Fire Pit Progress

The fire pit is coming along....

 

We debated over a second set of stairs, which we decided against, then changed our minds.

David is now working on getting those in, and we may be completely done with it very soon.

The good thing is, we're still able to use it while we work on completing it.  It will be nice to finally have it done, though.  

Shadow Art

A butterfly...

Toothless Swimmer

The girls started the next session of swim lessons today.  Kendall loved being challenged more, and looked so darn cute in these yellow goggles and her toothless smile!

Easter Sunday

It was a cold and windy Easter Day.  I volunteered at church, and realized I should have paid more attention to the forecast a little too late.  Such a turn from our beautiful sunny and 65 degree day yesterday.  Had I paid attention I would have grabbed my parka!  Brrr....

We had a lovely morning at church, which was packed, and the kids had fun with the annual church egg hunt. 

We arrived back home to find our yard ready for another egg hunt!  Thanks Grandpa Bill!

Karen and Melanie joined us as well, and we enjoyed a pretty laid back day together. 

The kids decided to go out for the egg hunt right as it started raining/hailing - good timing.  I opted inside, which means I didn't get many pictures.

The crew looked pretty spiffy in their Easter best, then got super silly!

Grandma Karen made this awesome carrot cake!  So fun!

Bill brought up this AMAZING tanner crab.  David threw it on the grill was his delicious garlic butter and we had and awesome feast.  Yum! 

Little League 2016: White Sox vs. Giants

First game of the season!  We were spoiled rotten with loads of sunshine and a not so early start time.

Ryan's team is the White Sox, he wears #11, has the best coaches, and he's so happy to be playing ball again.

There was a little whining from the girls about heading to watch the game, but they quickly found things to do - like pick dandelions and put them in their hair!

Ryan had a good game with a few hits, I think, and fielded the ball well.  They won the game 10-3 (or something like that).  I'm not yet back into baseball mode myself.  I'll get there soon, I'm sure.

School Year Progress

The kids 2nd trimester report cards came out today.  Both Kendall and Ryan are doing great in school, and most importantly they LOVE to go to school.  

They both had great marks on their report cards, which makes this mama so proud.

Kendall's teacher wrote the following comments about Kendall:

Kendall is just a delight! She is a very conscientious, focused, hard working student & a kind friend. Kendall is a gentle leader in class, motivating others to do their best!  I am so proud of Kendall! She continues to be a positive force in our classroom. Her kindness & patience make her a strong reading/math partner. She is able to bring out the best in others.

Oh my goodness.  These words brought me to tears, and probably will every time I read them.  We've always known Kendall is one special kid, but it makes me so happy she is shining her light in the world.  I love that her teacher shared these wonderful words with us.

Mountainside Easter Hat Parade

Natalie's school had their Easter hat parade today. 

It's such a fun event for the kids.  The staff does such a great job pulling it off.

Natalie was so shy again this year.  It's like she turns into a different kid in front of all those parents.  Poor thing.  

 

 

Toothless

Finally! Kendall has been walking around with a snaggle tooth for quite awhile.

In a accidental trampoline incident - Ryan bumping into Kendall - the tooth finally came out!  Yay!  It was all very exciting.

The Leprechaun's Escaped

Unfortunately, the kids weren't able to trap the leprechauns again this year but they sure had fun trying.  Kendall was adamant that we did not speak the work TRAP outloud, and call it just "T" instead.  Ha!  She heard from her teacher that the leprechauns would not come if they heard the word trap!

The leprechauns left a huge mess on St. Patrick's Day and silly notes for the kids.  They loved it!

Kendall's drawings are the best.

We love those silly leprechauns.

Swimming Duo

These two.  I love watching them swim!  This is their final lesson together.  Kendall will move into a class that is more challenging next session.

Fun with Friends

The kids spent the day with the Shafers, and had an awesome time.

Science Fair 2016

Not only did Ryan decide to do a Science Fair project this year, his crazy mom decided to Chair the darn event.  I'm not sure what I was thinking, but if someone didn't step up to Chair it, it would have been cancelled.  I didn't want to see that happen, so decided to just go for it.

Overall, it was a great experience for both Ryan and I.  He had fun testing out bats!  Of course this kid would pick a project that had something to do with baseball.  Ryan, David and Ryan's bud Eli had fun collecting the data and discussing the results.

I enjoyed getting to know more people involved with the PTA, but felt I bit off a little more than I intended too!  Ha!  It all went fine, and it turned out to be a fun event 

It also happened to be the same week as David's big work test so it was a really crazy, stressful week but we all survived and showed ourselves that we can do hard things.  We were sure happy when the week was over, though!

Monkeying Around

This girl loves the monkey bars, and she's soooo good!  I love watching her monkey around!

When I am 100

Kendall's class did the cutest project on the 100th day of school.  I was there to help make the cute faces but never saw the end result until I was walking through the hall one day.

Here is Kendall's finished masterpiece:

When she is 100 she plans to "go to Hoowiiy and go sweyn weth a soof bood".

Translastion:  Go to Hawaii and swim with a surf board.

OMG.  Cutest 100 year old ever!  I can't tell you how much I love this.  

The Rock and Gem Show

After baseball we zipped into Issaquah for the Rock and Gem Show.  Kendall's teacher was having a meet-up, and we had to make it!  It was super fun, and Kendall loved seeing her teacher and friends so much.  Maybe not as much as Natalie who would not let Mrs. Kardong out of her sight....ha!

Baseball is Back

Baseball is in full swing!

Ryan had his first Little League practice this weekend and we kicked it off by having donuts!  He's super excited to be back at it, and landed on a fun team with quite a few people he knows.

David was out of town for the weekend, so 4 of us had to be up and at it super early to get him to practice on time.  Donuts were a good bribe to get us all going.

We spent Sunday morning playing/watching baseball too.  Ryan's Liberty team had a 4 hour scrimmage. The weather was hit and miss, but thankfully our church was pretty close to the field so the girls and I were able get out of the rain for a bit to enjoy the service.  When we got back the sun was shining and we were able to watch Ryan catch and pitch.  It was great to see him back in action.

Lego Lovers

I love that they love to build and create with Legos!

Reader

Kendall has really gotten into reading.  She's working so hard to build her stamina.  She's doing so awesome!

Ryan is Awesome

Ha!  I love when I find stuff like this lying around the house.