Preschool Graduation

Brady graduated from preschool on Monday. I was devastated. I absolutely love his school and his teacher, Mrs. Biewald, is the best ever. He is very excited to be moving on to kindergarten because he gets to walk home every day with Bennett (this does not thrill Bennett). Brady is going to miss his friends Drake, Blake, and Zack...they had the best time together!

This is a picture of Brady on his very first day of preschool...August 2008

And his last day of preschool....May 2010

Cate was ready to walk Brady to his class for the last time...she will be so happy to have him home! She always takes her backpack and puts it in his locker, plays in his classroom for a few minutes, and then gets her stuff back out of his locker.

Receiving his diploma!

Cate was so excited to hug him after his class finished singing their songs

Drake and Brady enjoying some cookies

Miss Kathy, Brady, and Mrs. Biewald

I Am A Runner *update*

My official race time posted on the website was 38:51!!!

It's true. I am. Today, I ran my first 5k. And when I say I ran, I mean, I ran the entire thing. Start to finish. All 3.1 miles I DID IT! Well, except for about thirty seconds when I had to walk because I was trying to change songs on my IPOD while running up a huge hill (Cahokia Mounds size at least).

When I started the "Couch to 5k" running program, I thought that I'd be ready for my first race by September. Peer pressure from a certain preschool teacher had me, Candi, Jen, and Carrie all running way before I thought I was ready. Scott told me from the beginning that I am too competitive and stubborn to not run the entire thing and he was right (I hate when that happens...thank goodness it's rare). The race was for Girls on the Run...an incredible program aimed to teach self-respect and healthy living for preteen girls. There were literally thousands of people there and we lined up at the very end of the line. Something I won't do next time. When we finally crossed the starting line, some runners were already half a mile ahead and yet our official time started when the race started...adding a few minutes to our time. We crossed the finish line at 42 minutes, which I think is damn good for our first time!

The pink and green balloons marked the starting line. Parents who weren't running were standing around to see their girls off and we had a hard time running around everyone..it was so crowded!

Runners as far as the eye could see!

Who knew my lucky number is 3693?! I told Scott I want to be buried in my race tshirt!

Washed Out Week

It has rained all week. My flowers love it, however, my kids/husband...not so much. We have had eight baseball games and four soccer games canceled in the last six days. Today, we could take it no more. And even though it was still raining, we headed to Fitz's rootbeer for lunch and a quick walk through the zoo. Cate loved hopping in every puddle...I had to change her pants twice :) Carter didn't make it to bed til after 3am so he was still comatose when I tried to wake him up at 11am (ahhh, to be 12 again!).....he ended up going bowling this afternoon with his friends. Cate making a hood out of her sweater

Luckily we found a hooded jacket in the car. Those were her first pair of pants that fell victim to puddle jumping.

She's still very enthralled with the naked mole rats. She gets her face right next to the window and studies them for a long time, then she bangs her hand on one of their windows, and marches off!

The Stingray exhibit is open for the season and the boys were excited to pet the stingrays. It also happened to be feeding time, so for a mere buck, you could buy a cup of fish/shrimp to feed the stingrays.

Bennett got the first cup of food, but after realizing he had to hold them in his hand while the stingray ate out of his palm, he decided to hand over feeding duties to Brady (who was more than happy to show everyone how its done)

Lay your palm flat and then use your fingers to hold fish into place. Keeping your hand flat, dunk your hand in the water and then rays will swim up and eat the food right out of your hand.

After the stingrays, Cate had quite the conversation with this ape. I assume it was male because every time Cate started in on him, he would roll his eyes, or start throwing straw in the air....kinda like "I give up! of course you're right! you're always right!" She really enjoyed this and then was ready to say her goodbyes and move on.

This is Classic Bennett. He is the true champion of car sleeping. Before we were even out of Forest Park, Bennett was sound asleep.

Tomorrow morning, I am running in my very first 5K run....please PRAY FOR RAIN :) I'll update when it's over

NHS

Last week, I received a letter in the mail addressed To The Parents of Carter. Ugh. Not again. However, rather than notice of afterschool detentions, cafeteria fees, or overdue books, it was a letter inviting him to join his schools National Honor Society. Fo' real. Yes, I checked the address on the envelope....three times... and it was definitely addressed to Carter. His reaction to the letter?? Mortification! But, too damn bad...we forced him to fill out the application. In six short days, he'll graduate from 7th to 8th grade...big man on campus next year (and I'm definitely not referring to his height). Oh, and his teacher assignment for 8th grade? Scott. Uh huh, he and his buddies are all going to have Mr. Smallie for Science and Literature. Lord help me. I'm hoping when if they argue in class, they don't resort to mimicking each other or fighting for who gets the last word like they do at home...could make for a very entertaining year for the rest of the class :) Not-so-proudly displaying his letter. He thinks that NHS=nerdy.

Mother's Day Weekend

We celebrated the first half of Mother's Day at Bennett's baseball tournament in Jacksonville. His team was 3-1, losing the Championship game by three runs. The boys played great and it turned out to be a really nice day. After the final game, we headed home (1.5 hours) and had dinner at my mom's to celebrate, not only Mother's Day, but also Bennett's birthday (3rd time) and mine too! Bennett got an extra special surprise when Annie made arrangements for Ben's hero Jake D. to make an appearance. Jake plays highschool baseball and has signed to play for Louisville..although there is talk that he will be drafted in the first five rounds of the major league draft...Ben is in awe :) Bennett's class made Mother's Day flowerpots...I love it!

Cate loves her new sandals and Delaney, Claire, and Harper have inspired her to wear hairbows!

My favorite flowers have bloomed...too bad they only last two weeks.

On Friday, Brady was playing baseball in the backyard while his brothers were still in school. I love spying on him while he plays...he's so animated! He fills that wheelbarrow up with baseballs, pitches them into the net, and then hits them back into the yard...over and over again. I watched him call his "infield" onto the mound to have a pep talk...he even held his glove over his mouth to keep the other team from hearing his words ;)

Ben chose these flowers to represent his baseball colors!

Coach Brad gave each boy a red rose to give to their moms after the first game..

Carter even made the trek with us...although it will probably be the last time. Cate hounded him the entire time to play on the playground and she followed him everywhere!!

Our team may finish 2nd, but they are the best dressed team around...complete with matching bags, helmets, two uniforms, and shoes

Receiving his trophy after the game. We are going to re-do the boys room this summer to add some shelving for their trophies, medals, and ribbons. (More crap to dust, I know)

My dads garden is starting to bloom!

Bennett LOVES his new glove...thanks Mau Mau and Papa!

Playing catch with Jake. They hung out for over two hours :)

Happy Birthday To Me!!

Found this "vintage" picture. Bet that little girl would never have guessed what life at 34 would hold!

I'm officially old. Someone told me today that "you're only as old as you feel". So, if that's the case, then I'm really old. I woke up with achy knees and sore ankles (stupid 5k training...I'm still waiting for proof that running is actually 'good' for me). I did get my haircut and a 15 minute power nap...that's something to celebrate. Tonight, I took Cate and Brady to my niece Annie's May Carousel at the highschool. It made me miss my highschool days. Luckily, I had my two best friends with me to laugh about how we used to be those naive girls and here we were, 16 (!!!!) years later, sitting with our daughters watching the newest batch of senior girls. Enjoy it Annie, one day you could be pulling up to May Carousel in a mini-van and have to make an early exit because your daughter crapped her pants!!

Brady, Annie, and Bennett...May Carousel 2010. Annie was chosen to do the May Pole Dance which, of course, we tease her endlessly about 'pole dancing'. But she did a great job and the ceremony was beautiful!
Cate's interpretation of pole dancing ;)

Baseball Season...

The Park District baseball season started Monday night. Bennett and Carter are both playing and Scott is coaching both teams. Add these two teams to Carter and Brady's soccer teams and Bennett's select baseball team and I have something on my calendar every day of the week. Carter's first game was last night and they won 17-7. Carter pitched great! He even has his own fan club ;) (am I ready for this??!)

GO #5!

Another Busy Weekend...

Need I even say that we had a busy weekend? Is it completely necessary for me to list the six soccer games, baseball practice, baseball parade, birthday party, etc? You get it, right? Our schedule is full. Crazy full. I am tired. More so today than I have been in a very long time. I am going to nap whether the kids do or not. Let them fend for themselves for an hour. May the strong survive.

Here is a quick recap of our weekend and pictures in no particular order...

• Carter guest played in a soccer tournament in St. Peter's
• all three boys (and Scott) walked in the park district baseball parade on Saturday
• we celebrated three birthdays at the Spaghetti Factory..Happy Birthday Bennett (again), Grandma Vineta, and ME!
• Cate is currently obsessed with her ruby red shoes
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Waiting for her boys to walk by

She loved grabbing candy the kids were throwing. Wonder how long it will sit in the bottom of my purse.

Gavin, Carter, Jake, Zack, and Logan representing!

Way too cool to hang around for the baseball ceremony...they were heading to Logan's

Bennett was chosen to throw out the first pitch and received a $50 savings bond (which he told me he will cash in for gas money in 8 years!!)

We even fit in time to have a household of boys over. Editor's note: the grass-less stripe is the third base foul line. That's right...Scott cut a baseball field into our yard complete with permanent bases, foul poles, and home plate. I was less than thrilled, however, the boys use it EVERY day.

Bennett was embarrassed when the entire restaurant sang Happy Birthday!