Another Year Comes To An End...

Our budding little artist! Austin loves to paint.

 

We have already made our first visit of many to Aunt Tina & Uncle Romey's Pool. We really appreciate the generous way they let us drop in to cool off.

The kids enjoyed watching the Bellevue-Dayton Memorial Day Parade!

 We are so proud of Lexus!!! Her awards ceremony was on Tuesday and she earned perfect attendance and super honor roll! That means she has a GPA of 3.7 - 4.0.

 He crashed early on the counch since Lexus' awards ceremony was during naptime ;-)

 We are proud of Kimberly too!!! She earned 153.9 AR Points and got a cool t-shirt.

 Parents were invited back to the Greene room to listen to our fabulous children read us a story they wrote. They recently read "Alexander and the horrible, no good, very bad day" and then wrote their own story using positive words instead. Kimberly wrote "Kimberly and her wonderful, very, very good, excellent, exciting day"

 Kimberly drew her portrait at the end of the school year...quite glamourous!

 Kimberly showing me the third and final binder of all her work this year that we got to bring home. Yes, you read correctly, Kimberly brought home 3 - 2 1/2" binders full of all the amazing things she did in 2nd grade this year. She worked her little tail off!

 Hands down the BEST teacher on Earth!!!

Kimberly and Mrs. G

 We sent Mrs. G off to retirement in style with a suprise party. All the kids made cards and we had lots of yummy treats to celebrate with.

The finished painting with the kid's fingerprints on it!

2012 Dog Show

The kids were so excited to enter Bella in the 4th Annual Dog Show at the library. There were 8 categories to participate in:

Best Trick (3rd Place)

Loudest Bark (2nd Place)

Smallest/Largest Paws

Shiniest Coat

Most Waggely Tail

Best Owner/Pet Look-A Like (3rd Place)

Best Dressed

Best Owner/Pet Song (1st Place)

It was a hot, hot day, but we had a lot of fun watching Bella compete with the other dogs.

Lexus and Bella competed in the Owner/Dog look-a like, we said they had the same brown coloring.

Bella & the kids showing off her ribbons!

 These hot, hot temps have the kids playing in the pool and slip n' slide everyday!

 Lexus learned how to draw these in Art Club. She drew a picture of Kimberly, Austin and herself. I love how she personalized each one to the person.

 Skylanders have invaded our house! They are part of a Wii game and the kids love it! There are over 40 Skylanders to collect and use in the game. They are all based on earth elements like fire, water, air, etc...

Play a little too hard, crashed before dinner ;-)

I LOVE being a MOM!!!

What a lucky MOM I am!!! My wonderful family gave me a FABULOUS Mother's Day. It started with a delicious breakfast, then during the afternoon Austin took a loooooong nap so I could peacefully finish my book while Randy supervised Lexus & Kimberly making dinner (pork loin, mashed potatoes, salad, bread, applesauce, and corn). They showered me with lots of homemade cards, flowers and an oh-so-yummy triple chocolate Servatti's cake!

My 3 babes giving me a back massage!

 As the school year ends, there are many teachers to say "Thank You" to. Here are the cards I made for Austin and Kimberly's teachers...

 I just love, love, love when my kids all play together. They were setting up Barbie World on the deck. Austin was in charge of all the animals.

 *Sigh!* Our baby has completed his first year of school; where did the last 4 1/2 years go! I am sure every parent has or will experienced the emotions we are going through right now. We are proud and excited for Austin to reach new milestones and watch him grow and change in a multitude of facets. At the same time he is our "baby" and the last of our children to go through these stages. We will never again have a newborn to cradle or chase a waddling toddler or have him home all day to ourselves. I will finally start the first 2 pages in his school scrapbook. The beginning of 14+ more years of school to capture in pictures, mementos, and journaling.

We were proud to watch him at his Spring Sing where his class and the other 3's class showcased a variety of songs they learned this year.

Brody and Austin

 Kimberly and Austin trying to beat the heat on Saturday in our little pool!

 Why, oh why id it take me so loooong to read the Hunger Games! Thanks to my brother for letting me borrow his Kindle to read them all in 3 days. I am officially hooked and dying to see the next movie. Harry Potter, Twilight, Hunger Games...I need a new book series to read as good as these; any suggestions???

Bloggin' Away

I feel like I haven't been blogging a lot lately, but I know it is just beginning of many blogs to come over the next few weeks as school and other activities wind down. I have a couple projects on my plate that I am excited about. First, I am painting a tree on canvas for Mrs. G's retirement gift from K's class. We will paint the kid's thumbs and have them leave their thumbprints on the painting as the leaves. I will write each child's name by their thumbprints.

Second, we are throwing a retirement party for Mrs. G too! So I am painting the party banner.

Third, I am painting terracotta pots with chalkboard paint for Austin's teachers. I will put a bow around the pot with flowers in it and in chalk write "Thanks for helping me grow!"

As well as making little matching "Thanks You" tags to go with the fun containers we will fill with cake balls for Lexus' teachers

Fourth, making Kimberly's thank you letters for 1st Communion.

Kimberly's thank you notes for 1st Communion

 Austin, his teachers and his classmates took a bus ride Thursday to the park for a picnic and some fun time at the playground. He told me they sang "Wheels on the Bus" to the bus driver and he sat in the back next to his friend Brody. He also said every time the bus stopped, it shook and gave him a back massage...haha!

Austin and Thomas

Enjoying his packed lunch

 Kimberly brought home her Art portfolio yesterday, I just love the vase and flower painting/oil pastels drawing below!

 This is how Kimberly watches her sister's soccer game...that is her satin sleeping mask she just happened to have in her purse. Ya know, just in case she needed to get some beauty rest...hee hee!

Randy is now training Bella to be a Certified Therapy Dog. When she is officially certified she will be able to visit places like Children's Hospital, Carmel Manor, etc... to cheer up kids/adults who are sick, unable to care for themselves on their own. She will also be able to participate in programs like Read to a Dog at the library. We had a training session in the backyard last week using the kids as distractions for her to overcome.

Some cards I made at craft night with my girlfriends... Don't you just love the new $1.00 stamp I got that says "hello friend."