School's Out for Summer!

The boys just finished school for this past week. It went by fast...I can see how once your kids are in school, time just flies.

Well, we had a great year. The boys did great in school and we loved their teachers. I'm really excited for Summer and to have all the kids home all day, but there was still a bit of sadness on their last day of school. I decided that when you are sad to not have a teacher anymore...then they must be pretty darn good! When your kids are in school, especially all day, it's a long day that they aren't with you. There's a comfort for a mom when you know their teacher genuinely loves and cares for them. I definitely had that comfort in the boys' teachers. We're going to miss them!


The boys on their last day getting on the bus. Could we be so lucky to have a school bus stop at our front door next year?! We'll see...


Nate with Mrs. Mitchell. Mrs. Mitchell did a great job capturing memories. We got a big binder of kindergarten memories from her at the end of the year.


Mac and Mrs. DiRocco. Mrs. DiRocco was Mac's literacy teacher in kindergarten and then his 1st grade teacher this year...and Mac loves reading! She did a great job of making learning fun.


Our first morning of break...the excitement even went to Elly! She was following right behind Mac. It was funny at first, but then a little annoying for Mac. Get used to it buddy! :)


Nate took Elly right outside to teach her some baseball. Getting her early!


Keep your eye on it Elly! Nate's coaching is very sweet and encouraging to his sister.


This girl's up for anything! She's going to have so much fun with her brothers this Summer! Between Mac's imagination and Nate's sportiness...she's got a bit to choose from!


This is what Mac did when I asked him if he was excited for Summer. Just a little bit of character in this boy! He was up there directing the baseball that Nate and Elly were playing. It was quite hilarious to watch.

Be looking for posts of Summer fun!

Happy Birthday Elly!

I can't believe my baby girl is 3! She is full of spunk (has no problem telling her brothers how she feels), yet is full of sweetness. When Nate got hurt recently, she had her little arm around his back. She likes to snuggle with whoever is near. She's got some wit! She was swinging on her rope swing that she loves, looked over at us and exclaimed..."A little help here...I'm stuck!" She can quickly bring a smile to your face. Happy birthday Elly!

Derby Days!

No, not the Kentucky derby...the cub scouts Pinewood Derby!


This little gem, the red car, was Mac's 17 car.


The boys raced them down this track and there was medals awarded to the fastest car from each level (Mac's a Tiger cub, the youngest of Cub Scouts), to design and also to the fastest cars of all Cub Scouts.


Can you see the excitement on Mac's face at the end of the track? Mac and Nate sat down there for 3 hours...with a few breaks.


The racers got to sit in chairs at the end to see how their cars placed. Can you see Mac's is in the first position in this race?


He was very excited as he recounted the race with his buddies.


We're not sure, but we think Mac got second in his age group. He made the final heats anyway, which Mac was very happy about. Not bad for his first Pinewood derby...I have a feeling next year Sam and Mac might put a little more time into their calculations, seeing 17 race to the finish line was definitely bringing a twinkle to their eyes!

Happy Easter...a little late

We started off the day before Easter with our neighborhood Easter egg hunt at a local school and later that day dyed Easter eggs. It was a chilly one...as you can see with the snow! Easter day was great and relaxing. We celebrated Christ's resurrection at church and then had a great meal with friends. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of the kids dressed up (I know....how often do they get dressed up?!), but a friend did at church, so I'll pass on that pic of our dapper and beautiful kids :) when I get it. Here's some pictures of the day before Easter.


The kids on the loose!


Mac slows down for a pic


Elly looking


Nate showing off his loot


And Mac's


The whole group


Our family pic...we had to search for warm clothes, I had just washed all our ski stuff and it was hanging up to dry.


After naps, we dyed Easter eggs


Fascinating...Elly of course, loved watching her eggs change color.


Mac tie-dyed most of his eggs.


Nate just liked coloring them the old fashioned way.




We hope you had a happy Easter!

Our Yurt Trip

We're ready for Spring. However, our weather right now is dampering our excitement. It's snowing and our neighborhood Easter egg hunt starts in 1 hour. :) Here's some pictures from early Spring.

Elly is taking after her brothers more and more with her daring acts! She wants to go "higher" on the rope swing.


The boys helped me start some seedlings and make all the tags. They're ready to go in the ground now...we're just waiting for May!


We spent a night at a yurt at Cameron Pass with two other families. The hike was a mile in on our snowshoes. As you can see Elly had the easiest ride.


Here's the yurt.



It wasn't quite big enough for 3 families, but we made due. The kids kept busy playing on the bunks while the adults took care of wet snow gear and cooked.




Our view from the yurt.


Our hike back out was beautiful. The kids did awesome hiking back out after little sleep. We loved it and look forward to doing it again...just in a bigger yurt next time. :)

Coronado Island and San Diego with the Eliasons

We had a relaxing and exciting time with the Eliasons. Renting a house on Coronado Island, hitting the beach...and then also visiting the Wild Animal Park and Legoland.


Nate turned 6 the second day we were there. Brownies again!


The weather was great, lots of sunshine...but on this particular day, we had some clouds and possible rain, so we headed to the Children's museum.


We chose two theme places to go, the first being the Wild Animal Park.


Then a beautiful full day at the beach. Just what the doctor ordered!


After our relaxing day at the beach, we hit the second theme park...Legoland! The kids didn't enjoy it at all. :)

Here's a slideshow of lots of pictures from our trip

Nate's Birthday Party!

Well I've been out of the loop a few weeks with influenza...it got me good this year, so I'm going to start blogging again with Nate's birthday party. I'll get back to President's Day weekend pics when we get back into town. We squeezed in a party for Nate tonight, then leave for San Diego tomorrow morning at 5am. It's an early one. Here's some pics


We met all three of these families when I was pregnant with Nate. The kids don't know life without them.


Nate and I made this pinata yesterday. Talk about pushing it! It only lasted one blow...then turned into a gooey mush. Next time we'll start earlier.


Totally caught checking out the loot. Not even my kids!


Nate opening gifts. He had pajama day at school today. Wouldn't take them off.


Look at this big "almost" 6 year old. Can you believe it?! I sure can't. More birthday pics to come in two days....from San Diego!