Rock Wall

 The kids loved Mavericks where we played dodge ball as a family and laughed so hard! Plus they got to climb the rock wall before going for a swim. Mr C liked the indoor wall as it had padding below it to  land on if you fell.

Miss C liked the outdoor rock wall best at SHARC and wanted to climb all the way to the top by herself! We compromised and let her climb to the top of the shortest rock :)

Mr C jumping from stump to stump while sister climbed the wall. 

Have I mentioned just how much fun we had together on this vacation!

Pool Time

The kids favorite part of the pool was having it all to ourselves! It was nice to see them have fun in the water and even my little worrier has now finally asked to have swim lessons. To bad most of them are full already for the summer :) 

Nature Walk

I took the kids for a walk and Mr C wanted to take some pictures. I let him pick what to take a picture of then helped him focus and find a good place to stand for the picture he wanted. He seemed to like the solving the puzzle of how to get the image he had in his mind match what he would take with the camera's image. I think he did a great job! 

Vacation

If you have been following the blog for very long you know we are  family who usually takes one vacation each summer and sometimes a short trip to the beach or Sunriver in the Fall. Well this year we get an extra mini vacation! Brian had to take a CPE class to keep his CPA license current and they offered one he wanted in Bend. We decided to make a vacation out of it. We left Friday morning and stayed till Tuesday. Lucky for us it was before school got out so we even got the discounted housing rate!! Mr C missed a few days of school but was great about doing his homework while we were away. We had so much fun, it was amazing! We traveled thru poring rain to get there and decided no matter what we were going to have a great time. The kids were so excited to each have their own rooms, as soon as we got to the house they started unpacking. I love how each "decorated" their rooms with the stuff they brought from home. The first night there we played about 4 or 5 board games before it was time to head off to bed. The kids were so excited the next day they woke up 5am. I heard a noise in the kitchen and got up to check it out. I found these two eating breakfast already dressed ready for the day.

What an amazing day we had! After letting Dad sleep a little we went out for a walk and ride on the scooters. Around 10 we went to the new SHARC water park. They kids had such an adventure. Miss C loved the rock wall out side the center. Mr C loved the obstacle corse. After swimming a few hours  we headed home for lunch. The boys played Wii and Miss C and I headed outside to paint our nails.

After Wii time and manicures were done the kids and I headed out for a nature walk. I will post the pictures Mr C and I took tomorrow. After  the walk we joined Daddy in the garage for some ping pong and lots of laughter! We then headed inside to make cookies for our special guest that were joining us for dinner. I love this picture because it shows just how tired Miss C really is.

We were so excited to have Uncle Sean, Aunt Jen, Ethan and Abbi join us for dinner! The kids rode scooters together had dinner and then the girls played Barbies while the boys played on the wii. I was bummed I got so into talking with my brother and sis-inlaw I forgot to get a picture of them.

 These two are so cute together, I love seeing my kids play with any of  the cousins. I reminds me so much of my cousins when we were growing up.

 At around 8:45 little miss C asked to go to bed she was fast asleep with in just  a few moments. A wonderful first day of vacation!!!

music informance

Mr C's school does and informane for music class the last few weeks of school. The parents are invited to join the kids for music class and hear all about what they learned that year. This is in place of an evening performance. Miss C and I joined brother for lunch in the cafeteria and had fun playing wall ball with him and his friends at lunch time recess. I got to finish up the last of the spelling test with the kids in class then head off to hear Mr C sing. The kids sang about 8 different songs and Mr C gave a speech on Beethoven his favorite composer. Mr C really enjoys his music class and his teacher! He even told us he wants to teach music someday. My favorite part of his music class was just how much they really learned about composers and different styles of music. They even had test where she would play a song and they would have to name the composer. Thank you so much Mrs. Maynard for taking the time to make a difference. To help us continue to instill a love of music and learning. We will miss you greatly, but I hope you enjoy retirement!

Teacher Appriciation

My sweet friend Lisa had this idea on her blog Simply this that and the other, and I thought it was a wonderful idea! A pizza garden! I made tags that included recipes for pizza, herbed chicken, rolls, bread, and a few others. Thanks to Lisa's blog advice I was able to swing by Trader Joes pick a few of these up and have them ready for school the next day. I remembered to straighten the paper and twine before I dropped them off :) I had hoped to wrapped the bottom in burlap and then tie with twine but a trip to the fabric store was the last thing my list and we never made it. I have a fun idea for the end of the school year for the teachers I am working on and will try to post about it soon. 

Preschool grad!

Wow the last fees post have been all about little miss C! Mr C is doing well and I promise he will be back :) it just seems May is a very busy month for Miss C and lots of big moments. I am shocked at just how fast the school year went by! The week before school got out was beautiful and sunny. The week for field day and graduation... cold and rainy. Miss C started her day a little bummed when she found out her buddy would not be there. However she was easily cheered up when all her other friends walked through the door! Her favorite part of the field day? The Tug of war! 

The last day of preschool, oh the emotions I was feeling was crazy. I can not believe how grown up and independent she is getting. I feel sad knowing just how much she will miss her friends. I am sad knowing how much I will miss the moms I have gotten to know and our morning chats. I have even put off telling her one friend is moving, I guess if I don't say it out loud then it just may not be true :)
 

I was teared up thinking of these two off to Kinder next year at different schools. A better friend I could not of wished for for my little girl! I know they will stay friends for a long time as our families are close but I have so loved watching them this year be in school together. Watching them hug whenever they see each other and often holding hands or whispering secrets to one another. My favorite moment was when sweet miss L's name was called to get her certificate she paused on her way up and stopped to give miss c a hug. Talk about a tear jerking moment! 

Waiting for a turn on the bounce house. 

There she is with her two kindhearted Teachers, whom we will always hold dear. Thank you Mrs. McGuire and Mrs Carlson for making this such a wonderful year! Thank you for your patience and wisdom and loving my little ones while they were in your care!

 Congratulations Miss C you finished preschool and now you are a KINDERGARTNER!!! I love you so much and am very proud of you.

Baking Party

This year for Miss C's birthday she wanted a baking party. I had so many ideas and lots of inspiration from the site one charming party. However because of the number of kids she wanted to invite I had to change things up a bit. I had hoped to bake donuts and cupcakes with the kids, also make pie in a jar as well as a few other treats. Depite the changes in party plans I think it was a hit! As the kids arrived the each got an apron, pink flowers for the girls and plain for the boys. We started off with a fun game of Baker Baker Chef (aka duck, duck, goose). Then once most the kids arrived they got started on making their Baker hats!  I had letter stickers, dyed coffee filters, tissue paper flowers, and crayons laid out on the table. Once they completed their hat they posed for a picture. 

Once their picture was taken they received a box filled with two chocolate mini cupcakes, two fun fetti mini cupcakes, two Vanilla mini cupcakes, two strawberry mini cupcakes and two donuts. Then off to decorate! We had Chocolate, vanilla, bubblegum, and cotton candy frosting along with a large assortment of sprinkles and toppings.

To give proper credit daddy took the following picture, which is one of my favorites of her from the party. Thanks Brian!

Once every one was almost done we sang happy birthday and everyone ate one of their wonderful creations. We tied the boxes up with twine and added a cute label with their name on it. All in all a fun party and hope to do this one again with a twist when she is older :)
Happy Birthday my sweet girl, I hope you had a wonderful day!

Mothers day- Grant park

I remember so clearly the years I longed to be a mom. When each year the approaching  mothers day would break my heart and I would lie awake and wonder just what motherhood would be like. Praying and trying to grasp some understanding as to why the very thing I longed for most seemed so within my reach and yet so very far away. Praying that God would either grant us a child or take away the deep desire in my heart because it was just too hard. I imagined the snuggles and the way it must feel to comfort a little one and hear them say mom. I have to tell you 7 years into being a mom it was so much more then I ever imagined. To be completely honest in my dreaming and wishing I never thought of the late nights, no stop crying of both and mom and child :) , just how overwhelming the responsibility to raise and teach another human the ways of life can truly be! I didn't know just how much it would change my life. How when I see these two my heart is so full of love and joy! How watching my Husband be a dad would make me fall even more in love with him. I had no idea just how deep a mothers love can run. So as we celebrate mothers day and the kids say all kinds of nice things to thank me for being their mom, I want to remember to pause and thank God for letting me be a mom to these two amazing little ones. I pray that I may do my best and that God will fill in the great big gaps I have failed at. I am thankful for the family and friends who help me in so many ways to teach my children and encourage me to be a better momma. To all you moms out there I hope your mothers day was blessed and to all of you longing to be mothers I pray that the special child who was meant to be touched by you will come into your life at the perfect moment. 

 You  know my deep love of reading with my kids and the Romana series by Beverly Cleary is one of our favorites. So how perfect on mothers day we ended up after lunch at Grant park where they have a Beverly Cleary garden. A wonderful afternoon relaxing in the park!

Miss C is 5! Part 3

Last outfit of the day and I surprised her by saying she could run through the fountain with her dress on. She had so much fun, it was warm enough to not be to cold and early enough in the day that she was the only one there. I loved seeing her playful side come out in these pictures! We had a wonderful morning and some fun pictures for her big day. After some time in the fountain we headed to Ava's for a treat then home to see what the boys were up to.