The big boys' last day of school was a party for everyone! It's always the BEST feeling to have them home with me. They grew a lot this year, and learned a TON. Thank you to Mrs. Sheets, and Ms. Oncken for providing such a great year for Matix and Hawken.
Lullaby and Solace wanted in on the last day of school pictures too. Of course they did!
The Bachelorette premiere night was a GOOD one. Everyone dressed up like they would if they were contestants. It was really fun. There was way too much food and lots of laughs. I miss these girls.
Laurel even came (she hates the show, but came to hang out anyway). The baby she was holding got a little grabby... :)
There's always that one weirdo who wears something completely inappropriate on the Bachelor. I decided to be her. I wore a swimsuit. :) Ha ha.
The preschoolers had their end of year party and it was a fun one. The preschoolers showed their parents the books they had been working on ALL year, we watched our end of the year video, and ate LOTS of treats. It was a fun day for everyone. It was a really fun group of kids, and they all accomplished SO much.
I somehow didn't get a picture of Sofia in this graduation hat, but I know she was wearing it at some point...
The parents and grandparents were all very excited to look through the books and watch the video. It's one of my favorite things each year. I love bragging on all the kids and telling the adults something special about each and every child.
After the graduation and everyone was full of snacks, we went over to the splash pad and playground for one last hoorah there! It was flooded, but no one seemed to care. What a fun bunch! :)
Lullaby was a lucky girl to spend the year with this great group of friends. From a mom standpoint, I couldn't have hand picked a better group.
Thank heavens I have had lots of years of experience making buns. One of Lullaby's go-to-looks is a ballerina bun, but she often will only okay it AFTER seeing a profile picture of herself to make sure I did it just right. So funny.
Sadly, I couldn't go to New Zealand to see my best friend at her wedding. They HIKED up to the wedding spot, and in true Ashley fashion, she made the long hike in her dress. She's just awesome like that. This was one of the beautiful pictures she sent me of herself and Steve-o. So happy for them both, they are a perfect match!
The crossing guards that work for HISD are seriously hard workers. Especially during flooding season. This particular day, ours was up to his KNEES standing in the middle of the road, and the rain was still coming down.
We traded in our new car to get an older version of it (actually almost exactly the car we traded in a few years back... Good bye to The Silver Surfer (named by Hawken), we will not miss your almost $500/month payments. We bought our new (to us) car, Silverware (named by Lullaby), outright so no more payments for us. Thank goodness! They look identical, so there are no pictures of the new one we have now. :)
Hawken had his graduation ceremony from kindergarten and Paul was able to get off work to be there for it. He shook the principals hand and I was so excited for him. Afterward, they had a little award ceremony in each of the kindergarten classrooms. It was very sweet and thoughtful for Ms. Oncken to do for the kids (and parents) she was SUCH a rockstar teacher. Thanks for a wonderful year!
Sully entertained himself in the reading nook again. This was his favorite pot each time we visited Hawk in his classroom. :)
Ms. Oncken. World's best kinder teacher. She did great things for our sweet Hawken and we will always be thankful for her. :)
Pictures with a friend too. Hawken made some really nice friends in school.
Family pic. Matix was in school, so he missed out, but Hawke loves the special attention, and we were happy to oblige. He's a great person to celebrate.
This was hanging in the hall and I had to get a quick picture before we left. I love his school work.
Paul spends a lot of time with his bike. Riding it to work and fixing it. He's now teaching the big kids how to do it too. When Matix needed help with his bike, they took it apart together and Paul taught him all about it. It was cool to watch him passing on this skill. He's such a good dad.
I somehow missed posting this video of the preschoolers for Mother's Day, and their end of the year video. So here they both are. I had a great time with the preschoolers this year and have heard from ALL of them as they've started kindergarten. Some were excited, and some were nervous and needed a boost of confidence. :) Enjoy the videos!
This second part of our anniversary trip was FAR less eventful, in a good way. :) In the morning, Paul and I woke up early (not my original idea of fun, but it turned out great) and watched the sunrise. It was STUNNING. The pictures didn't do it justice. We watched a pod of dolphins swim and jump pretty close to shore and had the best time.
Later that morning, Brian and Mindy joined up with us and brought all the kids. It was SO much fun having them there with us. Seriously, they were the perfect family to do this trip with. And Paul planned it ALL. I was very impressed! We played at the beach and napped at the beach house. We found a jelly fish, had picnics, grilled out, stayed up way too late talking... The best trip. We love you Newell family!
Summer and Solace played a million games of hide and seek. Each time they hid in the same spot but were excited for the next round...
The kids all got along great, and slept in the same room. Mindy and I had to take turns to convince the kids to SLEEP, but eventually they did, and then Mindy and I stayed up and talked. It was a great (almost) last hoorah before we both moved from Texas.
Good-bye Galveston beach house! We had fun!
We are going to do this trip again someday, and we'll retake this picture. Such a great group, and so much fun.
