Beach bound!

See you when we return....

Rollerskating

Beach trip countdown

Our annual family beach trip is at the end of this month, and it's a close competition to determine who's the most excited around here. But Jackson may be the winner with his 'Beach Trip Countdown Calendar'. Each night before bed, we pick out a beach sticker to mark off that day....and then we count the # of empty squares that remain, so Jackson can say

"Only ___ more days 'til we go to Teddy's beach house!"

(Sorry, Grandpa. You don't own anything...it all belongs to Teddy)

Mother's Day Tea

On Monday, Jackson's Pre-K had a Mother's Day Tea to celebrate Mother's Day. I really didn't think much of it. We had had events like this before. It wasn't too big of a deal. We'd show up for the last 30 minutes of class, have a little snack, get a present, and go home. I was wrong. It was a big deal. I arrived a little early and was waiting in my car until it was time to go in. Other mothers began to arrive and file into the building. I hardly recognized half of them. Their hair was fixed, they had make-up on, and they were all dressed up...I mean dresses, skirts, heels. And everyone had a camera.


And then there was me. No camera. Not dressed up. No heels. Dirty, no-nap, hungry, 1 year-old on my hip. I felt a little ashamed that I did not take this event more seriously. I have learned my lesson for next year....that is, if I get an invitation to return. My saving grace was that at least I had showered that morning and had on real clothes and some make-up :) And I had just come from having Luke's portrait made so he was somewhat presentable too.
My shame only continued as I entered the building. There was a beautiful table set up outside the classroom with a vase of roses, punch bowl, strawberries, fancy cookies, little finger sandwiches with the crust cut off (where was the giant bowl of goldfish and the apple juice in little shot glass sized cups I was expecting?). We were instructed to get our name tag, fix a plate, and enter into the classroom where we found our precious angels waiting oh so quietly on the circle time rug, and found our place to sit at the table where we would enjoy a little concert they had been working on (how in the world did I miss that this was such a big deal?...and how did none of the other moms seem to miss that?)

It was precious. I was able to beg one of the other moms to take down my e-mail and send me copies of the video and some pics. I will never leave my camera at home again. Below are the videos from the "performance". Jackson is in a blue shirt and khaki shorts, and is directly below the 2 rectangles on the wall. His is the voice you hear above all the others :)

"Bringin' Home A Baby Bumblebee"

"I Love Mommy"

"Happy Mother's Day To You"

After the concert, we snacked with our little ones and were presented with our gifts. It was such a precious and wonderful morning and I'm so thankful to their teachers for putting it together. Poor Brad...I think he'll have a hard time topping that on Sunday ;)

My gifts

Bathtime photo shoot

Bathtime is a definite favorite at our house. Both of our boys love the water and any excuse to get wet and splash. We took some cute pictures of Jackson in the bath when he was about a year old and have them hanging in his bathroom. So we decided that we needed to add some of little Luke too :) Here are the pictures from our bath photo shoots...from 2006 and 2009. I promise we don't really try to take the same pictures...but it's neat to see how it just works out that way :) Jackson is on the top/left, Luke on the bottom/right.

Sweet, sweet boys.