May was social and sporty as we powered through the end of several activities and did a lot of celebrating...
Julia participated in the "Battle of the Books" this year and I got to watch the final showdown in the library, which consisted of many, many trivia questions from the books the kids had been reading all year. It came down to Julia's team and another going head to head for the victory and after lots of tie breaking rounds, it was declared...a tie. Proud of Julia for taking an active role in the competition and warming up to being a spokesperson for the team by the end.
Matt and I enjoyed a Kentucky Derby party on the 4th...fun to get dressed up. Allie and I went all over to thrift stores, Walmart, etc. drumming up an outfit for Matt and I enjoyed making my headpiece with flowers from the yard.
Dentist time for Allie! She was a dream, all smiles and cooperation, even for xrays. Hard to believe how she used to scream her head off here.
Exciting to see Joshua's lacrosse team sail to a victory in the conference championship. Joshua had been sick and wasn't up to his usual energy for the game, but still played well and a win sure put the smiles on his face. We celebrated with dinner at Nanny and Pa's after, but poor guy was so worn out and had lost his voice, so he was pretty droopy.
Field Day for Julia! Allie enjoyed playing in the puddles and Matt did a great job commanding the many sets of kids that hustled through our station. Had to get a pick of Julia at the plunger station next to us. She had a real concern that these were used plungers. :)
We got a visit from Mimi and GrandGene and enjoyed watching Gray's last lacrosse games on Saturday. He played awesome and his team did very well this season. We ended our night watching one of Allie's new favorite movies, the Rorlax (or Lorax for the rest of us). We had a nice breakfast for Mother's Day, though it took forever to cook because unbeknownst to us, our oven was going out. (Thankfully, Matt is handy and fixed it the next week!) So we missed Sunday School, but got pictures and headed to church.
I got to stand up a little more with each kid. :) We enjoyed a pizza lunch and I even got a nap, which is just about my favorite thing ever. Happy Mother's Day to me.
Julia had a "show off" day for parents to watch and she did great. She has made a ton of progress in these months of taking gymnastics. At this moment while I took her picture, she let me know that she would probably not be in the Olympics, but still plans to be on a college team. Unfortunately, these dreams do not jive with her having started her training at age 9. But never fear, she has other interests, which (after watching several Kung Fu Panda movies and a local skating competition) are now Kung Fu and ice skating.
Spring sports awards were so nice for the team since they had such a great season. Joshua also got a special award along with his friends here and got to sign this lacrosse stick along with winners from past years. He started out the season a little timid, but picked up confidence in no time and finished strong.
Here's Gray headed to his band concert to finish out the year. You can just barely get a hint of his Sky Zone American flag socks he picked with this outfit, but boy did they shine when he sat down. :) Speaking of shining, Gray really picked up the clarinet and though he didn't practice too often at home, he sounded very good by the end of the year. At the concert he performed with an ensemble of a few friends and did a great job. As I heard him tell his friends coming home from lacrosse practice one night, he just loves music, so I'm thankful he got to explore that side of himself this year. He plans to continue band next year too.
Here's a glimpse of Allie with her classmates in the Yellow Ducks this year. Towards the end, she started saying she didn't want to go to school, but now that it's over, she is always asking why she can't go!
And here are my cuties on the last week of school. They loved reading the Lorax and making these "truffula trees" afterwards. It was another great year for me and I continue to feel like I am doing what I was made to do.
Allie and I went to her class picnic after school. Here's her teacher giving out gifts and talking about the kids. She mentioned Allie being a good "mom" and great little builder.
I was thankful to be able to attend Emoni's graduation from high school. It was a thoughtful program and nice and short too! We all met back for dessert at Nanny and Pa's afterward.
Allie at our much anticipated Water Day on the last day of preschool. She had so much fun.
Lacrosse friends celebration at our house
Oh Julia and your faces!
Memorial Day with friends at our pool. This was our 4th "cookout" (well, leftover cookout) in a row this holiday weekend!!
We are getting ready for the beach! I tried out this tent I got with my teacher gift cards (thanks, Blue Dolphin families!) and the kids loved playing in it. Here's hoping it works well on the beach.
Julia was delighted to be invited to spend the afternoon at the Sportplex with one of her best friends Jenny. They got to ice skate AND swim and she had so much fun. She is one social girl, always ready for the next playdate and it's never enough.
Adoption families end of school year ice cream party at our house. It was pouring rain half the time, but the kids had a great time and of course us moms did too (though the husbands pointed out that we get this time to chat every Tuesday night as it is...whatever, we need it!!) I am thankful as always, that not only do we have these wonderful families to share life and adoption with, but they are our neighbors too.
Julia is delighted to be done with volleyball! Matt took her for "breakfast" after her last regular season game. I think she learned a lot and I know it was good for her to face her fears, though she didn't let me hear the end of her disdain at us making her persist when she hated it.
The school had sno cones for the kids last week and Allie and I went to help serve them. Here's Julia and Allie with Julia's teacher and a couple of good friends. Can't believe this year is nearly over, but here we are on the eve of our last day (plus a half day) of school! We can't wait to kick things off with a few days at the beach just the 6 of us...a first for us! Summer, here we come.
