Let It Grow!

"Every child is born a naturalist.  His eyes are, by nature, open to the glories of the stars, the beauty of the flowers, and the mystery of life."

I have wanted to create a small vegetable garden for a few years now.  Ryan and I decided that this was the year we would attempt it!  Our neighbors had a great garden last year and our kids had so much fun watching it grow and eating things out of it!  We hope that we at least can get a few things to grow because our children are ecstatic!!

 Taking the grass out was a big hit!  The kids had a blast searching for (and playing with) worms.

 

 Sue helped Ryan make the garden box when she was here marathon weekend which was very helpful.    We have had so much rain since then and the kids have been anxiously awaiting planting!

 We all had so much fun planting! We planted tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, carrots, peas, and some flowers!  I am desperately praying at least some of our things will grow so our kids won't be too discouraged!  I've heard the first year can be rough and I definitely don't have a green thumb.  Prayers accepted!

 We also finally planted some trees!  We planted two trees in our boulevard and one in our back yard.  The kids were just as excited to plant the trees as the garden!  They look great! We had a great weekend getting some things done around the house! Love this little family :)

School's out for summer!

Landon's last day of Kindergarten!

Landon's first day of Kindergarten!

I can't believe it is actually over!  My little boy has completed his first year of school with great success! Landon was very excited to be done with school but not excited to be leaving his friends and teacher.  The last couple of weeks he has been saying, "Mama, I really just don't want to talk about the last day because it makes me sad.  I love Mrs. Spanier."  He is such a tender-hearted little boy.  He also told me last night he was sad because not all of his friends would be at his school for 1st grade.  I know he will soon forget all of these things and meet new friends and be happy with a new teacher but it is hard to see him sad right now.  

Mrs. Spanier sent the above letter home with Landon on the last day and I don't think I could have worded my own feelings as they are reflected in the letter any better.  It truly says it all. 

We got some great news yesterday as well!  Landon was given the Principal's Award at school.  There were 1 or 2 from each Kindergarten class that were given the award for excellent behavior.  We are so proud of him!  

 Landon received a certificate to Buffalo Wild Wings with his award and he is very excited to celebrate there!

So now we move on to Summer Vacation!  We are all excited to sleep in a little later (yeah right), spend an abundance of time outdoors and start all of the new summer activities!

Spring Soccer!

Landon has been doing spring soccer for the past few weeks.  The season was cut pretty short due to our spring weather but it has been fun while he's had it.  He really seems to be enjoying playing soccer and is even getting a little bit competitive.

 I love these 2 shots of his hard working faces!

Landon had a great practice tonight and even scored 3 goals in the scrimmage!

The prettiest little soccer spectators!  I love when they cheer for their big brother! Landon will play soccer for the months of June and July and we are excited to watch him play!

Kindergarten Readiness Graduation.

 Kadence had her last day of Kindergarten Readiness.  She has spent 2 years at the YMCA preschool.  It is a great program and I would recommend it to anyone!  Kadence has grown so much over the year and we are so proud of her. She started the year with some pretty bad separation anxiety and would cry every time we left her at school.  We modified the way we did things and taught her that she was "the boss of her body" which helped her with her anxiety immensely.  She did a complete turnaround and by the end of the year she could not wait to get to school!  I am so glad we were able to help her through so that next year Kindergarten will be an easier transition.

 Kadence and Kendallynn waiting for their "diplomas."

 She did it!  We were fortunate enough to celebrate with some ice cream!

 Miss Stephanie gave Kadence the Kind Courage award.  Her note on the back was so sweet and we were very lucky to have such a kind teacher in Kadence's life!

I can not believe I now have TWO school aged children in my home!  I am excited for Kadence to move on to the next step in her learning at Kindergarten! Way to go KK!  Love you to pieces!

Spring Swim Lessons.

Kadence and Landon are on their second session of spring swim lessons.  They were in level 2 beginner and both passed that and are now in level 2 advanced.  They are having a ton of fun this session and think their teacher is hilarious.  I love watching these 2 goofballs have a good time together in the water.  It amazes us how much they have improved from a year ago!

 The best little swim spectator ever!!

 Waiting for class to start!

 Landon's big entrance into the pool!

Kadence's big jump off the diving board!

 Happy Swimming!