The Graduate

My mom and I were talking about how funny it is that there are so many graduation ceremonies now days- preschool, kindergarten, elemenatary school, middle school, etc. etc. It is funny, but Ian's preschool graduation was a big deal to me. It marks the end of an era for the two of us. His babyhood is over and now he will be a big kid going off to school. Things seem to change once a child hits elementary school. There is a whole new world he will be a part of and I won't know much about it. Will his teacher be nice? How will he do on the school bus? And how will he navigate the cafeteria at school? It is hard to picture that little boy carrying his tray through the lunch line. I will go to Meet your Teacher night and Open House and Parent Teacher Conferences and ask him how his school day was but it is not the same as experiencing everything with him first hand. I have had five years of spending every day with him (save the few hours a week he was in preschool)and knowing everything that he is doing. It is going to be a big change for both of us but I know he will do well.

His graduation was also a big deal because of how much he fought me about going to preschool. But we made it through 10 months of school (9 1/2 months of arguing about him going to school. I am proud of him making it through the year, and also proud of myself for having the patience to deal with all those tough mornings getting him ready against his will. He got an excellent report card and has learned so much this year. He is starting to read a little bit; he can sound out some words like 'cat' and 'dog'.

So, anyway, his graduation ceremony was very nice. He didn't want to go to it (big surprise), but did okay once we got there. He sang several songs with his class and of course walked across the stage to get his diploma. So cute. All his grandparents were there to cheer him on. I am so proud of him and love watching him grow. I can't wait to see what plans God has in store for him.

That answers that question

Me: Ian, you used to be so little! What happened?

Ian: I guess you put my birthday on the schedule too many times.

Mother's Day

This is a little late, but I had to write about the sweet things my kids did for me for Mother's Day. All four kids worked hard to make me beautiful cards. Alexandria and Annika made me breakfast in bed (all by themsleves!) They made pop-tarts, waffles, cereal and fruit. I got some other great presents too. We went to Ethan and Tricia's and their friend was there with a litter of the cutest kittens. And if you can't tell from this blog, I have really been needing something else to feed and clean up after. So after the girls begged and pleaded we agreed to take one home. His name is Sam, and actually he hasn't been much work at all (especially compared to our crazy dog.) Alexandria swore she would feed him and clean his litter box and she has been true to her word. So far the only challenge has been keeping the dog away from Sam and Elizabeth away from Sam (she likes to pull his tail.)

Cousins

We got to spend some time with Ella yesterday and we had so much fun with her. Elizabeth loves Ella and really loves all her belongings. She is always really interested in Ella's diaper bag, bottles , etc. Ella was not having any of sharing her bottle though. Excuse the cheese all over Elizabeth's face.

Ian

This is Ian at church. I told him his shirt was on backwards but he wouldn't believe me. I choose my battles and this one wasn't worth fighting. Plus it will make an excellent photo to show his first girlfirned. Thanks G.Goody for taking it.

A conversation between a boy and a dog

Ian: Max, tell me about what your parents were like.

Max: Woof woof woof.*

Ian: Yeah, that's what I thought.



*translation according to Ian? "Max told me his dad barked all the time and his mom liked to spin around in circles until she got dizzy and fell over."

Update

Wow, I have been horrible at writing lately, haven't I? Really nothing much new is going on. I am still in the process of working on the girls' new room. Someone spilled primer all over the hardwood floor which it turns out is very difficult to remove. I have devoted a portion of each day to sitting on the floor scrape scrape scraping away with a paint scraper. I blame myself because this is the second paint incident that has occurred in that room so it was pretty dumb of me not to lock up the primer. So the girls are still in their old room, Ian is roomless, and his toys are all over the family room because there is no place else to put them.

On top of all that, we had a plumbing problem that has resulted in the bathroom needing a new floor. Ethan has been so gracious in donating his time to ripping out the old floor, re-gluing tiles and preparing to lay the new floor down. We really appreciate him.

Elizabeth has been feeling under the weather, so I took her in to the doctor and discovered she has...a cold. I have not been to the gym in ages because I can't leave her in childcare there with her nose being so yucky.

So that is about all that is happening here. I will update soon with some new pictures.