time to cool off

Ah, summer. How we've missed you. (Well, the boys have. Me, not so much.) All indications are that we will be spending a good part of our summer at the splash pad or at Price's Pond. And check it out: at the pond the other day a giant koi decided to make friends with Henry!

congratulations to klaudia!

Friends, I can hardly believe this day is here, but it's true. Our Klaudia has graduated from high school. She has gone from cute baby to precocious toddler to sassy preteen to polished young woman before our eyes, and we couldn't be prouder of her. I can't wait to see what adventures she will have in the next few years!

preschool graduation

Henry's graduation from preschool was Saturday, and Miss Kimmy really pulled out all the stops. It was held at Plymouth's funky new event space, Wild Rose Moon, and she set up chairs on the stage for the graduates. They did a little program where the kids sang songs, told us what they want to be when they grow up (Henry: "I want to be the president and have a million dollars."), and did a spectacular reading of Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons, with our very own Henry playing the part of Pete. Oh, and Henry won the "Classroom Comedian" award, and Kimmy told us all how much she enjoys his seemingly endless reservoir of fun facts. After the ceremony there were refreshments, and families got to browse the student art gallery and play with props in the photo booth area. Barb and Kevin made the drive in, and my parents were on hand too for this momentous occasion. So much fun!

on the trail

Summer is off to a weird start for us. Mike has had mandatory overtime almost every Saturday, plus we've had soccer (and now baseball!) practices and games to work into the schedule. It's been pretty busy. There is always a ton of stuff to do around the house too, but sometimes, it's best to just take the boys and run off some of their energy. So this afternoon when Mike headed off to the salt mines, the boys and I set off for the Greenway Trail. It was Henry's first really long ride, and he handled it like a total champ -- except at the end, when he was tired and thirsty. I honestly didn't think he would last very long, so we didn't take any water or anything. Whoooops. We made a couple of stops along the way to check out the river, ran into a traffic jam of sorts, climbed a big hill (well, not me, but somebody had to stay at the bottom to take the picture!) crossed many bridges, stopped at a playground, and 90 minutes later were back home guzzling ice water. Now to fill the rest of the evening...

end of an era

Pretty much continuously since we moved here, we've had one or more children enrolled at the same daycare (yes, the one where Liam pulling the fire alarm somehow didn't make them burn our application and forget they ever met us). But last night, that golden era came to an end with Henry's spring concert and graduation. He went out with his inimitable Henry style, too, wearing the shirt, vest, and tie from his suit with black soccer shorts, knee-high orange striped socks, and red tennis shoes. I tried to get a good shot of the whole ensemble, but he was moving too fast all night. Oh well. At least the concert itself was a success, with Henry singing his heart out and enthusiastically participating the whole time. Only the summer to go, then we will have ourselves an official kindergartener!

We did try to take some selfies beforehand, with mixed results. Here are the best two: 

mother's day eve

Dear boys,

Tonight I tried to tell you a story, and I messed it up. I waited until late at night, when you were at your most fractious, and I made it too long to hold your interest for the grand finale, but the truth is that even if I had made it the perfect length and told it at the perfect time, I probably still would have messed it up, because that's the way it goes with the really important stories. And since this was the story of how you made me a mom, and how having you took us from being a happy family of two to being a complete family of five, it's right up there with the most important stories of my life.

I hope you will remember that even though the story was long, it was joyful and full of laughter. How silly we were to have thought we wanted a girl. How we changed your middle name, Liam, because that first day you were so grumpy and had such a furrowed brow that you looked just like Grandpa Okie. How we didn't tell anyone your middle name, Max, until after you were born -- because naming you for my dad was really important to me, and I didn't want to mess that story up either. How you surprised us, Henry, by deciding to join us a month early so you could have the luckiest possible birth date. And how every day, no matter what kinds of school/sports/work/stuff we have going on, I look at you and marvel at your personalities, your quick and quirky wit, the things you love and the things you hate. I think about the wonder that you have brought to my life, and I hope that your lives will be wonderful too. I think about all the things we ever hoped for our children to be and have, and I'm so thankful that the things we hoped for most are exactly what we got: healthy, strong children who have the best parts of both of us.

The part I didn't get to tell you, the part I probably should have led with, is this: We aren't perfect parents, and you aren't perfect sons, but we're perfect for each other. I love each one of you so very much, and I'm so very happy that I'm your mom.

But don't worry -- I'll tell you the story again next year, and every year after that. And when I get through, you will know it without a doubt: You are seen. You are known. You are loved.

Mom

not to be left out ...

Check out the happy face of a boy wearing his first pair of contacts! I'm not sure how this will ultimately work out, but the optometrist agreed that he is probably ready to try them, so we got one box for each eye just as a test. I think they will come in really handy for sports, but my prediction is that he won't bother putting them in (which is of course very hard for him right now) on a regular basis for a while yet.

game faces on

... or at least intimidating game hair.

soggy soccer

Henry's game was canceled this morning, but apparently third graders need to just tough it out, no matter if there is a downpour, so Max's game was played in its entirety. Mike and I huddled under the umbrella to watch, but Henry and Liam opted to sit in the van and watch a movie instead.

yikes!

Look what Mike and Henry chopped down today! Makes me itchy just to think about it.

soccer time

Henry's first soccer game was this morning, and he surprised us all by (a) not spending the whole time playing/fighting with his teammates and (b) scoring THREE goals! Yay for the orange team. Max had a game too, but it ended in forfeit because the other team didn't know which field to go to, so only a couple of their players showed up before the officials gave up and left.

finally

It was finally nice out today, or at least nice enough, so we decided to explore the banks of the mighty St. Joe River in Mishawaka. It was still pretty chilly, but I was so glad to finally be able to get them outside to run off some of their boundless energy!

it's spring!

... allegedly. Will this winter never end??

a conundrum

Does this mean Henry likes Mike a lot, or not at all?

When I am 100 years old...
I will be living in a house.
I will have a dog.
I hope that my dad is still alive.
It will be awesome if I had a cat.

one last first tooth

Henry lost his first tooth last night. The last first tooth I will pull. Yay for growing up! To mark this momentous occasion, he decided to dress up for school today.

teachers beware

... Henry has made it to kindergarten roundup! 

So in case you're not familiar with this glorious tradition, at kindergarten roundup, the adults sit in the cafeteria at tables and chairs made for six-year-olds (comfy!) and listen to presentations on the rules, and the kids get to go off with the teachers and be tested (by playing games) to see how well they already know their letters, numbers, shapes, and colors. And then at the end, happy, excited children are reunited with their bleary-eyed, sore-butted parents, and everyone goes home.

The teacher who escorted Henry back to our table was Mrs. K, who is the Title 1 teacher at our school. When she brought him back, she was laughing, and reported that when they were walking down the hall, Henry leveled her with a very serious look and said, "Now, I understand that in kindergarten I will have access to a drinking fountain." Mrs. K laughed and said, "I can see he won't be spending much time with me this year." 

Meanwhile, Mrs. M, our principal, greeted Henry by name and said she knew this day eventually had to come. 

Good luck, teachers! And good luck, Henry, because it seems they might already be on to you ...