No Longer a Pre-schooler!

My big boy Justin graduated from Pre-school this week! They did a really nice job with the ceremony. The kiddos started out by singing some songs like "Jesus Loves Me" with sign language.

Then they said the pledge of allegiance.

Then they lined them all up and had them come down the aisle one at a time. While each kiddo walked down the aisle they talked about them. It went something like this, "Justin is going to Hardy Oak Elementary school next year. He wants to be t-ball player when he grows up, not to be mistaken for a baseball player. His favorite thing to do is to play with Indiana Jones Legos. He wins the All-Boy award. From calling his friends 'dude' to setting up adventures on the playground, he is ALL BOY!"

When he got to the front, she gave him his diploma.

Then they sang the "Kindergarten Song." It goes like this:

Kindergarten here we come,

We know we'll have lots of fun.

We'll have lots of things to make and do.

Reading, Writing, Counting too.

Kindergarten here we come,

We know we'll have lots of fun!

Then... they had a balloon release to symbolize leaving pre-school behind!

This is Aymee. Justin adores her & calls her his girlfriend.

Here's his buddy Xavi!

Proud big brother Josh.

Proud Mama! I was so proud of him. He was so brave & outgoing up on stage! He has asked me every day since the graduation when he gets to go to "Josh's big school." I'm going to make a count-down chart, to avoid continually answering that question!

Two down... one to go!

Memorial Day Weekend!

Memorial day Weekend was...Memorable. We grabbed the boat from the lake, loaded up the kids, bribed the Godwin family and headed south to Nana & Papaw's house (Boyd's mom Debra & stepdad Terry) in Corpus Christi. We bribed them with a free place to stay, great food that Nana always cooks us and... the beach! Who could refuse? Not me...or them!
We did some hole digging (and feet soaking)....

...Some sand shark building (and picture posing)...
...some tubing...

...some jetskiing on Nana's new jetski (fun!!!)...

...some crab hunting...

...some playing in the sand...

...some surf shop shopping...

...some swimming...

...some sunset watching...



...and some smootchy smootching!

Thank you to all of our armed forces for the sacrifices that you make to ensure our safety! God Bless!

Cute School Pictures!

Although it seems like an oxymoron, they actually took really cute school pictures!

My cutie boy Will. Priceless Picture!

This is his ornery look.

Here are his classmates & teacher Ms. Lyn. (We love her!)

Mr. Justin. He busted his eye with a tent pole the day before these were taken. He's also having some hair issues lately. He pushes it forward every chance he gets. I keep trying train it to go back....He's thinking about smiling in this one. I get this look A LOT. It's a, "mom, you're a dork"look.

Pretty sweet.

My cutie pie.

His class. Back row, first on the left. That is Aymee. She is Justin's "girlfriend." He gave her 2 cupcakes at his class birthday party. She's super cute.

The Terrible Twosome!

Yep, my baby is heading to Kindergarten next year! Graduation is next week!

So there you have it! It is possible to get cute school pictures!

Justin Is FIVE!

Dear Justin,

I decided to write you a letter this year to tell you how much how much I love you and to publish it so I will never forget this great time in your life. You are a totally bright light in this world to me. It's hard not to compare you to your brothers being the middle child. But all three of you are so different, it's fun for me to see how you are different and the same.

You are really independent (unlike your brothers). You are perfectly content to play by yourself, but you love to play with friends too. In the last year you have done some amazing things! You taught yourself how to ride your bike without training wheels. You told Dad to take your training wheels off and before Dad came back out of the garage, you were off riding! He didn't run after you holding you up or anything!

You also learned to read and write- before you were 5!! You love sounding out words and spelling. You constantly give me math quizzes.

"Mom, what is 4 + 4 + 2 +4?" you say.

"UMMM, 14!" I say.

"That's right Mom! Good job," you say.

Some of the math quizzes get hard like, "What is 30 trillion + 3?" I love it that you love to think about numbers. (You get that from Dad)

I think you may have an artistic streak in you! I love that- since you get it from me! You love writing, drawing and painting. All things are centered around your favorite hero- Indiana Jones. Good choice, by the way.

You also are obsessed with the color green. (Josh loved green too at your age). Everything has to be green. (Will likes orange right now)

You don't want to be told what to do. (I don't either). It has to be your idea. Like the whole t-ball thing.

Shoes...all I can say is you have to pick them out & they have to sit in the box on the counter for 2 weeks before you decide if they are worthy of your feet. Socks can't have bumps or strings when they are on your feet either. Oh... I have to say, "socks and shoes," instead of "shoes and socks." It's the order that you put them on your feet.

You also still love Neigh. She is the horse blanket you've had since you were a baby. You even cried last night when you couldn't find her at bedtime. Yes, Neigh is a girl. You let us know that about 3 years ago. Neigh now has a sister. You called her "Neigh's sister" for about six months, but now you have named her Nulia. (pronounced like Julia with an N) You've always had your own little language.

You are so excited to go to Kindergarten now. You wouldn't get out of the car at registration, but since then you have decided that it is going to be "wicked, awesome." I can't wait for you to go because you are going to love it, but I'm going to miss you like crazy!

I love you so much Justin Reed. You are such special, amazing kid.

Love,

Mom

My Great Friend Nancy did it again! She made the most amazing video from Justin's birthday. I kinda threw it together. We were just going to have a few friends over to water slide, then it became a party, then I planned a little treasure hunt for the party. Mother Nature didn't read my invitation. The temperature dropped 20 degrees and a storm blew in. It never rains here-only when I plan a water party. I was really glad I planned the treasure hunt. The kids had fun & I think the adults did too. Some of them didn't leave until eleven (the party started at 3!) enjoy the video! Thanks again Nancy!

Either It's Roadrunner Mating Season or I Have A Brain Tumor

A couple of days ago, I took Justin & Will to the park. We call it "snake tunnel park" because it has a long walking trail that leads to some tunnels and they have a big sign at the beginning of the trail that warns of snakes. We have NEVER seen a snake.. thank GOD. On this particular visit though, I saw something I have only seen one other time in my life... a geococcyx californianus or chaparral otherwise known as a roadrunner. (thanks google). He was there...then he was gone before I could point it out to the kids. Fast forward a few hours. Our house backs up to a greenbelt area and we have a wrought iron fence in the back. I went out on our deck to water the one plant I am really, really trying to keep alive (I'm horrible with plants).Focus Mendi. So I glanced and saw ANOTHER roadrunner behind our fence! Of course he also took off too fast for the kids to see him. So... I know I'm a little paranoid from watching too much Grey's Anatomy... and Izzy's brain tumor; seeing things story line. So I figured it would be a lot less hassle to google roadrunners & find out if it is their mating season than to go get an MRI on my brain. Besides, I'm a little claustrophobic.

So here is what I found out. Our animal science lesson for today:

Roadrunner's carnivorous habits offer it a large supply of very moist food. It reabsorbs water from its feces before excretion. Yuck. A nasal gland eliminates excess salt, instead of using the urinary tract like most birds. Double Yuck. Its extreme quickness allows it to snatch a humming bird or dragonfly from midair.They can run up to 17 miles per hour- that's why the 2 I saw got away so fast. Here is the great part or maybe not so great part. THEY EAT RATTLESNAKES! So there really are snakes at Snake Tunnel Park... and in my backyard? At least they are getting eaten. Right?

Oh yeah... and one more thing. It IS their mating season! Collective sigh of relief.

Boyd & I got to talking about my sightings & realized that our kids have never seen Roadrunner & Coyote cartoons. They don't know about the mee-meep or acme dynamite sticks. They've never seen Coyote set boobie traps for Roadrunner and have them backfire on him over and over again every single time. So here is a reminder of your (or mine at least) childhood. A real cartoon, not made on a computer & pretty funny. This one has a SURPRISE ending...

Oh yeah! I forgot to mention that we have coyotes behind our fence too. We hear them howling all the time. Go Roadrunner Go! I hope my new friend never gets caught!