Reader's Theater

 The second graders put on a Reader's Theater at the end of the school year.  They each were given parts in a play and the parents were invited to come and see them in their classroom productions.  Enoch was given the part of an old man during the time Susan B. Anthony was fighting for the women's right to vote.  He was, of course, against the vote.  Don't worry, by the end of the play he had changed his mind and thought the amendment was ok.  Hearing Enoch deliver his lines was priceless. He new his part (and everyone else's) perfectly.  He was the only one to hold the microphone properly, so you could clearly hear him, and he was great - no stage fright at all.

 He put on his mustache right before he went on.  I had to remember to bring it.  If you look closely you can see that he drew a little tiny goatee on a piece of scotch tape and stuck it to his chin.

 Phinn may have thought he was in a play too...

 And a close second to the awesome performance from Enoch was everyone taking turns playing with his mustache afterwards.  I am so proud of my boy.  He is growing faster than I would like, but he is an amazing kid.  I can't wait to see how he does in third grade.

New playground!

There is a new frozen custard and steakburger restaurant down the street from Dave's work.  I went to check it out and discovered there was also a totally awesome new park right behind it.  It isn't huge, but it has a soft surface for breaking falls.  It has equipment appropriate for all the kids in our family, which is more and more of a problem for us these days.  And there is a really great all weather soccer field next door so I get to watch soccer games while the kids play in the playground.  Fun for everyone.

Screen porch love

This spring has brought some fantastic screen porch weather.  Most evenings you can find the family hanging out, reading, talking, having a sword fight, or watching a show.  It really is the best room in the whole house.  

Mother's Day

This year marked over 9 years of motherhood for me.  Four kids later you would think that I would feel as though I really know how to be a mom.  I don't.  I get it right some of the time, and screw up a fair bit.  However, my heart is completely full of love for these four kids who have blessed my life.  They make me laugh and cry.  They fill my soul with a deep desire to be better every day.  The give me empathy and they teach me just as much as I teach them.  It is the hardest job in the world, and I am deeply grateful it is mine.

This family wouldn't be possible without the most amazing man in the world, my sweetheart.  I love him more than anything and am glad I get him as my partner in parenting.

Lastly, I sure love my in-laws.  They raised great children of their own and my children are so blessed to live near them.  They love spending time with grandma and grandpa.

Baby Style

Forget Gangnam Style, it is all about baby style over here.  Freya wore this monkey around for a good part of an hour.  She screeched when anyone tried to take it from her.  After that she got down listening to daddy's music.  Maybe there is a DJ job in her future.

Cousin Time!

One thing that is great about being living close to family is being able to celebrate milestones together.  Local cousins are awesome.  It is even sweeter when other cousins are in town visiting.  For our niece's birthday, there were cousins galore.  They ran around, played, laughed, giggled, yelled and just about bursted with happiness.  I loved watching them all in their revelry.

Even though it wasn't Phinn's birthday, he got talked his way into helping open the birthday girl's presents.

I really wish these two lived closer together.  They were born about 6 weeks apart and are two peas in a pod whenever they get a chance to spend time together.  What sweet, sweet girls.

 And these impromptu pictures were so fun.  You can see how much they love each other.

Freya can be pretty shy in large groups, and she doesn't take to everyone.  She loves Uncle Ed though.  He makes her giggle until she is almost in tears.

 I sure love these kids.

Catching Up

Hilde and Enoch are back in school and loving it.  Next week Phineas starts pre-school 3 days a week.  I am starting to settle into our new schedule and I can actually see some rays of light.  There is some blogging time on the horizon.  There is so much to write about, and since this is primarily for me to be able to capture memories, I am going to blog about them.  Follow if you want, or wait until I am caught up to see up-to-date news on our family.  There will be tons of cute pictures, a few snippets of detail, and maybe some things that will make you laugh out loud.  I hope you too are getting back into the swing of things as we start to change seasons.  And I really hope that you get some rays of light pouring into your lives too, you deserve it.