Celebrate!

On Sunday evening, we all celebrated Buddy's birthday with Uncle Pat, Aunt Teresa, and Grandma Jean.  They all arrived on Saturday afternoon from NC.  

Uncle Pat and Aunt Teresa are moving to Belgium next month for three years.  This was the last time we were going to see them before they head overseas. They were here from Saturday until early Monday morning. 

 Buddy and Sissy playing with the fire truck he received from his friend from preschool for his birthday.

 Jon grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for the big day. 

 Buddy's special birthday plate with all the foods he requested for his birthday dinner.

 All of us enjoying dinner together.

 Singing Happy Birthday to the birthday boy!

I made a cake that had powdered sugar on top, so when he blew out his candles, the powdered sugar went all over the table and flew up Buddy's nose!
(Note to self: not a good idea to put powdered sugar on a cake when you know somebody will be blowing out candles!)  :-)

 After eating our cake and ice cream, Buddy opened his gifts.  Grandma Jean read her card to him,

 then he opened his gift from her, with some help from Sissy.

 Next, he opened a gift from us.  It was a 'digger truck.' Something he had been asking for, for quite a while.

Sissy reading his card from Uncle Pat and Aunt Teresa to him.

 He also opened a gift from Aunt Debbie and Uncle Brady, a Star Wars lightsaber.

 Daddy showing Buddy how to use it

 Buddy with his daddy and Sissy

 All four of us

Here's a picture of the whole gang taken with a self timer feature on our camera. 

It was a fun celebration especially since Uncle Pat, Aunt Teresa, and Grandma Jean were able to join us for the festivities.  

Spiderman Bear

On Sunday, May 27th, Buddy and I went to Build-A-Bear Workshop as part of his birthday celebration.  We invited one of his good friends from preschool and his Mom to join us.

 Buddy with his finished bear.  He named him 'Spiderman Bear.' 

They both chose the same bear, a green camouflage bear. Buddy chose a SpiderMan outfit for his bear while his friend chose a policeman outfit.

After they were all done building their bears, we enjoyed some pretzels and lemonade.  Building bears is hard work, so we all needed a snack!  All four of us had a wonderful time together celebrating Buddy's birthday on Sunday afternoon.

5 Years Old!

Happy 5th Birthday, Buddy!  We are so thankful you are a part our family!

Buddy at 2 days old

Buddy was born at 3:53 PM on May 29th, 2007.  He weighed 9lbs. 1oz. and was 21 inches long.  The doctors induced me the day after Memorial Day, a week early.  Sissy was 9lbs. 5oz. when she was born, two days late, so I requested Buddy be induced.  Thankfully, they honored my request.

 Buddy a week ago at the Spider Web park.

I can't believe it's been five years since he was born.  The time has flown by!  We love you, Buddy, our Sissy adoring, macaroni and cheese loving, have to give you a hug whenever you leave, crazy eyes, fun loving, future 'worker man' (aka construction worker), little man!

 

Our family would not be the same without you!  Lord willing, we will be able to watch you grow and mature into the man you will one day become. 

Happy Birthday, Buddy!

A Morning at the Museum

On Friday, May 25th, I went with Sissy on her second field trip.  We went to the Museum of Natural History in downtown Washington, DC.

 I was in charge of these two girls, (A...) and Sissy! 

 As we got closer to the museum, we passed the White House, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Washington Monument.  The kids on the bus were so excited to see (and even clapped) when we went by each of these National landmarks.  Mrs. B (Sissy's teacher) was proud that they knew the name of each one. They had been studying them in school before we went on the field trip. 

This is what welcomed us when we walked into the museum... a big (not real) elephant!  We had two hours to explore and see as much as we could in that time.

 The girls checking out the coral reef.

 Some clown fish

and fish that looked like Dory from Finding Nemo

 Then, we saw the Hope Diamond

 We also saw a lot of skeletons of many different animals including dinosaurs, llamas, turtles, fish, snakes, monkeys, etc.

 and we saw some tarantulas! ...behind glass, thankfully!

 (A...) definitely kept me on my toes as she liked to wander off and explore on her own, often.  I just didn't want her to get lost or go with another adult, so I always had my eyes on her, making sure I knew where she was at all times!  She was a sweet little girl with a lot of energy!

 A view of the big elephant from the second floor.

 A skeleton of an ancient sea turtle

I had to get one more shot of the elephant before we left.  He was the first thing we saw when we arrived at the museum and the last thing we saw as we left.  It was a good meeting place for all the kindergarten classes to gather at the end of our time.  

There was so much to see and explore at this museum.  We weren't able to see everything in the two hours we were given, but had a great time exploring the things we did see.  I was worn out when we arrived back at the school, but was so glad to have gone and spent my morning with these two sweet girls at the Museum of Natural History!

Lucy Fei

This past Monday, May 21st, a new member was added to our extended family.  My sister, Laura, and her husband, Jason, adopted a little girl from China named Lucy Fei.  We are so excited for them and cannot wait to meet Lucy in person.

 This is the moment they placed Lucy in my sister's arms for the very first time!

 Lucy was not sure about my sister intially and Laura was overwhelmed with emotion as well!

Lucy with her daddy.
 At this point, only a few days after meeting each other, Lucy has bonded with Jason a little bit more than Laura, but they are prepared for a period of transition for all of them.

She is so precious

Lucy will have two brothers and a sister to welcome her home when they arrive back in Minnesota in June.

  

Their blog is thesolideogloriatimes.blogspot.com  

Laura has been faithfully updating it each day so we can know how to pray for them and see how Lucy is adjusting to being a part of her forever family!
Welcome to the family, Lucy!  We love you!

Goodbye to Preschool

Our preschooler officially graduated today!

 Today was his last day of school and the parents were invited to come for the last hour for a parents program.  During the program, the kids sang a few songs that they had been practicing the last several days, said the days of the week, and the months of the year.  The teachers also said how proud they were to have such a great class this year.

 This is Mrs. Yazurlo with Buddy.  She was the 'head' teacher and was wonderful.

 This is Mrs. Bahls with Buddy.  She was also great and was the assistant teacher.  They both shed a few tears today because they are going to miss the kids.

After the program, we all enjoyed cookies, brownies, rice krispie treats, and lemonade.  Jon and I had a good time spending part of the morning with Buddy at his last day of preschool.

We are so proud of our little man and can't believe our youngest will be in Kindergarten next year!

Sparks Ceremony and Carnival

On Saturday, May 19th, we went to the AWANA end of the year awards ceremony at church.  This ceremony included all the kids who participated in AWANA besides the Cubbies.   

 Our Sweetheart completed her first year as a Spark.

 Miss Beth, second from the left, was her small group leader this year.  Sissy received a ribbon showing she completed her first year book in Sparks.

 After the ceremony, we all headed outside to a carnival the leaders had set up for the kids.  The munchkins had such a great time and we had great weather to be outside.  

They had a moon bounce...

 Sissy and Buddy loved playing inside...

 They also had a cupcake walk and several other fun games to play.

They also had a 'store' that the kids could purchase items with their AWANA bucks they had received by playing games at the carnival and the bucks they had received throughout the year in Sparks.  Sissy bought some rings and bracelets along with other items.  

We all had a fun day at the ceremony and especially at the carnival.