christmas cards

i've tried to get ahead of the game for some things this year, as we are often in such a hustle & bustle time around here this time of the year (holidays, birthdays, etc.)  we had the tree up before thanksgiving - something i thought i'd never do.  oh, never say never.  & oh, it was so nice to come home saturday night after thanksgiving & plug in those lights to our decorated tree.

tonight, the kiddos dressed up & gave me their best poses for our christmas cards.  these 2 are hams, it was fun & i think we got one that works.  here's some several of our outtakes:

hello, tall man (her middle finger stuck up).

wishing you peace this christmas.

hark, the herald angels scream!

i don't know what to say about this one..

ben is the funniest brother in the world!

rockin around the christmas tree

huggies!

mr. muscles

this was a contender

big cheese!

peek-a-boo!

you wanna mess with my brother? i don't think so.

she's choking me!

throw your hands up!

throw your hands up!

& the winner for this years card is... 

just beautiful i think!  

it's been a rough couple of weeks...

for benjo's red folder.  it looks like it's been through an entire school year instead of just 3 or 4 weeks. 

i can't help but think his daddy's folder looked the same way, all bunched up in the backpack. :)

he had his first homework assignment today & couldn't wait to start it when we got home.  i hope that enthusiasm continues.  on 1 of the pages, he had to draw 2 birdies.  he asked me to draw him an example.  umm, momma is no artist.  & he copied exactly the birdies i made.

  momma needs some art class.  i think we'll let daddio help with the artwork for now.

poor boy has an ear infection & yucky cough (like the rest of us).  last night, when we were all in bed  the worries started getting him.  he is table leader this week & he was worried about letting his table down if he had to miss school (he didn't, momma sent him anyway).  he survived through the day & was wanting to have a play date with another bus buddy.  this boy has quite a social life for a kindergartner.  who knew so many kiddos (sweet kiddos too) lived in our neighborhood.  we are quite blessed!

the schoolwork he brings home is a piling up!  they have already made it through the alphabet & onto bigger things.  our artwork display is running out of room.  (i'm going to use melissa's idea & put all of his kindergarten work in a binder since there is so much - thanks, melissa!)

for momma, it's been a rough couple of weeks too.  i haven't gotten into the best routine yet.  i'm always setting a timer to make sure we or i are where we need to be.  but there's been times (today) when i'm downstairs & don't hear it.  gotta get out that old watch i guess...

& not to leave out miss gracie faye... she's loving preK - it's just the leaving annabelle part we have a hard time with.  she cried for a looong time today when we went home because she didn't get to go home with her.  she thinks everyday should be annabelle playdate day!  (& alaina after school)

in the good ole summertime

now that all is well in our home, we are able to swim again!  what torture for the kiddos to deprive them for a week. we were all having some cabin fever in the summertime.

waiting on daddio to swim, the kiddos enjoyed some popsicles. 

 what a face mr. ben!

  & we now have some new window decor all throughout the house & in the van.  thank you cook family for the window crayons!  the kiddos are lovin them!!



last day of school & preK graduation

it was finally here... the last day of preschool & pre-K (i must be specific about that, benj always corrects me that he is in preK).  now looking foward to a fun filled summertime!!!

the kiddos thought the decorations & chalk on the sidewalk leading up to the van celebrating was a bit cool, deep down i think.  gracie did like the bubbles waking her up, way more than bubby.

sweet ben wrote out cards for everyone in his class & spent an extra amount of time on that special one for mrs. cano.  10 or so cards he made.  a perfectionist for sure!

getting into our van (that i just love!!) heading to school.

we played outside after school with friends for one last time this year.  once i told 2 of the daddies i had shingles, they took several steps back!

monkey ready for takeoff!

the boys running all around & miss a taking a rest

gracie thought she was big time getting to push her friend little a on the swing!

just hanging around.  this is one of her favorite things to do!!

 

breaking the rules (climbing), but it was the last day.  

namaw & poppy came all the way over (thank you!!) & beat us home from preschool.  we had los bravos for a celebration dinner at home, yummy!! (thank you namaw & poppy).  & the kiddos got a little sumthin from their namaw &poppy for graduation.  thank goodness, because ben asked "don't people get stuff when they graduate?"  it's all about stuff sometimes, but we are trying to break that.

now, onto the ceremony...
the church was packed to the brim, so we had seats in the rear.  it was a bit hard to get any good pictures.  but, we could see our sweeties singing their hearts our (i think yelling) & putting all they had into the motions.

oh, sing a joyful noise! (gracie is the one with her eyes closed)

i think he saw me...

looking oh so happy!! i love all the kiddos white eyes!

can you hear me now??

gracie, was singing & performing her heart out so much, that she fell asleep during the performance!! i thought she had gotten sick or something, but just needed a nap. thank goodness there were plenty of cookies afterwards to recharge her!

the 2011 old north afternoon preschool & preK classes with gracie snoozing in the back by the cross. 

  

ben & his teacher, whom he just loved to death.  it was so funny, they had to find the correct hat for benj due to his extremely large brain!  mr. benj wants to be an astronaut when he grows up.  (some of the kiddos answers just cracked me up "16, firefighter or a ninja."

walking down the aisle.. looking pretty proud!  way to go my big buddy!! i am so proud of you!

 bestest buddies. miss a wants to be a mommy when she grows up.  she has one of the bestest mommys & role model  i know!

at home.  i think he asked a few times "why do we have to wear these silly hats?"

 

with their proud namaw & poppy.

 

the kiddos & daddio were tired of me taking pictures, so the camera went up.   it was such a fun & memorable occasion though, with lots of laughs.  we've all learned a lot this school year: on handling other kiddos, each other & the school smarts too.  ben & gracie, your momma & daddy are so proud of you both each & every day & love you more than you will ever know!

my other momma's day gifts

like most kiddos, mine loove rocks. they can play for hours looking for "just the right one." i was given a handful of these treasures from them.  this one was just extra special that benj gave it to me that he found in the creek at namaw & poppy's.

 (see the heart on it?) beautiful.



the writing on the wall..

yesterday, gracie told me ben took off with a piece of chalk.  i thought nothing of it, as he is such a good boy.  ahem..

in momma & daddio's bedroom

at least it was chalk i guess. 

i'm sure this will be up there for a while, this post it note i left for justin before we got married is still hanging in the same place in our room.



say cheese!

i realized not too long ago that i didn't have any "professional" pictures of the kids since gracie had so much hair.  so, off we went to penny's & i was pleasantly suprised at the results.  & here they are (of course i couldn't pick just 1 & we got a cd with the copyright):

 this one is mine & the kiddos favorite.  can you guess who had a blue lollipop on the way to pics?

 if only they were always like this...

 the photographer told ben she thought he should be in "gq" & he had no idea what that was.  when i explained it, he was freaked out thinking he would be in a magazine!

 miss gracie's hair was still wet in the pictures.  i can only imagine what my grandma barb would be thinking...you had her picture taken with stringy hair!!  yes, but beautiful nontheless.

that's all folks!