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Saturday, May 24, 2014

sunny days ahead!

I can't believe it is almost the end of the school year!  Time is going so fast!  Bedtimes are getting later and later and we have loved being able to play outside longer, and enjoy the beautiful weather!
Andrew has started T-ball and he is loving it.  It is so nice because my good friend Mandy's husband is the coach and Andrew loves him!  Kerigan loves hanging out with Emily while Grace and Andrew play T-ball!
Andrew is so much better than I remember!  Last time he played T-ball he had no clue what was going on, he'd kick dust clouds in the outfield and would ask every 5 minutes when we could go home!  Ha!  It's amazing what a few more years of maturity can do.  He was hitting so well!  He told me Kenny told him his hit had magic powers!  He was so excited about that!  I'm so happy he found something else he enjoys!
There's an awesome ice cream place in town called Ev's that has been here forever and it's a town staple.  Everyone knows about it and the line backs out to the street on hot days in the summer.  We took the kids for the first time after T-ball one night and it was so exciting to be going out for ice cream and sitting outside in the sun!  We've missed these days!
We got the summer toys out and cleaned up the garage and patio the other day.  The kids have had so much fun playing outside!  They are wanting to stay out until dark, it is so hard to explain that their bedtime is the same, even though it's still light out!  Only a few more days of school and then we can change those schedules!  Can't wait for later nights and lazy mornings!
Such a crew!  And yes, Andrew drives the Cinderella car!  He agreed to let me sell his Gator so he could get a scooter but I think he misses it just a little!  Ha!
This cracked me up.  It's like he picked her up for a little date!
These two are just too cute together.  They love nothing more than playing dress up and babies!  The minute Grace comes over Kerigan says "Grace, let's go to my room!"  And off they go!
Kerigan is so lucky to have such a special "big girl" friend that is so sweet to her and is such a good role model for her to look up to!
So we have a bird infestation.  I hate birds.  I acquired this fear from my mother, who had a bad experience with chickens when she was a young child.  I am not happy they have been building nests under our deck.  Craig has been busy clearing out the nests and trying to block them out with netting and no success.  They keep coming back.  But the kids enjoyed seeing the robin eggs the other night!  I told Craig we are going to have to board off the holes- the nets are just not doing the trick!
Speaking of hating birds... Ha!  Once a month we go with Mandy and the girls to our heart group meetings and we always eat at Chick-fil-a.  It is my absolute favorite place!  The kids eat so well there.

At our last meeting, there was a lady who has trained therapy dogs and she brought one to meet all the kids and to talk to our group about them.  She brings them to the hospital to visit kids.  Let me just tell you, my kids hate dogs.  I know, I know.  But I think it's because we don't have one (I'm not a fan either!)  Lately Andrew has been saying he wants one, but whenever we see one he acts scared of them.  And Kerigan literally screams and runs the other direction.  She wants nothing to do with them.
Enter Sammie.  I had to pick myself up from the floor when I saw this.  During the meeting they were in a different room with other kids and the dog.  The lady said they were pretty stand offish at first, but then wanted a turn to walk her!  She said by the end they were petting her and just loved her! 
This is seriously the most shocking photo to me!  You have no idea.  I needed it for proof that she actually did this!  Sammie was such a sweet dog and so well trained.  I think that's why my kids responded so well to her because she was so calm, didn't jump up on them or bark, etc.  And now they both want a dog!  Ha!

I always try to plan appointments on heart meeting days if I can to limit our trips to Des Moines.  Andrew still sees several specialists that are worth driving for!  His audiologist is one of them.  I realized I never really blog about his hearing stuff so I thought I would document what we do at our appointments!
Andrew's ear mold was tearing, so we had to drive to get fitted for new ones.  They last about a year.  He gets this pink stuff squirted in his ear and it dries/hardens in the shape of his ear.
He is always doing this now whenever I take his picture!

The kids play while they are drying and they both love coming here!  She gave them each some leftover pink stuff and they were obsessed with it!
Then we have to go back a couple weeks later when the molds come in and get his hearing aids reprogrammed.  He sits here and they hook his hearing aid up to a bunch of wires and the computer reads it somehow and programs his aides to the right volume.  Amazing!  He picked Skylander colors this time- lime green, blue and yellow.
One day we went to visit Ga Ga at her school and this mural was on the bulletin board and the kids loved it!  I thought it was so cute so I took their picture by it!
We spent the night at Ga Ga and Papa's new house and the kids love the king size bed!  They were having breakfast in bed!  Ha!
One weekend I was doing something downstairs and I heard them playing so nicely together.  I went up and found them with their new towels and pillows having a slumber party in the hallway!  
I just love their sweet moments when they play so well together!
I just had to share my little Pinterest project.  Kerigan was in desperate need of a bow holder.  I found this giant frame (it's 18X24) already painted on a resale website and it was perfect!  I just got the ribbon and glued it to the back and it works perfectly!
Clearly, my philosophy is that you can never have too many bows!  I realize I have a slight obsession with them, but a girl's gotta have one to match every outfit and season!  Ha!
I cannot get this girl to nap.  She is always so exhausted by 3 or 4 in the afternoon, that she sometimes will just fall asleep anywhere.  Sometimes while sitting up and eating!  Ha!  This day she was playing on my phone and I came around the corner and found this.
This cracked me up.  I had left Craig with the kids to go to a movie with some friends and when I came home, this is what I found.  I guess this is what happens when daddy is in charge!
Don't you love her hand in the snack bowl?  The owl slippers paired with her princess dress were a nice touch.  Ha!
We love Selfies!  Sometimes it's the only way I can get my kids to actually smile because when they see themselves in the phone they laugh!
Andrew had his end of the year Awana ceremony the other night.  He has worked so hard and learned so much in Awana this year.  We are so proud of him!
The best part was he had fun learning about Jesus!
And next year Kerigan gets to join in too because she'll be 3, and that means Wednesday night date nights for mommy and daddy!  Ha!
The other night I was upstairs finishing up the dishes and Andrew yelled up to me from the basement, "Moooooom!  Come down here!  We're doing something really sweet!"  I grabbed my camera before I went down because I had a feeling I was going to love it.  These two melt.my.heart.  They are both so funny, and spunky, and full of personality.  They are so fun to be with and I just love hanging out with them.  

Eight more days of school... and I get them all to myself all summer!  And I can't wait!