Week 26

Ack!  It was another beautiful week that seemed to just fly by!  So quickly, in fact, that I never took out my camera.  We did enjoy the week, there is just no proof.  I promise to do better next week.  

Our week in a glance:

-The kids had VBS Monday-Thursday mornings.  

-Punky had her last near ball game.  Grandma Trudi and Grandpa Scott surprised her and came to watch the game!  We went out for ice cream after.

-Derek volunteered on Saturday morning to help paint the soccer fields for Punky's soccer league that starts next week.  

-That left the kids and I home alone where we slept in, watched TV, and didn't get out of bed til 11:30.  Haven't done that in years!

-We went the the swimming pool.

-The kids played outside until 10:30pm with the neighbors.  The adults had fun too.

-On Sunday, we went to a wedding reception and a birthday party for cousin L.

We were so busy in June- I hope July and August don't go so quickly!  Hooray for a short week ahead and then the 4th of July!

Week 25

If it weren't for weekends like this, there is no way we would survive the winter.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous today.  And lucky for Derek, we spent the day celebrating him!  We went out to lunch and then headed to a nearby lake.  We dipped our toes in the water, went on a nature walk and saw some animals and then played at the park.  It was a beautiful day and I couldn't ask for a better guy to spend it with.  Thanks for all you do, Derek.  We love you!

Week 24

(Sorry for the late post.  Our internet was down.  It was an interesting experience having no internet for 3 days.  I was so annoyed I couldn't listen to Pandora Radio.  Oh yeah... I have CDs... and a radio).  We couldn't watch TV- we have some serious catching up to do with Orange is the New Black.  Oh yeah...  the kids have DVDs and there is always the regular TV channels.  And on top of all that I do have my iPhone still, so I could still get online through my data plan.  It was weird though).

Summer is in full force here at our household.  On Monday morning bright and early at 8 am, the kids had their first swimming lessons of the season.  We normally wake up at 8 or 8:30, so to be awake, breakfast ate, teeth brushed, clothes on, swimming bags packed, work and daycare supplies packed, is quite the feat.  Luckily, the lessons are for only two weeks (half way done!).

In addition to swimming, Punky still has nearball on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.  Buddy also had his first opportunity to sign up for a sports class. He is in the "Lil Sports Sampler" class on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.  It's fun to see Buddy out on the field listening to the coaches and interacting with the other kids.  He had a great week with his team, the Big Foots.

Week 23

Thursday was Punky's last day of kindergarten.  I'll skip all the "this year went so fast" and "I can't believe she is a first grader" stuff and talk about how unbelievable blessed we were this year.

 Punky's teacher, Mrs. Rigazio, was the best teacher I could have imagined for Punky and for us as parents.  She was caring, sweet and yet firm with the kids.  Punky was happy to go to school every single day.  One of the nicest things we heard at her conferences was that every morning, Punky greeted her teacher by name, "Good morning, Mrs. Rigazio!"  (And we heard this from the music teacher, the kindergarten teacher next door, etc. too.)  It is easy to tell Punky was very happy to be at school.  Each week, Mrs. Rigazio emailed 2-3 photos or videos of the kids.  I can't tell you how comforting and reassuring it was to receive those emails so often.  It showed her teacher cared, and reminded us that Punky was having fun, excelling and making friends.  Those emails always brightened our days!  A lot of those photos can be found at this End of the Year Video if anyone cares to look (mostly I just wanted to link it so I don't lose it!)

Here are some of my favorite videos:

Morning Song- I love so much about this video including our neighbor's enthusiastic hand shakes and the two kids just staring at each other- hahaha

Reading Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus- On Fridays, the kids could bring in a book from home and read it to the class.  This was the first time Punky did it and her teacher was so surprised and proud of her.  I didn't have the heart to tell her Punky has probably read this book 1,000 times so she knows it perfectly!

Book Report on Racoons- Punky was part of the GE program this year and at the end of the year, the kids did a book report (complete with note cards to make sentences, sentences to make paragraphs)  Crazy stuff I remember doing in middle school.

Rush Creek was a perfect fit for Punky and our family.  We can't wait for next year!