Kindergarten "not gradutaion"

Because of the many times we have moved, Alexis, David and Lily have all gone to kindergarten in different towns. Each school has done their end of kindergarten celebrations in different ways. Alexis and David's classes were pretty similar. Their classes learned and performed songs, they all walked across the stage, and then the class had a little party. Lily's end of the year experience was very low key. Pretty much they did nothing! There was an awards ceremony where each of the kindergarteners got a certificate. Then we got to take a class photo. The last day of school there was no party at all! Oh well. I think it is a bigger deal for mom than for Lily, because she really doesn't know any different.

In spite of all that...

Lily had a great year in kindergarten. She made great friends and learned a lot. She has become a rather proficient reader, and just soaks up all the information she can. She is really looking forward to 1st grade!

When it was warmer...

The weather has been cooler than usual lately, so there hasn't been a lot of swimming going on in our back yard. We have had a few warmish days where the kids have decided to brave the still cool pool water. Evie had fun in the water table and playing on the boy's cool toys.

Happy Birthday, Joe!

Joe turned 4 on June 8th. We had a fun celebration with him. Ez got home from work, and we picked up the kids from school and went bowling. What fun! Ez won, but Joe got the best score out of all the kids. Mom (and all of her athletic prowess) decided that it was best for her to finish last so as to keep everyone from coming in last place. Decided might not be the best word to use there. She would have scored far better if she had used the bumpers!

From there we headed to Wendy's (Joe's choice) for dinner. We then headed home, opened gifts and ate some delicious cake and ice cream. Joe loved his gifts, which included a few trucks, a cool castle, some new Lego's, a game, new swim trunks. He also loved his snake cake, made by mom. It was so tasty!

Another Sunday afternoon

Here are a few photos from a recent Sunday afternoon. I think Ez was off doing his home teaching (what a good man), and we were all just hanging out until dad came home and we all ate dinner.


Evie got stuck trying to put on her baby doll's clothes.








































Lily and her toy houses











David and Alexis playing Zooreka!










Joe taking a break from playing Lego's to say hello to Duke




Lily and Mom
Mom, Joe, and Lily

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

Grandpa Brant and Evelyn had a great time together singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider. Actually Grandpa sang and did the actions. Evie just watch and loved it, over and over and over again!

















































Grandma Val and the kids the morning they had to go back home. Could have been a bit cuter of a photo, but there was drama and great sorrow over the impending departure.

At the Park

Here are a few photos from playing at the park when Grandma Val and Grandpa Brant were visiting.

Grandparent's visit

Keri's Mom and Dad were able to come and spend some time visiting us, which was a huge treat. It was so nice to spend time with them, since we don't get to see them very much. We had fun playing at the park, going to dinner, eating ice cream at Fenton's, and just hanging out and spending time together.

Of course, the biggest thing we did was take on a few "simple" house projects, which got turned into slightly bigger house projects, but they all turned out fantastic. My mom and I finished decorating Alexis's bedroom, minus a few decorative pillows. My dad decided to take down nearly all the art on the walls in my home and sort of redo it all. That of course required a bit of shopping and adding to it all, but it was great fun and it turned out fantastic.

We also hit the outlets and got some terrific Memorial Day deals, like $45 pants from The Gap for $7! And jeans from Aeropostale for $4! That's right. Serious deals were found. Got to love the outlets!

It was a great visit, and wish we could all get together more often.


David helping Grandpa cook

















Fun with painter's tape





















































Evie and Grandma

















Lily and Grandpa










Group sit-ups!

Violin Recital

Alexis was able to take violin at school this year. It was an interesting experience, one that we will not be repeating next year. Simply put, we've got too much going on to put learning how to play the violin on our list of priorities.

We did, however, get to go to the 5th and 6th grade recital. Alexis was excited to perform. She did a fine job, and we are proud of her for sticking with it all year long!

Time vs. Age

Whenever our family would drive somewhere that would take a while when I was a kid, my mom would tell us to go ahead and fall asleep, then we'd be there sooner. Me being the non-napper in the family, never really went that route and so I suppose it always took me a little longer to reach our destination.

Knowing what my mom told me about sleeping earlier in my childhood, I should definitely feel like I have all the time in the world these days! I am still not napping, nor do I regularly get enough sleep. It should be taking me forever to reach my destinations! Right?

Wrong. Apparently when you get older,things change and suddenly it has something to do with blinking, which apparently I should stop doing. Because I could have sworn yesterday was the middle of May. Then I blinked. Today it's nearly the middle June!

We've been busy these past few weeks with just the basic business of life, but it has somehow seemed busier than normal. I will not attempt to recapture everything we've been up to, for I simply don't remember it all (another nasty product of that whole getting older business). I'll just post a few highlights to try to make up a bit for lost time...