Graduate

Here comes the graduate! Processing along already! K5 graduation was new to all the adults in the family, but must be pretty common everywhere else. We had a good time and a lot of fun at it. Both sets of grandparents attended, which made it extra special.

Natalie was the Bible holder for the pledge to the Bible. She read the most books in her class, so I guess that qualified her!

The whole class together on stage!

Our favorite graduate!

It was a spectacular cake...

What wonderful times and memories together!

We then went out to eat. The only bad thing that happened was that Natalie pinched her finger on the table at the restaurant and had to get it cleaned and a bandaid! She is holding her special gift there, the graduate hound that all the grandparents and parents signed for her. Congratulations, sweetie!

Hair!

Aah, there are times when you are a mother that you must let go. I really loved Natalie's long hair and wanted to keep it. Natalie wanted to get it shorter. When we talked, she wanted it so short that it made sense to give her hair away to a good cause. So, we decided together to do Locks of Love to send Natalie's 10 inch ponytail to them. So, I made the appointment and we prepared for the day of change.

The ponytail was lined up and taken off in one whack.

The stylist then cut it in a bob for style. Here is the back...

And, the front. Nicole had her hair cut as well, although not quite 10 inches off. I had to sit with her on my lap while the cutting happened because she was apprehensive about the cut (her first!). But, it all went well and the girls are enjoying their shorter hair!

Beastly

Having the girls and me visit the jungle last week! Woody was braving the wilds at work, so we went to the wild and hot park together with Natalie's class for the end-of-class party and field trip. Nicole and me weren't able to ride the bus there, so we followed through unfamiliar territory in a wild drive through many red lights until (thank the Lord) we made it there. I wasn't really sure if we could find the wild place if we were separated from the bus!

The bus arrives (too bad it is a fuzzy picture!). Natalie was here with Maya coming down the hill.

We saw lots of geese, ducks, and other wandering animals at first. They had the coin operated feed boxes. One gave me 4 pieces of dog chow for a quarter...not very good! The other one gave a few more. I think I'll stick some puppy chow in my bag next time if I go back!

The petting zoo area was fun for the kids, although there were a lot of different exotic animals in cages: lion, tiger, bear, rhino, were some of them. They had peacocks wandering about, which the kids loved.

Then, we loaded the safari bus. Nicole was able to ride on the bus, which she loved! It was tight and we were warned against feeding the emu's with our hands.

It was a zoo of animals right there when we stopped, because we were all given bread to hand out to the animals.

This is where my stomach turned...the big cows could reach high enough to stick their tongue on the ledge of the bus to get the bread. Yuk!

They then had a ampitheater stage for us. Where the petted animals were....miniature goats, opossum, and a red tailed boa. I must say, I wasn't in line to pet any of those, but the kids had a kick.

Bye, wild place! Next time, Woody will visit you with the kids!! :)

Awana Awards

Nicole finished up Puggles and Natalie did Sparks this year! They both enjoyed them very much! And, Natalie finished her first book plus review! That gave her a lot of times to go up to the stage to get her awards. And, Natalie was chosen to say the books of the New Testament on stage. She did it perfectly! Here is a picture of her saying them on the microphone.

We then watched some of their game time. I was glad I had seen some before, as the parents were strongly encouraged to participate. Natalie did great on hers, even getting the first place on the run around-pick a bowling pin up with your feet-scramble to get the first place pin.

Mommy did participate, although she only got there in time to get the 3rd place beanbag. But, I was never any less proud of grabbing something! It wasn't that easy!

Natalie singing with her Sparks team the Sparks song! Way to go, girl!

Rewinding...

I think we've been aboard a choo-choo that hasn't stopped! With t-ball, school finishing up, BSF finishing up, we've been really busy with not a lot of log time to write it down on the blog. Here's the train the kids liked that Poppa took them on when he & Mimi were here. Fun to ride a train right now!

Easter...we had a great time making cookies and dying eggs here at home at Easter. We were able to celebrate early, then celebrate again with the cousins at the beach on the actual Easter week.

Both girls really got into the glaze painting this year. Nicole had a good time.

Of course, Natalie is always the artist.

We made cute little bunnies as well from a craft from Mrs. Nancy. Thanks, Mrs. Nancy!

And, then, off to the beach for a few days. It was a little cool, but the girls had a great time. The bonus was playing with cousins too. Once, Nicole was so cold her lips were blue, but she kept on playing until I bundled her up in a towel and hugged her in my lap!

They played on the beach and on the playground. They even went scavenging for crabs, which Nicole loves any type of animal/bug exploration.

Decorating with the cousins!

Ah, the pool. It was supposed to be heated, and there was one deeper pool that actually was. This one was very cold without the thermal heat from the sun helping out!

One of the highlights of the trip was taking Natalie (Nicole was asleep with grandparents) up the lighthouse.

A lot of steps, but she had fun! The beach sunrise on Easter morning was spectacular. I was there with the deer on the beach (very strange friends). We all watched as the sun rose blood red, then disappeared behind the cloud again, then powerfully went over the cloud in this picture. I couldn't help but think of all the symbolism of Jesus coming once to give his blood then again will be here to reign supremely!

And, Natalie's spring program was a blessing. She really had fun singing and her speaking parts as well.

Not long until K5 graduation, that will be the next big event!

Hug Bug

Nicole has turned out to be much the hugger lately! If she isn't wrapped around someone's leg, she just isn't happy! Last night, I took both girls by myself to Natalie's t-ball awards night. Daunting enough for me as I don't like crowds plus both girls! But, it all worked out and we had pizza (no cooking for me last night, yea!). Whenever I'd try to talk with anyone there, Nicole would zoom out of sight and grab someone she knew and hug them! Then, all during the program, I was either hugging her or she was hugging the people around her. My little hug bug!

Natalie did so well at t-ball this year. We are so proud of her!

Fun Day!

One of the best things I hear lately is Nicole's newest saying. When we are at the end of the day, she looks at me and says, "Mommy, I had a fun day." It's a way of ending the day remembering all the fun times we had!

She also is good about saying Thank you. She will sometimes say, "Mommy, thank you for making dinner." She is the only one sometimes! Of course, some times she will say, "I don't like that" when she looks at her plate. You have to balance one with the other!