Avery's End of Preschool and Happy Mother's Day!

End of Preschool for Avery
I can't believe that Avery had her last day of preschool. I think she is just as sad about it as I am! Last night she said to me before bed, "Am I almost done with preschool?" and I said "You had your last day already last week! Remember we had the pancake party and we said goodbye to Miss Sarah?" And she threw herself on the floor and said "NOOOO! I don't want to be done with preschool!!" I know, girl. Me neither! I liked that time to myself for a couple of hours on MWF mornings! lol She had some really nice teachers - Miss Sarah and Miss Angela. Both were young teachers in their early 20's and super nice. Miss Sarah actually won't be coming back next year because she is pregnant with her first baby, due in September. I feel like Avery improved not only in her academics (learning her letters, shapes, numbers, etc.) but also just in her social interactions with her peers (not being so bossy, not pouting when she doesn't get her way, not yelling… she still does those things.. just LESS often than before…)

So now I have a whole Summer to look forward to with all three kids at home. SAVE ME!!! Then I will officially have all three of my kids in school! So crazy! How long has it been since I haven't had kids at home following me around?? Um… 11 years?! What will I do with myself for three hours every day?! I'm actually pretty excited.

Here are some pictures of Avery on her last day of school:

I also opted to have her class photo taken a couple of weeks before school ended and in my opinion it turned out super cheesy and weird looking. Here it is… you be the judge:

Don't get me wrong, she still looks super cute. I just think the background looks really photoshopped and weird. Then here is the official class photo! She had some of her neighborhood friends in her class, including Kendalin, Evan, Jacob, and Adrie. It's crazy that this year flew by so fast!

Then here is Caleb's official Spring school photo (yes, we did totally forget it was picture day… haha)

Caleb's teacher this year was Mrs. Burt, who Gabe also had. I've raved about her before but she is honestly the best teacher ever. She's so sweet. I really hope she is still there when Avery gets to third grade! I had the honor bestowed upon me of being the parent chosen to decorate her door for teacher appreciation week (not really so much an honor as the room mother desperately begging me so she didn't have to do it… haha) If it were anyone but Mrs. Burt I may not have said yes so willingly. But she is just amazing. So here is also a picture of Caleb's third grade class and Mrs. Burt and Caleb outside her decorated door.

Then just a few other things…
Avery had her little friend, Annie over to play one day and they were cracking me up with their swimsuit poses. They were having a beach party in the backyard! And then her at her last official dance class! She is going to be having her dress rehearsal and her recital this week and then next week so it's pretty much the end of dance class for a while! Unless I sign her up for a Summer class at a different studio this Summer. Still trying to decide about that...

Then here are a few more random moments: Gabe and his friend Porter looking super bored on the swings at the park (this is what I have to look forward to all Summer?!), Gabe's choir concert (this was the only picture he would let me take of him… and he didn't know I took it), and Josh at yet another training in Boise. He literally went to two different week long trainings in between April 10 and May 10 and then worked night shift all the days in between. This month has been pretty crappy as far as his schedule. I feel like I haven't seen much of him at all. Which brings me to….

Mother's Day
I really shouldn't complain because I got to sound Mother's Day with my three wonderful children… but Josh had to work basically the whole week before Mother's Day (he was in Boise from Sunday until Thursday and then worked from 8am to 8pm Saturday. Then on Mother's Day Sunday he had to sleep during the day and go in at 6pm to work until 6am.) So I really didn't get much of a celebration in my honor. Mother's Day is one of those holidays where you don't want to be like, "Oh please fawn all over me and shower me with presents!" But you're then actually secretly hoping they do anyways and are kind of put out when they don't! I'm hoping that maybe on Wednesday when Josh is actually off for a few days (after working the past 9 out of ten days) I will actually get a dinner out or something. We will see! But here are some pictures I forced my kids to take with me on Mother's Day.

April Highlights - Easter, Pinewood Derby, New Kitty

Okay! Here are the highlights from the month of April!

Gabe's Steve Jobs Report/Presentation
Gabe had the assignment to pick someone who has changed America. When he came home and told me about this, he said, "I want to pick someone that no one else has thought of. I don't' want a President or something like everyone is doing." So I thought about that and suggested Steve Jobs. He basically was the founder of Apple and is the reason we have things like iPhones and iPads. So, I think he's definitely changed America (for good or for bad, you can argue over). So Gabe had to do a big report on him and then make a poster board presentation and dress up like him. Here is his picture as Steve Jobs. (haha)

Avery's Dance Class
Avery has had such a fun year in dance class. She is going to have her recital here at the end of May, but I had these pictures taken of her in one of her dance costumes so remember how cute she is!

Easter Celebrations
So when we first moved back to Idaho from Wisconsin almost seven years ago, we took Gabe and Caleb (then 2 and 4) to a city Easter Egg hunt. It was the worst experience ever. Basically anything that's free in Rexburg has everybody and their dog show up for it. We got there right as the whistle blew and the eggs were literally gone within 30 seconds. Between the two of our boys, they got one egg. Our boys cried and cried. It was so awful. I swore I would NEVER do another city egg hunt.

So then we started doing Easter egg hunts in our own little neighborhood, which at the time, had about 5 - 10 kids all under the age of 8. But now, as the neighborhood as grown and grown, there are easily over 40 kids from ages 0-15. So we still did our neighborhood hunt on Saturday morning, but I decided to leave my boys home for that one and just take Avery, since most of the kids participating were in the 1-6 range. Then in the afternoon, we went with one other family (the McCluskey's, Gabe's best friend is Porter McCluskey) and had an "older kid" egg hunt at the Rexburg Nature Park. This hunt was more challenging and the eggs were actually hidden, not just laying on the grass all over. This was a lot more fun for them. We had a picnic lunch and tried to soak in some sun (but it was probably about 55 degrees.)

Then on Sunday after church, we went to Josh's parents house and had a third egg hunt there for all the grandkids. So my kids definitely got their share of egg hunting, especially Avery who participated in all three! Our friend, Stacey, also came up to spend Easter weekend with us so that was fun. On Easter morning the bunny hid Gabe's basket in the microwave, Caleb's in the oven, and Avery's behind the living room lamp table. They got some candy, boys got water guns, ties, and some other food that wasn't candy. Avery got some bubbles, some little girly toys, etc. Oh and I almost forgot to mention, Caleb was so tired out from all the egg hunts on Saturday and staying up late, he totally slept through Easter Sunday at church. lol

Pinewood Derby
Yes. I'm still the Cub Master. I know, it's been a while. So another year… another Pinewood Derby… This year Caleb was the first place winner! His car beat out every other cub scout's car as the fastest overall in a number of races. We have this guy come in with his big track and he has a computer that actually can tell the speed of each car. They do about 20 different races and then it averages it all out and ranks them. It's pretty intense. But Caleb's car was the fastest! Gabe did also race his car from last year, and unofficial his car MAY have been a little bit faster. But it puts all the siblings into an unofficial separate results bracket, so he didn't factor into the official results!

New Pet (Josh's Birthday Present)

Josh has been having to go to all of these ridiculous "trainings" the past month. Basically they have a yearly training budget that they always want to use up, so they send the guys to these things in Boise that are really just glorified boys' weeks. They go out to dinner every night, go on ride-alongs with Boise officers, and basically just have fun. There are maybe a few hours of training involved where they mostly just sit around and chat or play with their dogs. (This is how I picture it all.) Meanwhile, I sit home with the kids and try to keep my head above water running my Etsy shop, taking the kids to and from all their activities, cooking, cleaning, and being a slave in general. It's great. (<--- :="" a="" absolutely="" am="" and="" avery="" away="" because="" best="" birthday="" cat="" do="" ever.="" find="" fluffy="" for="" good="" got="" have="" he="" her="" him.="" him="" his="" home.="" i="" in="" josh="" kitty="" know.="" little="" loves="" m="" nice="" no="" orange="" p="" perfect="" princess="" s="" sarcasm="" she="" so="" something="" such="" super="" surprise="" sweet="" taking="" that="" the="" there="" to="" too="" waiting="" wanted="" was="" way="" when="" wife="" with="">

Doll Business
This is the most random thing ever, but I got this crazy idea to make these little stuffed animal/dolls. I have no idea how to sew. I have never owned a sewing machine in my life. But one day I was feel motivated and went out and bought one, taught myself how to use it, and sewed some stuffed animals all in one weekend. I am thinking I may do a little craft fair in Wisconsin when I come to visit just so I can have a reason to write off our trip. That is, if I actually get a few more sewn by then! My goal would be to have some matching accessories that a little girl could also wear to match, like little head bands and things like that. (I have so much free time, I figured "why not?")

And a few more pictures just for fun!