle to the flip flops.

So here is to our sweet Aunt Wiz ~ I can't believe this girl... ahem, woman... was four years old when I first met her.  I've been blessed to get to be there as you grow up (it was way too fast, where did the time go) and call you my sister.  Despite living farther apart, I love that when we get together its like we never left and we have so much fun.  I love how independent you are, how fun loving you are, how you aren't afraid to be yourself, don't worry about what people think, love your family unconditionally and always brighten a room with your smile and laughter - you are such an amazing sis!  I know you will do great as you head to college.  ((((HUGS))))  We love you! 

Visit to the Gardens

May was a crazy month with lots of travels to family for big events.  One of our trips led us to Grandma's house for our Aunt's high school graduation (see separate posts of the rest of the trip).

Link to Visit to Grandma's House post
Link to High School Musical (Well Graduation) Post

So one of our fun dates while visiting Grandma's house was to go to the Botanic Gardens.  They had a new children's garden that we could explore, so we piled up in the cars and off we went.  The team was torn, tacos or pizza for dinner.  So we decided to go a little crazy and got both!  We brought our food and some drinks and had an impromptu picnic at the gardens.  It was beautiful!  It was still "spring" at Grandma's so the flowers were blooming and the weather was perfectly warm with a slight breeze.  We had our picnic dinner and then set out to explore the grounds.  Of course, since we were all together and the backdrops were beautiful, we took a bunch of pictures... consider the rest of this post more of a slide show.  We had fun posing and playing together ~ it was such a perfect evening together!  One we won't soon forget!

AJ & Wiz resting under a tree after our awesome picnic

The girls - at one garden we found a fish pond.  Our sweet Aunts and Grandma found some change and we got to feed the fish together.

The entrance to the children's garden - AJ loved this and you know why? Its a water fountain - he laid his entire body against it and was wet (and he thought it was greatness).

That wasn't the end of the water fun, they also had pumps you could pump water out of and toys to play with... let's just say Daddy and AJ stayed back to play while the rest of us explored the garden (mostly because you couldn't pry AJ away).

Ju Ju and KK found some musical instruments to play with

Mommy and Daddy found themselves alone in the giant tree house

Our view from the top (we found Grandma and Wiz below hanging out).  It was such a beautiful children's garden.  Fun little paths with little secrets like the musical instruments or trees carved into faces... water and bridges...

I totally made Daddy pose by the tree man

Then the kids had to get in on the action (pretty sure we weren't allowed to sit on him but no broken limbs thankfully)

Finally the boys break away from the water and find some fun things to do together with Grandpa

Mommy and AJ find a little small garden with ladybug seats (not so comfy when you are six months prego but hey, little man wanted a picture)

Me and KK sitting in the children's outdoor theater in the middle of the gardens. 

She needed a pic with her special Ju Ju

And her Grandma

And then her Wiz - and they all had to have different backgrounds.  Like I said, we had fun with all the photo opportunities.

The boys and KK by the water fountain

Grandma did get AJ to sit for a few seconds to take a picture with her

So what happens if you put spinning chairs in the middle of a garden?  The family will find a way to turn it into a photo op!

Daddy had to try too - While Wiz is posing with Daddy, Ju was spinning out of control (makes me laugh)

KK with her Aunts - she would hold them closer if it was physically possible

Mr. Squirrel was our last photo at the children's garden. Such a fun and beautiful place to play.

We decided to trot onwards to new gardens - there was still a rose garden and Shakespearean garden to explore.  AJ found a ride...

Wiz and I had a moment by the heart gazebo  and KK quickly joined in (our hands are making a heart as we are in love hehe)

Daddy and Wiz

And of course, a baby belly photo op... Trace had to be recorded (even though you couldn't miss her in any picture I am in). 

They are going to be such good helpers when the baby comes

Don't let all these pictures fool you, we did stop and smell the flowers!  It was such a fun evening and I love all the memories we made and the memories we captured on the camera too.  Sweet dreams!