Mother's Day Tea

Anna's class invited all the moms to school for a Mother's Day Tea last week. It was so thoughtful of the teachers to do. The children made us lots of presents and they worked really hard on their program. They each took turns reading parts of a poem and then they each read what they had written down about their mom.
Here is the beautiful table that they decorated:
We took the some extra time for an outdoor photo shoot since Anna was dressed up. She loves it when she has an opportunity to wear a dress.
Hopefully, I'll get some new pics of me and Luke soon....right now he is hard to catch!

Luke's Birthday

Hard to believe that our youngest turned 4 last Friday! We celebrated with a backyard cookout with a few close friends. He insisted on a Mario party (even though mommy tried to convince him to do something else because the Mario stuff was difficult to find). The kiddos played on the jeep and took turns swinging and playing t-ball. They all played so well together!! Here are a few pics I took:
the cake:

the pinata:
the kiddos:
fun on the jeep:
Luke is obsessed with Mario thanks to our Wii and Anna's Nintendo DS. However, we think it is adorable and allow him to play his favorite game Mario Party 8 in moderation. He has such a good nature about it...when he's not playing the real thing, he uses his little figures and just plays pretend Mario. (note: he is holding little yoshi in the jeep picture).

Paint Patrol

Here is Anna's basketball team (The Flames) at a Belmont game. Ron organized an opportunity for them to work as the Paint Patrol. What does that entail? Wiping up sweat! The girls thought it was great and they had a lot of fun together. Here is Anna taking her turn wiping up the floor:
Here are some of the girls with the Belmont mascot:
Luke was there too! He mostly enjoyed the popcorn and was ready to go by half-time.
Go BRUINS!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

It is hard to believe our baby girl is 7. On Tuesday we celebrated with close friends that have become like family with dinner and an ice cream cake. Friday we plan to celebrate again with her school friends at the "jumpy place". She is so big, I feel like she is already a teenager. She has let us know that she has now outgrown Disney princesses and her new favorite thing is Camp Rock and her nintendo DS. WOW! Where did the time go?

Our Little All-Star

Anna decided to play softball this fall rather than soccer. She has decided to try all the sports before deciding which one she wants to stick with. She has played soccer for 2 seasons, danced for 6 months, took swimming year round for 3 years and this winter we will be trying basketball.
Yes, she is a busy girl. Anyway, the softball season is going well and she has learned a lot. It is coach pitch/tee ball which basically means they get to attempt to hit off the coach and if unsuccessful they hit it off the tee. She typically has been playing pitcher (which is why she is wearing a batting helmet in the field):

She is getting the hang of batting. Just yesterday, all the girls hit off the coach and we only had to use the tee one time in the entire game!
Each team bats 10 batters (it doesn't matter how many outs you get or don't get) and when you hit you can only take one base. Here is Anna getting ready on second base:
I played softball all my life so of course I have really enjoyed practicing/teaching her the sport. Luke has gotten in on the play time too and is acting like he might be a lefty. Here he is running the bases after the game:
I'm already looking forward to spring ball...

Disney on Ice

The kids had a blast going to "daddy's old work" for Disney on Ice. This was Luke's first time because in the past he was either too small or it was a "girl" show.
Here is Luke's face when he saw Lightening Mcqeeen:
At intermission we treated them to some popcorn. We couldn't bring ourselves to drop $10 on cotton candy, though.(Even if it came with a fairy hat)
The show was great and Luke's favorite part was the seeing "Cars and Mickey". Anna like it all and couldn't decide on a favorite. I really like the Lion King part. The music is just awesome and the costumes always amaze me. I'm just glad Ron was with us rather than us meeting him there because he was working the show. :)

A Walk Through Nature- The Musical

I know these are hard to see but the room was kind of dark and we were up in the bleachers.
These are some pictures from Anna's first school program. The first graders worked hard every day learning their parts. They sang several songs together as a group and then each class stepped down to the microphone and recited their poem. Anna's class was entitled "Rain". This program was so cute and they had so much fun performing it for us at the PTO meeting. The music teacher did an awesome job.

Here is Anna's class taking a bow:
I tried to post a video clip but for some reason it wouldn't load. Oh well, you get the idea. Mommy and Daddy were so proud and even Luke enjoyed it. He has been running around the house singing about crickets and bees!

Back to School

Anna started 1st grade today. The morning went smoothly. Last night she said she was a little nervous but this morning she was up out of bed and really excited. Of course mom had to have some pictures before we left the house. Look at how much she has grown in just 1 year.