School is Out! Scream and Shout!

We are officially in Summer mode. 

School let out on Thursday and we celebrated another year completed.

{First and Last Day of 4th Grade} 

{First and Last Day of 3rd Grade} 

 {First and Last Day of 2nd Grade} 

 {First and Last Day of 3 Day Preschool} 

In true mommy fashion, I had a little pile of new things for waiting for them in the morning.

The downfall of having surprises for the kids is the excitement. 

On the last day of school Bubba, came down for a glass of water at 5 am 

and saw the gifts on the table and then woke up his little sisters.

When Nate went downstairs to go to work 3 of the kids were up and 

ready to start the day.... WAY to early. 

Let's home they learn to sleep in the rest of the summer. 

It is always fun to see the kid's delight in getting new books, notebooks, 

pencils, bookmarks, and reading logs for the summer. 

In fact that morning they were all ready delving into the books and Bubba 

was penning his first entry in his new journal. 

Let's hope this excitement lasts all summer long. 

Mommy is way to excited to start The Babysitter's Club books with Gigi. 

Next year will be Rosie's last year in elementary school. 

It is crazy to think about. 

I remember dropping her off on the first day of preschool when she was 5.

It is amazing how much the kids can learn in a year.  

Rosie continued her love for science and fell in love with geography this year. 

Bubba has found an eagerness to read.  He has ventured into more advanced chapter books and his vocabulary in one year has really broadened.  We are currently reading the first book of Harry Potter!

Gigi loves school and is my little writer.  She is always journaling and writing mini books. 

Last but not least, Lil Miss has grown up before my very eyes in 3 day pre-k. 

 We love our school. 

They really have great school pride and school spirit. 

A great tradition is the last day of school, all the students congregate outside with the parents around the flag pole to take the flag down.  In brings everyone together.  

I great way to say good-bye to another year.  

Once again we celebrated with our "Welcome to Summer" party.

The kids each had some friends over and we celebrated with music, water balloons, 

slip-n-slide shenanigans, and lots of laughs. 

Celebrating the ordinary days is what I do best. 

I love having parties.  I like the planning and the fine details (even when my hubby is 

telling me I'm nuts for decorating the chalk board at 11pm at night).

I found this quote a long time ago and I have made it my philosophy. 

Turn ordinary into extraordinary!

 Don't Wait for extraordinary opportunities, 

sieze common occasions and make them great. 

Orison Sweet Marden

  I had spent an hour and a half the night before filling up 100 water balloons. 

I have a nasty blister to prove it.  Those balloons in all the craziness lasted all of 7 minutes

when the balloons started splashing Boys vs. Girls.

We can honestly say we have jumped wholeheartedly into summer and 

can't wait to make more memories.  

More fun to come....

just a kid at heart

I like to doodle.  

I have grocery lists that have become more trees and flowers than 

grocery list.  

I have people's phone numbers on post-its that are indistinguishable from all the chicken scratches I couldn't help draw. 

So I put my skills to good use when I pack my kid's lunch. 

Hopefully this will be something my kid's remember about their mom when they grow up. 

Nothing fancy, but a little something from their momma. 

 Our brown bag art... just call me a kid at heart.

and so the adventure begins

It's that time of year.  

We get ready to live weekends in our second home. 

The camper. 

The first camping weekend of the year is always the most work. 

Finding all the things that we took out of the camper always requires a little digging and 

a whole lot of memory power. 

A few things are usually forgotten.  Such as: salt and pepper, butter, 

my daughter's socks, and enough blankets for the cold nights.  Ooops

  By camping trip number 2, I've usually remedied the situation and we are more prepared.

 The kids are always excited to camp. 

They see camping as playing outside, hiking, and eating smores.

 Mom sees camping as living outside (as close to my dream treehouse as I'm going to get),

hiking and exploring, and nights around the campfire with the hubby.

Sounds like a dream vacation to me. 

 Of course when we return from a camping trip we are a little dirty.

Some of us more than others...

And no camping trip is complete without smores. 

New Trick: Marshmallows between fudge stripe cookies.... mmmmm

Thanks for the tip Aunt Dini. 

So be warned the camping post will start because that is where we spend the weekends. 

In the Great Outdoors.

Baseball Momma

It's Baseball Season.

My son is starting his third year of baseball and his FIRST with kid-pitch. 

Kid-pitch brings on a whole new level of anxiety for this mom on the sideline. 

Especially when your little guy is called to pitch.  

 But we love baseball.  

Like we love basketball, football, volleyball, track.... 

Nate and I love to see our kids active. 

We love seeing their enthusiasm to get homework done in record time to 

get ready for practice or better yet a game. 

We try our hardest to be at every game and for them to know we 

are in the stands cheering for them.

We love sports because it teaches them handwork and commitment. 

Especially when something doesn't come naturally easy for them, we encourage 

them to practice, practice, practice.  This holds true for learning a musical instrument, 

studying for a big test, or just LIFE. 

So I put on my proud momma hat and cheer on my boy from the bleachers.  (or lately a nice comfortable collapsible chair wrapped in a blanket and wearing gloves.... brrrrr)

Seriously, the first time I was told he was going to pitch I didn't think 

he could throw from the mound to home plate.  He's a little kid. 

But the first time I saw him out there I was so proud.  AND excited.  AND 

really nervous. 

But that is the case when my kids play in any sport.

Proud Baseball Momma, here.