Bye Bye Kindergarten!!!

It is so hard to believe that this day is here.....it seems like we just started this thing called "school" and now, it's Ethan's last day of Kindergarten!! WOW!!!  I remember a year ago, being told it was time to register him, even though I didn't feel he was ready and had every intention of sending him when he was 6...However, looking back, I'm truly glad I did listen and Brenton and I decided to send him.  I'll be honest and say, he had to work hard these past few months, but he did it and it's time to move forward.....Bring on 1st grade!!!  Yay, Ethan we are so proud of you!

He woke up today all smiles....got his shower, put on his deodorant, sunscreen (fun day outside today), and got dressed.  He reminded me over and over that he had to wear his special shirt that Ms. Bowden made for the class and off we went.  Ofcourse, I had to get a few pictures, but he was all for it.  I don't know, it's crazy to think this year is over....where in the world did it go?  Honestly, it was like Brenton and I took him to his 1st day yesterday!!!!  We are so ready for summer break though, but we are going to continue with a few things, so he doesn't lose anything and we need to build on a few others.  Won't be all day, but at least an hour a day!  I have it all planned out, lesson plan ready....LOL!!!  Anyway, wish I could be a fly on the wall at Central Elementary today, I would love to hear him laugh, watch him play with his friends, and hear him say goodbye!  It makes me sad to know life is going by so quickly, but watching him enjoy growing up sure does put a huge smile on my face!

Last Day of School

enjoying some pizza at the Fun Day

Weekend Recap!!!!

We had a pretty uneventful weekend, this Memorial Day, but honestly it turned out pretty good!  Colin, had a great day on Rose Saturday afternoon, that little guy, sure loves that horse!  We are now at the point where Brenton doesn't even walk beside him anymore, he stood in the middle of the arena, while Seana and Colin took their stroll.  I'm not sure what it is about this horse, but man this therapy has turned out to be a true blessing.  I'm so thankful everything fell into place for this.....Colin has really benefited!  We've backed off with Ethan going along, so that Colin gets more one on one.  Ethan will get to go every so often, probably more once Colin is where we need him to be, but lately we've just been trying to concentrate on Colin.  Ethan loves Seana, and Seana loves him, so him getting time with Rose, is important too!  Monday, we were so ready to get out of the house, so we headed to my parents for lunch and then over to Paul and Kay's to visit for awhile.....We leave for vacation this week, so it was important that both sets of grandparents got to see the boys.  Here are a few pictures from our weekend......

love our Saturday morning cartoons together

Ethan got a new TMNT...aka Mikey

Oh yea, another super hero....a giant SuperMan

this screams....Yes, I am a mother of boys

Colin got special prizes too 

even super-hereoes need a ride...LOL

last time doing Kindergarten homework =/

look who loves the swing this year....

and the wagon, too!  YAY!!!

End of School gifts...Ethan is so excited to give them =)

Time to Celebrate!!!

Yesterday, was a milestone that I didn't know if Ethan would make this year?  Its been a long, hard school year for him, but we are so proud of his accomplishment.  He did it.....he is going into 1st grade!  At the beginning of March, we had his 2nd progress meeting, and we all were concerned that he just wasn't ready to go into 1st grade, but we had 3 months from that point to kick into high gear and my boy did it!!!!  He finally got his name on the sight word board, he accomplished that goal 2 weeks before school was out and he was so happy to have his picture on the board.  Not everyone accomplished this goal, but he did and we are so proud of him.  Anyway, his Kindergarten Celebration was yesterday morning and he had a little part to say, so we practiced and practiced....he nailed it!  Not sure what next year will bring, but we'll make it and we'll do all we can to help him succeed.  Here are some pictures from his celebration....

Answered Prayers!!!

This month has been a pretty stressful one for us!  For the past 3 weeks, our selling and buying of a new home, has been in limbo and it has sucked....to say the least.  The whole month of April, we were sweating bullets thinking that our current home wasn't going to appraise at the $142,000 that the buyer was needing it to be.  We worked our butts off making this house pristine and trying to do that w/ 2 little boys running around was HARD!!!  However, all that hard work paid off, because the appraisal came back in our favor.....we thought we were in the clear!  Boy were we wrong!!!!  We did all of our pre-approval stuff while we were waiting for the appraisal on this house, so that process would be taken care of and when those papers came back we knew we were ready to go!!!Then all of that came to a crashing halt when the appraisal on the new house didn't come in where the seller needed it to be....we were so confused by it though, because everything we had been told from professionals that know better, told us that there would be no problem with the appraisal.....well, everyone was surprised when Huntington didn't come back where it needed to be.  That has been 2 weeks of our lives and we had no idea what to do, b/c that appraisal stands for 6 months!!!  Holy Cow, now what????  Well, we tried to fight it, because we found out that there was a "conflict of interest" and we could be granted another apprasial....negative thing, we didn't have time!  That was last Thursday and we close on this house Tuesday!!!  We didn't have 3 weeks to to go through the chains of command at Huntington to get the current appraisel thrown out, then to complete a whole new one.....OMG, we were sweating it; however, thanks to our realtor and Brenton knowing some pretty powerful men who work in this town from his country club gig on the weekends....we got another loan through another bank, completely bypassing Huntington!!!  WOW, we finally can say we have a home to go to and get going on packing up this one.  3 weeks have been lost of work that could've been done, so now we are scrambling to get everything packed and ready to go, so when we get back from vacation we are ready to move.  We were so hoping to have a peaceful move, but I'm learning that in our life, nothing is ever that easy.  It has all worked out, so we are thankful there, but boy it's been so stressful.  I can't wait to get this move behind us, so we can start making a new home in Gnaden with our boys.  Life is going to get simplier, we will be able to have a sense of community, and grow with our boys in a place that we have loved for awhile now.  So, glad we are able to move forward now and that our prayers were answered!!!! 

He is so ready to move!!!

"Zoo"pendous Fun!!!

Today, was Ethan's 1st field trip to the Akron Zoo.  As much as I wanted to be there, I made the choice the beginning of the year to not be a room mom.  I made that choice, only because Ethan was so attached to me that I wanted him to get used to being around other adults.  Well, for the most part, it worked, but he still knows where I am at all times. haha!  Oh well, I'm ok with it and I just like to think he loves his mama that much. ;)

Since he was so sick this past weekend, he stayed home from school yesterday, but was so excited to go to the zoo!  He has been waiting on "May 14th" for a few weeks now and I wasn't sure if he was telling me the truth about feeling better, but I took his word and got him ready.  Turns out, he was telling me the truth and he had a super day!  Thank heavens for one of the room moms knowing how much I love to scrapbook, so she sent me a few pics from the day!!!

all smiles at the zoo

Ethan w/ his friend Hannah

2013 Kindergarten Classes

Akron Zoo

Mother's Day Memories!

This past weekend was a busy one for us and one that we wanted to make sure that our mother's knew how much we appreciate them.  It was Mother's Day on Sunday, and this year, I wanted to actually celebrate the day with just my guys. Not sure why, but the need for that was huge this year?!?!  My feelings were sparked even more when it was time to head to school with Ethan for "Muffins with Mom" on Friday!  He was so excited to spend the morning with me and I in return, loved every ounce of it!  He is my first born and I couldn't wait to start getting these "special" gifts from him one day!  He had several gifts for me that he had made and he smiled the entire time while I was there.  It was hard to leave, but I got in the car and shed a tear while looking at my handmade gifts, b/c my little boy is growing up! I love being a mom and feel so blessed that God chose me to be Ethan and Colin's mother!!!

Muffins with Mom 2013

Friday evening, we had dinner with Brenton's parents and celebrated Mother's Day with Kay.  It was a fun evening w/ a few glasses of wine, homemade pizza, gifts, chit chat, and listening to the boys love on their grandparents.  It was a fun evening and we were exhausted by the time we got home.

Saturday, we had Brenton's grandmother's "Celebration of Life" service and spent the afternoon remembering Dorothy with his family.  It was a beautiful service and a nice way to pay our final respects to a wonderful lady!  After the service, we enjoyed the fellowship hall with family for a bit and then headed over to my parents to spend the evening w/ my mom.  Yet again, another evening filled with gifts, laughter, dinner, chit chat, and coffee.  My mom and I have the best conversations over coffee....I can thank her for getting me hooked on it, too.  My mom, means the world to me, she is a wonderful lady and one that I'm thankful for everyday!  My boys had fun...Colin, didn't go to the service with us, so he was in rare form by the time we got back that happens a lot at Papa & Grandma's house for some reason, but he loves it there and his giggles make me smile when I walk in the door!

While at my parents, Ethan had another milestone happen to him....he lost his 1st tooth!  You would've thought he was dying by the way he was acting, but he finally took a bite out of his sandwich and the tooth was out!!!  Man, that boy, I hope he goes into theater one day, because he is good w/ the drama! LOL  Needless to say, all the tears were gone once we explained, he was still special.  For some reason, he thought losing your tooth meant you weren't special any longer?  hahaha

our Toothless Wonder

When we got home, we prepared for the Tooth Fairy!  It was the cutest darn thing and thanks to my Mother-in-Law, she whipped up the tooth pillow or as Ethan calls it his "special pillow" for the Tooth Fairy and here's what she found.....

hope she listens!! LOL

Tooth Fairy Memories

Sunday morning I woke up to a nice surprise of breakfast in bed, w/ my 4 loves, watching me eat every bite, cards, and giggles.  I also got a beautiful family necklace that Brenton had made by my favorite local jewelry maker JessicaNDesigns. I have several of her pieces and I love every one of them, but this one, is pretty special and I love wearing it.  Ethan came down w/ a nasty stomach virus shortly after our morning fun, so the afternoon, was spent at home under covers, watching Tom & Jerry, drinking 7-up, and then Brenton made banana splits for us.  Overall, a lazy day, is exactly what the Dr. ordered!  Mother's Day was a great day and my guys made me feel pretty special!!!

my beautiful gift from my guys

Busy Bees....

Wow, it's been a little while since I've blogged and today I made myself a note to get it done....I apologize, but truly, our lives have been crazy these days!  Since we've decided to put our house on the market, it seems everything has hit, and then on top of that it selling was a bit of a distraction.....because, we had no where to go (LOL)!  To be truthfully honest, I didn't think it would go so quick.  We signed a contract for 6 months back in February and I thought it would take every bit of that time to get an offer, boy was I pleasantly surprised.  So, we accepted an offer on Easter and then we found a house we like that following Tuesday, put in an offer on Wednesday, and that was accepted....so, the process began!  Now, a month later, we are finalizing paperwork and the process is getting annoying. =)  I will be so glad when this is over, we are moved in, and can get on with life....Oh wait, did I mention we leave for vacation in 3 weeks....hahahahaha!!!  Life is happening at our house, which I love, but I truthfully am ready for a break.  I'm so hoping this summer slows down!  I'm so ready for school to be over with and some time w/ my family.  We are going to embrace it and enjoy every ounce of it, because the fall will bring all sorts of new things!  Anyway, I'm not complaining at all, I'm really happy with life right now and sure am enjoying watching the growth of my boys.  Brenton and I are exhausted, because they both require attention in certain areas, and trying to accomplish it all on a daily basis has our heads spinning so we are trying to keep everything in check......We FINALLY got the opportunity to have a date last weekend and boy, was that nice!  Enjoying dinner and shopping, was just what we needed.....I love getting my husband one on one and having conversation.  Our chance to reconnect, laugh, and act like we did when we were dating is always fun....we just need to find time to do it more often!  If I've never mentioned this before, I will now, my husband is my rock and with him life is complete!

our blessing's

making memories with Daddy

Also, in my time away from this blog, Colin turned 4 and we celebrated that with him on his birthDAY!  This little guy, had a great day, and besides scratching my eyeball and putting me in tears, it was a fun day. =)  I should've known better though and I actually planned on doing the "Happy Birthday" song a different way, but completely lost my train of thought when the time came, so it was ultimately my fault and I felt terrible, but truly over all, Colin enjoyed himself the entire day!  He has grown so much over the past year and we are so proud of him!  He truly is our little blessing!!!!