shopping

Whole Foods is right near Matix's school, so sometimes after we pick him up, we go there to pick up some things we need, and of course use their tiny grocery carts. The kids LOVE shopping with these carts. Plus the kids club there gives out free apples, bananas, oranges, pears, and small bags of graham crackers (they choose one). Can't beat fun AND free, right? :)

baby backpack

One of Lullaby's birthday gifts was this baby backpack. She LOVES it. Thank you Grandma Kim! She wears it everywhere she goes. 

Her shoes are her new dress up Elsa shoes from Grandpa Chuck, thanks Grandpa! Also, in this picture I caught her doing her sucky face. She sucks her tongue? soft palette? something. It looks like she is a baby, sleepily dreaming of sucking on their pacifier. Only she does it to put herself to sleep, or to soothe herself when she is getting tired. It's so funny. She also loves baby dolls with plastic arms and legs and runs them between her fingers as she falls asleep too.

ymca open gym

The YMCA has a "Mommy and Me" class, like open gym.  We've only been twice, but the kids love it. They got to run and play and act as wild as they wanted to. Plus it is a nice reward after having to stay in the ever torturous KidZone...

tired

After a loooong day of running and chasing, we came home and I started doing laundry. Solace, who was happily sitting and "helping" passed out while I was folding. Fourth child problems...

pony party sneak peek

Lullaby had her pony party today. It was her "favoritest, happiest, best party ever". Her friends came and played and ate treats and sang happy birthday to her. It was a good day. More pictures to come, but I had to post this... It's SO Lullaby. We love our princess baby.

big boy

Here he is, my big 6 year old, who now wants to be dropped off EVERY day at the gates, so he can walk in by himself... I wasn't sure at first, but he is so confident that he can take care of himself, and so proud, that I have to let him. I don't cry anymore either, but I still ache for him when he's not here. It's just not the same.

He really wants to ride the school bus too, but I am not comfortable with that until he and Hawken can ride together. There have been some really horrific things happening on buses to people we know and love, and are not willing to chance it until we have that buddy system in place. 

sunglasses

Solace loves to wear things on his head and things on his face. It's so strange. Here he is trying on sunglasses with Hawk... Hawken is Solace's biggest helper, and he was making sure Sully didn't poke himself in the eye.

dance studio help!

My sister Holly has a dance studio in need of repairs. It was already in disrepair, needing new floors, drywall and paint on some walls... The mirrors weren't hung yet, and now with all the rain, they flooded. Holly bartered with a local school to use their basement (in exchange for her doing the school's snow removal in the winter - which doesn't sound like a fair trade since they live in Wisconsin). So temporarily, she will be teaching dance classes in the basement of an old school, while her mounting damages in her studio building loom over her head. I made a GoFundMe page for her, and hope that she will be able to raise enough money to make the necessary repairs to continue helping her community in providing dance education. Click here to go to the page, and PLEASE consider donating, even a little. Thanks!

potato head family

This is our family, as perceived by Hawken... This potato head family portrait is my favorite so far. Left to right is Hawken, Lullaby, Solace, Matix, Paul and myself. Adorable, right?

Hawken's voice

Hawken makes this hilarious voice whenever we are playing different roles. This time we were at the Children's Museum and he was the cashier. So funny. I love this guy!

lunch

I miss Matix everyday. I still HATE him being gone at Kindergarten. For the last 6 years, he's been by my side and now I have to share him with someone ELSE? It doesn't seem fair. So when I found out that we could visit him at school for lunch, I said, YES PLEASE! :) So that's what we did. We can't do it everyday, since Hawken has preschool three days a week, but it sure was nice to see him!  His reaction upon getting into the cafeteria and seeing all of us there, was priceless. Hawken and Lullaby brought their own lunches and got to sit with all the big kindergarteners and they loved it!

Secrets only a brother can hear...

And I loved spending time with the cutest, sweetest, smartest, most wonderful kindergartener! Love you Matix man!

When lunch was over, we left. Matix was so glad we got to come see him, and so were we. Then poor Lullaby had a meltdown. She was completely distraught that we were LEAVING Matix there! She cried the whole way home, and in her bed until she fell asleep. She was SUPER excited though when I woke her up from naps to leave and get Matix. She loves her brother so much.

Sully at the museum

Solace has been interested in participating in things at the Children's Museum lately, and I love seeing his little personality show.  He painted this picture sitting on my lap. It belongs in a frame. I love it.

Coloring with Daddy. So so so cute.

Playing with his favorite thing, balls. Ball was his first word, and continues to be a favorite.

Brian's party

Brian turned 30! We went to his super fun party (thrown by the queen of parties, Mindy). I took lots of video, but only two pictures. My camera lens was broken, so the first image is blurry. Sorry Mindy. :( There were games like raw egg roulette, and water war... Seriously, so fun. Happy birthday Brian!

Paul cut his head with his egg. Yikes! He didn't win.  And poor Sully was scared to death. You can see it in the movie. Watch and enjoy.

Spring skate park

We went to Spring to try out the new skatepark there. It is the largest in the nation, and second largest in the world. It was MASSIVE. Tons of area, lots of things to do tricks on, the boys were in heaven. I tried out my new zoom lens, which was perfect for that, because the kids didn't stay close. The grainier pictures are from my phone. They had to sign waivers and wear helmets, which was interesting, but cute watching them sign their names.  And off they went!  They usually try things out sitting on their boards first, and then stand up when they're comfortable. They are getting really good.

There was a park there too, so while Paul and the big boys were skating, Lullaby and Solace and I played. It was an okay play area. I wish they would have had a world class playground to go with their world class skatepark, but no. It was just mediocre.

By the time we left, everyone, especially Matix and Hawken, was dripping with sweat. I love these little skater boys of mine.

It was too long of a drive for just the skate park, so next we'll just go to the one closer. But the kids all had fun, and Paul loved watching his boys learning to skate. They so idealize their dad, and I like that he can see it sometimes. :)