last day of school

i only got 1 picture with a teacher today on this last day of school.
and lucky it was ella because she is a little emotional about leaving her beloved 1st grade teacher.
she is amazing, and ella has had a wonderful year.

 we had a little swim party at our house after school.
each of the kids invited a few friends, minus andrew who went out with some friends in his class.

 so we had a bunch of 5th grade boys and a bunch of 1st grade girls and some very sweet moms.
oh and some kindergarten boys and little siblings too.
pizza and popsicles, swimming, basketball, baseball, playing in our front tree and just hangin' out.
they pretty much did it all.

 the big boys played basketball, baseball, swam and then a little video gaming.
john-john wanted to do one car race before his nap.
it was pretty cute when christopher said 'ok, john remember how we do it', and they got in position...

 and it makes me happy that these 5th graders still hang out and set up legos together too...

it was a nice change of pace from going to peter piper (a birthday party last saturday at chuckie cheese was enough for me to last for quite awhile)

and it was a good way celebrate the last day of school.

next on the agenda is christopher's championship baseball game tonight.
remember his team won the basketball championship this year?
well his baseball team has now made it to the finals too.
i'll report the results next week.
go d-backs and welcome summer!!

here's to the weekend

we'll be having one of those crazy non-stop weekends filled with baseball games, baseball parties, birthday parties, baby shower...just one of the many busy may weekends.

all happy occasions so we can't complain.  

we are thankful for good times and great friends & family.

here's to a wonderful fun-filled weekend...

little inventor

john john came up with this little invention recently...

his own version of a water bottle:  water in a ziploc bag closed on both sides of a straw.

he came up with this completely on his own and had been asking for a few days if he could put water in a bag before i let him.
i didn't know he had this planned out already in his head.
he knew exactly what he was going to do.
he even took his little water bottle invention in the car when we went out one day and it never even spilled.
this boy sure entertains us. daily.  and we just love it.

buddies

1st graders are partnered up with 8th graders for the year.
they call them their 'buddies'.
last week was the 1st grade/8th grade breakfast.

ella was so excited for it.
for like weeks, she just couldn't wait for it...anticipating how fun it was going to be.
first they went to mass with their buddies.
ella and her buddy, hannah (pictured above), were one of 5 pairs chosen to sing in the choir for mass.
ella was thrilled they got picked.
then they headed to the cafeteria for their special breakfast.

the first grade parents put this on for the 8th graders as a pre-graduation treat.
the first graders give the 8th graders a little graduation gift and the 8th graders made books for the first graders.

ella's buddy and her mom tell me how quiet ella is...if they could only see her at home!
the night before she said,
'mom, should i tell my buddy that we live right by her grandparents and the high school she's going to?'
'sure', i said.
'which should i say first, the grandparents or the high school?  and what if i forget?  maybe i should write it down on notecards so i don't forget.'
ha!  that was so cute and funny we both started laughing!
they had a great day and again we are so thankful for these fun events the kids have at their school.

spring band concert

was last monday night...

christopher continues to be a wonderful example of making a commitment and sticking to it.

he has to get to school early one day a week.

that means leave the house at 7:00 am.

he has not missed once this year.

there were a few nights that he was up late doing homework, a project, or studying and i told him he could sleep in the next morning and skip band.

but every time he said, 'no, mom.  i'm not going to miss, i'm going to get up for band.'

i'm sure proud of him and his responsible decisions.

he did a great job playing 'stand by me'....

and his class sang 'firework'.  

some of the girls signed the song.  that was pretty neat to watch.

andrew's class sang too.

they always have a fun little reception afterwards.

christopher really enjoys his band/music teacher.  and we are thankful he has this opportunity in his school day.  hopefully next year andrew will join beginning band and play an instrument too.

she's always creating

that daughter of mine.  found this left in the kitchen on a recent morning...

and it just made me smile.
i love that she is always sitting at the bar with paper, scissors and drawing utensils and creating whatever comes to her at that moment.

scenes from andrew's first communion & confirmation

truly blessed

on this mother's day i feel so blessed to have two wonderful role models of amazing mothers.
what would i do without my awesome mom?
she is always there for me... she is everything a daughter could want in a mother...a listening ear, a helping hand, a source of knowledge and comfort.

and i couldn't have hand picked a better mother-in-law... so giving and generous and such a fun loving grandmother to our children.

  i am so truly blessed to be the mother of my four wonderful children.  i am so proud to be called their mother and hope to be as good of a mother to them as my mother and mother-in-law are to me.  they are the best gift i could ever receive and i am truly thankful to call these precious kids mine.

hope all mothers had a lovely day.  i know i did.