Another Zoo Visit

Did you know we love the zoo?  We do.  I have run out of creative ways to blog about zoo visits, so lets just hit the pictures!

Visiting Sting Ray Bay.  All the kids EXCEPT Karianna were brave enough to touch the sting rays.  I think Karianna was more nervous about the fishy smell of the water lingering on her skin rather than the atual sting rays!

 It was too hot to do pretty much anything else, so we headed straight for the splash pad.  I brought some silly toys for Sara to play with so she wouldn't hang out around me the whole time.  I didn't end up needing them though, as Sara fully discovered the slide and rarely emerged from the cave for me to actually get pics of her!

I wish the splash pad was closer!  We've gotten word that there's a splash park in Tempe, so I think we will hit that one up in the next week or so.  Love Summer activities!

Warning: Sappy Post

One of my absolute favorite memories of Jared during our dating/friendship years is listening to him sing.  Jared has a beautiful voice (in a very manly way). He has so much natural talent when it comes to music and I fell in love more and more with him every time I heard him sing.  Jared's ability to sing with the spirit and to express his emotions through music is amazing....its no wonder I felt so connected to him every time I listened to a solo in church or at a fireside.  Those are very sweet memories for me, and the mere thought of them makes my heart smile.

Jared is now scheduled to sing in church this Sunday.  We went to my mom's house to run through the song a few times last night.  Needless to say, I was in heaven listening to him practice-just practice!  He wasn't even singing full out and I still was in heaven!!!!  Oh that man.  I love Jared so much-for his voice, and for so much more.  I couldn't ask for a better husband, provider, and best friend.  I am so excited to go to church on Sunday.  :) 

Thanks for enduring my sappy post of the day-can't say I didn't warn you!

JD's Birthday + Peter Piper Pizza!

JD wanted to go to Peter Piper Pizza for his birthday, and given that we wanted a more streamlined birthday this year, we were happy to oblige!  Here's how he felt about it:

 And here's how he felt about the food:

 And the presents......

 And the games.

 Only one consolidated birthday party this year?  No problem!  JD was all over it and we really did have a blast!  Jared's parents and David were able to join us for pizza, presents, cupcakes, and a lot of games.  The kids are always so excited to get tickets, and they truly enjoyed racing around to play as many games as they could.  JD was pretty convinced he could eat 6 pieces of pizza since he was 6 years old....I managed to convince him otherwise!  Sara for some reason got pretty sick after a few bites of pizza, and after laying under the tables with a blanket for an hour, she seemed okay.  Other than that, the party went off without a hitch and JD had a blast!  Here's a pictorial tour through birthday party #6!

JD: My favorite 6 year old!

JD turned 6!

 Ever since then, I have been calling him my favorite 6 year old, and that couldn't be any more true! JD has been making comments in the last few days about all the many things he can now do-now that he is 6, that is.  For example, "Now that I'm 6, I can run really fast."  Or, "6 year olds always get seconds on cereal."  Or, "I just color so good because I am 6."  So cute and wonderful to be 6 apparently!  There are so many things we love about JD, he is such a special young man, and we are so proud of him.  Here's a few things of note for our brand new 6 year old:

1. JD loves to draw and color.  I love this about him because he used to hate it.  The pictures he comes up with are amazing-so much detail, and how he knows to shape things like transformer and dinosaurs is beyond me.  He is the type of artist who colors every inch of space possible.  I love the masterpieces he comes up with!
2. JD has completely blossomed this year in school.  I know I've mentioned this before, but his progress is reflected in his everyday activities.  He'll go over to the whiteboard and randomly start writing math facts on the board.  He loves to write little notes on stickies and post them all over the house.  He reads everything available-he might not be able to read all the big words yet, but he is enthralled with books, especially the idea of reading chapter books.  JD loves to man our swimming minutes board, where he has to add and subtract swimming minutes from kids based on on behavior.  Counting money?  Oh, that's a favorite thing, and he is now saving up for a Ninjago toy (not cheap).  I love how much his 6th year changed him!
3. JD loves legos.  He has always loved blocks and building, and legos are a recent discovery that he has a real knack for.  I hate legos.  I hate how small they are and how easily they get lost!  Thus JD is also learning about responsibility in term of cleaning up his legos when he is done!
4. JD is a great swimmer.  He is very proud of himself right now for swimming to the bottom of our pool and his growing freestyle skills. He plays great games in the water too!  He and I love to talk underwater as well as swim short lap-JD on the surface and me underwater.  We make silly face at each other when we pass.  :)
5. JD is happy.  Always.  He has such exhuberance for life, and he is still the little guy that comes up to me randomly to give me a hug or a kiss on my cheek.  He still comes and snuggles in bed with me.  I love that about JD-and I love that Jordan has learned that from him.  My special guy, still so special.
6. JD's best friend is Jordan.  Oh, if you ask him, he'll tell you its a primary or kindergarten friend.  But really, its Jordan.  Those two do everything together:  play chase, wrestling matches, Harry Potter games with pencil wands, animal fights, races, and anything else that involves games that only boys can think of.  Sometimes that equals trouble, and I am sure I don't even know half of what goes on in their room after I kiss them good night.  But I also find them sleeping together in the same bed many a night, and I see them sitting side by side while watching a movie, or calling each other best friend.  I love their relationship.  Trying, at times, but wonderful nonetheless.

We sure do love JD-he is such a wonderful addition to our family and for sure, the best 6 year old we know!

The End of the Year

Another school year down the tube!  I remember starting this school year with much trepidation-I was halfway through James' pregnancy, sending 2 kids off to school, 1 kid off to preschool, and leaving Jared home with Sara and Jordan.  We weren't sure if I would be returning to work the following year and we were unsure if Jared would have a job that would even allow that...it was an uncertain time, but I was calm because we both felt things would work out.  Now, at the end of the year, I realize that it went by excessively fast.  Here I am with a beautiful baby boy, who has had more medical attention than I could have imagined....I am a stay at home mom once again, and Jared is back in the job force, which provides us the income we need, and the insurance that has been a lifesaver.  The kids-oh, the kids.  They have been troopers this whole year and on top of that-they have excelled at school this year, and we are so proud of them.  Such a life changing year, I can't believe it has already drawn to a close.

Karianna finished 2nd grade with a fantastic report card, as did JD with kindergarten.  They both participated in their grade level musicals and brought home beautiful writing porftolios amongst other crafts and art projects.  Karianna set records for her AR points and JD began taking spelling tests-and he got 100% on all 5 of them.  Karianna started multiplication independently and JD mastered addition and subtraction theory.  They both made great friends, had play dates, attended birthday parties, and brought in treats for their own parties.  Several field trips (expensive ones, annoyingly enough!), principal awards, and movie nights made the year fun and memorable-both kids learned lots of valuable lessons as well.  Overall, this year was a great one and I am so grateful for the atmosphere of education that our kids are immersed in. 

Jordan also had a great year!  He met his first two speech goals, so he will be moving on to more blends next year in terms of goals.  He loves preschool and so do I-I am so happy he will be going back to EMECEC next year. He will switch over to the afternoon class which is more pre-k and he will be going with several of his buddies , which makes him happy.  Jordan's bus driver was sad to hear that since he only drives the morning route.  He would tell me all the time that Jordan was the smartest kid at EMECEC.  I kept trying to tell him that nothing was wrong with Jordan other than a speech delay!  :)  I might have Sara asssessed for speech delays in late July depending how how she progresses this summer, and if she qualifies for an IEP, she would do the morning class at EMECEC.  We'll have to see how that works.

Overall, it has been a great year and there are so many things I am looking forward to in terms of next year.  We have a teacher reuquest in for both older kids and they are excited to receive their summer teacher letters.  I am personally thrilled to be a stay at home mom right now because it means I can go to meet the teacher night, drop the kids off for their first day of school, and take care of all those beginning of the year traditions-I missed that so much the last few years, and while I am glad Jared could have those sweet memories, I am looking forward to the experience once again. 

The end of the year-welcome summer adventures!

Jordan and the Grass

While we were hiking in the woods, Jordan sat down to adjust his shoes.  He was sitting in this lovely patch of tall grass, and I thought I’d get a couple of pictures-which I then tweaked on the computer.  I think Jordan is adorable!

Camping = Freezing?

For Memorial Day weekend we went camping near Clint’s Well with most of my siblings and their families. We have been planning this camping trip for weeks with high expectations…unfortunately, Mother Nature thought it would be super fun to throw another log into the fire, so to speak: it was freezing. I mean freezing. We knew it would be cold, but wow. That was cold. As such, we only ended up staying one night instead of two. It was somewhat sad to change up the plans, but I knew I would not be able to hack another night. I love to camp-I love being in the forest and leaving our normal life behind for a retreat into nature. Corny, I know, but it’s true. In spite of that, I still get very anxious being in the woods overnight-there’s a sense of, “I can’t escape this!” once night falls, and I realize the chances of just packing up and going home are slim. The cold didn’t help those feelings of anxiety, especially when Sara’s fingers felt like ice under her gloves…

The kids did really well despite the cold. They were all warm under their blankets at night and overally slept okay. Jordan woke up a few times because he was itchy, but went right back to sleep. Sara woke up about every hour and a half in a half-asleep-drunk-daze. Each time, she would slither out of her bed, and I would have to leave my warm cocoon to tuck her back in. Of course, James woke up a few times to eat and would need to be tucked back into her warm retreat (ie, his carseat nest). As such, I slept very, very little, and I was freezing cold the entire night given how frequently I had to leave my warm blankets. We had a tent heater, which made the night bearable, but it was a lot to handle, and when the sun finally came up, I was grateful and hopeful it would get warmer. It very much did, and the day was beautiful honestly-perfect weather for hiking, games, good old camping breakfast foods, and lounging about. We just knew another night would be difficult.

So our camping trip came to an end-we were the last to leave the campsite and made it home just as the forest was probably starting to freeze over again…not that we would be there to experience it.  We found ourselves wondering if it was worth it-all that prep, packing, planning ,etc. We found our answer when the kids expressed how much fun they had, how much they enjoyed hanging out with their cousins, and how much they loved everything related to camping….yes, it was worth it, so much so that we will probably do it again, just when it gets a little warming.

Happy trails to you-until we meet again! ( I bet you anything you just sang that….and if you didn’t, you are now considering it.)

JD's Kindergarten Graduation

Okay, so JD actually didn't have a kindergarten graduation-but that's okay, because he got to take some psuedo graduation pictures a few weeks ago and we got them yesterday.  I wasn't expecting to get this lovely portfolio with a certificate and his photo in it-it looks great!  Congratulations JD!  What a great year for you-you started reading well, adding, subtracting, naming 3D objects, writing and spelling wonderfully...and of course, the more important things like swinging, doing the monkey bars, jump roping, and running really fast across the play ground in true ninjago fashion...I think you are ready to tackle the world!  Happy last week of kindergarten-1st grade here we come!