Gymnastics Performance

Tommy and I were treated to Ellie's last gymnastics class, where they put on a special performance of all their tricks.  Here are a few shots of our gymnast.

First Trip to the Lake of 2013

We ushered in Memorial Weekend with a trip to the Lake of the Ozarks.  The kids (and my husband) adore their time at the lake.  They throw rocks for hours, ride in the canoe, drive Papa's boat, swim in the pool like fish, and - they also go fishing.

Tommy's First Fish!  Super proud!

They had nail and face painting at the pool.  It was Ellie's favorite day ever.

Ellie holding her cousin Isabel.  Ellie is always there to show Izzy some love.

Love this picture.  Two pretty girls.

Two silly girls.

Dog pile!  Izzy won!

Ellie's Last Day of School

Ellie recently had her last day of school.  I snapped a few pictures of her before she went in, and all the families were invited to a sing along and celebration at the end of the day.  Mikey happened to have the day off, so we gave Ellie her choice of place to eat lunch to celebrate...where did we end up?  Yup, Chick Fil A.

Ellie had such a great year this year.  She spent the first half of the year at her old school at Cerner, learning and growing with kids she had known for years.  In January, she started at her new school.  We were so worried about this transition, but as with most things with Ellie, she charged forward without looking back.  She had two wonderful teachers that we really liked, met so many new friends, and in turn we have made friends with lots of families at her new school.

She has learned so much this year.  She knows all of her letters and numbers to 100, she colors fabulous pictures of patterns, stays inside the lines really well while coloring, has learned how to play better with others, has mastered the monkey bars and pretty much any climbing apparatus, and loves to read.  We are so proud of all she accomplished this year.

When I told her I wanted to take her picture, Ellie insisted Tommy be in the first one.

Big girl.  We are so proud of all she has done this year.

Song number #1

Song #2, an interactive little diddy.

Posing with Ms. Stewart, one of her teachers.

Posing with Ms York, her other teachers.

Mother's Day Celebration at Ellie's School

Mother's Day was ushered in early this year at Ellie's school.  I was invited to a sing along that her class performed for all the mom's, and given a beautiful necklace and questionnaire that Ellie filled out about me that I will keep forever.

I took a picture of this sign...the question was "What makes my mom special".  Ellie's answer (if you can't read it) "She makes me grilled cheese sandwiches".

Her class lined up and ready to sing.

Happy about performing.

Fun Night at the Sporting Game

We went to see a Sporting KC game recently on a lovely night.  The kids had a blast at the stadium.  They loved the Star Spangled Banner, the fireworks that went off after, all the singing and chanting.  Sometimes you forget about the little things when you go to events like this, which the kids happily remind you of.

Sharing a room

During the run up to baby number three, we asked the kids several times if they wanted their own room or wanted to share a room.  The overwhelming response to months of this question was that a) they wanted to share a room and b) they really, really, really wanted a bunk bed.

So Mikey and I finally caved, and got them a bunk bed.  We figure we will switch the boys over to it if/when Ellie and Tommy get tired of it.

This is Tommy's first twin bed, so we snapped a quick pic of him before he went to bed on night #1.

The Parents Get Away

Mikey recently given an award by Sprint for all of his hard work in 2012.  This award came complete with 2 airplane tickets, a swanky hotel for 4 nights in Miami, plus all sorts of fun things for us once we got there.  For parents of two small children and another on away, 4 nights of R&R in a warm place...it really couldn't have been more appreciated.  Sprint treated us incredibly well, and we enjoyed our time away, especially in light of adding another boy to our clan soon.

Here are some pictures from our fun.

Posing at the beach.

The view from our hotel room.  81 and sunny the whole time we were there!

Dressed up all fancy for awards night.

Mikey got called to duty for a skit on stage.

Back on stage getting his award.

The view from the big screen.  Mikey is big time.

Sunrise on the day we left.

If you were worried that our kids weren't having any fun while we were gone, Amber sent me these pictures of the kids during their sleepover at John and Ambers....

Cuddling with Maddy

Two sweet, sweet girls.  Ellie looks so old in this picture I can't stand it, and its perfect of Isabel's baby blues.

Amber made door signs for them for the rooms they were sleeping in.  Tommy looks like a big kid here to me.

Who doesn't love a princess room?