Hello Summer

So here we are.  The end of the school year.
I feel a lot excited.  And a little nervous.
I love the freedom of summer - to go where we please, when we please. 
To spend long days outside....or in the air conditioning if it's 100 degrees. 
To visit the beach. 
To swim in the pool. 
To go on adventures.
But it also means that almost every single time I go to the grocery store (or Target or ANY kind of errand), I bring 3 children along with me.
Have you ever grocery shopped with 3 kids?  (I know, many of you have....)
But in case you're wondering it involves 3 kids talking at once (each louder than the other) and asking "can we buy Lucky Charms/sour patch kids/popsicles/etc?" and running in aisles and hiding behind displays and wanting to help bag groceries and generally making my head spin. :)
I also have 3 kids of different age groups and maturity levels.  Different genders.  Which means one kid is begging to go to the mall (guess who?) and one kid is hating the mall (guess who?), and one just needs to get home for a nap (and again, guess who?)! 
However, we all enjoy the pool, and friends, and Dunkin Donuts, so I think it'll all work out in the end. :)
And luckily, I love them all to death, so even their frustrating points are bearable for me.

So, this past week involved lots of transitions. 
First off, Carter finished kindergarten!  They had a program and sang some songs for us parents.

Then the teachers handed out "diplomas".  This was after 30 + minutes of standing up and singing and the room was very hot and so Carter looks absolutely less than thrilled to be marking this milestone. :)

A few days later was the actual last day of school.  In the morning we took Audrey to the bus stop one last time as a 3rd grader.

The "bus stop girlz"
(This is probably how they would spell it since they are all so "cool" and all.)

Carter's went to school a couple hours later.  He posed nicely for this one picture with his friend Rebecca and then completely refused to even look at the camera.  In fact, he was running away from me.  I guess he is not into the Mom paparazzi.

Here is his back side view with his friend Melwyn.  It's the best I could do. :(

See?  I even tried to trick him into a picture with me but he moved at the last second.  Grrr.

Carter coming off the bus.  He is now a 1st grader.  Hard to believe!

Audrey coming off the bus.  She is now a 4th grader!  Equally hard to believe.

Every year we have a big picnic/play time with our neighbors on the last day of school.  

One mom set up a volleyball net.  Why do they all look like junior highers all of a sudden??

Another mom set up the water slide!  Always a big hit. This was Chloe's first time to try it!

 

 

The kids also decided to make a towel fort in the swingset.

At one point, I was talking and turned around and saw Chloe swinging all by herself.  I guess someone gave her a push, and she kept pumping.  Yay!  Now I don't have to stand there and push her the whole time!

 

Of course popsicles made an appearance.

So, after this last day of school, the temperatures have been in the high 70's and today it is raining cats & dogs.  Good thing we have this list to keep us occupied!

 

So far today it has been so yucky out that all we've managed to do is visit Target, play computer games, watch a movie, and play legos.....ugh.  Sure hope it gets nicer out soon!

Catching up....Chloe finishes school & the Dogwood Festival

This time of year has suddenly jumped into fast forward!  School is winding down so quickly that I can hardly keep up with all the activity!

In the middle of May, Chloe finished up preschool  for the year.  Unfortunately, she was sick for most of the last week and missed out on her spring concert.  (Actually, she probably doesn't care too much that she missed it but I sure was sad!)  Fortunately she made it for the very last day of school/school picnic.  They celebrated summer birthdays so she got a special crown, cupcakes, and a birthday balloon that day.  She was very excited.

Next year she will be in preschool 4 mornings a week.  Audrey & Carter will be in elementary school.....so guess what that means?  3 hours of time all to myself, 4 days a week.  Boy will that be weird.  They sure are growing up.  I still can't believe that Chloe will be 4 in about 6 weeks!

Mid-May in Phoenixville also means....the Dogwood Festival and Parade!
Chad took Audrey & Carter on wristband night the first day of the fair.  They had a super time riding all the rides over and over again with their friends.  We brought Chloe on Saturday when she was finally well enough to ride and enjoy herself.  And enjoy herself, she did!

Here we are on the teacups

And on the flying puppy ride.  Boy was it nice to see her smiling again!  It had been a rough week!

 Trying to decide if she wanted to go on this ride....

 We also enjoy the parade every year with our neighbors

Chloe & Mommy waiting for the parade to start.

The kids anxiously awaiting floats that throw candy....

Only in Phoenixville do you have a float that includes "the blob"....

Oh, and a really loud steam calliope...

I tried to get a cute picture of Chloe with Chad.  And this is all I got...

Okay, think I'm all caught up for now. :) 

Carter's writing

Now that the school year is winding down, the kids are coming home with some of their school materials.
This week Carter brought home his writing journal.
Some of the entries were ho-hum ("I am Carter.") and some were repetitive ("I have a cat. She is cute.  I love my cat.")

However, some were super sweet, like this entry:

This one revealed an area that perhaps we should work on?

MLK wants peace and harmony, and Carter wants....to be rich?  Not that money is bad, but....there are plenty of things I would like him to strive for more!

I thought this one was funny:

Mrs. Evan will be glad to know that not only is she nice, but she is also "thin". :)

I actually think his teacher would like this one even more:

I am so glad he thinks his teacher is the best teacher in the whole world.  Even if he has only had 3 teachers in his lifetime.... He truly did have a wonderful teacher this year.  She is fun and loving and understands boys.  She even came to one of Carter's baseball games!  We are glad he has had a good year and a good teacher.

Tomorrow he and his classmates make a trip to the elementary school to see what the next year holds for them.  I so cannot believe that my little boy will be in elementary school already!

Spring happenings

Just wanted to record some of the things going on in our home lately.....

A friend at church gave Carter an unused science kit they had.  He & Chad (& Audrey too) have had fun doing experiments!

I love that he was recording his observations in a little notebook!   Chad is teaching him well. :)

Chloe has had some fun play dates with friends.  I think one of the reasons she loves to play with Evie is because - for once - Chloe is the "big kid." 

And here she is playing with her best buddy from preschool, Fiona.  They had such a great time together!

We went to the Phillies game in late April and man, it was COLD!

We had to snuggle to stay warm!

This spring, Chloe has spent many hours playing out in the backyard.  She pretends this climber is her "car."  She also spends a lot of time in the play house, the sand box, etc.....Sometimes even dressed as a princess!

Carter started coach-pitch baseball this year.  He gets to bat without the tee this year! 

Audrey was in a local spelling bee a few weeks ago.  She did not win, but she did a GREAT job!! I was so proud of her!

To celebrate Audrey's spelling bee participation, we all went out for ice cream!  Cheers!

In late April, I went on the zoo field trip with Carter's school.  It was really fun even if it was a little stressful to try to not lose 3 busy boys!  (And I never realized how tall Carter was until he was standing next to these 2 friends!) 

While I went on the field trip, Mom-mom came and spent the day with Chloe.  They had fun coloring and making play-doh creations together!

On a warm day Audrey opened a lemonade stand.  Always the entrepreneur, she charged 25 cents per cup.  She even charged her siblings, although I did talk her into a "family discount" of buy one, get one free. :)
Some day she will have enough for that Kindle Fire she's saving for ....

My 3 little loves. :)

Happy Spring!!

I finally completed a pinterest project.....

I am someone of grand intentions and sometimes not-so-great follow-through.

{Please tell me I am not the only one with a storage room full of supplies and half-completed projects???}

I have had a variety of conversations with Chad that go something like this:
C (standing in our storage/laundry room):  "What IS this stuff here in this plastic bag?"
Me:  "Oh yeah, I bought that at Michael's so I could make this, um, thing that I saw, well, yeah, it never got made, here I'll just put it over here"  (in the Island of Misfit Projects....) 

So I am proud of myself because I finally finished a pinterest project and even hung it up.....after weeks of working on it!  I like how it turned out, but I feel like it needs a little something to make it pop.  What do you think?

I love that it has my Chloe's hand and foot prints, and I also love the message!

Now off to find another half done project to complete.  Or perhaps I should just deal with the dishes for now? :) 

In case you were wondering whether Carter's love for planets has waned....

.... I went to use my camera the other day, and this is what I found:

And yes, the pictures were taken in exactly this order.....

 

Yup, that's my boy. :)