Daddy's Pink Suit

Last night at scouts (I'm the new commissioner, you know.  It sounds very important.  I'm still pretty clueless unto what it means.) I was chatting with Tralee's Primary teacher who told me a story that made me giggle uncontrollably for several seconds.

A few weeks ago in Tralee's Primary class all the children were coloring a picture of a few men in Sunday suits giving a girl a blessing.  Tralee colored all the suits pink and purple, of course.  One of the boys saw Tralee's masterpiece and said, "Boys don't wear pink suits!"  Tralee NEVER wants to be wrong --not in the slightest-- so her reply was as follows:

"Oh yeah!  Well my daddy has a pink suit and he wears it at home for us all the time!"

Oh my!  I told Jim about his imagined pink suit and he thought it was awesome.  We'll have to keep our eye out for a pink suit, and maybe one of these Sundays Jim will show up to church looking like this:

I can just see the controversy it would stir up with all of the five-year-olds in Tralee's class!

Tralee would be so proud!

Preschool Summer Party

Last Wednesday was the last day of preschool.  Tralee has been in a preschool co-op this year.  There were six students total, and each student's mom took turns teaching for two weeks in a row.  We had a teaching outline and routine to follow, and it was a lot of fun!  I was lined up to teach the final two weeks of preschool, and thought it might be fun to have a party for the last day instead of the regular preschool routine.  The topic was "Summer" so we had a summer themed party complete with carnival games, summery food, and lots of playing outside.

Rainbow fruit kabobs were one of menu items.  I also made a plethora of peanut butter and jelly/honey sandwiches, a veggie platter, homemade guacamole, homemade black bean salsa with tortilla chips (not homemade), and lemon-infused water.  The other moms were invited, and each contributed a delectable as well.

The picture above is of the kids doing a relay race.  I had them each pick a mask, and then complete the entire relay as that animal.  It was classic.  They got to keep their masks as a prize for completing the relay.

We also played the, "throw the penny in the fish tank" game.  I put toy fish inside clear plastic cups filled with water, and gave each child a turn throwing pennies in a cup to win a fish.

We did the "pick the rubber ducky from the pool" game.  The rubber ducky had a shape on the bottom.  The shape they picked determined which prize they would win.  I also let them keep the rubber ducky they chose.

Another game played was, "throw a dart to pop a balloon."  Each balloon had a piece of paper inside that had a shape, number, letter, or emotion on it.  Depending on which piece of paper was inside the balloon meant a different prize from the various prize boxes.

In the end I let the kids toss a giant dice, and whatever number it landed on meant how many more prizes they could pick.  I think those were all the games.  After they were done I laid out a picnic blanket for the wee ones, and they ate.  Then they all played.

I set up our bouncy house, the trampoline was jumped on, and the kids all took turns crashing into each other and running over the picnic blanket with the Powerwheels four-wheeler.  Luckily there weren't too many tears shed from kid-os getting hurt!

The moms visited while the kids ran amok.  I'm pretty sure everyone enjoyed themselves.

Before everyone went home, we had a little graduation ceremony complete with certificates for each child.  Their name was read, they went up and shook one of the mom's hands, were handed their graduation certificate, and we all cheered.  It was a lovely way to wrap up a successful year of preschool.

After the party was over, I told my kids mommy needed to rest.  I had stayed up WAY too late getting things ready for the party, and wanted some shut-eye.  Jim was out-of-town, so I sent him this picture right before I attempted to get a little sleepy sleep:

I think I shut my eyes for a total of 11.3 seconds before Tralee came in with a book and requested that I read it to her.  I obliged.  Such is the life of a mom.

I can't believe Tralee will be heading off to REAL school this fall!  Crazy!

She's Learning!

Sleep Talker

Hunter talks in his sleep.  It happens almost every night.  I notice it more when Jim is out-of-town because   Hunter keeps me company in the king-size bed.  Tralee sometimes joins the party, but mostly she sticks to her bed.  Anyways, some of the more recent middle-of-the-night ramblings are:

"I want a cookie.  No, actually, I want a brownie."  I'm willing to bet that was a very yummy dream.

"No, that's Hunter's!"  This was followed by a bunch of whining.  I'm assuming he was wrestling a fellow three-year-old for a favorite toy.  I can't be sure though.

Finally, last night I was awoken by a BLOOD CURDLING SCREAM!!!!!  I jumped up and started comforting Hunter, who I assumed would start crying.  Nope.  Instead he said with his eyes half open, "Whoa!  I just did that!"  Then he rolled over and snoozed the rest of the night away.

That's all I remember for the moment.  I told myself I need to start writing Hunty's midnight convos down, because I don't want to forget all the funny things my boy does.

Hunter's Three Year Stats

We just got back from Hunter's three-year well check at the Dr.'s office.  I'm always surprised with the difference of my children.  I'm always prepped to hear how "off the charts" Tralee is when it comes to her height, so when Hunter's doctor told me where Hunty lines up I started to laugh.

Weight: 33 lbs in the 60th percentile (that sounded about right)

The height is the one that I laughed at.

Height: 37 inches in the 30th percentile!!!!!  

I called Jim after the appointment and told him the numbers.  He said, "Well, we're always telling Hunter to stay our little baby.  I guess he's listening!"  We never thought one of our children would be on the smaller side of the charts.  To be fair, the doctor said that Hunter is only an inch away from being in the 50th percentile.

The best news of the appointment was that Hunter is a happy, healthy, well adjusted three-year-old.  We'll take it!

Our Rainbow Diamond

Everything about Tralee's first big dance recital was so fun!  She and I started the day looking on Pinterest for ways to do her hair.  She found two styles she liked, so we just combined the two.  Tralee was super excited about putting on make-up as well.  I usually let her play around with my lipstick and blush, but the mascara has always been off-limits, so the thought of giving her "long lashes" was almost too much excitement for her!  After getting ready we drove to dress rehearsal, came home, applied make-up, and then our whole family went to watch Tralee perform with her fellow Rainbow Diamonds (that's the name Tralee and the rest of the girls in her dance group came up with for themselves).  She, and all the Rainbow Diamonds, did amazing!  We were so proud!  Here are some pics before, during, and after the recital:

Tralee took dance with her first-cousin-once-removed . . . lets just say, cousin Brinley.  They were so cute together!

The cotton wood trees created quite a bit of "snow" that night.  After the recital, Tralee wanted to go catch snowflakes, so we let her.

Tralee flowers from Mommy, Daddy, and Hunter

Here's a video from that night.  I've included little snippets from each dance, and some pictures from the night.  Watch if you like:

Tralee's First Spring Dance Recital

Here are a few pics we took on our phones from Tralee's dance recital yesterday. She was brilliant, and we had so much fun getting her ready and watching her perform! I have nicer pics taken on the big daddy camera, but I thought I'd post these for now. Enjoy!

Breakfast in Bed

This morning Tralee told me to stay in bed. About ten minutes later she brought me breakfast! Her food choices were so very cute, and how she displayed the cereal in a muffin cup was adorable! I loved it! She was so proud of her little self!

Hunter's Third Birthday

Jim was in town for Hunty's birthday, so we made a night of it! First we played at Pojo's as a family, then we went out for Japanese (sushi for the adults and noodles with veggies for the wee ones), lastly we came home to open presents and eat birthday cake. It was a fun evening celebrating Hunter's three years of life!

Playing at Pojo's

I don't get spending a lot of time and money on wrapping presents.  I know Martha Stewart would probably slap me in the face with a roll of pearl-finished gift wrap for my laissez faire attitude when it comes to wrapping presents.  Why spend a chunk of change on something that will just get ripped to shreds in two seconds flat?  I let my kids do most of the gift wrapping around here, and don't get too involved (hence my laissez faire attitude).  We tend to wrap things using recycled gift bags, newspaper, and dollar store gift wrap if we're feeling especially fancy.  This year I let Tralee wrap Hunter's gifts in newspaper (the end rolls you buy from the newspaper for $2 a pop), and she decorated them however she wanted.  If you look closely, most of the pictures Tralee drew are of Hunter, and every picture has a number three (backwards!) on it somewhere.  I LOVED it! 

Hunter really got into present opening this year.  He received a wooden train track with a few sets of trains and extra tracks, a remote controlled robot, a pop-gun, and a remote-control helicopter (although to be honest, the helicopter was probably more for Jim than for Hunter).  Hunty also got some cards with moola in them from some other family members.  He has yet to spend his birthday money, and some of it might just end up in his bank account!  Shhhh. . . he'll thank me when he's older!

Blowing out his candle.  This year's birthday cake was a bit controversial!  We've changed our eating habits a bit around here, and this cake was an experiment of sorts.  The good news is, Hunter, Tralee, and I all loved it.  In fact, both children asked for seconds.  Jim, on the other hand, thought it was gross.  I probably won't be making this cake again, but I'm glad most of us liked it -- most especially the birthday boy!  Phew!

I can't believe my baby is three! 

10 Years!

Three Years

Hunter turned three today!  So many mixed emotions come with each of my children's birthdays!  I'm so happy and proud of them for growing, learning, and accomplishing new things.  On the other hand, I can't believe another year has flown by, and my baby has grown up before my eyes!  I get sentimental each birthday, and pour over old pictures.  Here are a few of my favorites from Hunter's first three years of life.  I'll let you enjoy the pictures while I go mug on my three-year-old (THREE!!!!!), wrap some presents, and finish a birthday cake!

Happy third birthday Hunter (A.K.A. Hunty, Hunter-Bunter, Hunty-Dizzle, Dizzy, Love Nugget, Blinky)  I love you!!  Here's to many many many many more happy years spent with my snuggle-bug!