Ethan's End of Year Party

Kindergarten is coming to a close! I can't believe how quickly this year flew by! 

Since Caden's last day of school was the previous day, he and I joined Ethan for his last parent lunch of the year and his End of Year party. The party was a few days before the end of school because the 5th grade party and graduation are next week. Students still have 4 days of school left but there are several fun activities planned for them over the next few days to keep them occupied :-)

This was one of several attempts at lunch and I finally gave up. Ethan is high-fiving another student coming down the hall and Caden is making a silly face.

 And a little later, we headed downstairs when it was party time :-)

The students decorated visors first...

 And even Caden got to make one!

 Then they headed outside to play. They had several stations set up for the kiddos! The weather was perfect! Not too warm and a little overcast so the sun wasn't an issue either.

Even Daddy joined in on the fun!

After playing outside, everyone headed back inside for pizza and treats

We finished up at the party and our little friend, Sife, came home with us for playdate which made for a fun afternoon!

Only 4 days of school left! WOO HOO!!!! 

I know one Mamma and one little boy that are beyond READY! 

Caden's End of Year Party

Wednesday was Caden's End of Year Party for his Pre-K class at Shadowbrook. The theme was the movie Up! and everything looked super cute! They decorated adventure boxes, had a photo backdrop, ate "balloon" treats, and had a ball!

Adventure boxes were first

An adventure photo-op

 A "balloon" treat minus the stick...

Why not, doesn't everyone eat sticky treats with their hands??? :-)

 After the party, we couldn't leave until we had our last day of school pictures with the teachers we LOVE so much!

Ms. Janice

 Caden even wore his Alabama shirt especially for Ms. Tamara

Roll Tide!

 Once we got home and started sorting through all of our Adventure goodies, I had to have a picture of Caden with his "graduation" cap :-)

Ok, Jana and Marsha, we are headed your way!

Caden's Shadowbrook Promotion Day

Caden graduated from Shadowbrook Pre-K on Monday! 

He is ready for Kindergarten with Ms. Jana and Ms. Marsha next year!

He walked in like a big boy and introduced himself first

 Big smiles for Mommy and Daddy

 And was a total goof when he went up to accept his certificate and get a hug from Ms. Janice!

I love this face!

 Cheese faces with Mommy and Daddy after they finished

 His self-portrait right above him in this picture :-)

Then a sweet picture with the amazing Ms. Janice

 And phenomenal Ms. Tamara

We have been so blessed by these teachers and this fabulous school! I am so thankful that both boys had the wonderful opportunity to be taught be these ladies!

Random Happenings

A few noteworthy pictures to post:

This dude had a great check-up last week but it turns out he has an extra tooth coming in the wrong way and we are looking at oral surgery to remove it in the next couple of months. Prayers for him as he is already anxious about the procedure.

Love the shades! 

 Poor, poor, poor picture quality but this guy went on a field trip a week ago and had a great time but guess what his favorite part of the trip was???....Riding on the bus :-) 

Love him!

 This has been our dining room for the last 2 weeks. The table has been covered and bags have hung from almost every chair. I am thankful that after today, I am down to the last 2 teacher gifts!

And this girl just had a birthday! Lucy turned 8 at the beginning of the week. She is such a special part of our family and has endured so much over the years from the boys. Ben and Alex trained her right waaaayyyyy back in 2008 when we brought her home and she has been amazing ever since! Poor girl is starting to show her age, though. Her sweet little face is starting to turn gray.

Happy Birthday Lucy!

Ethan's PTA Program...Bugz

Bugz! 

Ethan had his very first show at the PTA performance last week. He was an Army Ant with the other boys in his class. All of the kindergarten classes did a great job and were adorable!

 Our Army Ant :-)

I love that he was singing and participating in the hand motions!

 Ethan did a fantastic job delivering his line, too

 And of course, he put his personality into his stage presentation ;-)

 I think saluting and marching were his favorite parts

 Love his silly faces...most of the time

 And in true Ethan form, by the end of the program he decided he was finished. He took off his ant arms and started waving them in the air for all to see. Why am I not surprised???

Even with his extra silliness, the show was super cute and I am so proud of these kiddos for the terrific job they did! And every good performance deserves some ice cream :-)

Kindergarten Field Day

Last Friday was field day for Ethan. They participated in relay races...

 had free play on the black top with ALL kinds of fun activities...

 then moved into the gym where they were pushed around on the roller mats...

 and played volleyball.

There were several other stations set up that I did not get pictures of but he had a terrific time with his class! Unfortunately, Caden had gotten immunizations the day before and began feeling bad in the afternoon. He was so excited to get to go to brother's field day but sadly, we had to leave early. Thankfully, once we were home and Tylenol kicked in he was back to himself. 

Caden's turns 5!

Caden is the big 5! It is so hard to believe, I feel like he should still be a baby in my arms. He was very excited to turn 5 and feels like a big boy now. In fact, after we sang Happy Birthday to him, he insisted on cutting the cake himself!

We were extremely blessed this year to have all of my brothers come stay to celebrate with him! Morgan flew in from Virginia and CJ drove up from Samson on Thursday, then Mimi, Chad, Ashley, & Collier were able to come in early on Friday. Ethan and Caden definitely made the most of having Morgan and CJ around and wore them out getting tossed around the pool :-) 

 Collier preferred to stay a little more active climbing up and down the slide :-)

On Saturday, we had his official birthday party. He requested a pool party and wanted to invite his entire Pre-K class. So, that's what we did. This kiddo was so overstimulated by all of the people and anxious about being the center of attention that this is where he stayed the entire party. Thankfully, Mimi didn't mind getting her snuggles in with him and Morgan and CJ kept him company.

 Everyone else, on the other hand, seemed to have a good time!

 He did want a cupcake bad enough to come stand next to me while we sang Happy Birthday to him :-) Then he was shy again until the party started dying down.

 As soon as most of our visitors left, this is the first thing he did!  After that, he couldn't stop grinning and began swimming like a fish :-)

 Caden's birthday present to himself was the confidence to remember all that he had learned in swim lessons throughout the winter and spring months to swim without his puddle jumper. This was the first time since we opened the pool for the season that he was ready to swim like a big boy. 

What a fantastic long weekend! 

Happy birthday big boy!