Our Graduate

Little T loves school and she is a pretty quick learner, I think it helps that she has a little bit more of a competitive streak in her than her sister.  Not sure if this is a second child thing or something. I think that when she starts soccer in the Fall she will be one tough cookie.  Don't let her size fool you, she's got gusto and a little bit of sass.  I continue to think of her as the bright blue eyed, spiky blond haired little toddler.  I think God gave her those attributes as an omen of things to come.

The fact that I still think of her as being 3, makes it hard for me to grasp that she is going to be in Kindergarten next year.  She's going to be a real life elementary school kiddo. Not sure if I like that.  I have, just recently, come to grips with Annika getting older and more mature.  Now all my kids are growing up!! Give your momma a break! Just one at a time please!  I guess since I haven't spaced my kids 18 years apart, this is my reality. Besides, it is a joy to see them grow.

I was able to spend a little part of Taryn's morning with her before Mother's Day.  Her Pre-K class had a sweet Mother's Day tea where Taryn was pretty excited to have me all to herself.  She was a good little hostess bringing me all the chocolates and punch that I wanted. (How can I get her to do that for me at home?!)  The night before she even made sure that our outfits coordinated.  My darling fashionista!

Here she is on her Pre-K graduation day.  She thought she was pretty funny wearing Daddy's shirt as her "gown."

The "Processional."  She is our "observer" (one would even say she stares) so the amount of people in the classroom looking back at her threw her off her game a bit. :)


Taryn Marie, congratulations sweet girl on your making it through your first year of school! You are mastering your penmanship and think you are pretty cool when you can do a worksheet all by yourself.  You are meticulous in your drawing and coloring.  You are sensitive but aren't afraid to let us know what you think.  You are our somersaulting, chip-eating, Hot Tamale-chewing, skirt-wearing princess in bare feet, and we love every bit of you! We are super excited to see how you will continue to thrive in Kindergarten!

In the meantime, can you bring your mama some chocolate and perhaps a glass of lemonade?

It's a two person job

This is why it takes two adults to take this crazy family to the pool...

It didn't help that Simon had no interest in the water and thought sneaking out the exit was way more fun. Also, Landon had to pee every 10 minutes (why did we potty train him?) which meant unstrapping his life vest every. single. time. 

Let summer begin!

Play me a song piano man

We have been in the midst of the "End of the Year" activities.  As I was downloading pictures for this post, I realized I do have some blogging to catch up on.  But in the meantime, here's a pic of our new piece of furniture.  Already Annika is anxious to start lessons...we'll see how that translates when it's time to practice! :)

Taryn was super excited when I told her she could play it this morning.  She sits down on the bench and kinda stares at it with a confused look on her face.  She turns to me and says "How do you turn it on?"

Ha!  Such a child of the 21st century.

Everywhere I look I see ladies...

...and when I say "ladies" I mean boobies.  Wow, didn't think I would ever write a post with that as my first sentence.  This blog has never been about being political, and I'm not about to start now, but I do have something to say about the, ah, issue.  In the past two days I feel like I have been bombarded with them where ever I look!!

It all started with the jaw-dropping, "you've got to be kidding me" cover of Time magazine.  We all know what I am talking about, if you don't, just pick up a newspaper or Google it. Now, I am not condemning or condoning the idea of breastfeeding until your kiddo can ride a bike without training wheels, but I do not need nor do I want to see it.  Please, let's have a little bit of decency.  I am having a hard time teaching my 7 year old about what is appropriate to show in public (gee whiz, teaching her how to sit in a skirt is difficult enough). Now when I walk through the checkout counter at my local store where they have the magazines to peruse while you wait in line, I need to be ready to answer her question "what is that little boy doing?" "Um, well, you know, that's what some mommies choose to do, um, yeah...look! Gum!" And I thought pictures of a drugged up Lindsey Lohan were bad enough.

Then a vigilant friend and fellow mom of preschoolers made the community and me aware of a statue that is up at our local Arboretum.  Go here to see from the local news.

I would be the first in line to say sometimes I don't get art.  I have some Art History pros in my family (hi, Uncle Randy!) who, I suppose, can find meaning in some of the most abstract art.  I don't think I got that gene.  If someone explains a piece of art to me, perhaps I can begin to understand and appreciate it.  For the above statue, I totally understand what the artist was trying to say.  It's actually pretty obvious but, really, at the local arboretum? Not art gallery, sculpture garden, but at an arboretum which (in the words of Fancy Nancy) is a fancy word for park. Where families of all ages go for a leisurely stroll to check out trees, plants, flowers, and nipples? "Hey kids let's take a picture, wait, is that, Whoa!" Start of awkward conversation number two, "yeah, well, this is art and some people, well, um look! Squirrel!"

I guess the moral of the story is let's keep the goods covered shall we? We all have our rights to free speech and to raise our kiddos how we best feel they need to be raised, but there's no reason we need to have the ladies on display.  There are some things that just need to stay under wraps, for lack of a better term.

And, now, I will step down from my soap box.

High and Tight

My sweet little Simon before:

Mommy says "Hey, while the boys are outside, let's quick give them a trim.  Simon's hair is getting a little long around the ears."

My sweet little Simon just 20 minutes later:

That is what happens when daddy doesn't check the setting on the clippers before he cuts.  Apparently we are shipping him off to the military academy tomorrow.  Hooah! (or Hoorah! for our Marine Corps friends)