Messy Party

Today we enjoyed our (fifth?) annual Messy Party with the MOMS Club!

Sienna loaded up a cookie with frosting and sprinkles.
Elijah went straight for the cookie table, too!

He wasn't so sure about the shaving cream at first.

It didn't take long for Elijah to get messy!

"Cheese!!!"
Elijah tried some painting, too.

Future fire fighters?!?

Many of the children had fun covering the slide (and eachother!) in shaving cream.

You know it's a successful Messy Party when you look like this at the end! Finishing up with some play dough.

Strawberry Picking

Today we went strawberry picking with our friends in the MOMS Club. This is one of our favorite annual outings!

Sarah, Lauren, Sienna, Isabella & Luke on the hayride out to the strawberry fields

Elijah tried a freshly picked snap pea.

He also nibbled on a carrot straight from the garden.

"What's up, Doc?"

Isabella and Sienna getting down to business.

I intentionally dressed Elijah in red knowing that he would sample some strawberries in the field.

Lauren and Sienna paused long enough for a quick picture.

Ready for our return hayride. Elijah loved riding right behind the huge tractor.

Visit with Julian and Corinna

While Isabella was enjoying her last day of first grade, Sienna, Elijah and I met up with my friend (and old teaching partner), Corinna, and her little guy, Julian, for a quick visit.

How many pictures does it take to get an almost three year old, a two year old and a five year old to look at the camera?!

Julian and Sienna-hanging around!

Last Day of First Grade

Today was Isabella's last day of first grade!

Of course, we had to get our traditional picture of Isabella and John on our front steps. Isabella wore the same dress that she wore on the first day of first grade!
Here are most of the kids who ride the bus from our neighborhood. What a crew!

Last ride to school for the year!

The new second graders-Isabella, Hope and Sarah!

Good friends-Isabella, Hope and Sarah (and Elijah)!

Happy Father's Day!

We spent a nice Father's Day together as a family. The girls helped me make our traditional breakfast in bed for Mike.
Of course, he had to share several bites of his breakfast with the three "moochers."
Sienna made a special mug/pencil holder at preschool and made an extra special personalized card.
This is what Sienna's card said:

My Dad is the Greatest!
My dad's name is Dada.
He is 64 years old.
My dad's job is to go to work and get seed packets.
His favorite food is Oreos.
He likes to drink rootbeer.
My dad's favorite sport is basketball.
When we are together, we like to play football and chase around the house.

Isabella made a delicious trail mix for Mike at school.

Elijah got Mike two sets of earmuffs for them to wear when he helps Mike cut the grass. "Dada sit tractor Jijah." (Translation: "Dada sit on the tractor with Elijah."

I made Mike a special Shutterfly book with pictures from our recent trip to Florida.

We went on a family bikeride, had lunch at Qdoba, and Mike had a massage before he took the girls to see Toy Story 3. We wrapped up the day with dinner at home. All in all, we enjoyed a very nice Father's Day together!

Dada/Petro/Michael (as Elijah has been calling him lately)-

We love you and we thank you for working so hard so that I can be home with our kids!!! We appreciate all that you do for us. Thanks for being the best dad (and husband) in the world!!

Happy Father's Day to my dad and father-in-law, too!!!!

Elijah the Smurf

This morning Isabella came to me and said, "Elijah is making himself into a Smurf... and not in a good way!"

That could only mean one thing...
Thankfully, Elijah doesn't typically draw on random things, but I guess that bare belly was too tempting!