Preschool Graduation

So I know it seems like people just want to celebrate so they make up any event to do so, but I am all for it when it involves my kids.  McKenna had her preschool graduation at the end of May and it was very bittersweet.
On one hand I am so excited she is learning and growing and moving onto a new stage in her life, but on the other hand I am sad she is growing up because it is going by way to fast.  Next thing I know she will be graduating from high school, but I don't want to get too far ahead of myself so I need to just focus on the now.

We did a co op this year with 6 of us moms taking turns teaching each week.  It was both rewarding and challenging teaching these sweet and smart little kids.  It was really fun and I hope the kids had a good time. McKenna was the only girl which she didn't mind cause she loves doing boy things and watching spider man movies so she has her girly side and her tom boy side.  She would definitely be more excited if she was older though, that is for sure.

It was a fun little celebration.  We had them say their ABC's and the Pledge of Allegiance and count to 20 for everyone.  We told things about them that they have improved on this year and what they were good at, and We also gave them certificates and they made cute little hats earlier in the week for the graduation.  They   were all so cute and they had a lot of fun together.

Graysen was having fun just playing and observing everything.  He was so proud of big sister.

Dessert was served at the end and we just chatted while the kids played with each other.  It was nice to be able to wrap up a great year with the kids and to see how much they have grown and what they have learned   while they were in preschool.

  Kenna is so ready for Kindergarten to start though and asks me almost everyday if it is time for her to go to the big school yet. I can't believe she will be in Kindergarten, but I am so excited for her to be able to go to school and make new friends and be able to get out cause we both need it :) Her brother will miss having a play mate while she is gone though. They are such good little friends.

The time of our lives

So McKenna had her second dance recital this last weekend and did such a great job.  The theme was "The time of our lives" and she danced to the song "Hello world" and "The hippie hippie shake."

She looked so adorable in her costume and she was such a doll dancing in front of everyone.  I love being able to watch her dance, it brings me so much joy and I am so proud of the sweet little angel she is and the person she is becoming.

Travis and I switched off volunteering back stage so we could see her perform since they did it two nights in a row.  Keeping a handful of 4 year olds entertained is not quite as easy as it seems, but they were really fun and so excited to dance.  Graysen was a handful himself when he sat with me at the show, he wouldn't keep still and I had to go in and out.  I gave in a let him have a pen to color with, needless to say it didn't end up on the paper, but at least he was entertained for a few minutes.

 It was so much fun to be there with her and watch her dance, I wouldn't have missed it for the world.  She got a cool trophy at the end which she was so happy about.  She put it on her dresser so she can see it every day.  We also got her some roses for after the performance and she was ecstatic to get those and immediately wanted to take them home and put them in water.

 Both the kids were tuckered out by the time it was over.  As you can see she didn't even want to take another picture.  They passed  out in the car both nights.  At least it made for an easy bedtime :) 

I hope that she still wants to continue to dance because I love watching her and she is so cute and good.  She told me she wants to swim, but I hope I can get her to do both because I enjoy it so much. The theme was perfect though because we really are having the time of our lives and loving every minute of it.

Tulip Festival

For preschool we took the kids to the Tulip Festival which I was really excited about until I woke up and saw the endless rain. I guess I am not a true Oregonian because i am not a fair through it anyway despite the rain type of person, but of course we went because I knew the kids would have fun regardless. I brought umbrellas and their coats and of course McKenna had her rain boots. Even more proof that I refuse to accept the rain is that I don't own any rain boots and I don't have any for Graysen, after this trip though I am seriously reconsidering that. The kids played in the sand boxes for a little bit which at least was undercover. The fun play stuff was all out in the open and wet so I didn't want the kids to play on it and get all wet. McKenna had a nice learning lesson though. She asked if she could go down the big slide and I told her that she could but that she had to realize if she went down that her bum would get all wet and that since I didn't have a change of clothes for her she would have to be wet the rest of the time we were there and I knew she wouldn't like that. I let her make the decision and of course she chose to go down. When she was on it she was not happy about her bum being wet and started to complain to me but I had to remind her that it was her choice and I told her what the consequences would be. She told me next time she would make a better choice, but then she just made the most of it and was happy regardless of being wet. That just made me think how are Heavenly Father feels when he tells us the consequences of the choices we make but we do it regardless of what might happen. He doesn't prohibit us from doing it even though he knows what is going to happen, he lets us make the decision and helps us deal with the consequences and make the best of it after wards. As much as I knew she would not be happy getting her bum all wet I wanted her to make the choice so that she could learn for herself and make a better decision the next time because she would trust in my warnings and know that what I said was right. It is moments like this that its hard letting go and letting them make their own decisions, but also it is rewarding knowing that they are learning and choosing for themselves and it gives me hope that they will make the right choices in the future. All we can do is teach them correct principals and let them choose for themselves and hope and pray that they will heed your warnings and come to trust in your advice. Anyway I know that it was a little off point but it was just something that really hit me. So back to the activity at hand,the kids played on the hay bales and slide and then we went to look at the tulips. They were really beautiful and it was amazing to see all those flowers. Graysen tried to pick them off so I had to watch him really closely. It soon turned into my nightmare because Graysen started stomping in the mud and he fell a few times and was covered with mud and got my pants all muddy in the process. I was all worried about it at first but then I was just like whatever, just go with it. It wouldn't have been so bad but then I dropped my camera in the mud and we had to drive home all muddy. The kids had a lot of fun and I hope they didn't notice that I was not so much. We stripped them down when we got to the car and they rode home in their underwear and diapers. I don't usually let my kids get all dirty like that because I hate cleaning it up, but I am glad they got to have fun and just play and get dirty and I learned that sometimes it is okay to just let loose and not worry about the mess but let them have fun. Not that I don't ever let them do anything, but it is just going out in the rain getting all muddy that puts me off to the idea. Anyway it was a good wake up call for me and learning experience and in the end that is the best type of trip right :