Landon's last day of preschool!

Landon and Mrs. Sanders

Tuesday was Landon's last day of preschool!!  He's grown so much in the past couple of years with Mrs. Sanders!  He started out with a nurse in tow, needing help with everything, and in pull-ups.  He's now a big kid and doesn't have a nurse helping him with his tasks during his school day.  He's also potty trained and goes all by himself at school just like the other kids.

I'm so thankful for Mrs. Sanders and her para-professional teachers, Mrs. Ackles and Ms. Nan!  They have been amazing with Landon and have taught him so much independence.  I know they love him and want what is best for him.

The last day of preschool was celebrated the same way it was last year...with an ice cream party!  Even with two children throwing up their ice cream after playing a long game of "red light, green light", all the kids had fun!  Here's some pictures of Landon's ice cream party with his classmates...

Landon enjoying his bowl of ice cream topped with sprinkles, M&Ms, and a cherry. :)

Landon with his favorite teacher, Ms. Nan.

Sydney eye balling Landon's ice cream.  Those crackers and raisins just don't sound that good compared to what brother has! :)

Landon with Mrs. Ackles

Landon and Liana doing sidewalk chalk together.  Small world but Liana also goes to Children's for therapy at the same time and day that Landon is there to see Kim.  So, he'll still get to see Liana until school starts in the fall.

Sydney made a friend this year too.  Mahala is one of Landon's classmates, and she LOVED Sydney!  Sydney would always run up to Mahala after school and they would have a little conversation. :)  Here Sydney is trying to give Mahala a hug so she can reach her hair tie....she's sneaky!

Mrs. Ackles drawing a number 9 with sidewalk chalk.  If Landon was good in school, Mrs. Ackles would take him on a walk around the school so Landon could find some numbers in the hallway.  They called it a "number walk". :)

Mrs. Sanders with Liana, Christian, and Landon  

These three were in her class last year also.  They are all three going to different schools next year. :(

The class enjoying a juice box after "red light, green light"

The last day of school calls for some "last day of school tater tots and milk"  YUM!

My mother's day present :)

Let's go back a couple weeks...to Mother's Day.

Since it was just my birthday a couple of weeks before, I decided that instead of my family getting me something that I may or may not use in my everyday life, I would ask for something a little more practical.  Something that would bring me joy, but still could be used to help the whole family.

Since we moved into our house in September of 2009, I've grown my own cucumbers in our backyard in our clay soil.  I'm not exactly sure how it survived, but it did more than survive, it flourished in our clay soil.  I had so many cucumbers I had to give away a lot of them!  The tomatoes and green peppers I tried planting last year didn't like the soil as much as the cucumbers.  It also didn't help that we have a family of bunnies that live underneath our deck. :/  After being able to grow my cucumbers, my black thumb I thought I had, has finally turned green.  I've really started to enjoy growing things.  It's actually quite relaxing!

So this year I wanted to do it right and create a raised vegetable garden in our backyard.  My neighbor had made one in her backyard, and I was quite jealous last year when she was getting all kinds of veggies out of her garden and all I had were cucumbers coming out my ears!  I wanted an abundance of everything too!! :)  So that's what I asked for for Mother's Day...a garden.  And my hubby sure did deliver!!

Here's my marvelous raised vegetable garden!

We put it about a foot off the ground, but it's also sunken in the ground about 6 inches or so.  We filled it with soil and some extras that the cows helped us out with. :)  The chicken wire is some extra protection from the bunnies. :)  It's made out of composite decking material, so it'll probably outlive the house!  

After reading a book called Square Foot Gardening, I learned about how many plants you can put in a square foot so that you maximize how much food you can produce from a four foot by four foot square garden.  If you are looking to start a garden, read that book.  Even if you are just going to put plants into pots, it has so much information about what plants like and how much water to give them and it even shows you how to prune tomatoes so that you get mostly producing stems and not ones that are just extra fluff.  It's a very informative book and I got so much information from it!  I'm so excited that we're going to have so many things for the kids to pick out of the garden.  

There are peas...

Green Beans...

Radishes...

Cucumbers...

Tomatoes

And I also have carrots, green onions, spinach, and swiss chard (which the book said was similar to spinach).  Those are just little bitty things, so I didn't take their pictures. :)  I can't wait till everything starts producing!!    

On another note, my sweet little Landon made me a mother's day card at school.  I think it's the best card he has ever made for me because I know he did it all by himself! 

On the outside it says "Happy Mother's Day" all in his handwriting.  This is what is on the inside...

When I played dumb and asked him who this was, he cheerfully pointed at each person and said, "that's Landon, and that's Mom!"  He's so cute!  It made me cry because I know he drew this and he did such an amazing job!  I'll probably save it forever...maybe I'll laminate it...okay, maybe that's a bit much. ;)

His class also planted seeds since they were learning about plants in school.  Mine will eventually be two sunflowers which I need to get into the backyard!  They are growing quickly and I love watching them reach for the sunlight.  When I turn them around, a couple hours later I'll come back and they are facing the sun.  I just love how nature works.  It's a pretty amazing thing!

So, I think my mother's day was a pretty awesome one!  Thank you dear, for all the hard work you put into my box!  You're the best! XOXO

Field Trip, No. Car accident, yes.

Landon's teacher put together a field trip for her preschool class to visit Lauritzen Gardens.  I've heard such wonderful things about this place and was excited to sign up to be a chaperone.  It was going to be Landon's first field trip and I didn't want to miss it!  I had planned on spending the day with Landon at the gardens and dropping Sydney off to spend some time with Mason. :)  That meant I had to get everyone where they needed to be before 845am.  As we were headed out of the neighborhood to go to Beth's house, I ended up getting in an accident in my brand new car! :(  It wasn't my fault and the guy was actually really nice and admitted it was his fault.  He ended up being one of our neighbors one street up from us!  What a way to meet your neighbors! :)

Anyways, since we were already on a time crunch, Landon and I ended up missing the field trip. :(  I was so sad that we didn't get to go.  I was excited to spend time with my little man and see the gardens.  We'll have to go this summer to make up for it.  One of the mom's said that there was a miniature train set that ran through the whole building!  I bet Landon will like that!

So, change of plans....

We ended up having a outside/pool day!  Beth and Mason came over to play in the backyard with all the water toys.  We got out the sprinkler, the sandbox that we use as a pool, and a new wading pool that I got for Sydney.  They all had so much fun!  Even Landon (the I-don't-want-to-go-outside-kid!)!!

Landon splashing Sydney while she played in the pool.  She played in there forever with the bucket and shovel....happy as a clam!

Landon playing with his sponge ball.  I made these for the kids and just knew they would love them!  All I did was take a cheap household sponge and cut it into strips.  Then I tied them in the middle with twine to create a ball.  Landon LOVED his green one!  Mason just sucked the water out of them. He was apparently really thirsty! ;)

What a cool dude in his hat and sunglasses!

Sydney still playing in the pool

Mason tried out the wading pool first.  He liked it, but was rather fond of the squirters on the sides. 

Like I said...he was thirsty! :)

Little Sydney wading in the pool :)

Beth and Mason

Landon looking oh so cool with his shades on

Cutie pie Mason

Haha!!  I caught her mid-sneeze!  

Mason learning how to go up the ladder and down the slide

I'm so glad that the day turned out so well!!  I thought the day was going to pot when we got in the accident, but I'm so thankful that Beth likes us. ;)

We'll have to figure out when we can go the Lauritzen Gardens so Landon doesn't miss out on the trains!  Maybe we'll look at some flowers too. :)

April's extra pictures

So, I've been trying to play catch-up with the blog lately.  We've been busy little bees around here!  Here are some cute pictures from the month of April that needed to be seen instead of sitting on my computer. :)

Cute little giggles. :)

He wasn't sad.  I promise.  It's just a cute little picture.

This little doll that Sydney is holding was her buddy when she was a baby in a carseat.  When we went to Florida last June, it went with us.  She loved it.  My cousin, Katie, named her Molly.  Molly was hidden in a cupboard until the other day when Sydney found her.  She recognized her and brought her over to show me and told me a little "story" and pointed to Molly.  She was all giggles when I asked her if she had found Molly.  It was the sweetest and cutest thing ever!

Cute giggly Landon

Mommy and Sydney's close up

Cute little snuggle bugs watching TV with Dad.  I think this picture ranks in my top 10 favorite pictures.

Sydney being silly while trying to get a good picture. :)

Birthday festivities

I have a pretty amazing husband.  Not only does he help me with the kids, he does little things like helping me with the dishes every night after dinner or sends me out to get groceries after he knows that I need a kid break. He's a pretty wonderful man, and I'm a very lucky woman to have him.  There's no one else like him. :)

For my birthday, my husband decided that he wanted to try and make a cake for me.  Now, my husband isn't the best in the kitchen (which he will also tell you), but he makes some pretty amazing french toast. :)  So, I was surprised when he told me he wanted to take on the challenge of making a cake.  And since I knew he wasn't going to let me help, I was glad my mom was going to be there for back-up (just in case). ;)  Turns out he didn't even need the help.  He made me a cake he called a "broke".  It's when a brownie and a cake have a baby.  I have to say...it was pretty good, but SO rich!  We drank so much milk with it!  It was delicious with all of it's made-from-scratch goodness.

He forgot to set out the refrigerated cake to let it come to room temperature before he cut it.  So he was having some difficulty...

DELICIOUS!!

Mom, wishing she had gotten a smaller piece. :)

Then, my very sweet friend, Beth brought me over some beautiful flowers and a card.  She knows how to make me smile. :)

I have to say that I had a pretty amazing birthday this year.  I had everything that I could possibly want.  I got to see both of my parents in one month, my family is healthy and happy.  I couldn't have asked for a better day. :)  A big thank you to everyone that made my day wonderful.  Text, phone call, card, even a facebook message....all of them were greatly appreciated and made me feel incredibly loved. XOXO