The last few months, since I blogged last, have been a whirlwind of exciting things, work, stress, fun, and summer! Here are some of the things we have been up to since March.................................
Baseball: The boys played baseball again this year. They both were on the same team, which was nice for practice and games. Michael was one of the assistant coaches as well, which was good for him and them since they got to have fun together. Kenna and I were their cheerleaders at games and practices and helped keep everyone in line. Their coach was interesting and rather unorganized, fortunately they had some really great assistants that helped them stay focused. Riley really improved his catching and throwing skills and got to play first base a few times, which is really a big deal in T-Ball because you have to be able to catch to get anyone out in that group. Conner improved with playing on his own. He didn't need his daddy as much this year and is starting to become more independent, just in time for Kindergarten!
Kindergarten Trip and Awards: Riley had a successful year in Kindergarten. We all survived our first year with a kid in school! At the end of the year the kindergarten as his school got to visit a petting farm. We had a great time and Riley was very brave and petted many different animals, picked up a chicken, held a duck and a chick and got to milk a cow! He was awarded for having some of the best overall Kindergarten skills in his class, being one of only 5 in his class who began AR (accelerated reader), and one of only 5 in the entire kindergarten to get PERFECT attendance! We are extremely proud of him and his accomplishments in school! He is super excited about first grade and all of the things he will get to do next year too!
Wedding: In June one of our cousins got married. She married a marine and is young, only 18, and they didn't have much money to work with for their wedding. Therefore, all of us, her family, chipped in and helped her out as much as possible. Our part in the wedding included cooking pulled pork for 120 guests and making pasta salad. Riley was also the ring bearer and I was the photographer, thanks to Jennifer Karol for letting me use her camera! The day of the wedding was fun, but very tiring. All three kids were great and had fun and I took over 1500 photos which I edited and selected about 300 that were worth keeping. The happy couple had a great day and live in North Carolina, where he is stationed for now.
Davis Day Camp: As summer started I had to prepare to keep my three loves busy so that they don't get bored and they learn a little as well, its the teacher in me, I can't help it! The first week of summer the boys went to VBS at church for the morning and Kenna went to daycare. At the end of the week we all had fun at water day at Kenna's school. The second week of summer, I decided to have themed days for the kids. Monday happened to be July 4, so our theme of course was Independence Day. We made red, white, and blue jello snacks, went swimming, made foam hats, painted our hair red, white and blue, and went to the fireworks!
Tuesday was "messy day". I let the kids go outside and play with silly string, finger paints, slip and slide, colored hair spray, and we had a messy dinner of tacos! It took two baths to get all of the paint and silly string of of them and out of their hair, but they had a great time.
Wednesday was "cooking day". On this day I let the kids cook each meal and allowed them to make some neat snacks too. For breakfast Conner made us green scrambled eggs, Riley made french toast, and Kenna cooked bacon. At lunch time we made ants on a log and pigs in a blanket and a snack of puppy chow, chocolate, peanut butter, powdered sugar and chex mix. For dinner the kids made mini pizzas and chicken wings. Thursday was "arts and crafts day" and I had about 6 different things for the kids to do. We played with modeling clay, colored a felt picture, made a foam figurine, painted a statue and used pipe cleaners to create something cool. Friday was supposed to be "camping day" but it rained. Instead of doing our nature hike, bike ride, and water fun outside, we went bowling, to birthday party, and then camped in the living room while we ate smores and watched a movie. It was a busy but fun week and the kids liked doing the theme days.
Independence Day: July 4th was fun this year. My mom and step-dad went out to the fireworks with us and the kids did a great job! Noone cried this year and Kenna fell asleep during the show!
Pets: We got a couple new additions to our family this summer too. Meme, my mom, bought the kids a parakeet from a friend of hers. He is really pretty, but he likes to try to bite so we are working with him on that. A couple weeks after we got him, Mama, my grandma, adopted a baby gerbil for the kids. He is super cute and nice. Kenna is kind of scared of him, but she will pet him as long as I hold him and he doesn't move too much. The bird's name is Doc and the gerbil's name is Buddy. They are fun little pets for the kids and will help them work toward maybe getting a puppy one day!
Conner and School: My Conner man starts Kindergarten this school year. He and I got to go to Kindergarten Round-up and get a tour of the school and some fun little things for him to have to welcome him to school. He is excited and little nervouse too. I can't believe how time flies and that he is already old enough for school. He is so smart and I know he will do well. Hopefully he has a great teacher who will help bring him out of his shell a little this year. He is my most sensitive child and gets his feelings hurt easily. We went the other day and got school supplies. He got his big-boy back pack and his school books and pencils. He is more than ready for school....we just gotta work on that shoe-tieing!
Swimming: We were so lucky this summer because Meme and Poppa got a house with a pool on the porch, as the kids say. They have had so much fun going swimming this summer. The boys learned to swim last summer and have done a great job remembering and improving their skills this year. Makenna has come a long way. At first she would only get in the water and hold on for dear life. Now she will put on the swimmies and jump in from the side. She can put her face in the water and blow bubbles. I almost have her floating on her back alone as well. I love having three little fishies for kids because the beach and water are some of my favorite things.
We still have about three more weeks of summer vacation and I have some things to do on my "to do" list, but we will have fun.
Ahhh...the love
Nothing beats camping in the living room!
Some photos I took yesterday of my babies! They are growing so fast and I want to make the best memories possible for them!
