Last Day of School!

Well, here it is. The last day of school, which was on June 5. I'm a bit behind on posting because my back problem has gotten everything all mixed up around here for the past couple of weeks. I actually missed their last day of school altogether, and the last-day-picnic, and everything. I couldn't believe it. But...I'm "back"! Get it? Get it? I'm back!! HAHAHahahahahhaha...
Ahem.

I always like comparing the pictures from the first day of school, which naturally makes me marvel about how fast the year has gone and how much they have grown.
I, of course, never seem to change a bit.

Wordless Wednesday

Zoo Pals

Last week my two little boys and I went to our wonderful zoo. I am having so much fun with the two of them!

Riding the train

MPD loved the carousel--until it started moving!

Rock climbing

Exploring the dinosaur bones

MPD, are you sure you want to go in there with that big snake?

Watching the turtles--and trying to catch them


You know, when WWD was tiny and I was expecting MRD, I was really just so sure that she was going to be a boy. Having the two of them so close together, I just had the whole "boy" thing in my head, and I couldn't imagine anything different. Plus I thought it would be so cool to have two little boys in a row, doing boy stuff, growing up together. What a perfect example of God's plan being so much better than our own!! MRD was a girly girl from the beginning, and she is PERFECT. The two of them are thick as thieves--almost like twins--and what's more, I'm sure that it would have been hard for WWD's firstborn ego to have a brother coming up right behind him, competing in everything!! Being the oldest is hard enough, right? :)

Anyway, now, a decade later, I have my two little-boys-in-a-row. I think all the time about how they will be the two teenage boys at home when the others have gone off to college (along with their baby sister, according to JPD). Oh my goodness--I can't imagine those teenage days yet! I'm so not ready! (Or for the baby sister, but that's a whole other thing--ha ha!)

Memorial Weekend Dinner with Grandma

Hellooooooo summer!


JPD, we love you so! You always keep us laughing!

Did I Mention that I Love Spring?

Today the two brown-eyed boys and I went on a field trip to the Apple Farm, where we saw what the apple trees look like in the springtime. Of course, there were no apples to eat, which was a bit confusing for some of us at first. But it was great! We were having spring showers today, so we hiked in the misty orchard, saw the strawberry plants just beginning to bloom, learned about how the bees help the apples grow, and planted some bean seeds and tomato plants to take home.



It feels so funny to go to our field trips without the three oldest kids. Of course it's nice to be able to focus on the little guys--but I do miss the older ones too. I guess that sentiment goes for homeschooling overall, now that I think about it!

Still, I'm thinking that we'll be doing "real" school again in the fall. We are all really happy with it, and school has been good for each of them in a different and specific way. I miss homeschooling--especially how much reading we had time to do, together and separately--but honestly don't miss everyone's very strong-willed personalities all in the house together all day! And when I really examine the pros and cons, and consider it in light of not what I want or feel, but what is actually the best set-up for our whole family (including the bread-winning, clean-house-craving one), this seems to be God's will for us for now. Even JPD's gonna go a couple of days a week in the fall, and he is very excited to be going to school with the big kids. So, it's all good--and no more excuses for avoiding housework for me! :)
(P.S. Stay tuned--I'm sure I'll come up with something.)

Farm Fresh Frenzy

You may remember that last summer, after reading Barbara Kingsolver's book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" I discovered the local food concept and got quite excited about eating from our wonderful local farms. Well, despite the long Wisconsin winter, I didn't quite forget this new project. We've joined a CSA farm, and this week we got our first Spring Vegetable Share. I'm SO excited! As you can see, my two henchmen share my excitement...

Here's what we got in our first box: Salad mix of three lettuce varieties, the most gorgeous radishes I've ever seen, arugula (which I LOVE), saute mix of greens, a pretty red oakleaf lettuce head--quite delicious, some great spinach, a head of bok choy (I have literally never seen bok choy except on a plate at a restaurant before--it is so cool! JPD is holding it in the pictures, and they are tasting the different lettuces), watercress, chives, and a bunch of dandelion greens. I think this week we will be eating more green stuff than ever before! Of course I've been scrambling around a bit to find recipes for all these spring delicacies; next week I'll be a bit more prepared, now that I have a better idea of what to expect. Last night we had an awesome stir fry (the kids even liked it), and we had the most incredibly delicious dinner tonight, including something for everyone: a fantastic salad, some watercress soup (watercress...who knew?), and this yummy spinach-ricotta pie. YUM!

Springing!

Today was gorgeous and the little boys and I did a wee bit of gardening. I love my sweet boys so much!





So, that's about it, for me and gardening, for this year. :) Just kidding--sort of. Gardening is one of those things that I really love to do--in theory. In reality it always turns out that as soon as my hands get dirty, someone has a poopy diaper, or a busted knee, or something.
And as you can see, I always have LOTS of gardening helpers. In fact, this year I'm turning over the rest of the annual-planting to the girls; they can do it all, from choosing flowers to planting and watering--whatever.
But I do like the idea of puttering around in the garden, growing beautiful things, arranging beds so that something's always blooming, growing herbs, mucking around in boots and a sun hat. Perhaps when I'm "retired" (ha!) that will be me. There are so many fun things to do--too many for one lifetime, I'm afraid! (Now is that a 40-something sentiment, or what?)

JPD's Stage Debut

Here he is, singing "I'm a Little Bunny" with his classmates in their Spring Sing this afternoon. Look out, Broadway...

More Easter Excitement

Guess what--MPD took his first few real steps today!! My Easter boy! Hooray for MPD!



Also, if you're wondering WHAT happened to JPD's face (yikes!), he lost a fight with the sidewalk following a major scooter wipeout on Thursday. Poor guy. He likes looking at himself in the mirror, though, and saying things like "My face is all beat up!" I am so thankful for no stitches or broken teeth on this one, because it was a SERIOUS face-plant.

Happy Birthday JPD -- at Preschool

JPD shared a special paint-with-water set as his birthday treat to each of his preschool friends. Since they're studying rainforests, and the painting was Diego with a bunch of rainforest animals, it worked out great! I planned this, of course (yeah, right...).
We love JPD's sweet little preschool!

Happy Birthday JPD!!!

I can't believe you are no longer my sweet 3 year old!!
Now we'll have to call you Fantastic 4...


We all went to Chuck-E-Cheese's for our traditional JPD family birthday dinner..."where a kid can be a kid," as he says. :)

He is very proud of being 4, but would not acknowledge that it actually really was his birthday until after he blew out his candles at Chuck-E-Cheese's.

Snowy Day

Thursday we did a little sledding at recess, after JPD's preschool field trip to the park for a snow day.
It was pretty great--MPD's first sledding, too!

My Day Out with the Boys

This past weekend we took a dozen Cub Scouts to the new Discovery World museum near our town. What an awesome museum!
I had such a great day with JPD. He was so curious and had such a great time exploring everything! He especially loved the life-size model sailboat, petting the sturgeon in the touch-tank, and driving the remote-control submarine. MPD loved the aquariums, for sure...he stood up against the glass, trying to catch the fish with his hands! WWD loved petting a stingray, and crashing his plane in the flight simulator. My favorite part of the museum, besides spending the day with precious JPD, was the room-size model of the Great Lakes ecosystem. So cool!










On the way home, we stopped to visit the kids' cousin (aunt and uncle too of course!)for dinner. Thanks again, Anne! :)

Our Dream Team

We love our gymnasts!