school's ALMOST out for summer!

*I'm behind again, catching up- this is from May...

Why does May feel like the busiest time of year??  I feel like if we can just get through May, we can enjoy summer and not be so rushed and swamped with activities!  It's all fun stuff... but our calendar has been full!

The kids have each had lots of school events to attend.  Mine and Andrew's school had field day the other day.  I was so excited because the 3rd and 4th grades had it together so I got to see Andrew!  I was busy taking video and didn't get many pictures!  But this was Tug-of-War, which is one of Andrew's favorite things!

The biggest news is that Andrew won FIRST PLACE for one of his events!  This is Mr. Cutright, his fun P.E. teacher.  Andrew just loves P.E.  He is such a fast runner so he picked 2 running events this year.  I think maybe track and field could be his niche??  The words "heart defect" don't even phase him!  Nothing stops this kid!

Daddy brought my girl to school to watch part of it and she came in my classroom and my students loved it!

They were teaching her all about using their chrome books!  Ha!

I found this on my desk the other day.  Loved it!  I'm going to miss these 4th graders!  I just wish we had lasted one more year so Andrew and I could have been in 4th grade together!  

Our school also had a family picnic another day and Andrew loved eating with daddy, mom, and all his friends outside!  We had just enough time to eat and play before a predicted rain storm came through later than expected!  So it worked out perfectly!

Andrew has had the best teachers the past 3 years we've been in this town.  This is Mrs. Pfantz.  She is due any day with her first baby!  We are so excited for her!  She has been such a blessing for Andrew- this is her first year of teaching and she's young, enthusiastic, and loves teaching.  You can't ask for more!

Then my girl had fun fest at her school right after Andrew's field day!  They had bounce houses and all kinds of fun, games and friends!

The kids all had so much fun playing together!  These are two of Kerigan's best friends, Sophie and Gianna.

Sweet Olivia- these two were also in dance together and are such good friends!

This was kind of a creepy Pooh and Tigger- ha!  But she loved them!

Lily and G!  We've been so blessed Kerigan has made the best of friends here.  We hope she is as lucky when we move to our new town!

She was so excited to do this bungee cord challenge!

They have to run and then the cord pulls them back.  She thought it was hilarious!  We ended the night playing with friends at the park until after 9pm!  Is it summer yet??

My girl had to fill this out for her teacher for Teacher Appreciation week at the beginning of the month.  I seriously could not believe what a good job she did.  She had help spelling.  But that's it.  How is my baby writing this well and ready for Kindergarten next year??

She was so excited since she has a summer birthday she got to bring treats for her class to celebrate before the end of the year.  She picked May baskets!  She wanted to draw pictures and write each child's name on them.  She remembered every single person's name in her class, it was so sweet.

Taking a kitty break!

The last couple week at Ashley's have been lots of fun!  They took a field trip to Reiman Gardens and my mom got to join them since she lives in town!

Kerigan was so excited to have her Ga Ga and her best friends with her!  Ashley said that seeing Ga Ga there was all she talked about in the car the whole way there!

Annika and Lily!

My mom said they had a neat Lego exhibit of different animals.  The dragonfly and peacock are made completely of legos!  So cool!

They had this neat outdoor structure the kids could play on.

These girls are just the sweetest!

That almost catches me up to summer!

life lately

I have posted this on Facebook and sort of forgot to post it here... but this is pretty much our life lately.  You know, besides dance recital, baseball, getting ready for tumbling nationals, finishing up school, etc...

We decided to throw a move into the mix.

We've loved our little town, we really have.  And I love our house.  With all my heart.  We've made some of the best friendships I could have ever imagined.  And we are going to miss living here.  But Craig got an opportunity he couldn't pass up.  And it's time to move on.  I'm sure I'll have more to say on this topic later.  For now, our heads are spinning with house showings, trying to keep things clean while finishing up school.  Why does May always seem like the busiest time of year?  Ask me again in December, but man, this time of year is overwhelming.

This was us on the weekend before Craig's interview.  He showed me the school and athletic facilities of where he would be interviewing (we were already familiar with the town).  We had dinner and drove around looking at homes.  It was a beautiful evening.  We knew this would be a tough decision.

But hey, this boosts it up a bit!  Seriously?  A Mac n Cheese bar in a grocery store?  #yesplease.  Oh, and there's also a Target.  So that's a plus. 

In the long run we both feel this is the best move for our family.  It still hasn't quite sunk in for me.... so for now we just keep enjoying our friends and wrapping up the school year.

Ashley took these sweet friends to watch the big girls in their dance studio perform their competition dances.

They had so much fun and went out for ice cream after.  I think of all of us, this move will be hardest on Kerigan.  She has the sweetest friends (and I will miss their mamas so much!)  We are only going to be about an hour and a half away, so we will keep in touch!

The other night Andrew watched a movie that scared him and wouldn't sleep in his own bed.  So we let him come to the couch until we were ready to go to bed.  Look who crawled up and went to sleep with him?  I loved this so much.

The day after we listed our house we had 4 showings set up.  And we were not prepared.  We needed to call in reinforcements so Craig's brother's family came to help us move some big pieces into a storage unit.  And Jayden got to spend the night.  These boys are going to be a little farther away from each other also, but I promised them the miles will not change a thing.  

They are so blessed to be cousins and best friends.  That's a strong family bond right there that can't be broken.

We've been taking advantage of this gorgeous weather and having lots of BBQ's with our friends!

This kid.  Cracks.me.up.

I was dying laughing at Angie the other night we had them over for dinner and she had to put her sunglasses on because the sun was shining in her face through the window! #windowproblems

Kerigan got to feed this guy.  And she informed me that she would make a great big sister.  Yes you would, sweetie.  #notgonnahappen

So she'll have to settle for her Bitty Baby if Parker's not around.

For Mother's Day this year the kids and daddy woke up and made pancakes!  A first for Craig!  Ha!  It was so nice to be waited on!

I could get used to this scene!

My mom and Jim came and we celebrated with brunch at the Tremont, a fancy restaurant in town!

It was delicious!  These kids love their Ga Ga!

It was a beautiful day so we took some pictures on the deck!

I love these two babies who made me a mommy!

And we are so blessed to have this special lady in our lives!  She's one in a million!

Mother's Day evening we wrapped up the day with a little bike ride in the neighborhood.  In our boots.  Ha!  This girl is now using her new big girl bike that was her cousin Evie's.  I offered to buy her a new princess bike because we had to sell her old one (it was way too small) and she wanted to use Evie's.  So sweet!

I have no words.  I told him to make a princess face and this is what he did!  This kid!

I just love gorgeous evenings outside with my family!  

It was the perfect way to end Mother's Day.  My kids getting along and playing together while daddy and I visited on the deck.  #heaven

Mother's Day weekend our hubbys all sent us out to see the movie Mother's Day!  We LOVED it!  It was so funny and such good girl time!

In honor of Mother's Day... I posted this on Facebook for my mama!  Love her more than words!

Andrew had his music concert at school.  He's in the front on the left in the stripes.  My students also performed so I got to go to practice with them and watch him twice.  I love being at his school so much... that's another thing I'm going to miss.

Intently playing his instrument

Andrew has had the best school experience here and has learned so much.  We've been so lucky.  I mean, what's more fun than a music teacher with purple hair? #hesawesome #kidslovehim

They had baseball pictures the other day and his coach texted this picture.  I loved how Andrew was standing there so tall and smiling so big!  Love him. (Top left)

Kerigan went to church with friends the other day so we could stay home and get ready for a showing.  She was so excited.  Apparently her latest "no ruffle" rule doesn't apply to this outfit.  She wants to wear it ALL the time.  #diva

And bless our friends' hearts for taking her for us so we can keep the house in some sort of order!  You can see what happens when she's home!  Ha!  Our neighbors have taken her several times, as well as other friends and family.  She's at a really busy age right now!

Lately they discovered that their favorite place for a sleepover is now in Andrew's loft bed.  Kerigan can get in and out by herself and I think she feels like a big girl.  So they beg to do this every night and Andrew reads to her.

They are just precious and I hope the sweetness lasts into the summer!  I'm working on chore charts and "getting along" charts so I don't lose my mind!  Ha!

Bring on summer!