kindergarten, birthdays and smiles

Bodie and his two cousins are already becoming good pals. I'm so happy for Bo that he will have these two boys to play with as he grows up.

These pictures were a couple weeks ago... Matthew at 4 months, Bodie at 5 weeks and Tyson at 2 weeks old. Matt, Bo & Ty will have all kinds of fun together and probably get into a little trouble too. Such a cute little trio of boys, which is kinda fun and refreshing after all the girls before them!

We went to a free KSBJ brown bag concert at Chick-Fil-A with our friends, the Spenn's, a couple weeks ago. We heard Laura Story sing her song "Blessings" ("what if His blessings come through raindrops, what if His healing comes through tears, what if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near...") Such a good song. Here's Bethany and her boys, Noah & Carson, holding Bodie. That was such a fun event, I love that KSBJ and Chick-Fil-A team up to offer such fun family events that are FREE!

Tatum got to celebrate her birthday at school a little early since her birthday is the same day as the super summer send-off. Here she is wearing her birthday crown, birthday medal and big sister medal she got at chapel that day.

Avery turned 6 on April 29 and all she wanted for her birthday was a real Jessie costume, the one in the Disney store. So here she is in all her glory. It's cute that she looks up to Jessie so much, and I think Jessie is a pretty noble character, but I must admit, I will be really excited when she moves on to another hero. I'm a little tired of the Toy Story gang.

Laney had her splash day at school last week. They had some very creative water activities set up for these little ones. Her favorite thing was using a paintbrush and water to paint the side of the church.
Oops, this picture was supposed to be with the other concert picture. Rylin wanted a turn to hold Bodie too, since her brothers got to hold him, so here's Rylin, Avery's BFF, holding Bo.
And the birthday party. It was such a fun day. Beautiful weather, lots of sweet friends, wonderful helpful family, wet little kids squealing everywhere you looked.



They wanted a cookie cake this year instead of a regular cake, which was fine with me! They wanted it to have the Toy Story characters, of course, but since they cookie place can't do copyrighted characters, we decided on a cowboy hat & boot. I can't believe these two are six and four years old! Happy Birthday Avery & Tatum!

I love that Martin & Dominique are Texans again! They have been in Michigan for 10 years, so we haven't gotten to have them be a part of our little parties and gatherings... until now! They drove in from San Antonio with my parents for the party and took over the photography job for the party, and did a way better job than I ever would have done, by the way. I love these two!

So we thought this would be Brian's last baseball game ever, but it looks like God has other plans. The AP job he was promised, fell through, so it looks like he will be back for another year of baseball! We don't see the big picture like God does, but we trust that He will provide for us and put Brian right where He wants him. That is the truth and we believe it. Anyway, here's Brian taking a quick break between innings to give the girls some love.





We do enjoy these baseball games, even though the season is long and exhausting for all of us. Part of me is glad we will be back next year for some more Eagle baseball. Hopefully we will get a few more "W"'s next season!

Avery officially graduated from Kindergarten yesterday. I can't believe her name and 1st grade are in the same sentence now. It seems like this year has flown by so fast. Here she is with her class singing "I am a promise." She is front and center.

She loved all her teachers, but Mrs. Joiner definitely had a special place in Avery's heart. She brought out the best in Avery and took a special interest in her and it meant the world to us.

Cake and punch after graduation

Blurry picture, but here is Avery with her Kindergarten diploma, along with Mrs. Young, the lead Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Kunz, her computer teacher and Mrs. Joiner, her math teacher.

And it pays to be last sometimes. Avery was the last in line, when Mrs. Young told the kids to all turn around and walk the other way, which made Avery first in line! Which meant she got to hold T. Bear, the very special class bear and lead her class out of the sanctuary.

Tatum holding the gigantic "4" balloon from their party.

I love this little smile. When I put him on his changing table and lean over him and talk to him, he just smiles and coos and tries to talk to me. We just moved him up to size 2 diapers. His 0-3 month clothes are getting too tight, so he is already wearing a few of his 3-6 month clothes. He has a tiny bit of peach fuzz on the top of his head and some light brown hair on the back of his head. His eyes are still blue. He is about to outgrow his swaddlers and I'm not ready to un-swaddle him at night, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that one. I guess I need to buy the next size up. He goes to bed about 10 pm and wakes up about 5 am. He loves his paci. In two days, he will be 8 weeks old. I still almost have to pinch myself when I dress him in all his blue sportsy stuff. We are all so smitten with him.

We had award night at Awana last week and Avery finished her first Hang Glider handbook so she got a book award and ribbon. I'm so proud of all she has learned in Sparks this year. Next year she will still be in Sparks, Tatum will get to start Cubbies and Laney will be in Puggles!

I started back to work about two weeks ago. God has been so good to give me strength and grace to cover all the bases during this last crazy month before school is out. My mom is driving in every week to keep the kids for two days, my mother-in-law keeps them for two days and I have a couple sweet friends who are keeping Bodie one day a week while I'm at work. It has been exhausting, for all of them and for me, but I am so thankful for our moms and friends who love us enough to help us make it through these challenging times.

Two and a half weeks left!