Finishing Up With a Bang!

The last few weeks of Kindergarten have been so much fun! The whole year has been fun, but this just puts a cherry on top :)

First, there was Field Day.

If you know Luke, you know how much he likes PE, well Field Day is like PE all day long! Seriously! He had a blast.

 Luke & Luke

 I was able to join him for "Jammin in the Gym" which was so much fun. We got to dance together and see some of the songs they have learned this year.

 Luke had such good moves, that he was asked to go on stage! He froze when he was in the spotlight though...Oh well. Singing is not necessarily his strength.

They also had a picnic, tug of war, movie time, and free play outside. What a fun day that was!

Then, they had Pajama Day. 

The students had reached their goal of 18,000 AR points and got to celebrate by wearing PJs to school. This was Luke getting on the bus in his pajamas which he thought was the COOLEST!

Kindergarten Award Ceremony

Each student was introduced and given different awards. As they were introduced, the teacher read out loud  what they wanted to be when they grow up. Of course, Luke wants to be a football player :)

Looking over his award.

The whole class with Mrs. Soders

At the end of the ceremony, the teachers had made a slide show for the kids filled with pictures that were taken throughout the year. When the slide show was over, this popped up on the screen! I was a wreck...

A few photos with his buds and that was the end of that! (also, notice...it was free dress code day)

Sweet Mrs. Soders. We will never forget her. Later that afternoon would be the year end party. Pics to come...

Last Day of Preschool

The last day of the year at In His Steps is always Splash Day! Brady was up early and ready to head out the door!

 They had some really awesome inflatables for the kids to play on before they had their party.

 Brady & Patrick have become great friends this year.

 After the water fun, they enjoyed popsicles.

 I had lots of fun watching Brady & his friends have a blast together.

 Back in the classroom, Mrs. Symms had planned a Pirate & Princess party for the kids complete with balloons hanging from the ceiling. She is so cool!

 Brady decorated a pirate sword & hat with jewels.

By that time, it was time for me to hop over to Owen's party. I got there just in time for their lunch. What a sweet little group of kids! I love going into their class. All of the babies are learning to talk now and they are adorable and so friendly to each other.

 Owen with his friend Tyler & Connor in the background.

 Ms. Gemma & Ms. Breanne. By now, Owen was past tired and ready to take a nap!

Back to Brady's class to finish up some Pirate fun!

 Tattoos, Cookies, Cupcakes! What more could a kid ask for!

One last hug goodbye from Mrs. Symms and we closed the chapter on Brady's PreK 3 year & Owen's first year of Mother's Day Out.

Thank you so much to their teachers who did an amazing job with them all year. It's always sad for me to say goodbye to wonderful teachers who love my babies so much.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was a little different than normal this year because we were driving back from EE's graduation in Oklahoma that day. We had a wonderful visit with our family and were very proud of EE.

The boys all made me a Mother's Day gift at school. Luke made me a coupon book. Brady made me a vase with flowers and Owen made me a picture frame. As always, I LOVE the things they make.

I didn't get to spend much time with my mom on Mother's Day, but we ate breakfast in Oklahoma with Yaya which was very nice.

Coming to an End

I have noticed lately how much Owen has grown. Not that long ago Owen would cry every time I dropped him off with his teachers. Now, he wants to WALK (not be carried) into his class with his backpack on. He doesn't even really tell me bye anymore. It's bittersweet.

Brady now has lots of friends of his own and he even gets invited to birthday parties of his own friends that he has made in class.

Today was their last School Spirit Day of the year and we took our traditional picture on the stairs. As you can see, Brady thinks "O-dig" is pretty cool.

P.S. "O-Dig" is Brady's nickname for "O-Dawg" which is the nickname we gave him. It's a long story...

Getting to Know You

Now that we have had Bruiser for a few days we are really starting to learn about him. As you can see, Luke is getting more brave and held him today! He did get a little nervous and dropped him though (yikes), but Bruiser recovered well.

We like to take him in the backyard in the afternoons and let him roam around and get some freedom. I think he likes it too :) 

and the boys can see him a little closer when he's out and about.

It occurred to me today that I need to do a little check to see if it is safe for him to be out of water for long periods of time since he is technically an aquatic turtle. (oops)

 
He sure it friendly though- he's starting to grow on us!

An End To A Great Season

Last Saturday Luke had his last soccer game of the season. He is signed up for flag football in the fall, so we aren't sure if or when he will be returning to soccer. It has been a great sport for him to start with and we have met some really cool friends as well.

Here are some pics from his game on Saturday.

What a fun season!

We've Expanded Our Family

Meet Bruiser Griffin Allen!

How did he get such a name? Well, if you know anything about my boys you know that they love the Baylor Bears, right? Well, Bruiser is the Baylor mascot and Griffin is after RGIII who was our awesome quarterback. Brady wanted to name him "Gwiffin" and Luke wanted to name him Bruiser so we compromised and went with a first, middle, and last name.

I have been thinking a turtle would be a good pet for our family and had been looking into different types of turtles and their care. My cousin Courtney had a friend who was giving their turtle away so she hooked us up! truth be told, Bruiser is actually a girl- but that is on the big time DL! The boys are all into the whole "girls are gross" thing right now, so we will just tiptoe around that topic.

After we got Bruiser, I found out that he has an abscess in his left ear- random, I know. So, I am not really sure how long he can go on with such an illness. He seems fine now though so we are just gonna do our best to care for him as is.

All three boys love him! Luke feeds him in the morning & Brady feeds him at night. He is super friendly and loves to get out of his tank and walk around the backyard. We are looking into new ways to enhance his habitat which is really cool. Once we get him all set up, I will take more pics.

"MO"

O-Dawg loves him some good corn on the cob :)

He is starting to talk a little more these days, so when he finished his corn he said "Mo" (translation = more)

Awanas 2012

This semester we enrolled Luke into an Awana Program at a local church near our house. I had always heard good things about this program, but didn't have any first hand knowledge. I am now a firm believer in this program for kids. It is a Bible based program which kinda functions like a Cub/Girl Scouts. Luke has learned SO much from scripture memorization to Bible facts. The cool thing is that Brady has learned through Luke even though he doesn't attend. (I love how that works)

Last Wednesday they had closing ceremonies to reward the kids for their hard work all year. Along with the ribbon he got tonight, he has also earned several merit awards for his vest.

I am so thankful to Fellowship Bible Church for opening their doors for kids all over to join this program. What an awesome way to partner with parents in providing a firm foundation for our children.

And it's gone...

The day finally came and I didn't even get to see it all happen. Luke's tooth had been loose for a little over a week and last I checked it seemed to be hanging in there pretty good. He went off to his normal Friday night at Grammy & Papa's house and about 8:00pm I got the call.

"Mom, I pulled my tooth out!" I was happy, but sad I wasn't there to see it all happen. I know, I am really weird about stuff like that.

Although from the picture it seems like this would be his third lost tooth, this is only his first. The one on top was knocked out at school with he was only 18 months old. The other gap on the bottom left is nothing more than just that- a gap. The bottom right is the tooth he lost tonight.

He did say he was gonna wait to put it under his pillow until he gets home tomorrow which made for one really happy Tooth Fairy :)

Mrs. Soder's Kindergarten Class

Luke's class picture came in last week! It was free dress code day that day, which made things a little more exciting! Looking back, I wish I would have put Luke in stripes or something. Instead I went for something plain :(

Anyway, here's his sweet kindergarten class! They truly are like a little family. I hear everything that is going on in everyone's world, even when the teacher's son is sick, or has a birthday, or reached a milestone at home. I am so thankful to Mrs. Soders for creating such an environment at school. I think it really helps! She has been an awesome nurturing teacher and Luke has learned so much from her. He still thinks she is one of the most beautiful people he knows- I love that.

Yep, I am gonna be really really sad when this year is over and I don't want to talk about it right now ;)