Book Review

A while back my sister-in-law's (Sarah) best friend asked if I would write a guest book review on the book of my choosing for her children's picture book blog.  It took me a while to find inspiration, but I finally did!  This is a really neat blog and we have already found a couple of new books based on the reviews.  Abby is an excellent writer--- she makes you WANT to buy all of these books!

You can read my review here:
Are you there Baby Bear?

Fresh air

Brother love

taken on Samuel's birthday

The Bean

Finally... my last post about our Spring Break trip to Chicago!  The Bean was too cool to leave out!  We all really enjoyed walking around it and exploring this unique structure!

Last day of Kindergarten!

Wednesday was Emma's last day of Kindergarten!

To celebrate the last day of school we had a special lunch at Dairy Queen, complete with ice cream cones of course!  After that we went to the mall for a little fun at the play area.

 

On all fours

How I love thee?

let me count the ways...

Awards Ceremony

This week Emma's school had an awards ceremony.  Emma was thrilled to bring home, not one, not two, but THREE awards!  Way to go Emma!

ROCKIN' READER AWARD (for 6 mos participation in the Book It program)

CHRISTIAN CHARACTER AWARD:  GENTLENESS

BEST LISTENER AWARD (in ART class)

Emma grinned from ear to ear each time she walked up to receive an award.
Afterwards she said, "This is the first time I haven't been nervous" going up on stage in front of everyone!

Emma and her awesome principle:

After this we had a picnic at the park and some playtime:

 

 Lucas's favorite slide... this kid has NO fear!

"This is where it goes..."

"Right here"

Another Graduation

Last weekend we took a whirlwind trip to watch our niece Rachel graduate from high school... Summa Cum Laude!
It was great to be with them for an evening, attend church with them in the morning, then Rachel's graduation, and a little post graduation visiting before heading home.

Ready to watch Rachel graduate!

The happy family!

Beautiful sisters

The awesome clouds & sunset on our trip

A to Z Scriptures

At Emma's kindergarten graduation, her class recited the scriptures they memorized during the year, one for each letter of the alphabet.  I asked Emma if she would do it for me at home, and she did, though she was a little shy about it so her voice is pretty quiet.  She was painting while we did this...

This is what she was saying...

Emma's spring program and GRADUATION

Emma has never been fond of performing in front of people.  We are so proud of her for going ahead and participating despite her nervousness.

The preschool, Pre-K, and Kindergartners put on a very nice Spring concert 

After the program, the Kindergartners had their graduation ceremony!
How neat to see Emma in a cap and gown!

Emma's face was aglow when her teacher called her name and she went to get her diploma!

Turning the tassel

Emma was so excited to have her picture taken with her teacher after graduation!

Nathan wanted a picture with Emma also:

The Graduate (she LOVED being called this!)

Trains may come and trains may go...

Every day (really, several times a day).
It is no uncommon occurrence in our city to have to sit and wait for a train.  Depending on which parts of town you frequent, this can easily happen multiple times a day.
I admit I used to get rather annoyed by it... 
I viewed it as a great imposition on my time.
That was before I had little boys.
Now each train is an opportunity to see something fascinating   There is much talk about the cars, the engines, the cargo, the length, the colors...  Even Emma doesn't seem to mind them much any more.  It's a good thing, because in the last three years, we've been railroaded 1-4 times a day as I've taken her to and from school...