our first ever "last day of school"

June 3, 2010 - this day was bittersweet for me for some reason. I was just moved by how they'd grown and matured in just a few short months. Going from crying every day to being excited to go to school "to learn to speak Spanish, like Dora" - it all just seemed to be happening so fast! And I guess it does. They know their numbers and colors in both English and Spanish. Often if I ask them a question in Spanish, they will answer in English. Charis sings songs in Spanish quite a bit; I don't even know what she is saying lots of times!

House Update

By the end of May, we were really starting to see things coming together. There was paint on the walls and much of the tile work etc was done. What an exciting time. Chris would go by the house every day - morning and night. It was scary but wonderful. (Our shower on the left, kids shower on the right)

End of year school show

May 27, 2010 - the kids had their end of the year school show. What an event! They are in the Spanish immersion school so all of the little routines were in Spanish. It was really well done and oh-so-cute!! Well, with us and all the grandparents in attendance, we were ready to watch our little shining stars. They were in the most adorable outfits but within about 30 seconds of being in front of the crowd, both children were crying "momma, momma" the whole time. Cute all the same, but maybe we will have better luck at the Christmas show next year!

just bein' a kid (late May, 2010)

The time at my mom's (8 weeks in all) was a pretty interesting experience. The kids adjusted pretty well to being there, thankfully. One of the fun things, though, was our neighbor and new friend, Joanna. She's about 5 and the kids thought she was the coolest thing ever. She rides her bike like a pro and she can climb trees. This was the kids' first time to ever climb a tree and I thought it was just so cute!!

Here are a couple pics of the house progress too - this was probably about mid way through everything. I felt like we were

constantly making decisions on the fly. Since we are neither one very picky nor did we have really any preconceived notions about what we wanted, I felt sometimes overwhelmed by the big decisions we were making: which granite? what type of wood? what color stain? which tile? what color paint? what about the baseboards?

Summer 2010 update

So for summer, we have decided to try out gymnastics class. I had a bit of opposition from Chris about "putting (his) boy in gymnastics" but I won out on this deal. I mean, really, they are 3 years old and it's not like I put the kid in a leotard. I think it is good for their coordination, and even more I think it is good for them to do a class that is not the mommy & me type of class. They are all on their own in there. Well, except for the fact that they have their friends in there! Rilee and Reed are in the class, and even another little boy, Gavin, that the kids had MyGym class with a year or so ago. So the first couple weeks, it was pretty tough. Tears, the whole bit. But now, a month and a half in, it is great. They love it and are learning a lot. A big piece of credit also goes to the teacher, Mr. Steve. He is really amazing with the kids and they just love him!

Another update is that Chris took a job with Chuck E Cheese in April. I think it was a good move for him. It has been fun, though, getting some exposure to Chuck E Cheese. I mean, we had never even been there before! The kids love it though. I am not crazy about the pizza, but the salad bar is pretty impressive. We got to go to a Franchisee Expo though, one of his first weeks there. This involved every game possible being

showcased to the franchisees in hopes that they might buy some for their stores. For us, though, it was a free for all. There were just bins of tokens sitting out and the kids could ride rides and play games to their little heart's content. And it was good food and wine for Mommy and Daddy!

Casa Manana

On May 1, 2010, the kids got to go to Casa Manana for the first time. And although it has changed a lot since I was a kid, (I grew up going to just about every show they put on), it was still a familiar place. It is no longer the "theater in the round" but a more traditional set up. I am not sure I like it better, but it's still a really neat place to go. So, our first show: Peter Pan! The kids have been introduced to Peter Pan, among other Disney books this year since my mom brought over all my books from when I was little. It is so cool having these, and while they are not as careful with the books as I would like for them to be, it is special having the books to pass on to them. Anyway, they love the story of Peter Pan, and Tinkerbell has become a favorite of Miss Charis'. We had a whole crew of friends with us and it made for a very special event!

Mother's Day, 2010

We had a nice Mother's Day spent at my mom and John's house. The whole family, including John's two daughters were there. Food, family and fun...what more could we ask for?!

Hard to believe this is my third Mother's Day. What a blessing to be a mom to my two precious kiddos!

By this time we were also beginning to see a little progress on the house. After knocking everything down, they, of course, started building it back up!! On the left, we have what will become my beautiful kitchen (beginning of big, giant island being shown).

On the right, the view is standing in the master bedroom looking toward the master closet and master bathroom. The kitchen and master bath were the two things I really

disliked about the house, and boy did we change those?!