Kindergarten...It's a Wrap!

Wasn't it just yesterday that I sent my big boy off to Kindergarten? This year has flown by!  I can hardly believe Kindergarten is over and Will will be starting first grade in the fall.

I snapped this picture of my boys on Will's last morning of Kindergarten.

Vanguard Kindergarten at WUES is serious business and I am amazed at how far Will has come.  At the beginning of the year, he was reading short early readers.  Now he devours chapter books.  At the beginning of the year, getting him to sign his name on thank you notes was like pulling teeth. Now Will can write 12 sentences without complaint.  At the beginning of the year, Will knew a grand total of two kids in his new school.  Now he is friends with every single child in his class and has friends sprinkled throughout other classes as well.

It hasn't always been easy, but Will has worked incredibly hard this year and has grown and learned so much.  I am so proud of my big boy, and I am also so incredibly thankful for his wonderful teacher, Mrs. Power. She encouraged her students, challenged them and loved them all at the same time.

Fortunately, Kindergarten was not all work.  There were fun and games too!  Yesterday, the kids had a huge end-of-year bash with bouncy houses, musical chairs, face painting, colored hair spray and more.  Notice Will's green and blue hair??

Our class was the first to get in line for Kona Ice sno cones.  It was hilarious to see them run to the truck!

Will's school has yearbooks.  Crazy, right?  He managed to get all his classmates to sign his book.

And all the Kindergartners came home with new t-shirts.

A final picture of Will and Mrs. Power

Will was alternating between smiling and looking sad on the way home.  He's happy about summer vacation but sad to leave Mrs. Power's classroom.  Although Kindergarten is over, new adventures are sure to be on the horizon.

Happy Birthday, Pop!

I love three day weekends!  We get so much done around the house and we have lots and lots of time to spend together and with friends and family.  This weekend, we got to celebrate Pop's birthday, a few days late.

It was your typical summer day at Nana and Pop's house.  Will played chess with Pop and Daddy, the boys splashed out in the backyard baby pools, and we enjoyed a delicious grilled dinner.  It was a perfect day, and it ended with birthday cake for everyone!

Time for presents!  The boys both made cards for Pop.

And then Pop opened his gift from us.

POP!  

I saw this idea online somewhere and couldn't wait to try it out.  I think it turned out so well!

Happy birthday, Pop!  We had a great time celebrating with you.

The Week in Review

We are all healthy and we have been enjoying getting out, playing with friends, and cooking!  Last Sunday, the boys and I ventured out to the science museum.  After weeks of illnesses, it was great to get out of the house.

Henry is done with school, so last week we scheduled lots of playdates with his little friends.  One morning, Ainsley came over and helped us make blueberry muffins.

Yesterday morning, Will had a birthday party to attend at the Children's Museum.

Henry and Daddy decided to explore the museum on their own while Will enjoyed the birthday party.

Water fun on a hot day!

Last night, Gene and I celebrated eight years of marriage with dinner at L'Olivier, a new French restaurant.  Our anniversary celebration was just a few days late due to Gene's ever-busy travel schedule.

We finally made it back to church this morning after missing the last three Sundays due to illness.  This is what we found!

We actually knew that our church foundation had buckled and was going to be repaired, but it was still a surprise to see it this morning!

Gene is a master baker, but it has been quite a long while since he broke out his bread cookbook.  The boys helped make bread and got some science and math lessons along the way.

The past week has been a little taste of our lazy summer days to come.  Three more days of school for my big boy and then the summer fun truly begins!  We are ready.

Gymnastics

Henry has been taking gymnastics all year and today the kids put on their end-of-year show for the parents.  He demonstrated his forward roll.

He was upset on the beam because a little girl got to go first.

But he recovered in time for the uneven bars.

Here's the whole class with their three awesome teachers.

The best part is the medal!  Henry has worn it all day.

We love The Little Gym!  This summer, the boys have chosen to take a break from gymnastics and try their sports skills class instead.  We can't wait!

Sick Day

I think that today was our last official sick day.  Henry has been fever-free and acting completely normal for the past two days, so I am hopeful that we can finally declare ourselves healthy and get out of the house!!

We started off our day with gingerbread pancakes.  My biggest boy helped me make them.

And little boy enjoyed eating them.

Nana offered to help me out this weekend (thank you!!), so she picked up Will bright and early and took him to nature class at the Houston Arboretum.  We're desperately trying to keep Will from catching the flu!  Fingers crossed that he makes it through these last eight days of school.

While Will was off having adventures with Nana and Pop, Henry and I played lots of games, made granola bars from scratch, read books and completed this PuzzleBall!

My puzzle fiend.  We discovered pretty quickly that PuzzleBalls are sturdy enough to roll but that you should not play catch with them!

Meanwhile, Will had a great day with Nana and Pop.

He and Pop played chess,  

built a structure out of a mug, spoon, fork, and toothpick (as far as I can tell!),

and built towers with Will's Equilibrio blocks.  WOW!

Will came home with new pets: roly polies, snails, and a centipede from nature class!  Apparently we can keep them all summer long as long as we moisten the soil and make sure they have plenty of dead leaves to eat.  

Henry has his own roly poly too!

We ended the day by watering our herbs and finding three perfectly ripe cherry tomatoes!  Our first of the season.

We've had lots of indoor fun lately but tomorrow these little boys and I are heading out to get some fresh air and a change of scenery. We all desperately need it!

It's the End of the Year as We Know It

Summer is almost here but with all the sickness at our house, you would think it is the middle of winter!  In the last two weeks, someone has had strep throat, an antibiotic rash, and now the flu!  I am living in either a petri dish or a pharmacy...

Before the illnesses and in between bouts of feeling bad, we have had some fun celebrating the end of the school year.  Will's buddy Brandon invited him to go see "Superfudge" at Main Street Theater a couple of weeks ago.  What a fun play!  The boys loved it!

Will also celebrated the end of another season of soccer.  We had a fun party for the Monkeys at our house.

Will was excited to get another trophy from Coach Kevin.

As part of a thank you gift, we got our coach a soccer ball signed by all the players.  Will loves soccer and we've made some awesome friends over the two seasons he's played.

Henry's last day of school was this week.  

His class celebrated with cookies

and a pinata. 

Henry was Teddy of the Day and brought his Richard Scarry matching game in for show and tell.  

We gave the teachers gifts of cookies and gift cards.  I found these labels on Pinterest -- I'm one smart cookie, thanks to you!  Perfect.  

And Henry's teachers sent us home with a memory book full of pictures and art from his year in the Teddy Bear class.

I've been so focused on trying to get everyone healthy again that it really hasn't hit me that Henry is actually done with school and Will only has eight more days.  We have been so lucky this year with fabulous teachers and sweet classmates, so the end of the school year is definitely bittersweet.  But, as long as I can say goodbye to these nasty germs, I say bring on summer!