The End and The Beginning

Summer vacation has come to an end and a new school year has begun. Needless to say I am super behind! I had some issues with blogger and couldn't log in but I've finally resolved it. So, let's pick up with the end of Ira's Kindergarten year!

I never thought I would be one to get emotional on the last day of school. I can't really put into words what I felt as I walked onto the campus to pick up Ira. Something about the din of children, parents, teachers and staff all calling out their good-byes really struck a chord with me. Seeing the office staff waving to a bus full of students as the bus driver honked his horn did it for me. The tears started coming. All I can say is I am grateful for sunglasses!

A few days earlier my son's teacher surprised me with the cutest gift. I haven't taken a picture of it, but she painted a large terra cotta pot. The pot is decorated with ladybugs created by the red thumb prints of the children in the class. SO thoughtful!

And here is Ira with her on that last day:
Ira is so cute. Can't you tell how much he loved her just from this one picture? It cracks me up every time I look at it!

Ira also gave his teacher a gift. I had him write her a note and included some chocolate chip cookies, permanent markers, and sharpened pencils. It was hard for Ira to grasp that he was not returning to Mrs. L's class in the fall (he didn't seem to catch on until a few weeks before starting the new school year).

Here's his little note:


And I made a decorated soap dispenser. I saw an idea for something similar on a blog and decided to try making one. First, I bought some soap from the Dollar Tree and then applied some cute stickers I found at Michael's. I finished it off with a few coats of Modge Podge and some twine and a little charm at the top. Now Ira's teacher can have her kindergartners wash their hands in style!


I'm grateful that Ira's first year of school was so positive and I'm grateful for teachers, like Mrs. L, who are committed to providing a fun learning environment for her students.

Memorial Day Fun

I actually wrote a post on Memorial Day some time ago, but somehow the file didn't save. I was a bit deflated by that and haven't written a post since. I guess I have finally gotten over it and figure it is time to get back to business before there is too much to post! Mark was off for Memorial Day so we decided to drive down to visit my sister and her husband and also visit the nearby Yucaipa Regional Park.

I thought I had seen all there was to see in Yucaipa. My grandmother lived there while I was growing up and we would visit almost monthly. My midwife for my second child also lived out there and I would drive down at least once a month for my appointments. So imagine my surprise when I saw a post on a friend's blog about Yucaipa Regional Park. I had NO idea it was out there. If I did, I would have been a frequent visitor!

The kids loved the water area. Ira and Emma splashed and had fun while Sean stayed on the sandy "beach" to dig (so far, he is not a water fan, but we hope to change that!). I was glad that even my mom was able to enjoy watching the kids from her own shaded spot in the grassy area.

Plus, the playgrounds are incredible. We are definitely planning on heading back to this fun park! :)

Here's Daddy with the little Seanster:

Isn't he the cutest?

I love Emma's cute sunglasses:

But I also have to add this picture of my blue-eyed girl!

Ira being a ham:

And here, splashing in the water:

Sean with my Mom:

Sean LOVED the little rock wall:

While Emma enjoyed the BIG one!Every once in a while I'll throw in a picture of me to prove I was there. :)

Hats on Parade

Evidently it is a kindergarten tradition at Ira's school to have a hat parade near the end of the school year. I thought it was a nice send off and not nearly as corny as a "kindergarten graduation" (sorry if I offended anyone, but really, kindergarten graduation?).

Ira was thrilled with this project, but to be honest, I was done with projects. I let him have his way with the red sand he found in the craft bin and printed some pictures of ... wait for it ... BAKUGAN, of course! (Although, since my in-laws baby-sat for us last Tuesday he has been talking all about Avatar the Last Airbender ?? Could this spell the end of his Bakugan obsession? And having never seen the show, should I hope that this will be his Bakugan replacement?)

While I muse over these questions, I'll let you enjoy Ira in all his Bakugan hat glory:


Here's a nice back view:

And one last shout out to my baby boy, having survived his first year of public school!

Really, my heart is so full of thanks for his amazing kindergarten teacher. She worked miracles with her class and with this particular boy. No person should be locked up with 32 five year olds, but she is no ordinary person! And Ira--he has come such a long way. We couldn't be happier or more proud of his accomplishments this year!

When I Woke Up This Morning...

Ira had already gone outside for a little adventuring before breakfast and school. He came rushing in to exclaim, "There are a hundred million bees in our apple tree!" Well, if you know Ira you know he can be a bit theatrical (understatement of the year, I know), so I let Mark check out the apple tree. I couldn't believe the pictures he returned with. This was our apple tree this morning:
Here's a nice close-up shot:
Mark called the pest control company we use and talked with their "bee man". He said that the bees were probably migrating and decided to use our apple tree to rest from their travels (lovely! of course they wanted OUR apple tree). If the bees hadn't left by a day or two we were to call the "bee man" back. Fortunately only a small handful of bees were on the tree tonight so, hopefully, we don't have to quarantine the kids from the backyard any longer.

Gettin' Crafty

As usual, I have been neglecting the blog. My only excuse is that I have been busy trying out a few crafty ideas. It all started with this:


A bracelet for my daughter. I had been curious about beading before, but after buying a small book on the subject I decided that it required too much stuff that I would have to buy. What if I didn't like doing it? So I put the book on a shelf to collect dust and went about my business. Then the RS had a class on beading. Too much fun! Stacey admitted that it might be just a tad addicting but she had some great tips on finding the best deals too!

So I began to bead. First for my daughter:


(with the exception of the far right necklace--that's a "boy" necklace for Ira).

And then for me:


Of course, I couldn't stop there. I decided it was time to make some cute clips for my daughter. For Christmas I got a bunch of cute bows off e-bay. Now it was time to get some flower power. Here are a few of the clips I've made this last month:


Just recently I have also decided to rearrange my great room. I'm loving the change. Ira came home to the new arrangement and exclaimed, "Mommy, you moved the furniture! It's so beautiful!" And I finally decided what to do with a beautiful framed picture Mark gave me for Christmas. So, I've been a little busy and maybe even a little crafty. Which is funny since I have never considered myself a crafty person--I figured my sister got the lion's share of the artistic talent--but it has been fun to keep my hands busy (if you don't count the garden which could probably use a good weeding :p).

Ira's Birthday Bash

Ira turned 6 at the beginning of April. To celebrate we threw a little birthday bash. We decided to rent an inflatable (after all that fun at Jumping Jacks). The pirate ship inflatable was SO fun! The kids had a blast climbing, sliding, and bouncing off the walls. We also got a motorcycle pinata so everyone had a bag of loot to take home. That morning Ira changed his mind about his birthday cake. The plan was to serve cupcakes, but he wanted a cake. To save myself some work I bought the cake when I bought the balloons and the added some Bakugan figures to it. Yes, Ira is still obsessed with Bakugan! Good thing too, since he got a TON of Bakugan stuff.

Make a wish!

Fun In The Pirate Ship

We never got a "before" picture of the pinata.


Score!

All in all, we had a lot of fun. And my little boy has grown up so much this year! He still has a wild imagination and tons of energy. But he has also matured. He is a sensitive and caring boy and I'm so grateful that he is my son!

Fun Day Trips

While Ira was out on spring break, I tried to take advantage of his time away from school to go on a few day trips. I planned the little trips while my niece would be out visiting her parents since it is more manageable with just my kids.

One day we decided to take the kids to see the Cabazon Dinosaurs. For those not familiar, there are two large (concrete?) dinosaurs looming over the 10 freeway as you head toward Palm Springs. The first is a "long neck" (love the Land Before Time reference which we've adopted) which houses a small gift store in its belly. The second is a T-Rex that boasts a great view out of its teeth to the cars below. In order to climb inside the T-Rex and to view the animatronic dinosaurs in the area's General Store you have to pay a small admission fee. Also included in the fee is an area to dig for stones with dinosaur names. If you find one, you can take it back to the general store for a tiny plastic dinosaur. There is also a sluice where you can "pan" for fossils. If you want to find anything more than little pebbles you have to buy bags of dirt at the general store. We bought a bag of dirt for $5 and I think it was worth it. The kids loved discovering the pretty stones. Unfortunately, Emma didn't quite understand the concept and after looking at her portion of the loot, dumped it back into the water. This caused Ira to go into a frenzy to recover the stones and he inadvertently knocked his straining board into the water as well. Thankfully we recovered all the large stones, but only after some diligent hunting.

Did I mention that I was the one who ended up looking for the stones in the "dino dig" area, or that the crushed marble gave everyone "ghost hands"?

For some reason I love this picture of Ira.

Here's the happy family (minus myself). Mark looks good in his Burger King crown. :)

Behind the T-Rex Teeth

For $2 you can take a ride on an animatronic dinosaur.

Loving EVERY Minute!

Best part of the trip, I had a good enough excuse to stop at the Outlets to do some quick shopping before dropping in on my sister around dinner time (thanks sis!). It was nice to get a chance to visit with my sister and the kids always like hanging out with Uncle Scott.

Another fun day trip was planned on a day Mark had to work so he wasn't able to come. I learned about Jumping Jacks from a fabulous book my mother-in-law bought (she later bought me a copy for my birthday so I would return the copy I had "borrowed" from her :p). It's a book all about fun places to go in Southern California with kids. Jumping Jacks is an indoor inflatable "park". It is only open to the public at certain times on certain days. The remaining time is reserved for parties. Ira and Emma were thrilled with all the fabulous jumpers. I had never seen such large inflatables! Emma did get a little hung up on one inflatable, but I was able to get her down and she had no trouble with a similar inflatable in another room (there are two very large rooms filled with inflatables). In each room there is a little toddler corner as well. Sean found the police car cozy coupe and went to town. He also had great fun pushing an infant walker around the two rooms (still not walking!). Of course we couldn't leave until I took Sean on several of the jumpers and down the fun slides. I had to get used to holding him and hiking up the walls, but it was well worth it!

Our little police man!

Isn't He Adorable?!

It was hard to get the kids to sit still long enough for a photo.

After Jumping Jack I treated us to Joe's Crab Shack nearby. The kids loved the dancing and the playground, I enjoyed the food. Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera to the restaurant so no pictures of the fun we had there. :( We'll just have to go back some other time.

Still to come... Ira's Birthday and Easter!

Returning to the Blog

So I have neglected this blog for far too long... Got a little caught up in the madness of our lives with 5 kids 5 and under and all that that situation has entailed. I wanted to write a few things I've noticed about my kids. You know, the fun stuff.

First, Sean is a hoot when it comes to shoes. He still is not walking, so I'm not talking about him trying on shoes... at least not in the usual way. Sean enjoys shoving his little hands into any pair of shoes he can find and then takes off! One Sunday I heard footsteps down the hall, only to discover Sean "wearing" my boots. Mark shot a little video of Sean with some hijacked shoes, haha!

Emma has always been a little goofy. My life could use a few good jokes so she has been a real treat. She is also a little sweetheart and definitely knows how to tug at the heartstrings. Her latest invention is to, when someone has tucked her in or said good-bye, say, "Come back! I have to tell you something!" Once you get close she whispers in your ear, "I love you!"

We love you too, Emma!

Ira is a real sweet heart. He is really sensitive to the feelings of others (perhaps because he is such a sensitive fellow himself). Ira's teacher commented on his report card that, "Ira always puts a smile on my face!" I think Ira's teacher is just one of Ira's new friends. Ira loves to make new friends.

Last weekend we drove up to Big Bear to go sledding. Another family with a little girl Ira's age was also sledding. They hit it off and the little girl and her family shared one of their inner tubes with our family (note to self: must buy inner tube sled). Mark was surprised when the wife told him how impressed she was with Ira. Ira had thanked her at least twice for sharing the inner tube and also told her how much he enjoyed making a new friend.

This is not the first time Ira has made impromptu friends on trips we have taken. On our trip to San Diego last month, Ira befriended a couple boys who were staying in the hotel room across from ours. And on a trip to Mission Viejo a few months ago, Ira made a friend at an awesome park we found. The mom was so impressed she wanted to set up a play date! I have always been more reserved (yes, even shy), so to see Ira happy to meet and make new friends makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. :)

Building a Snowman with New Friends!