Photo Dump

1. Landon was starting the quad as I was leaving the house so he and Dad could go on a ride

2. Enjoying the early days of Summer

3. End of year preschool party, Hawaiian Luau theme

4. Sweet summer feet

1. Heading to gymnastics (Brynne) and the last tball game of the season (Landon)

2. Team Party on the field after the last game, pizza + cupcakes + warm summer nights = perfection

3. First swim of the summer

4. Family tradition, Summer Bucket List 2012

1. Laundry day, and I'm out of hanging room

2. LAST day of preschool

3. LAST tball game of the season

4. Painted my pantry white...now what to do with the 'dated' cabinets

*All photos from my phone*

Up next, Kindergarten!

Today was Landon's last day of preschool. I know I talked here in an earlier post about our struggle with making the decision to hold Landon back a year before sending him to Kindergarten. It seemed to me, such a big deal at the time, but as usual things have a way of working out.  It ended up being such a blessing to have Landon take preschool this year. His teachers Miss Kathy and Miss Shirley were amazing! AMAZING. He grew in every area possible, and is now so ready for Kindergarten. There were more than a few moments of sadness for me this week. Today was particularly hard. It's not that I am sad to see Landon move onto Kindergarten, it's just that I know that from now on he will be in school 5 days a week! Homework, 5 days a week. Packing lunches, 5 days a week. Man, I HATE packing that dang lunch each day. I never seem to pack the right thing, and 90% of the time the food I pack him comes right back home, untouched. Lovely.

We are a family on the go. I am a super active Mama and we always have something to do. It just makes me sad that starting in August he will be gone to school every. single.day. I know I will adjust quickly and learn to love the quiet time, but for now it's hard to wrap my brain around it.

The school did a wonderful job on the graduation program.

The kids all had cute caps and gowns to wear, and they had been rehearsing all week to preform a few songs as well. The stage was set up so cute!

When the kids all walked in I was so nervous for Landon. He can be pretty uneasy, and anxious in situations where people are going to be watching him perform. And boy did his face show exactly how nervous he was.

Once he got on stage and got comfortable he did great! Mama was so relieved!

The kids all preformed a few really sweet songs. You could tell that they had worked so hard on memorizing the words, and learning the hand movements.

After the performance portion the kids were called up onto stage one at a time, where the received not only their "diploma" but also a special surprise from their teachers. Miss Kathy and Miss Shirley had written a poem for each of the kids and they read them aloud.

Miss Shirley read Landon's poem..

"Landon has a gentle spirit

he really is a very good friend,

He works so hard on everything he does

from the beginning to the end."

After some nice words spoken about the school year and this particular group of kids, as well as a nice tribute to the teachers that the parents all co wrote, Landon was dismissed to meet up with his family in the audience. Just like that he's done with Preschool!!

Auntie Amy and Uncle Nate came along with Ryder to watch our boy "Graduate." I know that meant the world to Landon. He LOVES his Auntie so, so much.

Ryder was particularly excited to be up past his bedtime and gave Landon some sweet congratulatory hugs!

So proud of our sweet boy! And Brynne was THRILLED that Landon was finally done with Preschool because that means that it is now her turn! It's going to be a long summer with lots of "Is it time for me to go to school now?" questions...

We took our graduate home and had a fun surprise waiting for him!

Needless to say, we are SO proud of Landon and so excited for him to start Kindergarten this Fall.

And needless to say, Landon was thrilled with his surprise!

We love you Landon, and can't wait to see you grow by leaps and bounds over the 2012-2013 school year!

Mother's Day at Huntington Beach

This year for Mother's Day I couldn't decide if I wanted to throw the kids in the car and head somewhere as a family, or take advantage of the Holiday and sleep in and enjoy quiet/lazy time around the house. I ended up deciding that I felt like driving to the beach. So we did! It was a beautiful day, and the kids had a blast. We didn't really play in the water too much. Heck, Travis and I didn't even wear our swimsuits. California beaches are COLD, and we knew that being May we'd not be anywhere near that water!

Travis helped the kids build sandcastles, while I took a few pictures, and people-watched! I swear I can sit and watch people all day every day!



Brynne had a particularly traumatising moment. A wave came up, a bit higher than normal, and wiped out the sandcastle Daddy had helped her build. She started crying so hard and literally did not know what to do! It was so funny, Travis and I were laughing so hard and the fact that we were laughing made her cry even harder. She was so mad at that darn ocean!

I snuck this picture of her sweet tears...

Daddy to the rescue once again...He built her a bigger, better sandcastle, in the shape of a heart nonetheless!

After that Brynne was happy as could be! She played in that sandcastle for an hour with her ponies, as Daddy and Landon played football on the beach. Landon was having the time of his life!

 

The boys worked up an appetite with all that running so we packed up and let the kids ride their scooters along the beach as we decided on a place to stop for lunch.

We stopped into Johnny Rockets and had sandwiches and chocolate shakes for dessert! Such a fun way to end a relaxing day! SO excited for summer, and many more trips to the beach.

SO tired after our fun day!

Gymnastics Update

Just some quick shots of Brynne in gymnastics this week!

Each time she goes for practice I see more and more confidence emerge. And her coordination is improving. 

 

It always amazes me how much she can do as a 3 year old. Most of the times I watch from the sidelines with a weird mix of emotion. Pride, fear, nervousness, elation. I am so proud of her, and so proud of the life-lessons she is learning. She works so hard in gym and it is paying off. She never complains, or says she is too tired to go. 

She LOVES gymnastics, and I LOVE that after a few years of watching Landon play soccer, play tball, ride his dirtbike, etc. that we finally have something that Brynne is interested in!

SO proud of my little gymnast!

Halloween 2011

4 years of Halloween celebrations, and each and every year gets better!

This was the first year that I did not get to choose (and match) the kids' Halloween costumes. Brynne wanted to be "Tangled" from very early on and Landon changed his mind every few days leading up to October, before he finally settled on being a hunter "like daddy and poppy."

We had a great time trick-or-treating with our friends and really enjoyed Halloween this year! True to their personalities Brynne was the first one to approach each door while Landon was cautious and held back a bit until he saw it was safe, too funny. Can't wait to see what the kids come up with for 2012!

Landon starts Preschool

Travis and I both struggled with the decision to keep Landon out of Kindergarten until next year. He turned 5 in July and was "age eligible" to attend, however the school district where we lives prefers Kindergartners to be at least 5 and a half when the school year starts. Landon was pretty close to that age so the school left the decision up to us. Let me tell ya, I wrestled with this decision for DAYS. I didn't want to put him in Kindergarten this year only to have his struggle and need to be held back. I also didn't want to wait a year and have him end up being one of the oldest in his grade next year (he will now be 6 when he starts). Ultimately we did what we felt was best for Landon and our family and today he started his official year of preschool!

Both Landon and Brynne were attending a preschool that we really loved, but we were beginning to feel like they had reached their maximum learning potential at that particular school. So we decided to enroll Landon in a private Christian preschool that is much closer to our house. We also decided that being only 3 and a half Brynne should really just stay home with me for another year.

Landon was pretty excited to start school today, and I was cautiously optimistic! He has had a tendency in the past to have anxiety when thrown into new social situations. He woke up in a great mood and was genuinely happy to meet his new classmates.

He even asked me if I wanted to take some pictures this morning! OF COURSE I did! Here he is telling Brynne how much he is going to miss not having her at school.

Landon 5yr 1mo and Brynne 3yr 8mo

Landon wrote his entire name on the concrete out back, so cute.

Landon standing in front of his "cubby" on his first day of preschool

Landon has to take a car with his name on it and "park" it by his picture each day so everyone can see who is there each day.

Landon's parked car behind his picture

Warming up by playing with some colorful dominoes

Sweet Preschooler!

One last picture before Mommy leaves...

...but then Brynne and I were halfway out the door and she said "wait Mom, I gotta go give Lan a hug and tell him to have a good time." Ugh, melted this Mama's heart.

Landon did great in school and was well behaved. He came home raving about his kind teachers Miss Kathy and Miss Shirley and said he had such a fun day. What a relief! On one hand I am so sad he is growing up so quickly, on the other I am so thankful he has found his confidence and there were no tears today! I can't wait to see everything Landon learns in this new program, I know this year will fly by!