Happy Day :)

We had a BIG day today... Chloe was dedicated this morning at church. The service was very nice. We came home and celebrated Father's Day, Chloe's Dedication and 1st Birthday with our family and closest friends. It was an AWESOME day. We are SO blessed. Thank you to everyone who helped make this day so special. We love you all!!!

Swings... and more...

surprise #1...

Claudia woke up super excited this morning... it was her morning to pull the 1st surprise from the jar. The anticipation of what was in store for the day was exhilarating. We shook it up and out she pulled... "swing on a swing set" :) After our lazy morning we packed up and headed to Wendt Park to enjoy the "castle" and swings. We enjoyed a picnic lunch and then we just played. It was so much fun and yes there are pictures to go with all the fun, but I haven't had time to upload, so you'll have to wait.

It was so fun to just be a kid again... swinging, doing the "zip line", and watching Chloe explore just like her big sisters just made my day. Claudia was so proud that she was finally able to "fall" on her own from the zip line. Constance loved the slides... oh those smiles... they were precious.

After a few hours of playing it was time to hit the dreaded Walmart. I have to say it's not that bad being able to shop early in the day... it definitely wasn't as busy... thank goodness :) We always end up spending way more time than planned, not to mention way more money than expected too.

Once our excursion was finished we headed over to visit my cousin Kylie & Tony. They were in town visiting. We hadn't seen them since their wedding in October, so it was nice catching up with them.

The munchkins are all snuggled in bed, well, almost... Constance is sitting in the hallway refusing to go to bed... stinker. She's had warnings, so now I just sit here ignoring her. I know she'll go to bed, it's just easier than fighting with her... she'll give in... I hope... LOL!!! I'm off to rap up my evening with some sewing therapy... oh how I love listening to the growling of my machine (yes, my machine is OLD and no longer purrs, but growls... LOL)... night :)

the jar...

Yup... it's ready to go, nothing fancy, just a jar full of summer time fun. This afternoon the girls and I sat down and made our list of things to put in our jar... they had some great ideas...

~ play dress up
~ ride bikes
~ ride a carousel
~ play games
~ wash the van (by hand)
~ play at the beach
~ build a sandcastle
~ go to a new park
~ play baseball at a "real" field
~ have a picnic
~ swing on a swing set
~ play on school playground
~ walk to Captain Sundae
~ build puzzles
~ paint each others nails
~ have a camp out in our front yard
~ have an arts & crafts day
~ build a zoo together with stuffed animals
~ play in the rain
~ invite a friend over to play
~ make cookies & take them to someone in need
~ make cards & take them to a nursing home
~ plant flowers
~ play in the sprinklers

SO fun!!! I can't wait... Claudia's cutting them up as I type and we start TOMORROW!!!! Oh yeah, and you know we will definitely have pictures to go with our fun. Bring on the summer fun!!!

In honor of Claudia's accomplishments...

yeah, can't believe my 1st born is going to "officially" be a 1st grader in a matter of hours... **wiping tears**. I am SO proud of her. I think one of the most amazing accomplishments for her is her reading ability. She can pick up anything and read it... it's amazing. However, that also brings us to a new chapter in our lives... grocery shopping with a reader. So the other day her and I were able to spend some time together, just the 2 of us. Well... we finished our day of fun and made our way to Walmart. Not thinking about "my reader", I turn down the feminine hygiene aisle... yup, you guessed it, the next thing I hear...

"playtex tampons... mom, what are playtex tampons?"

Yup... that was a fun conversation. Thankfully I was able to just blow it off as something really big girls need. I threw the box in the cart and just kept shopping. I'm so not ready to have that "real" conversation yet.

Super Summer Surprises...

Okay, so I'll be the 1st to admit, I spend WAY TOO much time online. It's just so fun and addicting, not to mention easy for me play on while pictures upload, and I have been uploading pictures A LOT the last few weeks. So anyway... I follow this really cute blog (one of the 50+ I stalk... hehehe) by a friend that I met while out to dinner with some other friends... http://www.jodimichelle.com/. She posted about making a "Summer Jar" filled with fun things to do each day. It is so neat and inspiring to me that today's mission is to find a cute jar for me to use to store all my Super Summer Surprises. I'm also coming up with a list of things I would love to do this summer, most of them with my kids in tow. My goal is to pull from my jar at least 4 days a week... I can't wait and I'm sure my girls will be super excited too!!!

Well... it's almost the beloved naptime... so I'm off to rangle the troops into their desired sleeping areas and then it's time for me to find that "perfect" jar...

Well... it's official...

I am a SAHM!!!! For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about... I am now a Stay At Home Mom :) I am thrilled and honestly could just do cartwheels until the cows came home, but I'm trying my best to keep my excitement hidden as Jon has been working his tail off and I don't want to rub it in that I'm done and he still has to work like a mad man.

I know that I've been slacking on my blog, but man, that last month of school is brutal.

I want to warn you all to be prepared... I'm back and I'm ready to blog... so watch out!!!

Last night we attended Claudia's Celebration of Learning (aka- Kinder Graduation). It was so fun to see her with her friends and to hear such wonderful things about her from her teacher. Let's face it... we all know our kids are the best in the world, but it does feel darn good hearing it from someone else :)

Here's some pictures from the BIG event :)

Don't the little girls look thrilled... LOL!!!

Bring on the hardest, most rewarding job in the world... wooohoooo for being a mama!!!