Field Day

I had to work all day, so I missed the 1st Annual Field Day. Jeff - who still has some free time on his hands - stayed up there ALL day! He texted me these pictures throughout the day. Luckily, the weather was beautiful, and the kids were worn out!











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It's Been a Good Year!

The inaugural class at Ashley's school had their Pre-K Promotion this morning. Her teacher warned us that we would need tissues to get through it. I did rather well through the cute songs, the other teachers speeches, and the terrific slide show. But when Ms. Jefferson struggled through her tears to make the closing remarks and announced them as the Class of 2024, there was hardly a dry eye in the room.

As an end-of-the-year present, I had Ms. Jefferson's classroom blog and photos that I had taken this year printed into a book on Blurb. She loved it! I had a copy made for myself and then sent the link to other parents so they could order one if they wanted a copy.

Undefeated!

Nathan's last soccer game of the year got cancelled because of all the rain Friday night. Though he really wanted to play, the consolation is that they finished the season undefeated! The team had a celebration at Larry's Pizza on Sunday night. Jeff gave them personalized medals and said something special about each one. Afterward, we joined hundreds of other soccer players at Fellowship for the official Upward celebration.

Lily and Blackie

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Blue and Gold

Last Sunday night, Nathan's Cub Scout pack had their Blue and Gold Banquet at the Surf Shack at church (hence the background). They celebrated the end of the year and advanced to the Cub Scout rank of "Bear".

Friday Night with the Nieces and Nephew

Jared, Abby, and Jenna are hanging out at our house tonight. After a nutritious dinner of pizza and chocolate chip cookies, all of the kids got in our newly redecorated Hidey Hole. After that, we tried to get the younger ones to watch a movie while Jeff & I taught Abby & Jared how to play spades. They were really good at it, and Jared had amazing beginner's luck! We also played some rousing games of Monkey in the Middle and Hide & Seek, and then Jeff tried to teach them the cup game. Good times!

Please Use Other Door

Spring is here, and the birds have made themselves at home again! This year, they made a nest in the hanging basket on the front door. We've been busy with our own little projects around here. On Wednesday night, I helped Nathan with his first diorama and made Ashley a costume for Nursery Rhyme Day. Neither was very elaborate, but they were good enough. Whoever invented sticky-backed felt was a genius!
It seems like everything for the kids' school has really hit this month. Jeff and I are both spending a lot of time there for different special events. Thankfully, he is on his break before the summer term starts and has been able to really put in some hours as an elementary school volunteer.

Josh, Amanda, and their kids were in town briefly this week, and we saw them last night. I brought my camera but didn't take any good pictures of the kids this visit. I did, however, take a picture of this delicious blueberry pie that Amanda made.

Before we sliced it...

About 5 minutes later...

Yeah, it was that good!

M-O-T-H-E-R

Yesterday I attended the Mother's Day Tea at Ashley's preschool. They have been working for a couple of weeks on the program which lasted all of about 6 minutes. The class made a cookbook featuring "recipes" that the kids wrote about the foods that their moms make for them. While those kinds of gifts are priceless, there's always that moment of panic when you're thinking, "Oh no! What did my kid say?" Much to my relief, Ashley's recipe was how to cook rice (her favorite food). Many of the other recipes described how to make chicken nuggets, corn dogs, and even cereal! Too funny!

Here's another revealing moment...the kids drew portraits of their mothers. Can you guess which one is me? The one on the top row with the orange hair. Really? I'm going to have to talk my hairstylist about that one!

Down by the River

Jeff and Nate are camping with some friends tonight at Maumelle Park. Ashley and I went by for dinner and S'mores, but came back home before bedtime. I just can't get excited about sleeping in a tent when my bed is only 10 minutes away! The boys love it though, and little sister is wondering when it is going to be her turn.







Ashley's footwear choice: Style over substance!





You can just barely make out what's left of the marina in the background. Huge pieces of it broke loose during last week's flooding and were floating down the Arkansas River.

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More Soccer Pics

Last year, I failed to post any pictures from Nathan's soccer games until the season was almost over. I'm making up for it this season though, and what a good season they are having! The Cowboys are 5-0 with only three games left to play. The age group that Nate plays in is 1st/2nd grade. It helps that most of the team played together last year, and they are mostly all second graders. Jeff and Chad are coaching again and doing a great job. And while I'm bragging, I want to mention that Nathan has been a scoring machine! He has scored at least once in 4 of 5 games, and yesterday he got 3 goals!!!

One more thing that has been vastly different this year is the weather. In spite of all the storms we've had here this spring, we haven't had to reschedule a game yet. It's been cold, warm, windy (see pictures above), and overcast, but so far, no rain!