Hair Cuts!

Tonight, Drew, Mikayla, and I went to my mom (Mimi's) shop to get hair cuts. Drew and I needed a shape-up, but Mikayla wanted hers cut short. Her friend Breanna just had her long hair cut into a "bob", and Mikayla wanted her hair to look like Bre Bre's. I kept reminding Mikayla that her hair would not look just like Breanna's hair because she has naturally curly hair like me and Breanna has straight hair. She replied "my Mimi can make it straight". So my mom cut Mikayla's hair - not as short as Breanna's - but it is definitely shorter than it was. She also straightened it for her tonight. I think Mikayla thinks it will always be straight now. I can't wait to see how it looks curly!

VBS Commencement!

Last night, we had our VBS Commencement at church! It was the perfect ending to a wonderful week!

Mikayla and the preschool group sing "Outrigger Island", the theme song, for the congregation. These are some of the children I had in my group every night of VBS - we had 10 - 12 preschoolers each night. How exciting!!
Kollin and Mikayla sing - how sweet!
Drew and his group share Bible verses that they learned with the congregation!
Drew reads his verse - you probably wouldn't guess this but he gets very nervous in front of large groups. Just like his daddy...
Ms. Amanda, our children's director, and Mr. Randy, our Youth Minister, pose with their "dyed" hair. During the week, we were having a competition to see whether the boys or the girls could bring more school supplies for children in need (our offering for the week). If the girls won, Mr. Randy agreed to dye his hair and if the boys won, Ms. Amanda agreed to dye hers. On Tuesday, someone suggested that Ms. Amanda dye hers anyway if over 150 items were collected. You may have already guessed, but the girls won the competition so Mr. Randy had to dye his hair, but we collected 236 items so Ms. Amanda had to dye her hair as well! They are such good sports, and we sure are blessed to have these two leading the children of our church!!

Happy Birthday Tyler!

We were back at the skating rink on Saturday to celebrate Tyler's birthday party! Tyler is turning 7 just like Drew and they have been friends since they were infants. Tyler was in my kindergarten class as well! Going to the skating rink again made the third Saturday in a row! Tyler seemed to have a wonderful time - Drew and Mikayla sure did! The batteries in my camera were running low, but I did manage to get this picture of Mikayla first. This is the first time she has skated on "big girl skates". At Drew's party 2 weeks before she wore the plastic skates, then at Adam's birthday last week, she didn't skate at all because Mr. Gerald gave her "big girl skates". This week, she didn't want to skate again because of the "big girl skates" until she saw that her friend Breanna was wearing them. That's all it took - Mikayla was on the floor by herself in those big girl skates. She didn't let go of the wall much, but I couldn't have been more proud!! Go Girl!! Happy Birthday Tyler - we wish you many more!!

Fireworks!

Our community always holds an annual "Red, White, and Boom" Celebration just in time for Independence Day. This year's Red, White, and Boom was Friday night. We always take the kids to see the "big fireworks", and this year was no different! Drew, Mikayla, and I drove downtown to find our spot with about 10 minutes to spare before the show. Because it was lightening (no rain), I decided to back the van up in the direction of the fireworks and opened the back hatch. This enabled us to sit in the back of the van and gave us the protection of the hatch over our heads. Mikayla even thought about watching over the back seat as you see in these pictures, but she decided to come around and sit with me and Drew once the show started. She keeps her hands over her ears the whole time - she doesn't like loud noises.
It wasn't cold, but Drew and Mikayla loved pretending it was with this blanket.

The Spectacular Show!!!

All About Space

Last week, the theme of our school's summer reading program was Space. Drew could not have been more thrilled! On Thursday, "Dinosaur Dan" came to offer two different space programs for the children. We went to one in the morning so that Drew and Mikayla could make "space mud" and then we went again after lunch so they could see a "rocket launch". Drew also got to feel the affects of gravity. Both of these were neat activities, and Drew just LOVED them. Mikayla warmed up to the idea as well and had just as much fun!!

Drew and Mikayla show off their "Space Mud"! Mikayla did not want to participate in this at first, but then decided if Drew could do it, she could!

Drew gets to feel a "gravitational pull". I could not talk Mikayla into having a turn with this!

Drew helps "prepare" the "rocket" to launch, and then watches as it launches. Mikayla stood beside me to watch, but she didn't want to get too close. She is so funny!

Vacation Bible School!!

Last week, our Church had Vacation Bible School. Every night, Drew, Mikayla, and I joined had fun at "Outrigger Island"!! I have always been the lead teacher in the craft room for VBS, but this year Ms. Amanda, our children's director, asked if I would lead the preschool Bible study. I teach our 1 - 3 year olds Sunday School class and I am a Kindergarten teacher, so she thought I would be able to reach our 3 - 5 year olds in VBS. I wasn't so sure I would do as well as Amanda has done the last few years, but I agreed. I spent much time in prayer for our VBS - that me and the other teachers would share the love of Jesus through our words and our actions, and that the children would learn that it's all about Jesus! This year's theme was Living God's Unshakable Truth on Outrigger Island and the motto was Know the Truth, Speak the Truth, Live the Truth. The children were taught five different truths in Bible Study that they could share with others (words and actions). We had a fun filled week, but as I said before it is all about Jesus and I am so happy to report that we had a good turn out every night and 6 children made decisions for Him during the week!! Praise God!

The RAIN - we have really needed rain and boy did we get it. It rained on both our first and second night of VBS this week!

Drew and Mikayla and the other children danced during our opening and closing Worship Rallies! So much fun!!

Happy Birthday Adam!

Mikayla and Drew sit with Adam for chicken nuggets and cake after skating some!

I have gotten behind with my posting, and with us doing something every day, it is very hard to catch up. I will attempt to catch up tonight (and this weekend)! Last Saturday, we attended Adam's birthday party at the skating rink. You may remember Drew's party was held there the Saturday before last and we will be there tomorrow for Tyler's party. 3 Saturdays in a row at the skating rink and Drew couldn't be happier. Mikayla not so much as she doesn't like the "big" skates - I keep telling her that the only way to learn is to practice but she doesn't want anything to do with them!

Drew won cotton candy - they always spin a bowling pin after the "hokey pokey" and whoever it "lands" on wins candy. The first time Drew ever won was last week at his party (but I had them give the candy to Garrett who was sitting next to Drew because the birthday child always gets a bag anyway - Drew got very upset about this until he realized that he was getting a bag too!), so I couldn't believe it when it landed on him again this week. Mr. Gerald said Drew had to share with his sister though before he gave him the bag - Drew didn't mind! Look at that smile! We had a wonderful time at Adam's party - Happy Birthday Adam!

Dinner at Kanpai!

Drew had been asking to go eat at Kanpai ("where they cook in front of you") for the last couple of months. So, last Friday, Craig made reservations for five (Aunt Jennie joined us) at Kanpai of Tokyo. One of the birthday traditions in our family is that the birthday person gets to choose where they want to eat. Drew's choice was Kanpai (he will have another birthday dinner on his birthday with Mimi, Poppi, Jonathan, and Jessica attending - Poppi doesn't eat at Kanpai) so our waitress brought him a chef's hat and his very own chopsticks. He loved this, and he also loved the fire and the onion stack volcano that our chef made for us. He didn't hardly eat for watching the chef cook!

Mikayla, on the other hand, ate so she wouldn't have to watch. She does not like the fire or the volcanoes. I asked her if she wanted to go back to Kanpai for her birthday so she could get a chef hat and she replied "NO" - LOL.
Drew had just blown out his candle on his "rice cake"! The food was delicious and it was such a fun night for Drew. He's already planning his birthday trip for next year!

Feeding the Ducks!

After our dinner at the fish camp Thursday night, we took Drew and Mikayla out to feed the ducks our leftovers. We have done this since Drew was just a baby, so even though we had not eaten at this particular fish camp in awhile, they had not forgotten! They always have so much fun feeding ducks whether it is from this deck or from the public landing. It always makes me smile to see the joy my children get from the "little things" such as feeding ducks. These memories will last a lifetime (I hope)!

More Swimming with a Surprise!

Mikayla has been swimming off and on a little without her float for about a week now. She is getting better and better, and enjoys swimming without her float. Jennie and I were shocked though on Thursday when she decided that she wanted to jump off the diving board without her float. It started with me waiting under the diving board to catch her the first couple of times she jumped. The third time, she jumped holding onto my hand, which enabled her to go under since I wasn't catching her. As soon as she popped up, she said I'm doing that by myself. She proceeded to jump, and jump, and jump without her float. Each time she jumped she swam over to the ladder by herself and got out enthusiastically ready to go again! We were so proud of her and she couldn't wait to tell everyone what she can do!

Mikayla jumps off the diving board all by herself with no float. You can see Jennie's shadow in the far right of this picture. One of us was always near just in case she got into any trouble, but most of the time she was saying adamantly "I can do it!".

Drew swims under water with his goggles. Sometimes I think this child of mine spends more time under water than above it!

Both Mikayla and Drew swim in the deep end of Mimi and Poppi's pool without floats. Where did my babies go?!?

Summer Reading Program

Mikayla reads with Mrs. Rogers!
Drew reads with Mrs. Vaughn!

For the past few years, our school has offered a summer reading program for our students to take part in. I have taken Drew and Mikayla the last two years to participate and this year would be no different. We didn't get to participate the first week of the program because that was the week of Mikayla's dance camp. However, we did go for the first time this past week, and both Drew and Mikayla seemed to have a lot of fun! Everyone that has read with them has bragged about what great readers they are. Drew is right where he should be with his reading and is border line above grade level (he could be fully above grade level if he put more effort into it - he is definitely a math/science person), and Mikayla is above grade level (this does not surprise me because she LOVES to read and write). They had so much fun attending the program last week, they can't wait to go back this coming week. Drew will be especially excited when he hears that this week's theme is Space!!

Drew's Birthday Party!

Last Saturday, June 14th, we celebrated Drew's birthday early. We invited his friends to the skating rink where he decided he wanted to have his party! Drew had such a fun time, and his friends seemed to enjoy it a lot as well! I am posting a few different pictures from the party, but some of them are dark because of the lighting in the skating rink.Drew Garrett and Bryson take a break from their game of "chase".Breanna and Allison skate around the rink! Drew and his friends do the "hokey - pokey"! Mommy participated in this as well with some of the other mommies. We shared a lot of smiles and laughs.
Mikayla looks on as Drew blows out his candles. He decided he wanted to eat the baseball cake that I had made for him. I got many, many compliments on the cake's appearance first and I was a little worried when Drew first suggested we eat that cake instead of the store-bought one. I got several more compliments, though, on the taste - even from the kids. I was breathing a huge sigh of relief when I heard those!!
Drew's friends look on as he opens his gifts. He was super excited about all of the gifts he received! We have an amazing circle of friends and I'm so glad our children will all grow up together. We missed some of our friends as they weren't able to be there because of family vacations. That's the only downfall to a summer birthday.

Bryson, Allison, and Cameron enjoy skating when they first arrived!
Tyler talks to his mom as he takes a break from skating!
Miss Amy helps Trevyr skate - by the end of the party he was zippin' around on his own!
Mikayla and Jadyn skate around the rink!

Drew had a fantastic time at his birthday party!! He loves to skate and he loved having his family and friends join him at the skating rink! Happy "early" Birthday baby boy. We will celebrate as a family on your "real" birthday, and who knows, Poppi keeps "hinting" that you may even have another party...

Happy "early" Birthday, Drew!

I will be adding more pictures from Drew's birthday party tomorrow (hopefully), but I wanted to put this one up tonight! Poppi put on skates (the first time in over 15 years) to join Drew on the rink at his party. Boy, the things my daddy does for his grandchildren! Drew loved having his Poppi skate with him! He was all smiles as they skated around the rink!!

The Cake - Complete with Baseball Players!

Drew was thrilled when he woke up this morning and saw his cake!! He couldn't wait to add the players. I wanted to add another picture because the players make the "field" look complete!! I'm so glad Drew likes it - he is such a sweetie!!

A Birthday Cake for Drew

Drew's birthday is not until July 6, but we have planned an early birthday party for him tomorrow at the skating rink. He has always wanted to invite boys and girls from his class to his party, and we have never been able to invite them all because I had no way of getting in touch with them in the middle of summer. This year, I decided at the end of March that we would have a party for Drew as soon as school was out for summer. I had originally set the date for May 31st, but since that was the day directly after the last day of school and we were so busy, I quickly decided against that. Craig and I then decided to have his party on Saturday, June 14th and Drew gave out his invitations on the last day of school. Drew is really looking forward to this party tomorrow because he was able to invite everyone in his class, from his baseball team, etc. Some children still will not be able to come because of vacations and such, but Drew loved that he was able to invite everyone! I have to keep reminding him, though, that having his party tomorrow does not mean that he will be seven tomorrow. It won't be long before he is seven years old, but mommy is not planning on rushing that!!

After the cakes I made last year for Drew and Mikayla turned out so well, I decided that I would try again this year. I still do not have very much confidence in my cake baking/decorating skills as this cake makes only the fifth I've ever made. So, Drew will be having two birthday cakes this year (you may remember I did the same thing last year) - one from a local bakery with a golf theme, and the one above that I made to look like a baseball park. I even went and got some little plastic players that Drew and I will add to the cake tomorrow!! Drew is all about sports, playing soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter, baseball in the spring, and golf in the summer so these two cakes are perfect for him. I will take more pictures tomorrow once we have added the players to the cake (and I'm trying to decide if I want to chance "writing" Happy Birthday Drew in the grass...), and I will post those as well. I was so excited about how it looked when I finished that I couldn't wait to share a picture. Not perfect by any means, but pretty good if I do say so myself! I can't wait for Drew to see it when he wakes up in the morning!

Dance Camp 2008

Every day this past week, Mikayla has been going to dance camp from 11:00 - 3:30 at her dance studio. Mikayla has joined 29 other girls and Ms. Andrea and Ms. Nicole for lunch (that was provided in the cost), crafts, dancing, and more. Mikayla had a ball at dance camp last year, and was super excited about attending this year! She talked about camp non-stop all week telling us what they had for lunch (hot dogs, corn dogs, pizza, and grilled cheese), showing us the crafts they made, and some of the dances they did! Mikayla gets ready to enter the studio for a day of camp!
Mikayla sits with some of the other younger girls and watch as the older girls perform one of their dances! Mikayla loves watching the other girls dance almost as much as she enjoys dancing herself. She watches the recital video each year and "learns" the other girls dances. She is definitely our little "dancing queen"!

Drew's Baseball Banquet 2008

Last Sunday afternoon, our baseball team had our banquet at the Sterling Estates Clubhouse. We grilled out hot dogs, and hamburgers, and had mac n cheese, slaw, baked beans, chips, and dessert. We decided on the clubhouse because we were not rushed in any way! There was music, the children could play with various toys, and the adults could talk. Coach Tim was also taking the kids for golf cart rides and they had horseshoes outside. The kids had already received their trophies and the coaches their gifts from the parents, but Coach Tim and Patti had other surprises for the kids/parents and the parents had other surprises for the coaches. In four years of playing baseball, this has been our most favorite year yet. Our team and families got to be very close this year, and we hope to be friends for a long time! Bryson, Drew, Kylie (Nicholas' sister), and Tinsley (Peyton's sister) play a little bit before the food was ready.My beautiful girl!

I had gotten a picture of Mikayla, Kylie, and Tinsley (all of the sisters) but Kylie had her eyes closed. These girls were really good this year to support their brothers, and it was sweet to see them all together at the banquet.