Growing Up

Ok, I know - it has been just about 2 months since my last posting. That tells you what a busy summer we've had! I am working on a post that will recap our entire summer.

This morning I took Sam to his elementary school for his kindergarten screening. He was a little nervous (or so he said), but sure didn't show it! He walked right in and made himself at home. I wish, wish, wish I could have been a fly on the wall! I can't get him to really tell me what she asked him, but I think its general stuff like does he know his name, address, birthdate, the alphabet, numbers, etc. I was sure he'd do fine and he did!

It just has me thinking today, how did the little baby I once held in my arms, suddenly get to be old enough to go to Kindergarten? When did this happen? As I looked at him in the mirror this morning while we were brushing his teeth, I suddeny saw him in a whole new light. He is no longer a baby, toddler, or even preschooler. He looks like a kindergartener!

I love both of my children equally. My whole heart belongs to each of them, I just love them differently. Sam is such a good, sweet, smart and fun loving boy. We are so blessed to have him in our family. I thank my Heavenly Father every day for the gift that he is to me. I really feel so unworthy to be the Mom of one of His sweetest little spirits. We often hear from people that Sam is a joy or a delight. Just yesterday someone told me he was a treat. I love that other people can see his enthusiasm for life. And I hope beyond hope, that his is always the case.

I think Abby and I will be sending a piece of our hearts to school with him each day. I hope he knows how much we love him and how proud we are of him!

Vacation, how I love thee

Can I just say that I love, love, love a good vacation with my family? We are so lucky that Mike's Mom, Dianne, lives at the beach. We pretty much spend a week at Isle of Palms every year around Memorial Day with her. Her condo is in Wild Dunes right on the beach and with a pool.

This year we got there on Friday evening. The kids had McDonalds in the car for dinner and were way excited about their Shrek Happy Meal toys. (that may well be one of the highlights of the trip for them - collecting 3 new Shrek toys!) Mike helped us get unloaded and settled in and then he left us to go deep sea fishing for 2 days. His group was leaving at 4 am on Saturday so he left to spend the night with the friends he was going with. I got a text from him at 4:44 am on Saturday saying they had just crossed under the Ravenel Bridge. I was a bit nervous about him going 60 miles out on the ocean, but he assured me the guy who has in charge really knew what he was doing. He finally rejoined us early Monday morning having caught a ton of Mahi Mahi. He brought home several gallon bags full for us to freeze. We made Mahi nuggets one night for the kids and they really liked them. I'm not a big fish eater, but those and the grilled filets we had were delicious! This was something he had been wanting to do for quite a while, so I'm glad he got to do it. And thank goodness for Dramamine - he didn't even get seasick!

While he was out on the open seas, the kids, Dianne, and I set our sights on the pool. This was the first time we had been to a pool this year, but Sam and Abby were like fish to water. They got their floaties and hopped right in. Before long they were both jumping to me from the side and having a blast. They totally wore themselves out. Sam was even asking me if we could go home - you know he's tired when that happens!

We went to the beach for a few hours on Sunday so they could play in the waves. Abby couldn't quite decide if she wanted to stay in the water or collect sea shells. She was back and forth and squealing every time the water hit her. She was pretty funny. Sam was totally dedicated to the waves. He had his little board and spent his time "surfing" or jumping in the waves. I'm really proud of him. He is so outgoing and friendly and made a friend at the pool and the beach. I love that he can do that!

Tuesday we decided to go to the water park, Whirlin' Waters. It was an over cast day but we hoped for the best. We had been there about 10 minutes when it started raining and thundering & lightening. So we hunkered under a covered area for 1 hour when we were able to get a pass to come back. As a consolation, we took the kids to McDonalds again and Sam got the Donkey from Shrek, which he had really been wanting. We tried again Wednesday with much better luck. It was a beautiful sunny day and thankfully not crowded at all. We all had such a great time!

They had this giant tree house with several levels and things to run through with water falling every where. There was a giant bucket at the very top that constantly fills with water and then tips over dumping water out. We were very careful to avoid the dumping area. Sam loved the tree house. It had 4 different slides and he and I tried them all out. There was a toddler area for Abby with sprinklers and slides for her. She thought the slides looked like fun but chickened out when we got to them. Her favorite things were the lazy river and the wave pool "when the waves were off". Sam and Daddy enjoyed the wave pool with the waves on. Sam and Mike climbed to the top of a very tall water slide (like the huge kind at the fair). Sam got nervous at the top and decided he didn't want to slide down after all. Mike went down and then Sam got brave. He and I (who wasn't feeling so brave) climbed back up and went down. Turns out it was a lot of fun, so we went a few more times. All in all, it was a great day and so much fun to be together as a family. It's not often we get to do that and we all enjoyed it.

We returned home around 7 pm on Thursday to a freshly cleaned house. My sweet friend cleaned my house for me while we were gone as a thank you for helping out with her son. I've never had someone clean my house for me and I have to say, I could get used to this!

We're all home, refreshed, rejuvenated and nicely tanned. Our busy month has begun! I go to girls camp next week for 2 1/2 days, the week after Sam, Abby, and I are going to VBS at Shandon Baptist, and then we leave for Utah at the end of the month. Throw in 8 swimming lesson, a visit from Josh and Amanda and their girls, birthdays, and Father's Day, I think June will just fly by!

Graduation Day

Today Sam had his graduation from preschool. He looked so cute! I made him wear a polo shirt (which for him is a huge deal since it required him to wear buttons - oh, dreaded buttons!) and these shorts, which he liked, surprisingly. The biggest surprise is that he wore them all day. Maybe we are making strides. But I digress. Anway, the kids all wore graduation caps and they had ribbons draped around their necks which said "2010" on one side and "Gradaute" on the other. They came marching out single file with"This Little Light of Mine" playing. They looked so adorable and grown up. There are 2 four year old classes so both classes sang a song. Sam's song was to the tune of "I'm a Little Tea Pot" and went:

I'm a little star shining bright
Growing bigger every night
When I finish preschool I will shout!
I'm a star so ya better watch out

Then each child's full name was called and they went up front to receive their certificate and a little box of things to help them go into kindergarten. They had baby picture up on a big screen as their names were called and they said what the kids said they want to be when they grow up. Sam said he wants to be a Dragon Trainer when he grows up! (Later today he told me he really wants to be a deep sea diver.) It was cute to hear what the kids all said. A few girls want to be princesses; one boy wants to be a Mario Brother. Sam's friend, Rachel, wants to be a golfer like her dad!

Then they played a slide show of pictures from the year. It was really nice. They played one of mine and Mike's favorite songs - "Let Them Be Little". I was starting to get weepy! I can't believe how grown up he is getting. I kept thinking, before I know it he'll be graduating from Kindergarten, then elementary school, and then high school. It makes me want to just treasure every day more than I have been lately. They grow up so fast!

Afterwards we went to Red Robin with our friends the Gillettes (their daughter is in Sam's class)and my Mom and Christy. It was a fun lunch and we had gotten the kids a few small gifts. All in all a pretty good day.

Tomorrow is our last day of preschool this year. I have to say I have really enjoyed being a part of the preschool program. I have loved teaching and it has been a great experience for Sam and Abby. It's bittersweet. On one hand I'm glad for the break and summer and am ready to slow down a bit. On the other, I think in a few weeks we're really going to miss it. We have a pretty busy summer (at least the first half), so I'm sure it will go by fast and he'll be off to Kindergarten before I know it.

Yay for Caleb & Taylee!!!

My brother, Caleb, and his sweet wife, Taylee, came for a short visit this weekend. They arrived around midnight Thursday and left this afternoon. :(

We are so glad they came and also so sad to see them go. Sam and Abby just adored having them here. It's really quite funny! Sam was smitten with Taylee and Abby with Caleb. They even fought over them. It was so cute to see them enjoy their aunt and uncle who they really haven't seen that many times. It made my heart happy.

Thursday we went to the zoo with our preschool friends and had a great time there. We wanted to go again with Caleb & Taylee (it's sort of tradition) so we went again on Friday with the family. We had a great time and enjoyed the animals and good company. Sam and Abby even had their first ice cream cones! I know, what kind of Mom am I depriving my kids of ice cream cones!?! They loved them, so I guess we'll have them a bit more frequently now!

5 years old!!

We celebrated Sam's 5th birthday on Thursday (April 22). We actually started celebrating on Wednesday night at Chuck E Cheese. We told him he could pick where we would have his birthday dinner and that he could bring a friend this year. He chose Chuck E Cheese and his friend Caleb. Unfortunately, Caleb (and Grandma & BeBa) couldn't come on Thursday, so we decided to go on Wednesday. They had a great time riding rides, eating ice cream and playing games. Chuck E Cheese even made an appearance, which tickled the kids - especially Abby. (I don't have many pictures from our trip - my camera battery died!)

On Thursday, we started out our day with Dunkin Donuts. This is a tradition we started a few years back. Since this is a rare treat (twice a year) the kids were on a sugar high all day. It was not a good day nutritionally! :)

After lunch, Abby went to Grandma's and Sam and I headed out to spend the birthday money that was burning a hole in his pocket. First we went back to Teddy Mountain, so he could pick out an outfit for the dragon he had gotten at his party. Then we headed to Target. He ended up getting the Slinky Dog from Toy Story, 2 new squishies, a DVD and 2 animals. Thankfully he had some money left over! We were even able to pick out the bedding for his bunkbeds that we'll be getting this week.

All in all, I think he had a great birthday!

Let the festivities begin!

Today we celebrated Sam's 5th birthday! (His birthday is not until the 22nd, but he wanted to have his party at Teddy Mountain and next Saturday was booked.) He spent the night last night with Grandma & BeBah, but was up at 4am this morning (thankfully he was at their house!). He was so excited all day and it seemed that 3 o'clock would never get here. He had 8 friends come and he had a great time. They each got to pick out a stuffed animal, then they got to stuff it and pick out a shirt or pair of shorts for it and then get their picture taken with it. He got a lot of fun presents - our gift to him was a Buzz LightYear and Woody toy. He was so excited about them. I made a Toy Story cake for him. It was sort of a tower of cupcakes with his Toy Story toys around it. I have to say it turned out pretty cute!

We plan to go to Chuck E Cheese next week and he is taking a friend with him. We're actually doing that the night before his birthday. Our tradition is to have Dunkin Donuts for the kids' birthday breakfast and then I'll take him back to Teddy Mountain to get an outfit for the dragon he got today with the points we earned.

I can't believe my little man is almost 5. I always get sentimental around his birthday, but this year seems more so. Before I know it, August will be here and he'll be off to Kindergarten. He is such a blessing to us and I am so grateful to be his Mom!

Happy Birthday Sam!