Last day of preschool

Benjamin and Gavin has their last day of preschool yesterday. Now begins summer break! Jack's last day of school is on Friday, then we will all officially be on summer break together. Wow. That year went crazy fast. After Benji's preschool graduation, we picnicked outside with some of his buddies. He looks forward to the preschool playdates that we'll attend this summer so he can continue to see his old friends.

GROW!

I am beside myself with both excitement, and anxiety, as we have all of our garden beds in and planted, as well as some herb pots. I have a well-known black thumb, but want to learn to grow some of our own vegetables. I also want the boys to see where food comes from, from start to finish. So, here's hoping the soil, and weather, and plants will all cooperate, and we will watch them GROW!

Strawberry plot is on the left, and that is the boys's garden. Tomatoes, peppers, basil, and eggplant on the right.


Herb gardens and two extra banana pepper plants are in pots. (Cat not included).


After two years of heeing and hawing about not wanting to drill through the siding, I finally convinced Mike to put up my sun. And I'm loving it!


My lovely husband spent last Saturday building the kids a giant sandbox. He did a great job, and after visiting a gravel pit for 1.3 tons of fill sand, it's ready to go. So far, so good. We are hoping this will help us reclaim the patio for some seating, where adults can actually hang out a bit (it was covered with sand and toys from our small, mobile sandbox). I do see some sand explosions in our future when it gets carried around and thrown out of the box, but hopefully the benefits of having a fun place to play and imagine will outweigh the mess.

Nature, Nature

The boys and I have been enjoying taking spring outings to some nearby parks with flowering beauty. They have really taken to "nature hikes," and enjoy collecting small items to take home when possible. We typically leave with a small bag of pinecones, feathers, sticks, rocks, and other sorts.



Benji's preschool class took a class field trip to Jester Park for a nature hike with a naturalist, and a visit to the bison/elk enclosure and natural playscape. It's one of our favorite summer outings, and I was excited to chaperone this time. They had so much fun digging through a decomposing log and finding millipedes and larvae, finding orioles in the trees, and getting WET at the playscape.

Benji's Re-Do Birthday Party

We celebrated Benjamin's 5th birthday again, at the postponement of his baseball game party. It was an absolutely perfect night with beautiful weather, and thankfully all the buddies he originally invited were able to come to the new date. He had a blast and it was a super fun night.

More Mothers

Mother's Day was quiet and nice, with Mike's parents and grandmother here for brunch.

Mother's Day

What a nice weekend it's been so far. Friday night I went out to dinner with two new friends who I adore and love getting to know. My friend, Emily, has 5 children and Susan has 4. So they are also very inspiring to me as I watch them raise kids who are both older and younger than I have simultaneously. They are each kind, gentle spirits who are fun presences to be around, and I enjoy all the time I've been able to spend with them lately. Next up, fix the husbands and kids up with a family potluck to encourage family bonding!

Today I enjoyed a mother-daughter day with my own mother, visiting several fun shops around town, a local coffee roaster, and lunch at my favorite thai/laotian restaurant. What a fun day. Windy, but beautiful.

Tomorrow Mike's mom and dad are coming up to see us for brunch, along with his grandma and great aunt. This is a weekend full of wonderful mama figures in my life and I'm enjoying it immensely.

Imagination Man

Benjamin is a true Imagination Man. He puts together outfits of various types, and comes up with games the brothers can play where all the roles are strictly dictated by Imagination Man himself. He is a budding scientist, often found pillaging the pantry for items to add to his "experiments;" concoctions and mixtures of food/non-food materials that he often likes to microwave. The latest one that's brewing on our counter is a mixture of popcorn kernels, sliced celery, lemon peels, butter, milk, herbal bug spray, egg noodles, and some filtered water. It was microwaved twice at 30 seconds each time. Then sat overnight. He likes to check on it occasionally. Brilliant chemist in the making?

A tree! A tree! A tree! A tree!

One out of 4 trees planned for the backyard is in! And we have topsoil for the garden, so let the transplanting begin!

Guess Where We Went Today....

Still not sure?



It was an absolutely beautiful morning to hit Pella. We left just before the rain came, which made for a peaceful drive home when both kids were lulled to sleep :)