Kinder Graduate

 With Ava starting kindergarten next year, Dylan just finished and is on his way to first grade! His class had an end of school party, with the theme being summer fun. Thankfully, the party was able to happen. There was a storm that morning which blew out our neighborhood's power, including the school's. Thankfully, it turned back on about an hour before the festivities were to start!

He was just a tad bit excited that I was able to eat lunch with him and assist his class with the party.

 

Fishing for surprises.

 

Signing of student shirts.

 

 

Freeze dancing.



 

 

 

Just seeing this sign at the party made me think how my sweet boy will be all grown one day :-(

 

Class picture with one of the best teachers, Mrs. Perkins!

 

Mrs. Perkins sweet gift to Dylan, which included a book all about losing teeth!

 

 

 

I'm so happy that he's excited for the next school year!!



 

Ava's Pre-K Graduation

 

We have been blessed to find such an amazing private school for our children. It's really much more than a school (and a fantastic one at that!), everyone there is like family. All of the parents are good friends, and the teachers and staff love on the kids like their own.  That's why I fought back tears during Ava's pre-k graduation! 

 

Ava is, well, my "wild child" who dances to her own beat. She's very independent, social, and VERY strong willed...not sure where that came from :-) She has come such a long way the past two years and I owe a lot of that to Primrose. She went from tantrums, running away, parent/teacher conferences that would leave me in tears, to now reading, writing, and being a good listener in class. She loves her friends, loves life, and I'm so proud of her achievements!

 

 

Ava and Parker before the commencement.

 

 

 

Walking up to the stage.

 



 

When the class gathered on the stage, Ava stood up and held the American Flag and led the room in the Pledge of Allegiance.  When it was time for her diploma, she stated that she wants to be a mom when she gets older, her favorite thing to do in school was play with magnets, and that her favorite movie is Pirates of the Caribbean.  Not sure where she got the idea to say Pirates of the Caribbean, since she's never even seen the movie!!! But, that's Ava :-)


Performing one of four songs with her class. (This one in sign language)

Dr. Rigley, the owner of Primrose Firewheel, cried as she gave her speech at the end. This was the first graduating class where many of the students were in the infant room when she first opened the school four years ago.

 

Ava's teachers, Ms. Ryburn and Ms. Golman. Both have been with the school since it opened.

 

 

Ava and her friend Gigi, celebrating after the ceremony.

 

My beautiful soon-to-be kindergartener!

Ava's New Bling

Ava Grace has been begging to get her ears pierced. So when she started asking again, we decided to let her go through with it.

Chose her pink crystal earrings, and now waiting...

 

 

Pumping herself up beforehand (and after talking herself out of it a couple of times!)

 

 

 

The girls said they would count to five and do it. Since Ava was a bit nervous, they went on count 2. Ava of course was surprised!

 

After shedding a few tears, this big girl was happy about her decision.

Miss thang.

I'm pretty sure that the earrings have made her look MUCH older than her 5 years. Or maybe it's just this mama not wanting her baby to grow up!

Lake Getaway

The kids always BEG to go to the lake, even if its freezing cold and rainy outside! With all of the kids’ activities, it’s difficult to get away during weekends most of the time. Now that it’s all winding down, I thought it would be nice to take the kids out for a quick trip!

Even though it was a little rainy when we got there, the kids didn’t seem to mind. We played several board games, and this mama was HIGHLY impressed by the bingo/matching skills of her little mini-me!

Dylan loves shooting his bb gun…

Harper was completely entranced by the chameleon that lives on the deck and doesn’t mind being bothered by a 2-year old J

Dylan played a little croquet.

While Ava took Harper on a drive.

Pop-Pop took us all for a ride on the mule through the woods, and when we were driving back to the house there was a turtle in the middle of the road. (Don’t mind the trail of liquid behind it, we scared the pee out of it…literally!)

Since Michael had to stay home and work, I didn’t think to pack the kids’ fishing poles. BUT, that just gives us an excuse to go out to the lake again soon before we hit triple-digit temperatures!

It's Electrifying!

I've had this line from Grease in my head ever since our crazy week happened!!

 

Michael had a two-week training course in Philadelphia. During the first week, we were under numerous tornado watches/warnings. I had cleared out the hall closet underneath the stairs and packed it with blankets, shoes, flashlights, etc. As a mommy of three kiddos, I wasn’t taking any chances should I hear sirens in the middle of the night!

 During the second week of Michael’s trip well, let’s just say it was truly nothing short of unbelievable. I was coming home from work and it started to rain as I got closer to our neighborhood. Nothing extreme, and we weren’t under any watches or warnings. I picked Dylan up from school and came home. My mom was at our house with the girls that day because a contractor was at our house installing French doors to the office and painting.  We heard thunder a couple of times, but again nothing loud or alarming.

My mom took Harper to the potty, and I just finished feeding Ava’s butterflies sugar water. I turned to put the leftover water in the refrigerator when a loud boom was heard, I saw a bright flash of light in front of me, and an electrical charge ran from my hand (which was on the refrigerator handle) all through my body. I began shaking and was trying to catch myself from falling when my mom came running into the kitchen and caught me. She started screaming to the contractor who saw the flash of light come from the kitchen, and he called 911.  Loud, annoying alarms were going off from the alarm system and carbon monoxide sensors, and I laid down on the couch.

Fire and paramedics were there in no time. I started to feel a bit better, just extremely shaky and still in shock that actually happened! My blood pressure was high but the EKG was clear, so I started looking all around my house and there were so many emergency personnel! The kids were going from excited that firefighters were there, to being scared and wondering if I was okay. We were lucky in that there was no fire from the lightning. As the firefighters started to leave our house, they were flagged down by a neighbor who was alerting them to another neighbor's house on fire! They were not home at the time fortunately, but their house will have to be rebuilt.

 

Even though it took time and money getting everything fixed or replaced, it could have been much worse for us. We have absolutely wonderful neighbors that brought us kitchen essentials, homemade dinners every night, and even gift cards to restaurants and ice cream shops.  (One of the things to go was the refrigerator.) If it weren't for my neighbors and my mom and dad helping out, it would've been really hard for me to do it all with Michael being gone!

 

A note from my neighbor's 10 year old