End of the Year Activities

For weeks, The Lime was coming home from school singing little songs about a spider and the jungle. I cleaned his backpack out one afternoon and found a strip of paper on it with what appeared to be a part to a play.

The Lime's class and two other first grade classes had been practicing Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock. Even though he landed a speaking part in the play about America, he somehow landed another speaking part (and just like Doodlebug's birthday video, I thought I uploaded it but can't find it anywhere).

We went over his lines a few times at home but must have worked his tail off at school because he knew them like the back of his hand.

The classes were divided into different characters; The Lime was an explorer.

He's the cute kid in the back row with glasses

The little girl who played Anansi did an excellent job. She also happened to be the girl The Lime had a little crush on last year.

All of the time and effort that was put into the play paid off because it was cute, entertaining, and everyone did superb!

The Lime with his cute little friends

That same week, The Lime brought another paper home letting us know he'd be getting an award for the third trimester! He didn't receive anything last year and was bummed he didn't get anything for the first two trimesters of this year. So you can imagine how excited he was that he was finally going to be recognized for all his hard work.

Looking at his work from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, there's a HUGE difference. His writing is smaller and more legible, his context is more detailed, his ability to sound out words and not rely on us just telling him has improved leaps and bounds. He definitely earned his Super Star award and we couldn't have been more proud of him.

Later that afternoon, The Lime had his last class party which appropriately was a water party. They played different water games and relays and everyone was soaked by the end of the day.

The Lime was so excited, he couldn't stay seated (he's in the white/orange shirt)

Once again, really excited that his friend got the water poured on him

There's a little girl across the street who happened to be in The Lime's class this year. They became quick friends and The Lime wanted to spend every minute with her (at school and at home). Unfortunately, she also had a really good girl friend who wanted the same amount of attention from her. It wasn't a surprise that the other friend poured her cup of water on The Lime's head and he got to chase her.

Doodlebug wanted nothing to do with the games but had a grand time playing by himself.

The Lime and his friend won one of the relays (even though the girls next to them said they won...I saw the buckets, the boys won). The cups had holes in them and they had to try and take the cup of water from one bucket to another. They worked great together and were feelin' the love!

For the last relay, the team members sat in a line. The person in the front filled their cup with water, poured it over their head into the next person's cup and so on. By the time the water got to The Lime, there wasn't much left and the boys behind him were getting frustrated (as noted in the picture below). I reminded them it was just a game and to have fun! The Lime was clearly having a blast.

Before we knew it, it was the last day of school. The night before, I was in the middle of writing The Lime's teacher a note when he walked into my room and asked if I could follow him into his. As soon as he got in bed, he started to cry and said he didn't want first grade to end because he'd miss his teacher too much. I started to cry and told him I was sad, too.

In the note I was writing, I told his teacher that one of the reasons we didn't send The Lime to preschool was because I wanted to spend as much time with him before he really had to go to school. I told her it still made me a little sad to lose 6+ hours a day with him but it made things easier knowing he was going to be with her all day.

I gathered myself and told The Lime we needed to think of all the good things about this year and remember we can always say hi to his teacher next year. He calmed down and was able to get some sleep before the big day. He said he was feeling better when he woke up and ended up having a great last day. I was the one that lost it when we said goodbye to his teacher (super embarrassing!). We just loved her so much, as she was the perfect match for The Lime, and we were going to miss her.

The Lime took some photos with his friends and classmates and we officially said "adios" to the first grade!

Memorial Day 2017

Last year, our friends invited us to their home for dinner and water balloons on Memorial Day. As we approached the holiday, The Lime asked if we were going to their house again but I told him they hadn't invited us. A few days before Monday, they ended up inviting us to their new place for dinner, water balloons, and fishing!

They moved about 20 minutes away (boo hoo!!!!) and landed themselves a lovely home on five acres! And it has its own pond in the backyard that kept everyone entertained for a good chunk of time.

There are these tiny frogs EVERYWHERE and the kids (mostly theirs) had a field day catching them.

We had to keep our eyes out for snakes and thankfully didn't see any.

LaVor did catch a fish after dinner, which everyone was excited about. Unfortunately, the hook got stuck in her mouth (she was pregnant) and when he went to get it out with plyers, she swallowed and it became impossible to retrieve. He had to throw her back and warned our friends they might see her floating in a day or two. They never did so I'm hoping she managed to survive, although I doubt it :(

While the tri-tip was cooking, our friends blew up a ton of water balloons and the kids went to town.

Dinner was ready and everyone was starving so we wasted no time to start eating!

The boys had worn themselves out and we had school/work the next day so we called it a night. We were thrilled we could explore their new place and make another year of memories on Memorial Day with them!

Zoo Field Trip

I didn't feel too guilty about baby-sitting on Doodlebug's birthday because I knew we'd be having fun the following day.

All of the first grade classes at The Lime's school had been learning about animals.  We knew at the beginning of the year that there'd be a field trip to the zoo so when the time came to go, we were really excited!

LaVor was able to take the day off of work so he took Doodlebug around while I stayed with The Lime's class.  It worked out perfectly!

Things were starting to heat up in our area and, much to our dismay, we could only find one water fountain in the entire zoo (at the entrance). I had The Lime's water bottle and the other chaperone had one for her son but all the other kids were dying of hunger and thirst. It was a long, but fun, 45 minutes :)

We saw flamingos, birds, giraffes, red pandas, zebras, an aardvark, a lion, reptiles, and the zoo vet performing surgery on a snake.

The times I ran into Doodlebug, he was eating ice cream and riding the carousel. It appeared he was enjoying himself!

After exploring the entire zoo, it was time to walk a little ways to lunch and before we knew it, it was time to head home.

It was a great way to celebrate Doodlebug's birthday and a great place for a final field trip.

Doodlebug's Party

This is what I get for waiting 6 weeks before posting about Doodlebug's party...I can't remember anything!

I do know we were able to baby-sit his little friends that morning so he was in hog heaven from 9-11. And he has a sticker from Doodlebug's shirt in all the pictures but I can't remember why we were there.

I think we might have had quesadillas for dinner since those are his favorite. But I do remember what we did that night because I took pictures :)

He really wanted a "Me May Mas" (PJ Mask) birthday so that's what he got. LaVor snagged some balloons the night before and his little friends bought some more over that morning. They're still flying high, tied to our closet door in the hallway. If you don't buy your balloons from the Dollar Store, you need to. I swear there are steroids in the helium or something.

Doodlebug scored a Paw Patrol tank top/t-shirt set, a new book, Everest & Rider from Paw Patrol, a bubble machine (that I've since dropped and broke), and Mr. Potato Head. I don't know why it took me 7.5 years to buy a Mr. Potato Head for one of our kids but it's been a hit!

I made him a cake that didn't turn out as cute as I had hoped but I ran out of time. He still loved the look of it but apparently not the taste. He only had a couple bites and after it sat in the fridge for 4 days, I had to throw it away. He nearly melted into a puddle on the ground when he saw his cake in the garbage. He's still talking about it :)

We sang happy birthday and he had a hard time blowing out the candles (I had a video that I thought I uploaded but now I can't find it) but eventually got it after several tries.

We loved celebrating our Doodlebug and have enjoyed him talking about his birthday ever since.

Doodlebug - Tally Mark 36 - Part 2

-Loves quesadillas.
-Can often be found picking his nose.
-Still gets hiccups when he laughs a lot.
-Still gets stinky feet when he wears sandals.
-Has to have his 2 water bottles with him at all times.
-Loves his Nursery teacher to death.
-Asks me to "hold you" when he wants me to pick him up.
-Cries for "his mommy" every morning to get him out of bed.
-Sits on LaVor's foot as soon as he walks in the door after work.
-Has little friends at The Lime's baseball games that he follows around the entire time.
-Learned how to spit so we can use real toothpaste to brush his teeth.
-Will do his wretched scream every once in a while.
-Likes to wear ties to church, even if they don't match what he's wearing.
-Makes the funniest, sometimes creepy, faces.
-Claims everything scares him.
-Asked if he was going to church when I got him ready for these pictures yesterday.
-Can often be found in a grumpy mood. That's when we call him Grumpystiltskin.
-But still adds lots of spunk and laughter to our home and we love him to death.

Doodlebug - Tally Mark 36 - Part 1

Dear RieRie,

Oh my goodness! We have been counting down to your birthday since The Lime's birthday and it's finally here! Which is really weird because I'm certain we just celebrated your 2nd birthday.

You have grown in so many ways over the past year. Your vocabulary has taken off, you want to do everything by yourself ("No, me do!"), you wish you were old enough to go to school and play baseball, but you still wear diapers which means you still need me.

You are one tough cookie and have no problem defending yourself (aka beating people up). Your poor big brother is often heard crying for help because you're sitting on him, biting him, hitting him, or chasing him. Daddy has also received a few punches from your mighty fists and we're certain you're going to make an excellence football player or boxer.

While you are tough, you still love bringing your nigh night with us wherever we go. You ask for it every time you get hurt or sad. And if I have to wash it, you ask for it the second you wake up in the morning. It's your favorite and I'm glad you have something you love so much.

Speaking of love, you love movies. Just recently, you've been asking to watch movies over and over and over again. Unfortunately, we don't have very many so we've been watching lots of Toy Story, Monsters University, and Ice Age. Let's hope you get some more for your birthday ;)

You also love your scooter and beg to ride it to school in the mornings and afternoons. You've been watching The Lime on his scooter and have learned a few tricks. I overheard some boys at school the other day say, "Dude! That little kid just did a jump on his scooter!" You think it's pretty cool and I think it's pretty cute.

I was reading last year's letter and I wrote that you still loved dogs. Guess what?! You still do! One of the boys on The Lime's baseball team has a dog that sometimes comes to the games. If it's at a game, guess where you are? Right next to it, petting it, throwing balls for it to catch, and just loving the heck out of it. You can still spot dogs from a mile away and ask if you can pet every dog you see. One day, you'll get one of your own. I promise!

You were always really good about eating anything we put in front of you but you now turn your nose up at dinner most nights. That means Daddy or I usually end up having to sit with you and make sure you eat every last bite. That means it takes a loooooong time to finish. But you do it! And I'm grateful you at least give food a chance even if your initial reaction is "yuck!" You don't have a problem eating treats, though. Candy, cookies, ice cream, cake, pie, brownies, whatever! You enjoy anything and everything I make which makes my heart happy. You can be my taste tester anytime!

You are sweeter than the treats I make and I'm so blessed to be able to spend each and every day with you. You make me smile and give the best licks/kisses. You always tell me you love me after I say it to you when I tuck you in for naps and bed. It's hard to believe it's only been three years since we first met but I'm one lucky mom to be able to spend eternity with you.

I can't wait to celebrate you all day long!

Love you so much!

Mommy