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)!

One for the Books

I must say I've had a pretty great Mother's Day!  

We tried to get a few pictures this afternoon, and it's always a hit or miss around here!  The one below was the best even though Katherine has an odd little look on her face!

 Jackson came home from school this week telling me he was making something for me!  On Thursday, he was so excited when he got into the car and pulled a big folder out of his backpack.  The folder was wrapped up with a poster of his hand prints and a card.  The folder is full of nursery rhymes that he illustrated in class!  It's a gift that they've obviously been working on for some time since it has so many pages in it.  I'm not sure who was more excited over it--me or him!!  When he pulled it out of his bag, I asked if he wanted to wait until Mother's Day and he quickly said no.  We sat in the school parking lot for at least 25 minutes looking at and reading every page!  

 Zach spoiled me today with food.  I woke up to homemade blueberry muffins and ended the day with this delicious rack of ribs!

 A few pictures from the book that Jackson made!

 Most everything he colors right now he wants to be "rainbow" so there were a few pictures that were rainbow!

"Sweet" little story about the flower card he made that is in the picture with the two of us: He mentioned making me a flower at school early last week.  By Wednesday night he was mad at me over having to go to bed and told me he wasn't giving me the flower.  He later went on to let me know he didn't want me to be his mom anymore.  I asked who was going to be his mom and he stated Mrs. Kitzi would be his mom (one of the assistant teachers at school).  I laughed, told him to go to sleep, and the next morning he didn't mention anything more about it.   Thankfully he didn't hold a grudge and actually gave me, rather than Mrs. Kitzi, the flower card and nursery rhymes that afternoon!!  We're getting into the truly handmade gifts and it's so sweet!

Off to a Great Start

It should be safe to say that Jackson has been in heaven the last 2 days!  Yesterday, I checked him out of school early to go to the Discover the Dinosaurs exhibit!

 He found out about the exhibit last week and was almost in tears since it wasn't open yet and he couldn't go that day.  He's had to wait not-so-patiently for a week!

 We met his friend, Nic, while there and they had a great time running around together!

 To top off yesterday, today was National Train Day and Amtrak hosted events across the country.  Lucky for us, there was one here! 

Needless to say, Jackson's weekend hasn't been too shabby!!

Mud Pies

Jackson and Katherine have been making 'mud soup' lately,

but today they decided to make mud pies.

 Rex fits perfectly into the mix around here.

 Once they made their mud pies, they put them on the ground where Rex promptly devoured them.  I'm glad someone around here would eat their delicacies.

Three

It's been a couple of weeks now, but Katherine did have a birthday party!!  I reminded her when she woke up that morning that it was her birthday, and the first thing out of her mouth was, "Princess party!"  Not exactly.

Thankfully she didn't mind seeing these balloons . . .

 or this cake!

The last thing the birthday girl wanted to do on her birthday was look at the camera.

Nicholas and Jackson

 Getting their bellies full!

  

 Following the party, we attempted a picture with Zach, me, Jackson, and Katherine.

It just wasn't meant to be; about like the one below.  Typical.

We gave up on the family picture and Katherine tested out some of her new toys. 

 When the day was done, it was safe to say that Katherine had a wonderful day.  Our little girl sure is loved and we appreciate our family and friends celebrating Katherine with us.