Leonard's Grant Fun Run

 Saturday of Memorial Weekend was a fun weekend in the neighborhood.  A couple gals organized a fun run for the kids to run around "the green" in the middle of the neighborhood.  The kids could choose to run once or twice around.  They all got a medal for finishing :)

 Harrison in action! Totally concentrating! :)  He can't even look at the camera :)

 Aedan enjoying his leisurely run around the green.  He took time to smile at the camera :) The Mayor of Leonardtown even came to start the kids off!  (below).  We also had a 5k run through the neighborhood after the kids fun run.  Below is a picture of a few friends from church that came out that day to run the race.  It was such a fun time!  The 5k costed $15 and the money went to our local fire department.  They came out to the neighborhood with their truck and let kids come in.  They raised their ladder too.  I had no idea how big that ladder gets!  I got dizzy looking at how high it went!  Keean loved it!  

 And, of course, the day would not be complete without our first swim of the season!  Bring on the summer fun!

preschool graduation

 Our Little Graduate!  (and Liz's little graduate in the background! :)

 Part of the graduation program was showing us all of their signs they learned.  This sign in the picture is "spider".  They always were doing songs and other poems with signs  This was one of Irelalnd's favorite parts of preschool.

The "little seedlings" grew over the school year into beautiful flowers!.  What a cute cake!

water day at little seedlings preschool

 The teachers got the kids involved in washing all the toys they use in the classroom!  They didn't even know they were doing chores.  They had so much fun washing and rinsing the dishes!

Ireland in action at the slip-n-slide!

Field Trips

Well today was very busy because both Harrison and Keean had a field trip and they each wanted us to go with them.  Keean's class took the bus up to the National Zoo up in Washington D.C. The zoo is free, but it does cost money to park.  Me and a friend drove up with Ireland and her little boy and met the kids at the zoo.  Keean was sooo excited for this day to come.  He loved it, but didn't get to see one of his favorite animals...the otters :(  I guess we are going to have to go up as a family to see what we didn't get to see the first time.  Harrison's class has been learning about cultures so his class went to a Japanese steak house for lunch to taste what other cultures eat.  Jamie met Harrison there at the restaurant and was able to eat with him.  They gave the kids chopsticks to attempt to eat with them.  Harrison, again, loves food, so this was a great field trip for him!  Well, I think he loves everything...:)  except chores :)  i know he does not like chores! :)

Fathers and sons campout

All the boys (and the girls :)) look forward to this weekend all year.  The kids love getting together to play games and roast marshmallows.  As you can see from Harrison's plate Harrison also loves eating!  He had a huge stack of pancakes, sausage and, well, i don't know what else!  Jamie made him eat everything on his plate :)  Needless to say Harrison did not eat for quite some time after he came home from camping :)  Mom took Ireland and one of her friends to McDonald's for dinner and a late night play date.

Piano Recital time again!

The kids are now getting used to doing their piano recitals and don't seem to be quite as nervous doing their songs.  We did is at a baptist church just up the street and it turned out really well!  The kids were very tempted to play all the other instruments they had on the stage like the guitar and drums but we told them it was only a piano recital :)  maybe next time ey?  I did the recital with a friend of mine from church, Johnna Nelson.  She has about 20 students and i have oh, about....8 :)  We had a really great time.  It was a fun recital, one of the many events that happens towards the end of the school year :)  I'm proud of my boys and their musical talent.  It won't be long before Ireland will be joining them on stage!

Backyard Makeover

Last fall we did makeovers for the kids' bedrooms. This Spring our backyard is getting work done. We decided to take up over 440 square feet of grass so we could extend our patio, add a pathway to the basement stairs, and add a fire pit for the kids! :) It has been a lot of work and we hope to complete the project by the time we leave for Utah.



The boys trying to help get up the dirt! Their energy last about 30 minutes or when the sun came out.


Here is a view with all the grass removed. To be continued.....




My plans of what it will look like when I am finished! Except I plan to add a Pergola as well.



With all the extra dirt we had to remove, we added a raised garden in the backyard. We are attempting it for the first time with kids. Let's hope we get something from it: Either vegetables or a good work ethic! Ireland loves the idea of watering it each day!

Our Blackbelt in Karate

I know, you're thinking when did Harrison start taking Karate!?  Well it has only been for this school year but my has he excelled!  We didn't know he had it in him :)  All of his many hours of practice finally paid off!  He is now a blackbelt in recorder karate!  A lot of painful listening on our part.  We would wake up to the bugle call and get serenaded at night with the wonderful sounds of the recorder:  hot cross buns, ode to joy, when the saints go marching in (just to name a few! )  The third grade had their recorder concert and all the green belts stood up on stage to do a song together, then all the blues, purples and so on.  Then they called the blackbelts....and ....Harrison was the only one! :)  so he played a solo for everyone and did a great job.  I'm so proud of my blackbelt son! :)

Mother's day breakfast!

It has become a wonderful tradition (as i am sure with many others)  to get breakfast in bed on Mother's day.  Well this year was no exception.  Jamie got up with the kids at 7 am.  I was up too but I stayed "in bed".  It was so great to hear them all being very quiet and working together getting breakfast ready.  The kids told Jamie they wanted my breakfast to look like me!  Well....I didn't think I looked good enough to eat, but apparently the kids did! :)  So creative!  The kids all gave me their cards.  They also gave me packets of seeds to go in my new garden!  yea!  Thank You Jamie!  I love mother's day because they make things from their hearts.  I truly am thankful that I can be a mom and a wife :)  It is one of the hardest jobs, but absolutely the most rewarding.  I love my kids and husband and I thank my heavenly father that he has blessed me with all that i have.

Mother's Day tea

Ireland's' preschool set up a "mother's day tea" for all the kids and their moms.  The kids prepared a lot of the foods!  They made freezer jam from strawberries picked at the field trip, fruit kabobs, little individual sized pudding pies.  We also had little quiches and, of course, chicken nuggets! :)  They also gave us a little plant and a couple of art projects.  They also put on a program for us of singing and signing!  What a fun afternoon.  Ireland was so secretive about all of this too.  I didn't know what to expect so all of it was a fun surprise!  Thank you Ireland!

Canoeing

        Aedan's 5th grade class was able to go on an environmental field trip to Sotterly plantation.  Here they were able to learn about canoeing, water safety and animals local to the area.  They shared one story of a bald eagle's nest that has been at the lake in one of the trees for over 20 years.  The bald eagles mate for life so these two eagles had stayed in the same tree. It withstood a couple of hurricane's and after this last hurricane in September Their next blew down again.  The guides told the kids they suspected momma eagle had had enough and told papa eagle "we're moving!" So they moved their nest from a tree right by the water to about 50 yards back more into the woods and a little more sheltered :)  What a cute story :)
          I couldn't take pictures while we were canoeing for fear that we would tip over! :)  I sat in the middle and Aedan was in the front and another friend in the back.  They encouraged us to not paddle so they could work together at getting their directions right.  They had some obstacles set up for us and we had to maneuver the boat through the obstacles.  We got some of them, but definitely not all.  We will definitely need to go a few more times to get the hang of controlling the boat.  Aedan LOVED being in the boat and  going around the creek.  It opened up to the potomac so that was our boundary...no going in the potomac.   He just loves anything to do with the water, beach, or nature!  He was in his element.  Even though we weren't any good at canoeing he didn't care.  I love that!  Makes me realize that even if you're not great at something but you love doing it, it is worthwhile.  On the other side, we might be great at other things and not really enjoy them.  Is it still worthwhile to do then?  Hmmm

Cinco de Mayo!

This was our Cinco de Mayo street party!  We had it halfway down the street so that everyone could meet at the middle.  We didn't want anyone traveling too far....:) This wasn't even all the kids.  Some of them were in the backyard playing games.  Some of the neighbors pitched in and got a piñata for the kids and filled it with awesome goods!  It was fun visiting with each other and letting the kids just run around :)

Comfort Berry Farm

Ireland's preschool class went to a local strawberry farm for a field trip.  The farm was so fun.  The kids loved picking the berries and there was a big playground, a hay bale maze they could ride tricycles through, a sandbox, and, ireland's favorite, the barrel horse!  Such a fun day!  They also had animals there to pet:  goats, chicken, pigs, and cows!  Such a fun, beautiful day!

Harrison's 9th Birthday Party

Today Harrison celebrated his 9th Birthday with a Beach/water Party. We had it at our house with 12 of his church & neighborhood friends. The only people missing were Gabe & Mason from Ohio & his cousins the Messerlys in Utah.



The whole Gang after the party!




Harrison requested Pizza & all you can eat Ice Cream for his party. 12 kids can sure eat a lot of vanilla & chocolate ice cream.




The best part of any party- opening gifts. His friends sure spoiled him this year!!

Happy 9th Birthday Harrison!

In keeping with our tradition this last year we took Harrison to Red Robin for dinner.  He really could care less about the dinner.  What he really wanted was for the workers to come sing Happy Birthday and give him a free ice cream sundae!  I don't think the workers were as enthused as Harrison was to hear the song sung for him! :)  He loved every bite, i think.  It was gone so fast that i am not sure he tasted it!  We love you Harrison and hope you had a great day!  We look forward to his party on Saturday!

Ireland's first wedding!

I never thought her first wedding would be when she was five, but her preschool had a wedding last week and Ireland was invited to attend.  The letters Q and U were getting married!  She was letter Y and they had a great time!  They baked cakes earlier in the week for the festivities too!  Music was played and they all get dressed up!  I don't think she'll ever forget that Q and U are ALWAYS together :)  What a fun object lesson :)!

Yard Work!

Jamie and I were pleasantly surprised to see the enthusiasm the kids had in planting some bushes and spreading mulch in the yard.  They worked well together!  Aedan and Harrison had to dig some pretty big holes to get these bushes in and Keean and Ireland followed behind and planted them.  They loved it.  OK what project can we come up with next!?  Either the garden or a patio!  Bring it on!

Another "Citizen of the Month"!

Aedan was chosen in April to be citizen of the month!  Although Aedan doesn't like attention drawn to him, I think he was secretly excited that he got chosen.....or maybe he was happy just because he got to get out of school an hour early! :)  Way to go Aedan!  I am soo proud of you! :)