Friends Forever

These just happen to be "left over" pictures from the past month or two that I didn't know what to do with.  Then, I realized that they were all pics of my kiddos with some of their buds.  We are so blessed to have such great friends and family.

hahahahaha - hope Plonns is okay with me posting this one. :)  My Aaron NEVER took his finger outta his nose at the age of 2.  It drove me crazy.  And cute lil' Ty - I think I just got lucky with this shot!  Kryssie sure loves these boys (me too)!!

"Cleaning" the kitchen at Gma Pat's ... and Gpa Brent's, of course.  ;)

HA!  The "Bandana Bandits" -- they really thought they had somethin' goin' with that title.

We love hangin' out!

Mission Impossible

Perfect Fit

I hope Ty doesn't mind me posting this.  :)  It really just makes me smile!  We were over at my parents to check out the progress on their basement a while ago ... I turn my head and notice Tyler checking out this closet for size ... literally.  hahahahahahahahaha!  

Can you believe that portion of my parent's basement is completely finished?!?  It looks so nice.  So, anyway -- my hubby, the perfect hall closet.  ;)

Pinewood Derby Production Post

Aaron experienced his first pinewood derby this year.  It was a lot of work.  Thank Heavens for gramps who helped him build his car.

1st:  Aaron designed his block of wood to the car shape he wanted.  Pretty cool and only a few erase marks:

2nd:  Grampa Brent cuts and carves:

3rd:  Sand, sand, sand, sand, sand, sand, sand ... and then sand some more!  [Marissa and Krystal sanded the cut-out parts :)]  EVERYONE took turns trying to sand that dang car!!  They sanded and sanded until I told them AB.SO.LUTE.LY no more ... it was getting a little ridiculous!

Finally .... paint time.  Aaron wanted orange!  We were all skeptical, but it turned out pretty sweet looking:

Gramps added 5 or 6 more layers of paint the next couple of days while we were at home.  Then - we got together again to add the wheels!

Here's Aaron and Gramps smoothing and sanding the nails that hold the wheels on:

Gramps checks (with a magnifying glass) to make sure the nail has zero jagged edges.  Then they had to give it many a tests on the wood floor and re-adjust the wheels until it ran perfectly straight.  [This pic with the very crooked run was the first trial].  

Here's the finished product!  Gramps figured out the weight for us, 'cuz I was LONG done and ready to throw in the towel.  He is awesome.  What a fabulous grampa!  I think Aaron looks pretty pleased too.

Here we are the night of the derby:

Aaron was in the first heat - and you can see the shock on his face as his car was Waaaaaaaay ahead of the other two.

We had THE coolest track that was all computerized, so the whole entire race took like 10 minutes.  Each boy raced 3 times ... once on each track .... and his times were averaged.  And - this face shows it all - Aaron took FIRST PLACE!!!  Hot dang!  (My dad was pretty proud too)!

The boys got to spend the rest of the pack meeting just racing each other for fun.  Krystal felt very special handing Aaron his car at the end of each race:

Here is Aaron and his cub master dad getting his "Fastest Car" award and 1st place medallion.  Pretty cool!

I'm so proud of my husband.  He is such a wonderful cub master.  May was a very extra crazy month for him, but he delegated well (and we have an AMAZING committee), and got his part done, and the derby was a huge success!  I think everyone had a great time.

So cool to win the derby your first year, huh?  Now he's got some pretty high expectations! :/  We'll be hangin' out with gramps again next year!  :)

Hair

I love that Krystal is blonde. She goes darker every year, but I would still say she's pretty blonde. Is it horrible that I plan to highlight her hair this Summer as needed? She's five. :/ Still gonna happen. :) She's so fun and bouncy. She loved this flip that M created for her:

Aaron promised me he would practice every morning before school for the entire month of May if I buzzed his hair.  Well, I certainly couldn't pass that up.  Although I'm not a huge fan, he loves it .... and it has grown on me.  (oh - and, yes - Aaron was still wearing a coat to school at the end of May when this pic was taken)

I guess Summer calls to the hair somehow.  :D!

Look Out World!

Both Krystal AND myself graduated from preschool this year!

Krystal's lucky 'cuz she'll still get to see her best friends every day.  I hope to still see Heather as much as I can, and maybe after I take a year off she'll have me back to teach again.   It sure is fun -- tiring :), but fun!

After visiting Dr. Nielsen for her kindergarten check-up and shots ... she's all set!

Look out, Kindergarten!  Princess Krystal is on her way!

Teenager!!

Marissa is THIRTEEN!!!  We think we might be in shock, but really we're just so grateful to have this beautiful teen in our lives.  How would we survive without her?  It would be impossible.  She is an amazing person -- funny, helpful, dependable, fun to be with, caring, hard working, and cheerful.  Happy Birthday, Dee -- hope you had a great one!

Here she is at the "Minute-to-Win-it" party M had where we made "S'mores and Mores" cake to celebrate her birthday.  Lots of those pics will be coming soon.  :)

She lucked out and her birthday fell on the last day of school this year.  So she and two of her best friends (and her parents, siblings, and M - of course) hit the matinee for "Shrek: The Final Chapter".  We all loved it aaaaaaaaand we got all you can eat popcorn and all you can drink pop.  Good times!  Then we took the friends home and went to Olive Garden for dinner.  Marissa's fave.  It was yummy.  Afterwards, her friends came over to our house to just hang out.  These girls and their phones ... they come up with all kinds of creative games and such that keep them entertained!  :)  So funny.

Then, the following Saturday - we went shopping with just the girls!

...and shopped 'til we dropped.

Thanks everyone for making her birthday so special.  Marissa is certainly a special one to us!

Finalist!

WE DID IT!!  Top 10, baby!  NUMBER 10 to be exact.  :)  Thank you so much everyone for the support and votes.  Tyler and Jeremy are working on the TONS of paper work this next week and we should be funded by next month.  Woot!  Woot!  Hopefully, the ACTD website will be up and running full swing by then, and you can all check it out.  We'll keep everyone posted on how it's all going.  Thank you again.  We are so excited!

Now that life will be a little more normal, I intend to do a lot of catching up on what has been going on in my kiddos' lives.  So, stay tuned.  LOVE!!