The end of an era

I taught my last day of preschool today. Gavin has one more week until our little co-op group is truly over, but for me, my time is up and my days of teaching preschoolers are probably over for good. I must admit, it is a little fun to have the kids over, and I really like to do crafts with them. Today was beach day and we made a crab from a paper plate and crayon transfer seahorses. Lucky for us, the rain held off and we were able to go outside and play on the slip and slide. Gavin sure will miss being with his buddies, Coleman, Ashley, Will and Hayden every week, but once Cameron is out for the summer hopefully these brothers will be best buds.

Meadowlark

There is this amazing park in Vienna called Meadowlark Park. When I was little we used to go there often to feed the geese and stroll around the acres and acres of beautiful landscaping and flora. It is still one of my very favorite places, even though about 10 years ago they built two big buildings at the entrance and started charging to get in :( I've been wanting to go and take some family pictures there and when I convinced a friend of mine to go and let me photograph her family there, it was a great excuse to take mine as well and try to get some good shots. Her kids were amazing and you can see some of the results here. I don't know why it is so much harder to get my kids to cooperate, but we were able to get a few decent pictures, thanks to my Christmas gift of a remote for my camera. Don't look too close or you can see it in my hand! All of the new photos on my blog are from Saturday, the weather was gorgeous and as always, the foliafe and flowers did not disappoint. If you are looking for a peaceful, beautiful place to take your family, take them to Meadowlark.

Another First for Mason

Last week, along with a new tooth, Mason also started a new trick-walking. Are baby steps always so blissful? He's getting better and better each day and he makes this Mama so proud!

Can you see it?

It's small and white and terribly sharp. It took it's sweet time to arrive, but now it's here and three of it's friends are not far behind. Yes, my 13 month old has finally gotten a tooth! Cameron started teething at 4 months which is actually really early and Gavin didn't get one until he was 11 months old, but Mason takes the cake as my latest tooth getter. According to our pediatrician, the sooner they get their teeth the sooner they loose them (true for Cameron he was the only kid in preschool to have lost a tooth at age 4), and the sooner they will go through puberty. Apparently the sooner you go through puberty the less time it lasts which means these people are usually shorter. Who knows if this old wives tale will hold true, but if so, than I guess Cameron will be short and Mason will be tall. I'll let you know in 18 years!

Getting ready for summer...

It's starting to get hot here, little by little. It's hard to believe that the pools will open this Saturday and before we know it school will be out and then it's summer vacation. In order to prepare for the fun in the sun, I enrolled Gavin in his first swimming class at the Freedom Center. Other than hating the goggles, he did pretty well and loves to float on his back and blow bubbles. The boys will both be taking lessons starting the end of June and hopefully they will both learn to be better fish by the end of the summer.

Freezing in Haymarket

Last Monday, a group of five of us girls got together and swapped freezer meals. Everyone made two different dishes and made enough for everyone to get one. I brought 6 meals and left with 6 different ones. It has really been great to know that a home cooked meal is no farther than my freezer. These are especailly great on nights that we have baseball and I am running around with no spare time to cook- now we don't have to stop at McDonald's! So far everything I've had has been delicious, so delicious that we're going to continue the swap every month. Check out our blog with recipes so you can get started on your own!

Silhouette Obsessed

Several months ago I learned about a couple that lived in Arizona that was in a horrific plane crash. The husband was burned on 30% of his body and the wife 80%. The flight instructor, also on board did not make it. It was a miracle that they survived, especially the wife with the extent of her injuries. What made the story especially heart wrenching was the fact that this couple had four small children at home depending on them. One of the reasons I knew of this family was because they share our faith, and also because the wife, Stephanie Nielsen is an avid blogger and had become quite popular blogging about her everyday life as a housewife and mother. In reading her blog, I became so caught up in her life that I read just about every one of her posts and there were so many fun things she did with her kids, many I have now done with my own thanks to her example. One thing she does every April is create a new silhouette of each family member. I did these last October, which are nowhere near as amazing as hers, but I still love them. Then, just this last week I got the bug again and made these coasters for my mom, and this family silhouette that turned out much better than expected. It's a bit of an obsession now and you'll just have to wait and see what I can make a silhouette out of next:)