Our last day of School.

How can I be this far behind on posting such an important day for the kids?!  Ok, I'll try to be better, and now that we only have 5 more days of school left- I will have no more excuses!

Eli has been going to ECFE since he was 2 years old, and on the verge of a baby sibling taking over his territory.  We started him thinking it would be great one-on-one time with us since we would have a new little one in the house.  We LOVED our first experience in ECFE, and have stuck with it ever since. 

Adi was lucky enough to join us for the first time this past fall.  She has absolutely loved every minute of it.  We didn't have the separation issues with her like we did with Eli.  Probably had a lot to do with Eli being on one side of her, and having her best friend, Aylah on the other.

Can you even believe how much younger they look here?  This was in Sept. 2011.

 They have grown and changed so much, and have made many new friends.  We love our teacher, Ms. Marge.  She has been nothing but wonderful to all of us.  My kids love her, and it took a couple weeks after school was finished for them to stop asking to go and see her!

 
 Her true colors would show right through.  I love this about her.  She is who she is.  She's a rough, tough, busy little girl.  But is also a princess in every way.  I didn't think it was possible- but she is all of that. 

The other day she was outside in her Princess Ariel gown digging for worms, and hugging the ones she would find.  She wanted Mama to follow suit.  I'm not afraid of worms, but I'm also not interested in hugging them.  She told me they were her friends, and very nice, but it wasn't enough for me!

Eli was just a nice big brother.  He'd do his own thing for the most part, but was there to comfort Adi if she ever needed it.  He's a pleaser in every way, and he had a special little bond with Ms. Marge.   It's sad for me to think that he's all done with ECFE classes.  He's a big boy now, and is all ready and registered for pre-school in the fall!

Adi loves to do art projects, and she wasn't interested in stopping even for a second to snap a picture with Ms. Marge.  

Eli loved to be on the playground, and was always excited when the weather was nice enough for us to go out for a little bit to play.  He's going to be so excited when he will be able to play on this playground every day during pre-school!

Adi and her friend, Aylah, had lots of fun together in school.  Since these two are less than 2 months apart they will probably spend their entire school career together!

We celebrated our last night at ECFE with an ice cream party.  There were plenty of candies and sprinkles to go around- exactly what our kids love!

We gave our hugs, and said our good-byes.

And had to have one last special picture with Eliott and his wonderful teacher. 

To The Zoo.

We are heading to the zoo this morning.  I'm hoping the wind dies down a bit, and the rain changes it's mind.  I have 26 kindergarteners that are beyond excited.  To the point that they may not even notice what the weather is doing.  We won't be able to get them in the school doors, and back out to the buses fast enough!  I know we'll have fun, but good weather would make it that much better!

I've talked about this zoo a handful of times.  Just recently, though, my kids' pictures have been popping up all over on their webpage and fb pages.  I've been saving the pictures, so we'll have them forever.   These pictures and advertisements will be something for them to look back on.

The small town feeling of going to Grandpa and Grandma's farm is what makes us enjoy this place so much.  That along with the fact that every time I go back they call me by first name and ask how our kids are doing, there's something special about the people that run this zoo.  I'm glad we discovered it-

http://www.facebook.com/HemkerZoo

http://www.facebook.com/HemkerZoo

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Little-Falls-Area-ECFE-Preschool-Pals/259796749279

Not a lot- It's all on my mind!

I don't have a lot to blog about.  Everything is on my mind right now.  Do you ever have a day, or a week, where you have so many thoughts, ideas, and to-do's that you can't even keep your thoughts straight?  And you can't even turn your ideas off to fall asleep?  That's where I'm at now.  Maybe getting some of it in print will ease my mind.

I looked through iphoto, and came across a handful of sweet sandbox/swingset/sunset photos.  I grabbed a bunch, and I realize they have nothing to do with my words, but they are fun to look at, anyways!

Our summer calendar is filling up.  Graduations, End-of-the-year Teacher gathering, Grad parties, Wedding shower, Wedding....  I've got to get my calendar organized for the summer!

For the wedding we are all in I need to find  size 11 black cowboy boots for Eli, and off-white lace shoes for Adi in a size 6 or 7.   Any help or suggestions are much appreciated:)

 Our Spring Dinner through out Lake Association is this weekend.  I'm in charge of buying the prizes.  $500 worth!

Eliott will start pre-school this fall.  I need to get him registered!

 Our class field trip is Thursday.  26 Kindergarteners are going to the zoo!

It's time again for a family picture.  Now that the grass is green, and we are seeing some consistent sunshine.  But, oh, to organize our wardrobes again!

Because of Eli starting pre-school in the fall I need to pull my kids from their current daycare, and put them in a daycare in town so he can be bussed.  I had a really hard time pulling them from the one, but was very happy, and confident, and excited about my new daycare.  Until I received a phone call last night that it may not work out because of numbers.  Not sure where to go on this one?!

Eliott will start t-ball this summer.  I need to get him registered!


Does anyone else ever have moments like these?  Too much to think about?  Too much going  on?  It seems to happen all at once?  Please tell me I'm not alone!

Weekend Fun!

We love to be at the cabin.  We love the fun and activities, and we love our cabin friends that we spend time with.  We look forward to Friday all week long.  In fact, Eli was already asking on Sunday on our way home from the cabin when it would be Friday again.  We count down all week: and they know the routine.  Friday they spend the morning with Auntie, Daddy gets off of work early and picks them up, and they head straight to the cabin.  Mommy has to finish her work day, and joins them as soon as she can.  (This won't last long, though, there's something like 17 days of school left- but who's counting?!)  Then the routine will change a bit, but until then we will pack our weeks full with unpacking, and re-packing, and do as much cleaning up and laundry as we can in-between!

This past weekend was definitely packed full:

The kids spent MUCH of their time on the dock fishing.

Daddy was out there to help when he could, but Eli is old enough now that he can bait his hook and take off his fish all on his own.  He didn't always need Daddy right there, but was sure to let us know when he had a bite!

The sunny that Adi caught was "this big"!

We always know where the kids are.  Shelbie doesn't wander too far from there, and acts like it's her job to watch after them!

I love that my little princess loves the color pink, and also, loves worms!

And loves, loves to play on the 'blue swing rope'!

We took the pontoon out for a chilly little cruise on Saturday, and the kids were very excited about waving to a loon that was nearby.

We saw so many loons on our lake this past weekend.  We are excited about watching them all summer.  There is something so peaceful about watching them float about.

We had a little Cinco de Mayo party on Saturday, complete with a coconut!

Dan the neighbor was probably exhausted after all this excitement on his dock!

What a good sport he was to help them all out, and put up with all the flying rods and hooks!

Notice how Adi has not left the minnow bucket in all of these pictures?!  Minnows will keep her busy for hours!

They boys' big catch!  One of them, anyways!  They were catching fish like crazy on Saturday, and were sure to run and show us each one!

Adi has a new little friend just down the road.  Her and Delila spend lots of time together, and look forward to playing with one another the minute they wake up in the morning!

He's ready the minute he wakes up to get back on the dock.  No time to get dressed.  The life jacket goes right over the jammies, he grabs his fishing pole, and off he goes.

I don't quite have the push down like Daddy does.  Something about what I do just isn't quite what she wants.  I think she needs it higher than I can push.  After all, the girl has no fear!

The weatherman were a little off with their forecast on Sunday, and we were able to squeeze in a couple of quick boat rides before the rain really started!

This was my first time in the fishing boat since we bought it last fall.  We are loving the little, old, vintage thing!

Eli and I were having fun playing in the mirror!

"Look at me!- I'm Spider-girl!"

Eli was so happy to drive the boat.

Buddies:)

They are always running around with smiles at the cabin!

We had to drive over to my parent's cabin to help with their pontoon lift.  We decided it would be much more fun to put up the canopy on the boat and take that, rather than the car!

We made it there and back- Nice and dry!

We are looking forward to another weekend packed full with fun and friends.   

 Hoping for some beautiful weather, and at least a few fish for Fishing Opener!