Well, that went quick

 

Walking to school for the last time this year *sniff sniff*

So, the school year is done. Over. Complete. One of the many many things I love about our school is their traditions; I went to the annual end of year flag lowering and school-wide picnic today.  We now have a 1st grader and kindergartener, and one very anxious 2.5 yr old who insists on wearing a backpack with her extra underwear in it. I can’t believe another year has passed!

My big kids had an AMAZING year at school. They learned and grew so much! They loved their teachers and I never heard complaints about going to school. We had an awesome experience and great communication, and they had such good times!  We couldn’t have asked for a better fit this year.

Making slime during the last week of school!

Lucy graduated from preschool last night.  She was so excited and had been counting for days.  They sang songs, got a special book that their teachers will write in every year, got a diploma, and of course there were snacks. Her final portfolio was very impressive, she’s a smart cookie, that’s for sure.  I didn’t cry, so that was a win. 😉

Gabriel came home from his last day of kindergarten and while the girls were napping, raked up half of the neighbor’s grass clippings from their yard and put them in cans so he can ‘burn them later’.  Yeah, we are going to need to keep him busy this summer!!!

On to summer!

 

 

The ultrasound reveal

So we had our 20 week ultrasound today.  I talked to my brother Mitch way over on the other side of the world today, and I told him we had our ultrasound this afternoon, and that I was excited for it. His response?  ‘Sounds fun. You’re probably getting used to these things by now.’ 😉  I guess you could say that.  But really, getting a glimpse of your baby inside your womb is one amazing experience.  All the aches, pains, poor sleep and weight gain are worth it to see that tiny being kicking and punching away in there!

‘Ninja’, as the kids call him/her

So the big reveal? There wasn’t one! HA! We’ve never found out the gender and of course didn’t want to for this baby either.  🙂 After all, getting the surprise of your baby’s gender after labor and delivery is so WORTH THE WAIT! (In my opinion anyways!)

 

The 3 kiddos, J, and Nana were along for the ultrasound. Nana and G predict a boy, and Nana tells me her predictions have been right with all 3 of our kids. L and A predict a girl. J has no idea, but was hoping for twins. I change my mind daily.  Gabriel thought the baby looked like a frog. Lucy thought it was a butterfly. The kids were bewildered by the fact that the gel was warm.  They weren’t sure what to think of the facial pictures that looked like something from Halloween.  We saw 10 fingers and 10 toes and a heart, kidneys, feet and hands, spine, long bones, etc. So neat! G thought the baby’s head was huge. If only he would have seen his own head at birth! Oh my….

Of course they want another sister! Dresses for dayssssss

So, on we go into the 2nd half of this pregnancy. Hopefully it’s smooth sailing and my pelvis can keep it together (literally). And now I can reassure a few of my patients that it is indeed, only ONE baby, not triplets 😉

 

I didn’t ruin Mudder’s Day

Most moms I know still do all of their motherly ‘duties’ on the holiday that is set aside just for them. No one really just puts their feet up all day, although that’s what a lot of us would like to do! Most holidays I still am the 1st or 2nd one up (G sometimes beats me), and go about making breakfast, getting everyone ready, prepping food, yada yada yada. However, numerous times over the past year, I have been reminded by a certain middle daughter that I ‘ruined Mudder’s Day’ last year and every year before, because I didn’t stay in bed so she could bring me breakfast in bed, just like they do in the Berenstain Bears book. Oooookkkk. Point taken.  This year, the certain middle daughter crept into our room just after 6am and loudly whispered to J that it was ‘TIME TO MAKE BREAKFAST FOR MOM’, then promptly left for the kitchen.  I pretended to sleep for the next hour and was then greeted in bed with blueberry pancakes and a mug of orange juice to go along with my favorites, handmade cards by my kids! That is my absolute favorite!!!!

We spent the day with family and ended up with 3 very tired and cranky kiddos. Forcing a screaming 2.5 yr old through the shower at the end of a busy day is far from enjoyable.  Lucy also somehow got syrup in her hair, I had to trim Gabriel’s toenails because they were curling they were so long, and realized I didn’t have Gabriel’s 1950’s outfit ready for his music concert tomorrow night. Oye.

Nana’s rhodedendrons!  Amelia was pouting…..  

Someone’s tired!

And the most exhausting and gratifying Mother’s Day weekend project—this little gal is pretty much potty trained! Wahooooo!  The 3 day method rocks!  I guess the incentive of 32 pairs of underwear (where did they all come from?!) and an M&M for every effort the first day worked well. She’s doing so great and I’m incredibly proud of her! Yayyyy Amelia!!!! And yayyy no more diapers (for awhile anyways).  PS- I have a stack of well-loved cloth Bumgeinus 4.0’s for sale if anyone’s interested! 😉

She loves planting flowers

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you awesome moms out there! I’ve learned so much from so many moms, young and old, and one of those things is to take care of yourself. You all deserve love and appreciation, and a nap!

Rock on, moms.

 

 

A very wet birthday

We had a few cupcakes. Kids were in charge of sprinkles, as you can see 🙂

We celebrated Lucy’s 5th birthday with a party *a bit* larger than I had anticipated. Being pregnant and all, I had thought about just having a few people over to celebrate and taking the simple way out. But Lucy is hardly a simple person, ya know.  Lucy really wanted this person, that person, that family, this class, etc., and we ended up with quite the crowd! It was a lot of fun and she exclaimed that night ‘This was the best birthday EVER!!’.

The original idea was to have a Pocahontas themed party with all kinds of nature/outdoorsy activities for all her little friends and cousins, ie nature scavenger hunt, outdoor pinata, outdoor games, etc. I made some cute invites on Canva and had them printed, which cost me less than $9 total. WIN.

Then, it RAINED. A lot. All. Day. Long. Monsoon-style rain.

I ended up scrambling for indoor games on the morning of the party that could be contained in the amount of space that we had in the enclosed shelter. So we did balloon games, a toilet paper outfit game, and, my pride and joy project for the last week, a giant PINATA!!!  I filled it with a ton of candy and was happy when allll the kids got at least 2 swings apiece before it was shredded. Some of those kids were strong! Pinata win!!!

I did just snack foods, and a whole lotta cupcakes.  Mini corndog muffins, make your own fruit/marshmallow kebabs, fruit salad, chips, lemonade.  

The front tassel garland was a tutorial I found online made from tissue paper and twine (way more time consuming than I thought but super cute!) and I made these cute little arrows for the skewers.  It’s amazing what a little hot glue and construction paper does!!!

I’m not one to spend a lot of money on a birthday party, and this one was done quite frugally, which I was thrilled with.   The dollar tree, Aldi, and my time was the supplier to this shindig. I think it turned out great!  I’m getting to really enjoy planning kids’ birthday parties (see Lucy’s 4th and Gabriel’s 6th party posts).  Next up; G’s 7th…at 6 months pregnant…Oiy!

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY LUCY!