Goodbye Kindergarten

Tonight we announced that Isaac was officially finished with kindergarten. We told Isaac that he could finish his last lesson, and then we would go out for ice cream to celebrate. He got SO excited that he ran back to our laundry room (where we keep all of our school stuff stored) to grab his workbook. I thought I heard crying, so Jay ran back to investigate: Isaac was sobbing. When Jay asked him what was wrong, Isaac said, "I'm just so excited." Jay and I were cracking up. We think that he was thankful to be finished with kindergarten (Learning to read, write and do math is tough!!!!) and overwhelmed by the thought of getting ice cream. Ha! By the way, we should have finished kindergarten a long time ago, but we didn't start until late September, and we took LOTS of breaks along the way. :)

an emotional moment

joy from finishing his test

proud

The best day ever!

Josiah learned a lot this year, too. He deserved a treat for playing by himself during school this year, for learning lots of new things, and keeping his sister entertained!

Olivia deserved a treat for being so cute. :)

Foosball!

I can't believe he'll be a first grader!!!

the best daddy...

ahhhh...

Look at all of the flavors!!!

guy time

Celebration Station. MMMMM...I love this place!!!

And at the end of it all, Isaac decided to color a picture for me because "You are the best teacher I've ever had!"

Isaac, I am so proud of you. I have loved teaching you this year and couldn't think of a better way to spend my time. You are such a good learner and watching the light bulb go off when you learn something new is priceless. From reading your first sentence, to reading your final kindergarten book (Balto), you have continued to amaze me and make me so proud to be your mom. I love you so much and can't wait to teach you more! You are a sweet boy with a tender heart, and I know you will be a great man one day like your daddy. Happy Kindergarten Graduation, Isaac!!!!

Bloggy Blog Blog

Why have I not been blogging? I don't know, there is just too much going on to blog about. But here are some pictures of the kids from the past couple of weeks!

Oh...and me. :) I got a new camera and I was very excited about it. Of course, I have not used the camera, but I will.

Isaac's top tooth is falling out. :( This makes me very sad.

Kids having snack together. The boys pulled up their chairs close to Olivia. Very cute.

I was busy in the kitchen and heard music. Isaac was playing the flute (or straw), and Josiah was singing in the microphone (or miniature whisk). I love their sweet songs.

Josiah got Duplos from Gee and Buff for his birthday. It's by far one of the favorite toys in our house.

He REALLY wants to be a drummer when he grows up. I believe he will.

Josiah likes to put my head bands on his head and pretend is is David from the Bible. But here he thought it worked best as a comedic tool.

Josiah also likes to make Olivia be King David.

Still a comedian.

Still.

I love my window decoration. The kids made this for me with Aunt Lala when she was here. It brightens my day when I open the shades in the mornings.

Josiah helped Olivia clean up her water mess. He loves his sister, and he loves it when she plays with him.

Cooking together.

Sweet girl. This is one of her favorite things to do.

Goodbye Best Friends

Today was the last t-ball game of the season. Isaac really enjoys anything that he participates in, and t-ball was no exception. As we were leaving the field, he pointed to a boy on his team and said, "Mom, see that boy over there? He's my new friend and I'm really going to miss him." I asked his new friends' name. He shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't know." I noticed the orange bat in the boys' hand and figured that's why Isaac liked him so much. (He always used his orange bat--Dawn, you influenced him so much. :))

Josiah also said goodbye to his new friend, Lacey. They really became bug chasing buddies. The two of them departed with a great big hug and hopes of running into each other at the pool. And somehow they scored cupcakes with the team. (If you look close enough to the photo of Isaac above, you'll see blue icing in his ear. How does this happen?)

Blog or Calendar?

These are the only pictures on my camera. We've been pretty busy, and we've been having fun. Last week Lindsey (my middle brother's wife) came to stay with us and watch our kids while Jay and I went to a worship conference. The kids had a blast with her, and Jay and I had fun getting to stay up late and chat with family. We miss family. :(

The worship conference was so great for Jay. He learned a lot and enjoyed getting to know some of the other ministers in our denomination, the AMIA (Anglican Mission in America). The AMIA is small and really is like a fun family. Seriously, it was fun.

The conference was also great for me. I made the 3 days a time to really get to spend with God. I read in my room and by the pool, worked out, and ate sushi. Haha. No, really, it was a very great time for me spiritually. But that's a whole other blog.

The boys start VBS tomorrow at a local church (not ours). I hope that they like it because I think it's going to be good for them to spend some time away for the week. I let you all know how that goes. :)

Jay starts IWS this Wednesday. We'll have two house guests (also IWS students) staying with us starting on Tuesday. Ray has always been Jay's roommate, and another friend of Jay's, Justin will be staying with us. The boys are pumped about sleeping on their cots. They would sleep on them every night if we would let them.

We will close on our house sometime at the end of June. We're hoping that we close before the 30th so that we can get some work done before we travel back to Texas on the 1st of July. Then we come back, finish up on the house, and move.

So, nothing too interesting to read about in our lives...I just pretty much wrote this all down so that I don't forget. :)

OH, WAIT!!! I also got a new camera. I upgraded to a Nikon D80. I don't know how to use it, but it looks fancy shmancy.

Beach With Aunt Lala

Lala (Lindsey) is here!! She had not been to the beach since she was 4 years old. So yesterday, we made her dream come true. :) I don't know who had more fun...Lindsey, the kids, or Jay and I watching Lindsey and the kids.

Lindsey's first step in...

She and Isaac spent most of their time together jumping waves. They ended up pretty far out in the water (for Isaac it was far).

Josiah didn't care as much for the waves. He stayed back with me.

See the pure excitement in her face? Thanks for a fun time, Lala!! We love you!

P.S. (Post 2)

Here are some updates:

Chica cheeks is doing great!!! It's so fun to watch her hear things that she never heard before. Like her sippy cup squeaking after she takes a drink. :) She has started saying words. In fact, Jay doesn't even know about this, but tonight she said "yellow"!! I had Josiah and Olivia in the car while Isaac was at t-ball practice. Josiah said "yellow" instead of "lellow". I was so proud of him and he said it over and over again. All of a sudden, Olivia blurted out "Lellow!" Yay!! We clapped first for Josiah, and next for Olivia. What a proud moment. (All of this going on while Isaac hits the ball so far that the coaches had to make all of the kids in the outfield move back. :))

We got the house!!! I can't believe it! It's funny because tonight in Jay's choir practice, a couple went on and on about how two sets of their grown children had tried and tried to get houses listed as short sale. It just makes us feel more like this is a gift from God. The house will be inspected on June 5th. We close on June 30th. We head back to Texas (and New Mexico :)) on July 1st. We come back on July 10th. We paint, fix up and move. We need to be out of our townhome on July 30th. Wish us luck. Wait, no! Pray for us! We are so excited.

Mama Mia

If I knew how to sing an Italian song, I would. Oh wait!! When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore!

The Pioneer Woman has opened a whole new world to me. (Thanks for the introduction, Emily.) I used to be so afraid to try new recipes. But on PW's website, she gives step-by-step pictures and instructions for all of her recipes. Granted, most of her recipes are very unhealthy, but it still helps me. So tonight I tried out some homemade pasta. Simple. Easy. Good.

Of course, I know that I didn't cut the pasta thin enough, but I'm still proud. :)