Tip #1 on Surviving the Summer Heat...

Everything's better at night!

Worker Bees

 Bree yanked this weed out all by herself. 

 You wouldn't know by the smile on her face, but she thought she might of thrown out her back in the process.

Jake likes to mow the lawn like he's driving a race car. 

And he does not like his picture taken while he works.

 Callin in back up for the tight spots.

 And after all that work, there's just one thing left to do....jump so high you can touch the sky.

Bree's loving her no-touch flips these days.

Luke would call them cool jumps.

Love all 4 of my worker bees.

(I just take the pics:)

The perks of having Luke's friends over...

cheap labor.

Preschool Poolside Graduation

 Gabe Ashton CJ Luke and Ben

During the ceremony, Denise had each boy tell something he learned in preschool this past year.

Luke said swimming.

(are we sure there is a diploma in that pile for him?)

Some of the other answers were playing in the sandbox, going to the park and finally Gabe came through with drawing.

Yes the boys learned a lot this year:)

 The Teachers: Amber Me Denise Katie Kerry

 The Graduate

 

 The hats were serious biz.

 Some of the boys even kept them on during lunch.

 After our graduation ceremony and lunch the boys got 'yearbooks' and a framed picture from Amber, goody bags and balloons from Denise and a CD with more pics is coming from Katie.  Kerry did the cute hats and diplomas.

 And in truth, these boys all learned so much this year and have made amazing progress with letters and numbers, their fine motor skills and more. It's been so cool to see their growth!

But for now....school's out! Time to hit the pool!

Sock Hop

Had a ball with the kids on their stompin grounds.

OUR FIRST EVER REAL GNO!!!!

 And as excited as I was, I have to admit it started out a little rough as the boys left.  Luke and Jake both gave me the tightest hugs ever and Luke had his little quiver lip and watery eyes going as the car pulled out of the drive. This is the first year Jer took Luke to the Fathers and Sons campout and I thought my stomach was going to deliver up lunch as I watched all 3 of them disappear.  Bree was still at school so it was just me and the knots in my stomach for a solid hour until she came home.

And thank heavens she did.

Because we had quite the night ahead of us.

 First up, dinner at Olive Garden with some of our friends.

 Then the movie Soul Surfer.  So Good!

 But the night was still young so we decided to pay a visit to Jamie who was thinking of joining us that night but opted to play with her Grady instead.

What can we say? We missed her. So....

 Green Streamers....check.

Inflatable Shark...check.

 Silly String...check.

Hiding Places...check.

 Table Cloth Door Covering...check.

Charlies Angels Poses....check.

 Telling the girls not to get her in the face and to only spray her a little...

not check.

 They were relentless.

So Jamie promised payback.

Which she may have unknowingly delivered seeing how Emma later had nightmares of "that lady" sneaking into her house and putting her in a pot to boil or an oven to bake.

Yep the girls were pretty freaked out by her talk of breaking into their houses and putting gum in their hair.

Wish we would have known about the bee sting, Benedryl, and deep sleep that we did not expect to wake her from.  Things may have turned out differently that night had we known:)

We love you, Jamie our favorite pranksta friend in the world!

Bree I'm so glad we FINALLY got an authentic gno together. I loved being with you and your friends. I loved riding with you in the big red truck and hearing stories about rolled up windows, big inflatable sharks and mexicans. I loved how you had to re-apply your new perfume everytime we got in the car (possibly because of the rolled up windows story). I loved how you had to check your mood bracelet every few minutes to give us an update on how you were feeling. I loved teaching you the art of stealth and getting to practice atWalmart and then for real.  I loved the giggles and crazy bloody broken-off arm ideas you and your friends had. And most of all I just loved being with you!

Showtime!

 Breanna had a spring concert for her school last week.  Her class sang at least a dozen songs from My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean to Erie Canal.  All classic stuff.  But the most impressive moment of the night was listening to the 4th graders recite by memory the poem, Paul Revere's Ride.  The length of the poem in itself is unbelievable. And to hear all 26 of them stay perfectly in unison as they recited it (without any notes whatsoever) was just plain inconceivable!   They did not miss a beat.

 Then my friend, Denise, invited Jake and Bree to play in her piano recital (thanks Denise!).  It was such a good experience for them to play in front of an audience.  Breanna played "Snowfall" and "Colors of the Wind".  We gave them trophies at the end for working so hard all year.  Bree was awarded the trophy for Dazzling Dedication. She gets up before school and practices and really focuses on technique and dynamics and tries so hard to perfect her pieces.  And when she gets frustrated because she can't quite get a passage, she pounds the keys in agony.  I think it's quite cute and maybe that's because it just might remind me of myself when I was her age. I just love her.

 Jake played "Music Box Dancer" and "Humoresque". He got the trophy for "Exceptional Entertainer" (which quite frankly he told me he loathed.  Who knew the word, 'exceptional' could be so offensive? - but I digress...)  He too gets up every morning to practice and although he doesn't love piano and he would tell you that flat out (might even use the word hate), he does a good job and sticks with it. And once he gets the hang of a piece, he LOVES to play it as fast as he can and those fingers go flying up and down the keys like no other. He is quite entertaining to watch and to listen to and I love him!! And can I just say that I am so proud of him for doing something that is hard.  It's easy to do something you love, but quite another story to do something you have to work at and I love that he just keeps plugging away.

I'm so grateful that my parents made me stick with piano. I just might have a lot more in common with my Jakester than he knows.  I spent a lot of time begging them to let me quit.  But they didn't. And maybe that's why I won't let Jake quit. Because now I love it. And even though our lessons might be the farthest thing from Switzerland I really do love that I get to teach them.

Mother's Day 2011

 The spontaneous smooch from Jake, might have been the highlight of Mother's Day. Love him!

These guys spoiled me with jewels, cinnamon bears, a few gifts certs to some
of my favorite places and my favorite foods all day long. It was my kinda day.

Then we found a sweet spot at the park which made for the perfect kite flying, tag playing, sand burying, treat eating, football catching evening.

Happy Mother's Day!!!