May-hem

May was incredibly busy around here!  I've been meaning to post pictures of Jackson and Katherine's end of year performances, and almost a month later am just now getting around to it.

Katherine was finally in her first performance!  Her school had a pre-kindergarten class this year, and all the classes sang at the graduation.  Her class sang Jesus is My Superhero and they were to dress up as superheroes.  Our little superhero was Minnie Mouse!  She loves singing this song around the house!

The chapel where her program was held, was packed making it a little tricky to get any pictures or video.

If you look through the shoulders, you can see sweet little Minnie Mouse watching the other classes perform!

Afterwards with Grandma and Grandpa

 and the three of us!

Following Katherine's performance, I headed to Jackson's school where his class was having a birthday party for the summer birthdays.

 The candles used were just some his teacher had.  Turns out, she had the perfect colors, for the boys at least!  As we all know, Jackson's favorite color is blue, so he was eyeing it, and Graham's favorite color is orange.

 Poor Lauryn got pushed out of the way once the class finished singing Happy Birthday!  I sure hope Lauryn liked green since the boys were determined to get 'their' candles!

 Jackson holding his certificate to get a free trip to the treasure box!

 Jackson and one of his besties, Chance!  Every time Chance saw me at the school, he asked if I had my camera and if so, he requested I take his picture!

The next day was Jackson's graduation!

 After the classes sang several songs, they each received a key to kindergarten.

 With his assistant teacher, Mrs. Garcia.

 And with his teacher, Mrs. Wittmann.

 Following the ceremony, Jackson headed over to where we were sitting and was welcomed by his own paparazzi!

We couldn't leave Katherine out of all the picture-taking fun!

 Once we made it back home, Jackson was testing out his new gun!  It's loud and goes through bullets in just a few seconds!

It looked so fun, Grandpa had to have a turn!

 Before Grammy and Grandpa headed home we were able to get a group picture!

 The secret to everyone looking and smiling???

 They were under attack from Jackson's new gun!  

I think we'll be bringing this back out when it's time for Christmas pictures!

May was a fun, but busy month!  I'm glad it's behind us and we're moving on to the calmer summer months!

Back to the Cabin

We went to the cabin last weekend and Zach has requested a few times that I put pictures on the blog!  This was the first visit that all 4 of us were there at the same time and Jackson and Katherine were excited!!

 Between the idea of going to the cabin and having Rex in the car, they were hyper!

 Finally at the cabin!

 Checking out the top bunk

 and making sure the walkie talkies work!

 Zach made a fire and we cooked hot dogs and hamburgers.

 Rex watched intently hoping something would fall and he could gobble it up.

 A little later once it started getting darker, we headed back outside to roast marshmallows!

The next morning, Jackson shot a gun for the first time! 

 Of course, Katherine had to have a turn!

Jackson wasn't too pleased we had to go home so soon,

and is definitely looking forward to the next trip!

First and Last

Jackson and Katherine have another school year in the books!  Jackson finished pre-k and we couldn't be happier with how he did this year!  The school he went to has a program set up very much like kindergarten and it's amazing at the things he learned!  Needless to say, we are so proud of him!

For a little comparison, the picture of Jackson in the red shirt is from the first day of school in August, and the other is from his last day in May.  He's only about an inch or two taller, but  in the later picture, he's definitely not as 'baby' looking.

Katherine had a great year as well!  Her class had all girls, which was a welcome change from last year where she was the only girl in a room full of boys.  She can almost count to 20 and loves singing several songs ... her favorites are Old McDonald, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Jesus Loves Me, and ABCs to name a few!

Here are her pictures from her first and last days as well!

We are so thankful they both had a great year and made sweet new friends!

The Viking

 We have a new protector in the house and he's honing his skills!

 Although he runs fast and has cat-like reflexes, Katherine still isn't so sure.

Manicures

Not only does Katherine love having her fingers or toes painted, she loves painting ours as well!  She was finally able to get Daddy to cooperate!

 Jackson walked in and was shocked at what he was seeing!!

 It's a serious job and takes much concentration!

 The finished product!

 After making Daddy's nails beautiful,

Katherine then had to give her own nails a little attention!

Lions, Tigers, and Bears!

Jackson had his final field trip of the year on Friday.  We are lucky to have a great zoo for our size town, and they took an all day trip to it.  The only pictures came at the end of the day when they played at the splash pad!

Jackson with his favorite friends

 Before the bus returned and picked the kids up, they walked through parts of the zoo they missed earlier in the day.  The drum section is new and they loved it!

I'm so thankful most of the field trips were on days Katherine was also in school and I could go with him.  They've been on a lot of trips this year and it's always an experience with 4 and 5 year olds!  Now, I just need to get Katherine's first field trip on the blog for the grandparents (it was also to the zoo, just a month ago)!