Last day of kindergarden...

Yesterday was Logan's last day of kindergarten. (I don't know who was more traumatized by the event, me or him?)

As Logan was eating his breakfast yesterday morning I asked him if he was happy or sad that this was his last day, and he said sad. When I asked him why he said, "I'm going to miss Mrs. Sroufe (his teacher)."...and that was when my tearing up began. I did my best to keep my composure and told him that she was going to miss him too, but that I would be sure to take a picture of him and her so that he could remember her. (As a side note, this was Mrs. Sroufe's last day at Clough because she and her husband are moving to D.C.)

Families were invited to Clough at from 9:00-10:00 for a performance by the kindergartners and refreshments in the classroom afterwards.

The minute the curtain opened for the performance and I saw Logan standing on stage the tears began to well up in my eyes...and when he found me in the audience and waved...I was completely crying. I finally pulled myself together half way through the first song. (In case you have trouble finding him, he's holding the first "A" in banana.)

Then each student was handed the microphone and introduced themselves and said what their favorite part of kindergarten was. (We received a letter earlier in the week telling us that this is what our child would be doing and we were asked to rehearse with them. Each time I went over it with Logan he said that his favorite thing was going to be a surprise.) As he received the mic during the show he clearly said his name and that his favorite thing was "Centers"...not a bad reply. Secretly I was hoping for him to say math or reading...but centers was a good choice:)
After the performance we went back to his room to have punch and cookies. I was able to snap a few pictures of Logan and some of his new friends from the year.

Logan and Matthew

Logan and Grant

As the party was about to end we made our way to Mrs. Sroufe for a picture. During this time I thanked her for all that she did this year with Logan and his class. She told me that Logan was a fantastic student and a role model. Also, she said that he is well prepared for 1st grade...and as you might have already guessed, I began to cry.

Me, Logan and Mrs. Scroufe

I am so proud of all that Logan has accomplished this year. He learned to read, write, add, subtract, count money, problem solve...I could go on and on. He has made some wonderful friends...and he is always eager to come home and share all of this with his family. Mrs. Sroufe is a wonderful teacher!...I can't say enough about her. She has given Logan an excellent start to his education...she's going to be a tough act to follow. Although I'm sad for Logan to leave Clough and his friends...I am excited for the new adventures he will encounter next year in first grade at St. Thomas More.

Well, that's all for now...

Last day of preschool...

Tuesday was Frank and Claire's last day of preschool. The year ended with a picnic/ice cream social on the playground with all the kids and their teachers. It was a nice way to end a great year! Although both Frank and Claire said they would miss their teachers, since we'll be returning to the same preschool next year I assured them that they would see them again.

Clarie and Mrs. Brennan

Claire and Mrs. Fries

Frank and Mrs. Beck

Frank and Mrs. Lees

As a small gift for the teachers at the end of the year, to say thank you for all that they have done, I decided to make them a set of 6 cards that had simple messages that could be sent out for any occasion. I kept the design for each card the same and changed the colors of the paper, ribbon, and ink. This made it easier since I needed to produce 24 cards and made the decision to do this Monday morning.

Well, that's all for now...

I'm a gardner now...

Well, buy me a big floppy straw hat and some denim overalls (maternity of course)...I'm a gardener now! My Mother's Day gift is finally complete...(Thanks to Jeff and Frank! Frank totally enjoyed helping his dad dig up the grass and rocks and pitch them over the fence. Frank was out there with Jeff the entire time being a big help!) I now have two 4'x8' garden boxes where I have planted strawberries, zucchinis, tomatoes, and red bell peppers. And...

some of strawberry plants are already producing! Sure some of them had little blooms on them when I bought them at the store...but hey, they've been in my care for one week and they continued to thrive!

Claire and I picked two of the ripest strawberries yesterday...and they were the best strawberries I've ever tasted!...and I'm not just saying that because they came from my garden...hahaha!
The boys are excited because we saw a few other strawberries that will be ripe enough this week to pick and they can't wait to taste them! I'll keep you posted as more things (hopefully) come up.

One more thing...I'm looking for someone who does hand painted (wooden) signs. Specifically, I'm interested in putting a few small signs in my garden posting what I have growing. I made an attempt to do this myself...but wasn't happy with the result. If anyone knows someone who does this sort of thing...please let me know.

That's all for now...

The zoo...

Preparing for an outing with the kids can (at times) be mentally and physically exhausting. When all the plans are thought through sometimes it just seems like too much for my energy level at the time and the plans are squashed for something more low key.

Yesterday Logan was going to a friend's house after school, so I didn't have to rush home to meet his bus at 11:30...meaning my morning with the other kids was free...so, we went to the zoo!

This time as I prepared for the outing, I let myself think less about the entire trip and just went with what was happening in the moment...and we had a great time!

Although the parking lot wasn't full the zoo was filled with many school groups on field trips. Regardless...the kids did great! We walked almost the entire zoo! If you have the chance to go soon, definitely hit the jungle trail near the polar bears. There are several monkeys back in that area that just had babies. Also, one (maybe even two) of the gorillas just had a baby as well. Sooo cute!

Well, that's all for now...

Try, try again...

So, I've submitted another card to be considered for publication. I submitted this card to 3 different magazines in hopes that one might like it. (Many magazines are having calls now for the fall holidays...hence the Halloween themed card.)

Is it bad to say that I really liked how this card turned out??? With that said, I was really hoping that someone from one of the magazines would think the same and want to put it on the cover of their magazine...haha...or just on a page...heck, I'd take a small in lay on a page for that matter. Anyway, I haven't heard anything yet. Several of the deadlines were a week ago soooo, I'm thinking it's a no. Although I'm not down and out yet (I will keep submitting until they publish something of mine...I'll wear them down with my cards and layouts...lol) I'm just curious what they are looking for? So, I am asking those of you that read my blog for some constructive criticism. Is there anything you would add?, delete?, too simple?, too complicated? I would love to hear what people think.

On a positive note...I went to a friends baby shower this weekend and I made the card for the gift...and part of her gift was a pack of 6 baby themed cards for her to use as possible thank you notes. Several of the people at the party really liked the cards and one woman gave me the name of a boutique that loves to sell handmade things...she said my cards would be exactly what the owner is looking for. The compliments were nice and I am excited to talk to the boutique owner...we'll see.

Well, that's all for now...

Happy Mother's Day...

I hope everyone had a Happy Mother's Day! Although I've been a mom for 6 years, it's still hard for me to believe that I'm being celebrated on this day. My husband and the kids did a great job of making the day special for me.

Jeff and I started this tradition where a gift (for any occasion) from the kids is a funny t-shirt. This was my Mother's Day t-shirt. I should have stood sideways so you could see the baby bump coming out of Cookie Monsters mouth. I got a lot of comments from neighbors and strangers...if you can imagine. The kids laughed when I made the shirt talk...so wearing a goofy shirt for a day was well worth it.

My other gift was garden boxes. Jeff built two garden boxes for me yesterday and I am going to attempt to grow my own strawberries, tomatoes, cucumber and maybe peppers. I know...very ambitious for my first try at growing anything...but I thought the more I have going on the more likely that at least one thing will produce something. As the boxes get filled with dirt and plants I will be sure to share those pictures.

Although I didn't see my Mom on Mother's Day I will be seeing her today to give her her gift. I made her an 8x8 scrapbook album of our family's 2009 year in review. I keep my Mom very involved in my life...but I thought giving her something that documented all of the occasions might be nice. Plus, I made her an album a couple of years ago and I think she secretly has been wanting another one since.

Her are some of the pages that I made for the album.

Well, that's all for now...again, I hope everyone had a great day...and has a great week!

Play ball...

Logan and Frank are playing t-ball this spring for Tealtown. We were lucky to get them on the same team (meaning only one practice and one game per week...probably the only season in their entire lives when this will happen). They had their first game this past Friday night. As they were getting ready for their game, they were super excited to put on their full uniforms. When they came down all dressed...I couldn't help but to tear up. They are getting so big!
Before the game began they took part in the "Opening Day" parade. Each team walked through the baseball fields together and then were announced. As you can see...they enjoyed the parade.

For the game each team took two turns at bat and two turns in the outfield. The coach will first pitch 5 balls to the batters and if they can't hit any of those 5 balls the coach then tees the ball up for the batter to hit. Logan and Frank both managed to hit the ball off of the coach's pitch their first time, but the second time they had to tee the ball up. Regardless, you could see how proud of themselves they were as they ran around all of the bases and came home. They did awesome!

(Logan at bat)

(Frank at bat)

Their time in outfield was a little humorous to watch. It was like watching a swarm of bees descend upon honey. Wherever the ball was hit, most of the team took off running towards it in hopes to be the winner of retrieving the ball. It eventually turned into tackle baseball. (I'm thinking the coach might have some sort of drill to correct this at their next practice:)

Overall, the boys walked away from their first game saying that they had a good time...mission accomplished!