Kindergarten Promotion

We told him he had to wear real clothes to church tonight. He was technically obedient.

Because this spring clearly hadn't contained enough milestones for our family, Ty was promoted to kindergarten status at church tonight with a cookout, new bible and tour of his new classroom. When instructed to sit on the carpet with all the other kids, our son found his own carpet away from the crowd. The very optimistic parent next to me thought he was already on an independent track and this was a good thing. The fact we had to escort him to accept his bible and bag when all the other kids willingly jumped up to get theirs further clarified what I suspected to be true. He needs kindergarten exposure. Tomorrow he will start attending camp every weekday morning for the month of June to prepare for all day kindergarten in the fall. Our experiment of attempting homeschooling kindergarten this semester failed. Miserably. He was explaining how three groups of four objects makes twelve to Devyn at one point but when I ask what four plus one equals, he halfheartedly answers "six" with a shrug. He absolutely refuses to let me know what he knows and I believe he will show off for a teacher. After many tears, lots of prayer and a ridiculous amount of questioning fellow elementary school moms, we've enrolled Ty in our local public school. He will start two weeks after his sixth birthday in July.

These two don't often connect but when they do, it's pretty sweet.

Kate loudly proclaimed after an argument with Ty she hates boys and we don't ever have to worry about her dating. I asked her to write that out for me, sign and date it. Greg laughed at me. I have the written statement anyway.

I love this man. I cracked up when I rounded the corner today and saw a lot of my spices lined up on the counter while Greg had his nose in his phone searching ingredient lists for a new rub he wants to try the next time he smokes pork loin. He may be a little OCD but he's awesome with a grill. I think I will keep him.

The remnants of Lauren's graduation party are gorgeous. I think they were a great investment. And if you are the mother of sons, you have to read this book. I literally laugh out loud every time I sit down to read a few pages.

While working on this little blog post, Greg pulled out our old stand-by family entertainment. He harassed Brutus with his duck call. We are easily amused.

Lauren's Graduation

"Kid, you'll move mountains. Today is your day.Your mountain is waiting. So get on your way!" Dr. Seuss

Last day of high school.

Never a morning person, Lauren woke on Friday at 6:30 and wandered into the kitchen where she stood staring through sleepy eyes at the sunrise. Things were clearly not computing fully so I bravely spoke. "That's sunrise. It's been awhile since you last saw one". She smiled. "After today, I will never have to go back to high school." A few minutes later, over breakfast she let out a cowgirl sounding "Yippee!" and smiled. I think she's ready to move on. 

Lauren designed her own graduation cap. Prior to graduation, a slide show of photos set to music played and Lauren's theme was also "breaking free" from High School Musical

This woman has the patience of Job. She has endured a lot of hard life with Lauren the last three years.

In true Montessori style, the teens created their own graduation ceremony. It was the most unique ceremony I have ever seen but they stayed true to themselves. Here, Lauren's wonderful adviser, Danielle is reading the narrative Lauren wrote to be read as she received her diploma. We are pretty proud of the young woman she has grown to be.

Lauren did not want family photos with her cap and gown before graduation and afterward we were too busy. She wasn't interested anyway.  But we did get this shot of the girls as we headed out.

"Graduation is boring" followed by, "can we just go home?" lead to Makenna's phone being pulled out to occupy Ty

I was not tearful during the ceremony. I held it together as we prepared for this day but this afternoon Paige showed up with a hand painted map she created noting all the locations their friend group would be in a few months and I had to leave the room to compose myself. The reality of how quickly time is passing hit me hard. My babies are growing up.

Memorial Day

I took Kate and Ty for the day to see Greg's parents and enjoy some down time on their farm. Time flew by much too quickly. Kate learned to ride the dirt bike. Ty learned to raise and lower the bucket on Grandpa's newest tractor. Fishing was accomplished and that made our little man very happy. He has wanted to go fishing for ages but we simply don't have a location locally that's suited for a noisy five year old. Not only did he not have his hands on the rod when the one and only fish was caught but he never touched the fish. He celebrated the catch of "MY FIRST FISH!" as one might celebrate scoring the winning touchdown of the super bowl.

Time to go fishing!

Happy "I caught my first fish" dance

Round 2

We sent Lauren and Taylor off to prom tonight after six girls spent the afternoon primping in our bathroom. We are directly responsible for the giant hole in the ozone layer above Georgetown. It was loud, messy and worth every minute of chaos. We will miss the noise and confusion soon enough.

Paige, Sydney and Lauren gathered for makeup sessions and photos before heading off in different directions tonight. They are certain to find one another on the dance floor eventually. Floyd Central's prom is huge....as in around 900 kids. May God bless the chaperones. Amen.

This dress should look vaguely familiar. It is the same dress Erin wore her senior year. We found this one at our favorite consignment store after selling Erin's in raspberry in the same store.

Sam spent the night last night so the girls could decorate their graduation caps together and stuck around today even though she was not participating in round two of this prom season.

I have no words.

sisters

because they are no longer the sweet baby feet I used to kiss but now carry a beautiful young lady I am so proud to call my daughter

Super Day at the Zoo

I took my favorite little super hero and his trusty side kick to the zoo today. It was a perfect day to let the kids explore with minimal crowds and mild weather. Coincidentally, we ran into Batman and a little Halloween witch there. I appreciated being free of the stroller for the day as both kids are big enough to walk along. Today's highlights were the kangaroo that hopped right up to us on our walking path. Had we been brave, we literally could have touched it. Ty was conscientious about being quiet so we didn't scare it. We saw a gorilla banging on a door to be let inside and another one imitating a little girl through the glass. The Lego sculptures continue to captivate me and Ty bounced off every surface provided for the entire three hours we visited. It was a perfect day at the zoo. I need to take Kate on a mission to find the rest of the Lego sculptures soon. She is likely the only one patient enough to join me.

Giant Lego spider....the only spider I think I like.

A free Lego kid tent is available for sculpture building.

Another Full May Weekend

Makenna was inducted into the Thespian Society this weekend. She thoroughly enjoyed the banquet where cheesecake was served before dinner. This sounds like my kind of banquet!

Kate preparing cupcakes for her party with Lauren

Kate's birthday was celebrated. A few of her classmates came over to decorate aprons and cupcakes together. The plan was to provide the entire class with a treat on Monday, but school rules prohibit handmade goodies so store bought cookies will be sent instead. The girls were able to take packages of sweet treats home to share with their families.We called this year's party, "Kate's Cupcake Shoppe".

photo credit Makenna

Ty was still pretty sick right up until Kate's party started. The poor kid was barely tolerating ice cream and yogurt. He really wanted to play Mine-craft on Saturday when his sister headed out to play and decided he needed to teach me how to play too. Keep in mind, I have never even handled an iPod and don't care to learn. This is a problem because my four year old refurbished Blackberry is on it's last leg and I am technologically inept. He gave up on me two minutes into my lesson.

I took Lauren and Taylor to the grocery with me and Taylor found these Mega Peanut M&M's. Greg maintains they are diet M&M's because there are fewer in the bag. Um??? For the record, it's never a good idea to take teenagers to the grocery.

This old guy has been running around a lot more like a puppy lately; a puppy with an old man attitude.