Gymnastics Finale

Today was Maddie's end of the year gymnastics show. Unfortunately, because of continued illnesses in the house, we were not all able to attend but Big A did a stellar job capturing it all on video for us (there were definitely some Pop Milani moments to the video that brought a huge smile to my face and good storytelling to my little ones).

Maddie started gymnastics last September and was definitely improving her negotiating skills each time she explained to her teacher why she shouldn't or couldn't do some of the things she was being asked to do.... going on the highbeam, doing a backward flip on the bars etc.. Fortunately for Maddie her teacher didn't buy into any of it and after months of practice, Maddie is able to go on the highbeam with ease and even do some fancy tricks on it with her teacher by her side. This little girl has made tremendous improvements this year and has boosted her confidence sky high. She cannot wait for the next session to start. We are all very proud of her!!

Unfortunately, Chlo-Bear was not able to participate in her show last night because she is still fighting off this horrible bug she has had. We have had a rough week in the house with illnesses and hope that everyone is 100% soon.

XXOOXXO to all!

Chloe's Preschool Graduation

Our little girl at her preschool graduation with her "duck" cap.

We cannot believe our little girl just graduated from preschool; it seems like just yesterday we took her to her very first day of school wearing her Lightning McQueen backpack. Chloe has really flourished and truly blossomed this school year. We couldn't be prouder of what a truly wonderful and loving little girl she is! She is absolutely ready and quite excited to be a kindergartener next school year.

Ms. Mary Kay Ms. Laurie

This school year was absolutely wonderful! Chloe was blessed with two truly energetic, dedicated and hardworking teachers. Ms. Mary Kay and Ms. Laurie were often topics at the dinner table. Chloe couldn't wait to get to school to see her teachers and her friends and I know she is really going to miss them this summer. Adam and I were quite impressed with the curriculum, the friendships and all of the activities Chloe was exposed to. Some of her favorites were the Art Show where she was able to show off her artistic abililites, the Winter Show where she was able to perform in her PJs, The Night of the Special Man where she and Daddy built a birdhouse then got to go to Starbucks and Mother's Tea where she sang a song and gave me a beautiful pillow with her handprint.

Here is Chloe singing "Ole-Ole Anna" with her good friends (especially her "best friend" Emma on the end). If you haven't heard her sing it yet give us a call as she has been enjoying singing it to anyone who calls..... all of the verses I might add.

Chloe receiving her diploma.

As I've said numerous times before I wish I could keep my little ones little forever. I am so lucky and blessed to spend all of my days with them watching them grow and really blossom into their own little persons. September isn't too far off and come fall I will be putting two on the bus instead of one to spread their wings for a full day away from the nest. You better believe I will do my best not take one moment of our time together this summer for granted... afterall, I know I cannot keep them little forever and that one day I will truly miss these times with them and will have only the memories we are creating now to remind me of how sweet my life with my children has been.

Hugs to all,

Laura

How does your garden grow?

In our grand attempt to get the children more excited about eating their veggies we decided to plant a vegetable garden. We are lucky enough to have a wonderful neighbor next door who has lots of extra space in her garden and is letting us plant our veggies at her house. We didn't quite get around to the raised bed this year so Ms. Jerri is a Godsend!

Maddie and Chloe asked each of us what vegetables we like then made a list of the veggies they would like to grow. We took a trip to Harvey's, our local organic farm, consulted with Mr. Harvey himself and loaded up on some plants (maybe next year we will be on the ball enough to start from seeds). The kids were so excited to get digging in the garden. They loaded up the wagon with their supplies and off they went. I was excited that Jerri was around to guide us in the garden, I never knew how deep you have to plant a tomato plant.... a learning experience for all of us. Jerri was great!!! She had little ground stakes for labeling the plants... much better than the popsicle sticks I had brought. Maddie really enjoyed being in charge of writing each plant's name and I enjoyed watching her phonetically spell everything. Chloe was ready to get her hands dirty and somehow, everyone's hands but mine and Gracie's got really dirty - did I mention how happy I was that Jerri was there?! One of the most exciting moments for the girls was when Jerri gave them permission to come to the garden anytime they want...no need for her to be there, just come, keep an eye on the plants and enjoy the garden. Just this weekend the girls went over to pick some lettuce for our hamburgers - oh, and they both ate the lettuce too.... priceless.

Adam enjoyed throwing the ball to the dogs but perhaps his greatest enjoyment came from learning that Ms. Jerri has a special door, just his size I might add, for the dogs and possibly for him too (although mommy nixed that one right away).

Gracie getting some attention from Ms. Jerri and the dogs. Grace seemed fascinated with Montana and Montana with her.

So, hopefully at some point this summer we will have some yummy tomatoes and cucumbers to go with that lettuce and 3 children who learn to love not only growing their veggies but eating them too.

That's all for now. Much love,

Laura

A Visit from Aunt Patti and Aunt Judy

We recently had the pleasure of having Aunts Patti and Judy stay with us for a fun-filled weekend. The kids had a blast and so did Adam and I. Between softball games, a walk to the ice cream stand (a must for all visitors at our house), Maryland lacrosse, board games and bowling the girls also practiced some very important educational skills- Preakness style. The girls both really love horses and so what a perfect opportunity to practice reading, writing and counting.

Aunt Patti had the girls write the names and numbers of the horses on a piece of paper then cut them and put them in a flower pot. After that, everyone contributed a few dollars (counting money of course is a very valuable skill), and picked two names out of the pot. The excitement when the race began was contagious..... everyone was jumping up and down cheering for their horses (number recognition as you watched for your horse....see how educational gambling is). In the end, Maddie was the lucky winner of the day with Rachel Alexandra coming in first. She was quite excited to win and smiled from ear-to-ear. Aunt Patti made sure that all of the little ones won a little something.... isn't she sweet!! The girls had so much fun and cannot wait to do it again. What a special memory for them... gambling with their Auntie :)

We had a big first for Gracie while Patti and Judy were here.... Gracie took her very first bottle of breastmilk - Hooray!!!! She would not take a bottle from Adam after several attempts and we had almost given up until Patti said she wanted to try. Gracie did fine as long as I was not in the room and she did not hear my voice. I'm happy to report that she now takes a bottle from her daddy as well.

No trip to our house would be complete without bowling. Aunt Judy turned out to be a ringer... I think she secretly bowls in her "spare" (ha, ha, ha) time although she doesn't "strike" us as the bowling type (okay, okay, that was Adam's). Our little guy is getting to be quite the bowler. He throws the ball down the lane with no issues and recently bowled a 101... tying his daddy and beating all the girls. Can you imagine what he could do with a duck pin ball???

So, you can see how much fun it is to visit..... any takers???