Last Week of School

It's official- school's out for summer! Nolan had a great "last week" full of fun activities- of which I have no pictures. So, I guess you are just going to have to trust me- it was fun! ;) K3 was a great year for us and we are looking forward to a summer of swimming and playing with friends.

My mom came at the end of the week and took Nolan back with her for some Grandma and Grandpa time in Florida. Jerel, Elliott, and I will fly down and get him next week. He is having a grand time...Elliott misses his "Nowen". It is really quiet around here and I am not nearly as exhausted at the end of the day! ;) I will be more than ready to have him back but hope to make the most of this time with E.

First day vs. last day of school.

They did a lot of growing up in 9 months!

I also did the dreaded teachers gifts. I think I start stressing about these in March. What to get these sweet women without spending a fortune? Thankfully, I found these butterfly gardens at Aldi for $3.99. Add some burlap and ribbon and good enough!

Tuesday

today was tuesday...

and we played with play doh...

try not to be too jealous!

3 Months

Bailey turned three months old yesterday. Is it strange that I am giving the same updates on my dog as I did with my children?? Don't worry, I don't have any stats to post! :)

She really is a great dog and fits into our family like she's always been here. She is house trained, sleeps great at night, and walking pretty well on the leash. The only command that she follows is sit. The down side is that she DOES NOT come when we call her- as in completely ignores us, and she jumps up on people. I am determined to train that out of her. Also, the boys can really get her wound up and I have to be so careful with that. You have to be 100% convinced that you want a dog if you are getting a puppy while having small children. A few times I have thought- what the heck have we done??? But those thoughts are usually fleeting and mostly we just love her and love having a dog back in our family.

She has grown a ton. We think she is almost the size now that Rocky was. She is going to be a big girl (thus I am determined to train jumping up on people, especially children, out of her!!).

It's really hard to photograph a puppy- but here is my best effort!

H.O.G

The United Way has put together a very organized community service approach called, Hands On Greenville, to bringing together thousands of volunteers to "beautify" and serve our city. This year our church, and specifically our community group, volunteered at a middle school that wouldn't have the financial means to landscape and plant a outdoor classroom. This the the blurb I copied from their website:


Thank you for making the 2012 Hands On Greenville Day the biggest yet! On Saturday, May 5th, more than 7,000 volunteers completed 283 service projects. That's more than 28,000 hours of service and an economic impact of more than $610,000 for our community in just one day!

I took Nolan while Jerel held down the fort here with Elliott and Bailey.  Nolan was a champion worker and it was fun to be a part of the festivities. 

I have always said that Nolan has a servant's heart and can be a really hard worker. He must have gotten that from his daddy...because I am pretty sure he didn't get that trait from me!! ;)

Curtis's Birthday

I have said before on here that God has blessed us with the most amazing neighbors both at our current house and at our previous house. One of the hardest parts- maybe the only hard part- of leaving our old, cute, OLD, small, poorly insulated, on a crazy busy road, house; was leaving Curtis and Berne. They adopted us, our dog, and our children as their own. We have adopted them right back!!

Last week Curtis turned 84 and the boys, Bailey and I went over to celebrate with him. It was a great morning and hopefully he felt loved!

Happy Cinco de Mayo

From my tres!!

Spring Show

This week Nolan had a Spring art and music show at his preschool. As I was sitting there waiting for the kids to get up on stage I was reminded how much we have loved his school. I picked it on a whim three years ago because I wanted a place for him to go one morning a week for "parents morning out" and it has been such a great fit. He has really thrived in K3, three mornings a week, and next year he will be there four mornings a week. The program goes through K5- so we shall see what we decide about that. Ugh- school decisions can give a girl an ulcer!! ;)

The musical part was really cute and I made sure to 1) have a fully charged battery in my camera, and 2) sit close enough so he could see us and not be so distracted b/c he couldn't find us in the crowd. I am learning!!

This year his school has a full time art teacher that has been wonderful. I am not artsy, and I don't think that Nolan really is either- but I love the exposure that he is getting. Well, I say I am not artsy, as in I don't naturally create art, but I LOVE the arts and hope that my boys develop a love as well. You don't actually have to be talented to appreciate! ;) They kids all worked on a piece of art inspired by Kandinsky that was then framed. They were able to mix the paint and pick the contrasting colors to make the circles "pop". I think he did a great job.

He wrote his name- I think he's getting pretty good!!

And this is his sweet teacher Mrs. Crane. She has been such a blessing to us. She just loves Nolan and he has flourished under her instruction. They have had seven boys and two girls in their class- she is a saint!! ;)