Vacation Part 1

 We went on a short vacation a couple of weekends ago up to Virginia! Jacob and Allison live up there with their two little ones Olivia and Reed. We drove up on Friday and drove back down on Sunday. I'm not going to lie, it made for a super long weekend, but a super fun one too. Jacob graduated from a Masters Program at George Mason and so Matthew's parent's were visiting the same time we were. It was so much fun to see everyone.

On Saturday, we walked around Washington DC. I have too many pictures of the places we went, so I'm doing them in installments. We saw the Washington Monument first thing.

 Since the earthquake last year damaged the monument, no one is allowed inside anymore. They're actually not sure if it will ever be sturdy enough to have tourists go up to the top.

 Lily, Olivia, William.

I will tell you now, there is nothing like seeing memorials for our founding fathers or for soldiers who have served our country and died for out country.

Next: World War II Memorial.

What I Did Instead

 I was being scolded on Sunday by a woman I visit teach that I haven't gotten to visit her yet this month. As I am the Visiting Teaching Coordinator, I need to set the example and do my Visiting Teaching in order for the Relief Society to follow. (Her words, not mine.) I nicely told her that this month has been busy. I had a birthday, William has a lot going on at school and then the end of school, and our trip to Virginia. Not to mention, I've been working on projects to take to Virginia for the little ones. I got some of it done before May, but the majority of these things, I procrastinated until a week or two before we were leaving. And because of this reason, I've put my Visiting Teaching off until today.

Matthew's brother, DJ and his wife, Laura, are having twin girls! I had a dream last night actually that they already had them and didn't tell us and I was sad. They are not in Virginia, but Matthew's parents visited Jacob and Allison the same time we did, so I asked if they would take the bibs back to Utah for DJ and Laura.  Anyway, I made them the bibs in the picture above. I found the pattern on Pinterest and also the idea to put "Buy One" and "Get One Free" on them from Pinterest too.

Actually all of these ideas came from Pinterest and you can find them on my Pinterest Boards. If you don't follow me on there, you can click on the left side of my blog and it's on the Board called "I Want To Sew This". I hope I'll have a chance to try sewing all the stuff I have on there.

Anyway, here is a newborn boy tie for sweet little Reed that Jacob and Allison welcomed in March. They sent me a picture of him wearing it on Sunday and he's a stud in it.

 Their little Olivia just turned 2 in April. I thought that these were a great gift for her. All the alphabet fit into this little drawstring bag I made for her and put her initial on it.

 And then the beast I was up working on until the day before we left! But, I got it done, and that's what counts, right? It's a Cathedral Window baby play mat. It was a lot of work, but fun to do also. It was the first one that I have made and I have a better idea as to what to do and what not to do, but I'm still proud of it.



Flying Saucers

 Have I ever mentioned that Matthew is half British? Because he totally is. Although he has only visited England once, he can pull off a very nice accent any time. And he appreciates some of the things that you can only get in England. Candy. I know that you can get candy anywhere, but there is a certain kind of British candy that Matthew likes.

 Welp, Matthew's birthday is this coming Friday, the 1st of June, and you should probably know by now that Matthew and I can't keep ANYTHING from each other, I gave him a part of his present early.

I FOUND THEM.

FLYING SAUCERS!!

I found them on a website that's based out of New Hampshire where we got 500 for $30. Money well spent, my friends. Believe you me. Flying saucers are wafers with sour powder in the middle. I know, it sounds weird, but they are addicting. Once the first one dissolves on your tongue, you're already reaching in the bucket for more.

We had a plan to save a lot for when Carrie comes to visit, but... I'm sad to announce, that didn't happen. After about 10 minutes of first opening the canister, 1/4 of it was gone. If that gives you any indication of how the next couple of days went, you should know that our stash is now depleted.

This might be one of Matthew's favorite gifts I've ever given him!



Last Kindergarten Post

                                     

 Last Kindergarten post until next year! William had his Kindergarten program at school this past Monday. Yeah, it was adorable and so funny when they did the "Months Macarena" because MAN did those kids shake it. It's amazing what kids can do, right? One minute, you're tearing up because you're so proud while they are only singing about the weather and the next, you're laughing hysterically because they're shaking it like a salt shaker.

 Here is the only picture that we have of William's face! Hooray! He really was in that bunch!

 After they sang their songs, the parents/grandparents were able to visit the classroom where the kids received their certificates of completion. And the parents received this awesome book that the Kindergarten teachers put together. There is a page for every month of the year that says, "This is how I write my name.." and "This is how I draw myself.." so that you can see how much they've progressed. According to William's book, his hair has progressed the most from being a little bit of hair to drastic spikes. I love it.

 Here are some of William's friends. There's William, Mason, Adan, and Napolean is in the back. I got the sweetest note from Napolean saying that he loved me. Mason gave me a hug any time he saw me and tried to kiss me every time I left the school. This age is so stinkin cute.

William and Lily... kind of making the same face...

 Then all the K classes when outside to play. Lily joined in the fun.

 William wanted to get a picture with his "girlfriend" Abigail and his friends (Mason and Nathan) wanted to jump into the picture too. Abigail is in our ward too, so they were in their reading class together and Primary together. We're very sad that her and her family are moving this summer.

This is Mrs. Jenkins. She had William for reading this year and worked with him in the High Hat curriculum. After the first few days of going into her class for reading, William came home and told me that he was going to marry Mrs. Jenkins when he grew up.  

 William had Mrs. Saunders for most of his class time this year. Oh how he loved her, and she loved him. I remember posting at the beginning of the year that I hoped Mrs. Saunders would take care of my boy and sure enough she did. William was sad when he realized that he will no longer have Mrs. Saunders as a teacher. I was able to be an aid in William's class and so I worked with Mrs. Saunders and she is one of the sweetest ladies and amazing with these little ones. We requested for Mrs. Saunders to have Lily in her K class this next year and I couldn't be more excited to work with her again and to have Lily love her too.

Last Day of K

 Do you remember this sleepy-eyed sweetheart from the first day of school? No idea of what to come his way. Not knowing what all he'll learn and experience. What friends were coming his way. No idea that he would love his teacher so much.

Well, here is our little kid now. All grown up, knows the drill, excited to get to school to see his friends and teacher. He's taller, and lost some of that baby face.

Last day of Kindergarten, only a 1/2 day. He is on his way to First Grade, my friend.

 William has done incredibly well this year. He has learned how to read, very well. He is on a reading level 12. At the end of Kindergarten, students are expected to be at a 4. Yeah, we like to brag about our smarty pants. William has also learned how to add and subtract. He's worked on handwriting, counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s. Not to mention that he can count to 100. And lots more.William has just excelled so much this year both academically and socially. Matthew and I couldn't be more proud of him.

I am very excited to have him home for the summer and just have a blast with William and Lily.

Because guess who makes her debut into Kindergarten on August 1st?

Our Lily.

Guess who needs to start preparing now?

Me.

Kindergarten Field Day

 William's Field Day at school was the morning of the 11th and Lily and I were able to go see him participate!

 Lily got a little bored because she wasn't able to do any of the activities, but she was still a great sport and loved hanging around William. She wore her A.Z. Kelley shirt to show her school spirit.

 There were obstacle courses.

 A potato race... William was the slowest one every time, but he says he won because he didn't lose his potato once. Gotta love it.

 Bubble blowing contest, which was hilarious to watch. It was pretty much William's face times 23.

 And a hula hoop contest. This was probably the best one to watch for this age group. No one could do it and they all would spin the hoop around their hips and shake it just to have the hoop straight to the ground. William was the best to watch.

 They had some other activities that I didn't get a picture of, but they were all fun and William did well and got a Participation Ribbon that he is very proud of. I remember those days and then realizing what that ribbon means. The Field Day ended with eating Popsicles on the sidewalk.



Lake Trail

 About a month ago, John and Krystin went to Mexico for the 10th Wedding Anniversary! We were able to watch their 2 boys, Isaac and Cole for a couple of days while they were on their trip. William has been begging to go hiking this year and so around his birthday and while we had the boys, we decided to take a small hike at Radnor Lake. We hiked the Lake Trail which was an easy trail and only a little under a mile and a half. The kids did amazing and it sure wore all of them out.

We were able to see some animals. In the picture above, a man told us there was an owl in a tree and sure enough, it was there! Just a little too high for me to get a picture of him though. We saw lots of turtles and ducks. We saw a deer and a stork.. of all things. It was fun to get them out in nature to see these things.

They really were amazing at walking the trail - only minimal complaining about being tired. We're excited to do this more this summer and fall.



Easter/Temple Pictures

 This year, I took the kids to the Nashville Tennessee Temple to take their Easter pictures. I was SUPER excited to be going to a new temple this year. And a little disapointed that the water fountain had been taken out. I had some good ideas for it. But, we made do. A couple had just been married and came out of the temple when we arrived, so I tried to move around them. I am pleased with the results of the pictures.

Here are some of my faves:

Have I talked about how much I love my new camera?? Because it's pretty much one of the coolest things I have.