passion

 

Our kiddos our hard at work each day.......playing, exploring, learning, finding out what they are passionate about.  This spring Jack requested soccer again, and Stella did another dance session. Summer brings t-ball for the Jack man and I convinced Stella to try "nastics" this time.  It's all about keeping it fun at this age and introducing them them to a variety of activities to see what jives with their little personalities.  Our local YMCA has perfect 6 week sessions that work out great in accomplishing this.  How much fun it is to watch them learn and grow.

Stella was so proud of this moment, right after I took this picture she looked up at us with the biggest most proud smile & of course continued to talk about her "swinging" all day long :)

Dad's Day

some love for our Daddy

Thank you Daddy for all you do for us - we love you and are so lucky to have you!

the "all about my Daddy" card Jack made

Stella decided to be a little more original with her tie gift for Daddy, wink!

Our Father's Day weekend was filled with family, golf, a campfire, good food and fun for everyone (especially Grandpa, he he he!)  Thanks for a great weekend visit Grandma & Grandpa V and Uncle John and Aunt Barb.

campfire time....

.....complete with some marshmellows (or as the kids call them "smarshmellows")

smore's sugar high

mmmmmmmm!

Thanks guys for a fun weekend!

the driveway

our driveway.........the site of so many summer happenings, the kind of everyday stuff that makes the summers so great.  From baseball "games" to shooting hoops to laps on the bikes to painting and chalking up the cement to their little hearts desire, our driveway is where it's at this season.

little spectator

high five for a home run

at the moment, Stella is a bit obsessed with painting her hand to make hand prints

our super cool new find - sidewalk paint

Our Big Girl

Our baby girl is three, I can't believe it!  Stella cracks us up daily with the things that come out of her mouth.....oh and that little voice of hers, well it's one of the cutest I have heard.  You can often hear her singing, as she continues to love music as well as dancing, she has also just started gymnastics (or as she calls it "nastics") She is a determined and brave little girl with a mind of her own.  Deep down she is a little sweetheart, but she's more reserved about it than Jack is.  Even though they fight a lot, you can tell Stella really looks up to her big brother.  She likes to refer to Jack lately as "brother"  (maybe this has to do with the Bernstain Bear book obsession going on in our house right now, lol!)  Stella is having a great summer so far, she's working hard at riding tricycle and scooter and loves squishing bugs in her path.  We love you so much little Stella!

birthday cake in the park - the perfect way to top off Stella's birthday weekend!

little diva

very excited about her new baby doll bunk beds

Lego Kids

Jack had an awesome birthday party at Shenanigan's this year, compete with friends, bounce houses, cake, presents, arcade games and a great host who corralled the kids around so mom & dad could relax and enjoy the party too!  Jack and friends had a blast at the Lego themed bash - enjoy the pictures!

The Crew: AC, Jack, Cullen, Drew, Lily, Alivia, Lauren, Morghan & Stella

getting started with come coloring

5 year old Lego Party

super cool #5 Lego construction cake

Lego masterpieces

a little game of duck duck goose

Happy birthday 5 year old!

present time

thanks for the gift Lily

cool card Cullen

I'm 5 and I'm cool

bounce house time - Stella kept right up with the big kids

racing cars with Daddy

good old ski ball

Jack's Preschool Career

Jack's first day of preschool - August 2011

Jack's last day of preschool - May 2013

Jack and his wonderful teacher Mrs. Fuss

so long for the summer school - we'll see you this fall when Stella begins her preschool career!

Jack has had two wonderful years at preschool and next year will move on.  I guess I blinked because I cannot believe it's been two years, sigh.........before I know it it will be Stella, bigger sigh.

It's Great to Be 5!

a birthday treat at The Pearl

birthday loot

birthday breakfast for out 5 year old!

time to build with the new Legos

hole in one @ mini golf!

We had a great family day celebrating Jack's 5th birthday.  He even topped it off with a hole in one at mini-golf!  Five years have sure flown by!  Jack is such a good buddy with a big heart and we are so lucky to have him.  He finished his career at preschool  and will move onto 4K at a bigger school next year, eeekkk!  It has been so much fun to watch everything he has learned this year, he just loves drawing, cutting and writing.  I am always amazed at the creativity and detail in his drawings.  He's insistent on writing on all cards, letters, etc himself now.  He's starting to sound out words and every once in a while he will spontaneously say a word in Spanish instead of English thanks to his Spanish lunch program at school.  He's very inquisitive about the world around him and asks A LOT of questions, lol!  He's been playing soccer this spring and soon will start t-ball for the summer.  Jack plans to learn how to ride bike without training wheels this summer and also plans to use his sprinkler, slip-n-slide and water balloons a lot  :)  He also wants to get together with friends from school for play dates at the park, it's so cute how close he has gotten with friends from school this year.  Jack loves to be silly and goofy and I am going to try and soak up as much Jack time as I can this summer before he goes off to school five days a week in the fall.