Happy Birthday Grammy

Earlier this month we headed to Massillon to celebrate my Grandma's 83rd birthday. We had a cook out at her house with family and close friends. The day started out rainy and dreary. But the day ended with sunshine. The kids were soaking wet and covered in mud, but they had a blast. It reminded me of when my brother and I were kids and we would have family gatherings. We could entertain ourselves outside for hours with very little. I hadn't seen my grandma that happy in a long time. I know it gave her a lot of joy to have her family around her. It meant a lot to me too. I enjoyed being with my brother. I hope for more times like that. Quality family time together is so important. Life's too short. We gave my grandma a special musical jewelry box. It was significant because she has lots of jewelry and I used to love to look through all of it with her when I was a kid. Now my own daughters love to do the same thing with her. It was a bitter sweet day because my grandpa wasn't there to celebrate with us. But he was their in our hearts and in spirit. I am so grateful for all of the special memories I have of him and for the ones my own children are making now with our family and friends that mean so much.

Memorial Day

We spent a good part of the holiday weekend working in the yard. It is such a huge job, but well worth it in the end. I was getting over a sinus infection, so Duane got stuck with the prep work. I hate pulling weeds! He cleaned the gutters out too. Poor guy:( The yard looks great and ready for summer. I am ready to spend lots of time out there. We finally had a warm, sunny day so we got the slip and slide out for the girls. They all three had a blast. Mallory laughed hysterically every time one of her sisters zoomed past. On Memorial Day we went to Delco Park in Kettering. Duane and Madison went on the dirt bike track. She had been anxiously awaiting this trip for weeks. Molly rode her bike around the pond while I pushed Mallory in the stroller. Duane played with the girls at the play ground for awhile so I could sneak in a brief walk. Later that day I stayed home so Mallory could nap and Duane took the two older girls to the pool. Another trip that was anxiously waited. I'm sure the water was a little on the chilly side, but the kids never seem to mind that much. We ended the day with a cook out. I appreciated having three daughters so much that day when I reminded myself of all of the mother who have said goodbye to their sons fighting over seas. I just can't image what they go through. I pray for their safe return and for peace for the families and the ones who don't come home. We are blessed to be here each day.

Ice Cream Social

A few Sunday's ago we went to our last family function at Primary Village North for Madison. They had an ice cream social. All of the students had the opportunity to make a garden stone with their name and hand print to commemorate being part of one of the first classes at Primary Village North. Until this year it was called Centerville Kindergarten Village. Now there are two K-1 buildings in Centerville. I thought the garden stones were a wonderful idea. Now we can look for Madison's stone when return with Molly and Mallory over the years. I have been really impressed with the school functions over the past two years. There is so much parent support and collaborative planning and effort that goes into these special days. The kids had the opportunity to do experiments and projects and make crafts. It was all academic based and fun. They had a local meteorologist their to do some experiments with the kids. He showed them how to make home made bubbles. Molly was so into it! It is such a wonderful place for kids. You can tell by walking up and down the halls that they really take ownership in their school.

Pen Pals

A few months ago I asked Madison's teacher if our classes could be pen pals. She liked the idea so we have been writing back and forth over the past few months. I had my class draw names and we sent the first letters. Since I have helped out in Madison's class this year, I was pretty familiar with the kids in her class. I couldn't believe how some of the kids matched up! This past week our classes met up at Stubb's Park in Centerville for a picnic so that they could all see their pen pals in person. I was a little anxious (surprise, surprise:) because I have a very rambunctious class this year. They can be challenging to control, especially when they are out of their element. But I was relieved that they were pretty well behaved. I had a few parent chaperons so it was also a little pressure having a few of my student's parents see how my own child behaved. Luckily, Madison did well to. Of course she gravitated to the active boys in my class. We are so focused on academics all the time in school. It was great to just let the kids be kids and play at the park. We started with lunch, then the kids played on the playground. We brought bubbles, balls, jump ropes and side walk chalk. We ended with a couple of rounds of tug-o-war. Madison's class won both times! It was a lot of fun. The kids intermixed so well and everyone had a great time. Hopefully down the road I can do the same thing with Molly and Mallory's first grade classes.

Brownies

Madison had her last Brownie meeting for this year. She was very excited to earn 4 badges this year. She has meetings once a month for an hour. This year there were 6 girls in her troop. Three of the girls were in her first grade class as well. She enjoys the meetings which include doing special projects and crafts and playing games. We went on a field trip to Sun Watch Indian village. The kids decorated scarves and made bracelets that they could wear. We are going to Aunt Annie's pretzels to make pretzels for the end of the year field trip next week. We can earn badges on our own at home so we are hoping to do some of the activities together over the summer. At this age it's just as lot of fun for the girls. But as time goes on, it will be great character building for them. I tackled being the cookie mom for the first time this year. It was quite an adventure, but well worth it for the girls.

More Firsts for Mallory

Mallory had her first hair cut a few weeks ago. We have a great friend who cuts the girls hair for us. Lisa was our next door neighboor at our old house. Luckily we are still only a few houses away. Madison goes there after school when I work. Madison and Lisa's daughter Lola our best pals. When we took Madison to get her first hair cut we went to a special place for kids called Kiddie Cuts and payed $15 for trim. We took Molly to a regular salon. And now Mallory got her first hair cut in our kitchen. It was great! She almost has an actual haircut now. It's adorable. Mallory also went on her first carnival ride. When it first started moving, she was a uncertain. But after the second time around she was all smiles. Molly was close by for morale support. The other day she had piggie tails for the first time too. Her hair is just barely long enough. We love piggie tails in our house, including Duane. (He doesn't have enough hair for piggie tails though:) Madison is on her way out with them though. They aren't cool enough for her anymore:) Molly still tolerates them. Mallory was very proud of hers!

In the classroom

This year I have had the chance to help out in both Madison and Molly's classrooms. I went to Madison's class about twice a month during the second half of the year to help with writing. I guess you just can't keep me out of a first grade classroom. It was great to see some of the similarities to my own classroom and I got a lot of great new ideas. I was invited to a volunteer tea at Madison's school a few weeks ago. Several classes performed for the volunteers. It was very sweet. I went to Molly's Valentine's party and visited her class a few other times. The kids in her class were happy to have another person to talk to and play with. It is so fun to see how anxious three and four year olds are to share things with you. They'll just plop right down in your lap like they've known you their entire lives. It was so interesting to see how they both interact at school. Like any kids, they seem to be on their best behavior with one of their parents in the room. They were both so excited to have me there. I was happy to have the chance to give them that special individual time. As parents we are so focused on how our own kids are behaving and developing that we can sometimes loose the big picture. It really helped to put things into perspective seeing the girls with other kids their ages. I was sad after leaving both of their classrooms on my last days to help out. Madison will be going to a new school next year for grades 2-5 and Molly will begin her second year of preschool. More milestones that have passes:( But there are many more to come.

Happy Mother's Day!

I woke up on Mother's Day morning to breakfast in bed. I had banana crunch pancakes. That's a house hold favorite. Duane makes the best pancakes. There was a red rose on my tray. Also one of my favorites. After I shared my breakfast in bed with Mallory (Bite! Bite!), we opened my special gifts. And they certainly were special. Madison painted a flower pot. She included seeds for us to plant flowers and a beautiful card. Molly decorated gardening gloves by making lady bugs with her thumbprint and red paint. Duane and Mallory gave me some perfume that I wanted and a home made card. Those are the best kind of cards. I have never been a happy crier. But on this day I was. I was so touched by all the love that went into those special gifts. I will cherish them always. Later that morning we all went to church. Madison and I went shopping and got our nails done. That evening we went out to dinner. Duane offered to cook, but I let him off the hook:) All day long I could tell that Madison and Molly were making an effort to be on their best behavior and to be helpful. I didn't do any cleaning, laundry or other chores all day. It was wonderful! Being a mom means always taking care of everyone else's needs and wants. This was one day that I got to take a turn being taken care of. It was rainy outside, but it was still a beautiful day to me:)