Goodbye Kindergarten

Ethan had his last day of kindergarten last Thursday, May 27th.  The actual last day of school was May 28th (a half day), but we had to leave town.  He has grown and learned SO much!  I'm so proud of how well he has done.  Every report card that has come home has been excellent.  He loves to read (and can do so quite well).  He loves to practice math and amazes us with how his brain works to quickly add numbers upon numbers together.  He quickly decided that he didn't want to bring his lunch and would only eat hot lunch.  I finally figured out why...most of the girls brought their lunch and he would have had to sit with them instead of the boys- who mostly ate hot lunch.  And only once came home with a behavior report...for writing on a fellow classmates shoe.  I decided that if that was the only trouble he got in, I would be happy ;).

1st Day/Last Day 

Ethan's Last Day!

Nora in PJ's had to get in on some pictures

Can't forget about Atley!

So excited for his last day of school!

Yay!

Memorial Day Weekend

It was a full and busy weekend around here.  And we really didn't leave the house!  I had a work weekend planned and that's what we did!  (We had some fun too!)
We Jared started by pulling out some overgrown, ugly landscaping.  I didn't take a before picture, but there were LOTS of weeds and 3 pretty big lilac bushes.  We replaced it with 1 lilac bush, 3 variegated grasses and (not pictured) 5 creeping phlox (ground cover).  Oh, and lots of mulch!  It looks so much cleaner.

After some demo...

He has too much might!  How does one bend and break a completely steel shovel?!

And the after!!  (Except, I planted some ground cover after this photo was taken)
Hopefully these plants will grow in to fill the space well.

Atley and I spent some time on the blanket "helping"!

We also broke out the power washer.  That thing is addicting!  At the risk of being judged for filthiness...check out these pictures!

Working on some green junk!  And look at the concrete!

We did the siding, concrete patio and the deck!

Sunday, I went to class with Ethan at church.  They invited the mothers to visit during the month of May for Mother's Day.  This was my first opportunity to go.  And it was so fun!

Selfie with my favorite boy!

Moustache man!  We learned about Esther, Mordecai and mean Haman (and mean men have mustaches, right??)

On Monday, we did a little more work and then went to check out a new park in town.  It was the perfect way to end our long weekend!

Smooshy face Nora

Smooshy face Ethan 

Atley loves to swing!

Nora's showing off her pull-up hanging skills!

Taming the dino :)

It was a fast slide!

I may be biased...but she's so cute!!

And here's my biggest kid :)!

I love my family!  And am so thankful for the service men and women- especially my favorite military men, Jim, Dad and Grandpa- who have sacrificed so much for our country and freedom...so we could have this long, work and fun-filled weekend!

Catching Up

Last weekend my sister, Sarah, and her family came for a visit.  Sarah, Patrick and their 3 kids, Lily, Will and Leah, live in Port Angeles, WA, so they don't make it back to visit often.  It has been WAY too long since I've seen them, so I took Ethan out of school for a couple days to hang out with them in Salem.  My brother and his family(who are getting ready to move to California) and Abby and Alex were there too!  It has been about 6 years since all 4 of us have been together.  And the first time all 9 of my parent's grandkids have been together.  Family photos were a given :)!

All 19 of us!

Grandma Terri and Pop with the kids

9 Grandkids
Leah (3), Paige (almost 9), Ethan (almost 6), Josiah (7), Tyler (15), Atley (7 mo), Will (4), Lily (almost 6), Nora (3 1/2)

Jim, Becky, Sarah, Abby

We let our other halves in on the group shot :)

Abby and Jared- waiting patiently for our photo shoot 

 All the kids had so much fun playing together!  And us parents enjoyed catching up.

Cousins helping Atley play ;)

Timm came over for some mule rides!

Ethan, Lily and Jared, playing some baseball

Ethan and Lily (born 5 weeks apart)

Lego fun for Ethan and Will

Don't Wake Daddy with Pop is a fun tradition at Grandma and Pop's house

Always after bath and right before bed :)

Before we came home, we went to Greenville to a local creamery for a tour.  We got to see where they make cheese, check out the cows- including some 1 week old calves, sample some fresh cheese and ice cream!  

Watching a very captivating video on cheese making :)

Checking out the calves

Nora got to give one a bottle!

Atley was excited to be there too!

Working on his cow milking skills

My 3 babes!

Will, Lily, Atley, Leah, Nora, Ethan

Ice cream time!

Ethan the barn and Lily the sun

Nora, Atley, Ethan

It was so great all being together again!  I'm sure it won't be 6 years before this happens again!  Or at least it better not be!!

NLR Roadtrip

Two weeks ago, Abby, my mom, Atley and I headed south to see my grandpa in N. Little Rock.  The trip was very last minute, and quite honestly, a difficult one to take.  My grandpa isn't doing well, so we decided to go visit.  My brother and his family drove in also, which was great.  

3 of the 4 of us in front of their house.

Abby and I!  So many memories made at this house!

My mom stayed to ride home with my dad, so on Saturday it was just Abby, Atley and I.  We decided to make a pit stop at Lambert's on  the way home!  It proved to be a great decision :)!

Love my baby girl!

Atley's 1st Lamberts roll!

We made for a good traveling team!