HC Graduated from Kindergarten Today!!!

My sweet girl graduated today! :) She was so excited.
Some of her school work from K-5.
HC was thrilled for the event to begin.
She was reciting her poems but her nerves got the better of her and "Mommy, I'm scared!" came out of her mouth instead, with tears in tow. But thankfully JB jumped up to help her recite her poem
and she managed to finish 1 of the 2 poems. What a big moment! So proud of her!!
I was able to hand HC her graduation certificate since Mommy = teacher. That was a fun thing to share with HC.
Look out world - here comes a HAPPY 1st grader!!!!
Ready to move the tassel from right to left. It's official now!
A proud Daddy and brother. We love you HC!
WE DID IT!!!
So happy!
Two official grads!
CHEESE! Friends are SO fun!
Looking forward to what 1st grade has in store for us - Mommy/Teacher and Daughter/Student.

This year was so fun and I know next year will be full of many more adventures for us. Congrats HC!! We are all SOOOOOO PROUD OF YOU!!

HC's May Ballet Recital

HC posing once hair and make-up were complete!
Hanging out with her friends while waiting for show time!
Lining up and ready to go.
Let's dance!
Fancy footwork!
All done!
YIPPEE!!
A proud bunch of girls.
HC and her ballet teacher.
Mommy and HC - so proud of my sweet girl! This week was a bit hectic and their last rehearsal was cancelled and the day of the show was way hectic. I was so proud of HC hanging in there and persevering. She is the youngest in her group and she fights hard to keep up the pace! Can you tell I'm a proud Momma? This dance was more complicated than last time. :)
HC and her proud Daddy!
JB and HC. He gave her purple roses. :)
Time to relax and laugh together. Job well done girls!

They Make Me Smile I Tell Ya!

(This sweet picture was taken by our photographer friend Mandy! She did an EXCELLENT job for our family photos! Click the photo and you will be directed to her website, so you can see more of her work! She is FABULOUS!)

I sure LOVE my kids! Today I was reminded of a sweet incident that I do not want to forget. Today my JB finished his lunch and I heard the water running. I said "Turn off that water!" JB said "I was just rinsing my plate Mom. I will turn it off after I rinse this last crumb." WOW! Gotta love that! What a nice surprise for my sweet boy to clean his plate.

The sweet memory this act brought to mind for me happened 2 Saturday's ago. Steve and I had an errand to run and a friend knew about it. She asked to keep the kids so that we could make the most of our errand time and we took her up on the offer. When I called to check in on the kids she said "I have to take a minute a brag on your kids! We were all eating sandwiches and JB finished his. HC got up and whispered something in JB's ear. JB immediately got up and took his plate and mine to the sink. Before I could say anything HC announced 'I taught him to be a gentleman for you.'"

My heart sang with pride! I mean - I teach them good habits but when the habits stick without my provoking them... that's when it seems the repetition is finally not for naught. I just had to take a minute and put this memory down on paper. :) I love being Mom! What an honor! And as a side note - I just pulled HC's 2nd tooth! This was my first go of tooth pulling and I was shockingly able. I usually cringe at the sight of a wobbly tooth so this was major progress for me! :)

Snow Day

We have had some adventurous weather lately. Friday we had a tornado miles away, Saturday was a gloomy wet day and this morning it snowed for hours! The snow began falling in the wee hours of the morning and stopped around noon. It was the most fun ever! Plenty of time to really enjoy ourselves and tire out from the fun of it all. I believe we did just about everything we could do with the snow. HC had a great idea that we should pile up the wagon with as much snow as possible. We could have piled it higher but... JB wanted snowball fights and so this was our limit. The view from our street.
My two were so happy. HC had been praying for a snow day since November. She wanted to make a snow angel and boy did she get a BIG answer to her prayer! (I had begun to think we wouldn't see the white stuff this year. Boy was I wrong!)
My happy girl! YAY God!
JB couldn't resist the urge to throw the snowball before I took the picture. I love it!
Let's get this snowball fight going, shall we?
So fun!
Now THAT'S one cool dude eh?!
So cold yet so happy!
One of my favorite pics of JB, ever!
SNOW BALL FIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What a fun day. It was just enough. We had hours of fun and more snow than we expected! No complaints here!

It has been a truly fun day around our house. Potato soup on the stove now, hot chocolate has been consumed.... who could ask for anything more?

Passing the Torch

One job I really enjoy doing is laundry. I love the smell of clean laundry, the feel of the warm clothes, the heat of the dryer as I open it up... LOVE ALL OF IT! My HC has shown much interest in this part of my day lately and the other night she was eager to be in charge. Since it was the kid's laundry anyway... I let her have it. She removed the laundry from the dryer and brought it all to the sofa for folding. It took the 2 kids many trips to accomplish that goal alone. Then the folding began.

JB decided he wanted to fold his and this really upset HC. So then she refused to fold a piece of his stuff. She began making a pile for JB to fold his own stuff. It was at that exact moment that JB realized the error of his ways. He never watched me do laundry. He never helped me fold laundry. He cannot fold laundry. Then he asked "Will you fold my laundry sister?"; HC "No, you said you don't want me to fold your laundry so you do it yourself." JB looked at me and said "She said no". Straight to the point huh JB? haha Anyway, I told him "That is why it is important to not make an enemy with your sister. You never know when you will need her help." JB "What's an enemy?" I will save you the explanation since you know this answer. He then walked over to HC and said "HC, I'm sorry I told you not to help me. Will you forgive me? Will you help me now?" HC: "I'll think about it." JB: (with glee) "SHE SAYS SHE'LL THINK ABOUT IT!!! SHE REALLY WILL THINK ABOUT IT." HC thought it over and she decided to help JB. Here she is talking him through the process. What was absolutely hilarious about this was when JB (typical male) lost focus and began watching TV.. HC would whistle at him and say... "You're not watching bud. You've got to focus!" JB "OK. I will. I will focus"
JB finally earned the right to practice for himself (with close supervision of course).
Then with the thumbs talk complete - JB was free to try to fold his socks. I wish I recorded this - it was truly HILARIOUS!!!
The pile of laundry wasn't being folded too quickly and HC took a look at the remaining pile and felt a bit overwhelmed. After saying "I'm never going to finish this.". I offered to help and we knocked it out pretty fast! Truly an entertaining end to our Saturday!

Hopefully I'll have the chance to catch this on video next time.

Good Mommy Award? Almost.

Well, Saturday started off as a gloomy day in our part of the world. The clouds returned and the rain fell but not too much. Around noon the sun started peeking through the clouds and before I knew it - the blue sky was a never ending backdrop. The next thing I know I hear "Mommy, may we PLEASE go outside to play?" I debated whether to say yes or not.. the mud... the splatters of mud would be everywhere.
I gave in and thought I was bound to win the "good Mommy award" for the day. Then JB jumped in a mud puddle and knocked on the door. His pants were soaked but I was OK with that. Go play, were my instructions. He was determined to change clothes and return outside for more play. I was willing to have one dirty set of clothes each. I said no and encouraged him to play. After repeated knocks on the door and repeated opening of the door, I decided to try and make things fun. (I should have noticed the droopy tired eyes and brought JB in but... I wanted him to enjoy the mess of the mud since I was in the mood to let him.) JB is normally up for a muddy fun time but I think he was just tired. Anyway, I brought my camera outside and told him, "Let Mommy take a picture of you jumping in a mud puddle and making BIG splashes." He shouted "NO!" and began running and that's when it happened. He fell flat on his tummy in a pile of mud. So much for getting the award for good Mommy, I basically ran my son into the mud. ho hum... Here is my thrilled son after falling in the mud: (Is it cruel that I took this picture AND posted it?)
After a little while of playing around on her own, HC too was ready to come in. She was less tormented than her brother. You never know though! :) It all depends on the mood of the day. My HC managed to remain clean this time.