Grayson and Daddy Birthday

june 7

5 is such a big number - it means I have no more toddlers in my house, no more babies! Grayson always seemed to grow up faster than the others, but this birthday solidifies that! He is my smarty pants, always wanting to help and be with me. He has a unquenchable desire to learn new things and be able to do anything his brother and sister can. He is the sweetest and I am so lucky to be his mom!

I tried an new technique with bday cakes this year and made a goofy cake for Grayson - it turned out great!! Josh got lemon bars and we had a big family party! Chelsey made Grayson an upgraded version of his baby blanket - although he still just loves that monkey blankey!

A lot of growing up happens from 5 - 6....I love you so much Gman!

GOTR 5K

This year Kenna joined a new club called Girls on the Run. It is run by the YMCA and focuses on girl empowerment and goalsetting through running. I could not be more pleased with it! Kenna has found a love of running. It is not without obstacles! The only GOTR meeting place in Ankeny is at Northeast Elementary right after school. It takes me at least 10 minutes to get there from Crocker. So, I meet kenna where the buses pick up and fly there as fast as safely possible! Grayson and I then go home and get Zach who rides home with a friend on T/Th and we go back across town again to pick her up. Not idea, but worth it for her to participate in the program!

We are so lucky to have the support of her teacher Stacey Petersen. She is the teacher that you hope your kids have once in their lifetime. She has challenged and pushed Kenna academically this year and they have a special connection. She lets kenna out of school a few minutes early on running days and is an avid runner herself! I was so thrilled when she agreed to run the 5K with Kenna as her! Every runner needs a running buddy and Kenna was lucky enough to have both her Auntie Em and her favorite teacher! The day before the race she surprised Kenna with a new water bottle and some candy....such a sweet gesture! 

She was so nervous leading up to the 5K. But she ran the WHOLE thing and did it in just over 30 minutes! Great job Ms. Kenna! Mom is so proud of you, you inspire me to want to be a better athlete and actually run!

Mothers Day for Gramma Great

May 15

I made this bouquet of all the great grandkids for Gramma Great today! I think she really liked it :)

Ledges

May 30

Today we ventured to ledges, it was such a beautiful day for a hike! In true daddy fashion we went WAYYYY off trail! Gramma Rue came with and I'm not sure she planned to wade through water and hike up steep muddy terrain - but we all made it out alive! I love that our kids are adventurers!

Future Entrepreneur?

May 18

Grayson narked on his sister. .. It seems kenna is living the American dream. If she remembers to scoop dog poop by Saturday morning she gets $5/week. If we have to remind her she gets $2.50 (with $0.25 subtracted for each one missed. ) Grayson tells me today that she paid him $1 this week to do it for her. .. Do I reward her resourcefulness or scold her for taking advantage. ..hmmmm.

Last Day of Preschool

May 18

Enjoyed Grayson's graduation from preschool! He was sad, but is so so so ready for kindergarden! All summer he would ask if it was time to go to school yet :)

McKenna is 10!

May 11

I thought nothing could be harder than celebrating her 9th birthday. I was fine with turning 9 until my friend reminded me that 9 signified half of her childhood life at home gone....HALF! I am not ready to accept that! And then I blink and she is ten. I could not be more proud of the young lady she has become. More tween than kiddo. She is so organized and unbelieveably thoughtful. She is the kind of kid that they ask to read with kindergartners before school starts and help them with their speach problems. The kind of kid that teachers send an email home about just to let us know how much they love teaching her. The kind of kid that we are told has patience with kids that are struggling learners and how most kids with her level of intellect usually get impatient with. I would not hesitate trusting her with nearly anything. She is disciplined and challenges herself - I'm just so unbelievably proud of the woman she is becoming!

Now - enough gushing! On to her birthday! We had a family gathering on her actual birthday eating almond cherry cupcakes and enjoying dinner together.

For her friend party I did something a little different this year. I let her plan the whole thing! She planned the events, the cake the food the activities, all of it! It was awesome! The girls came over and went on a scavenger hunt, then played outside, then had pizza, cheetos and mint chocolate cake, then decorated their own pillowcases and had a sleepover with movie. My favorite part was her friend Jasmin. She really likes Jasmin - but Jasmin is super quiet. Kenna made sure she felt included and this was the first birthday party she had ever attended! I loved seeing McKenna be such a good friend, and I love all of these silly girls! She has such wonderful friends!

In continuing with the celebration we spent an afternoon with Gona, Tali, Emmi and us painting these pictures - they turned out great!

Gona and Tali weren't so keen on the design ;)

Spring Program

May 6

This program was rather surreal as it was the last one I would attend at CCMS. Every year they do a really cute mother's day program with singing and and activities. This year was slightly different in that we got to bring a guest and actually see what the kids did all day! Grayson showed us all the work he does from arranging objects by weight, to "writing the room" to various math and everyday life activities. He just LOVES school! I was so happy to be able to share it with both my mom and Kathy. 

I love this! If the kids don't put things away then overnight they end up in "the tote" and they have to do jobs to get them back....hilarious! Then they shared with us some of the songs they were learning all "bug" oriented. Grayson was very intense, I just loved the whole thing! He is such a good student and so eager to learn! I hope that never changes!

Sobbing!!!

Tracing

May 5

Lately Grayson has been OBSESSED with tracing everything and coloring the pictures. He will do it in every window in our house, and in the car. He is making pictures for all of his friends at preschool :)

De-Hair the Car

May 3

After having CC at our house for a few weeks, and with her LOVE of vehicles, we accumulated quite the amount of dog hair in the car! Grayson and I spent the morning vacuuming and de-slobbering the car, it feels brand new! I give it a week :)

Beautiful Spring Flowers

April 25

In an attempt to catch up on many months of posts, starting with my beautiful Spring flowers!