Memorial Day the Beach

We were SO excited about Memorial Day weekend...can you tell...

Here is why:
1) We got to go to the beach
2) Grandma was back from Ireland and was there too!!!!
3) Because Grandma was back, Mark and I got to go out for a  lovely happy hour
4) On Memorial Day weekend there is a used book sale that benefits the small local library and the kids always get a ton of books
4) Our good friends, and Francie's future husband, had us over for dinner. Paxton and Frances kept hiding to have "private" conversations...dear lord....

Date with the Principal and Technology Teacher

We have an INCREDIBLE and full time technology teacher at our school. He is incredible at weaving in tools of technology into each class's curriculum. He writes small grants and get them. He finds very very cool things in the community and he figures out how to get the kiddos in there to see the wave of the future.  For an auction item, he and the Principal came up with an AWESOME idea of taking the kids to a "maker" shop.  The kids spent the afternoon at ADX.  ADX is a really cool maker shop downtown that incubates local maker/artist businesses and runs maker workshops for schools and corporations around the area. ADX provided a variety of materials and exotic woods. The kids sanded and prepped the wood, made a custom design on the computer, and then used the laser cutter to complete the design. Tesla joined the day as well. They brought two cars and taught the kids about them.....and let the parents test drive.....I was the only mom who took them on it...car seats in the back and all :)

We broke our camera and the pics on my iphone for some reason don't come out so great, but here you go.....

Fancy Nancy

We had tickets to Fancy Nancy the musical. Maggie was SO excited to dress up Fancy....and Frances endured a dress... and Henry and I tried to figure out an outfit that we could wear to the play, that we could then ALSO wear to the Blazer game right after.

It was HILARIOUS. Girls everywhere in their Fancy Nancy clothes. My favorite was two moms who had totally taken from the book and were wearing feather boas and hats and gloves with their daughters. So cute. I broke down and bought Maggie a Tiara.

I have to admit, I miss most of the play and end up just watching the look on my kids face as they watch it with awe on their faces. Too cute.

Date with Her Kinder Teacher

At our schools auction one of the favorite items is the "date with your teacher". 

One of the kinder teachers has a farm with horses and goats and the chickens and ducks that the kids raised in the class until they hatched!  One of the best parts is that the kids get to go WITH their teacher, in their car, to the farm. Yes - you get to be with your teacher outside of school.

Frances got to go last Friday and had THE BEST TIME. She rode horses and then, due to the rain, they had a campfire cook out in the stable. She wore her cowboy boots. Maggie, Henry and I were so excited to pick her up as we wanted to see all the animals too.

When we got in the car Frances said "mom, I think that might have been one of the best days of my life".

Henry's 9th BDay Party

Henry wanted a soccer party. All soccer. The whole time playing. SO, we invited a bunch of boys and he went to work making teams and coming up with penalty kick options. Frances was the referree and got to use the referree kit Henry got from Grandma. In the first ten minutes she blew her whistle and gave out her first yellow card....to Henry. Once all the kids arrived there was an odd number so Frances got to play. The game ended in a tie and went to penalty kicks....and Frances won for her team. All the boys surrounded her - hilarious. Henry has the most amazing group of sweet boys who are his friends. He really is so lucky. He had a great day - very well deserving of a great kid.

Run for the Arts 2014

It was a gorgeous morning. Maggie and I did a run on the waterfront and all I could think about was how much fun the Run for Arts would be for the kiddos. Frances's group was first at 12:40, followed by Henry's. Grey clouds approached on my drive there....and the rain began precisely five minutes after Frances starting running and ended shortly after Henry finished. That said, they ROCKED it. Both never stopped. Yee haw. The best part is that they love their music and art teachers so much that they sponsored themselves to help raise money. 

Nine Years Old.....WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Henry turned nine. NINE. NINE. NINE. How is that even possible?  I can't say enough about this kid. Even if he wasn't mine, I would ADORE him and want my kid to hang out with him. He is kind, caring, thoughtful, funny, smart, hard working and just an all around good person. I can honestly say, he is my favorite son :)

Easter 2014

I love holidays with kids, especially the ones where a magical icon of the holiday visits during the night and they are SO excited to see what he/she/it left. We had a great Easter. Great morning with the kids, the music at church was incredible, and then brunch and golf at my parents golf club. The club had animals and that included a pocket pig -- which I secretly want SO bad. No dice - Mark says no. Frances's favorite part MAY have been getting to drive the golf cart...even if it was in a dress...scared the crap out of me...foreshadow of the teen years....