Unintended break...

I took an unintended break from my blog. I'm all caught up now! Don't miss the posts below:

Caroline Turns 5

Road Trip

Dance Recital 2013

Last Preschool Fieldtrip

First Lost Tooth

Mother's Tea 2013

Mother's Day 2013

Mother's Day 2013

Happy Mother's Day!!

I'm so thankful for these two:

 I'm also very thankful for my mom and MIL who I love so very much!!

I hope all of you mommas out there have enjoyed your special day!!



Mother's Tea

Last week was Mother's Tea at Caroline's preschool. It was the most precious thing, and I had a great time!

 Caroline sweetly escorted me in and showed me to my seat :-)

 Caroline & Eleanor

 We had snacks and "tea" (orange juice), chatted with each other, took some pictures, then the kids sang a few songs. The kids also made cards for all of the parents. Mine is pictured below:

 Caroline's teachers, Mrs. Clark & Mrs. Bosch

They are amazing! Seriously, the best.teachers.ever. They have loved on Caroline this year and really helped prepare her for Kindergarten. Caroline has learned a ton, and I know she is going to miss them so much (as am I).

 Thank you, Mrs. Clark & Mrs. Bosch, for making the Mother's Tea so special!!



"There's a hole in my mouth!"

Caroline lost her FIRST tooth on May 5th!! It was a total surprise and completely unexpected! She never even told me it was loose. What?!? She was sitting at our little table in the kitchen, eating a popsicle, when she screamed "there's a hole in my mouth, what IS that???" in a panicked voice. I took a look and freaked out. I couldn't believe it! We quickly looked and found her tooth on the table. It was a good thing Caroline didn't swallow it. As I held that little baby tooth in my hand I might have teared up a little. My baby girl sure is growing up and it's happening fast. Kindergarten is on the horizon and now Caroline has lost a baby tooth. Uh, no thank you. I'm gonna need time to stand still for a minute. Anyway, I digress. Caroline could not have been more excited the tooth fairy was going to come. She immediately wrote her a letter that said, "Dear Tooth Fairy, I lost my first tooth today. I hope you come see me tonight. Love, Caroline"

 I'm guessing the tooth fairy was completely unprepared since this was all very last minute. Nonetheless, the tooth fairy came that night and left Caroline a glittery dollar bill and 5 glittery coins along with a letter and a pack of gum (sugarless of course :-). The really neat thing is the tooth fairy also left a trail of "pasty dust" (what Caroline calls pixie dust) behind her. It's now in a baggie, and Caroline is looking forward to collecting more each time she looses a tooth. Speaking of, her other front bottom tooth is loose along with one of her top middle teeth. Ahhhhhh! Hopefully, they will stay in awhile. I'm thinking the tooth fairy needs to recover from the shock of Caroline's first tooth falling out :-)



Last Preschool Fieldtrip

Recently, Caroline went on her last preschool fieldtrip (tear!) They went to the arboretum and enjoyed all it had to offer. They played in the little houses, went down the big slide, tossed coins in the fountain, oooo-ed and ahhhh-ed over the beautiful flowers, had a picnic, ran all over the lawn, and more. What a great trip to end an awesome year!

Pic of the girls (+ little brother, Gabe):

 Pic of the boys:

 Looking at the earth in this neat tent. Thanks to Caroline's awesome teachers, the kids were able to identify the 7 continents and 5 oceans.



Dance Recital 2013: Let's Go to the Circus

Caroline had her 3rd ever dance recital on April 28th. It was a Circus theme and Caroline was a purple pony!
Recital backdrop:

Some pics during the dance (as you can see, Caroline took her dance VERY seriously...no smiling allowed!): 

 

 

 

I tried to take some family pics after the recital but my two kiddos wanted NOTHING to do with it. They wanted to run and play outside. These were the best I got:
 

Caroline just loves when Matt gives her flowers on recital day. It's definitely one of the highlights! She didn't put these down the rest of the night and had me put them in her room the moment we got home:
The little bro...it was his first dance recital to attend. He loved it and clapped for the girls the whole time. Then he went completely wild once we got outside. Look at that hair, ha
Tried for one more pic and got this face. She was done.
Caroline has had another great year of dance. Her PreK ballet/tap class has been awesome and we will miss it this summer. Can't wait for next year!!

Road Trippin' to Kansas

The weekend of April 12th, we took a special trip to Kansas with my college bff, Shae, and her two boys, Smith and Bode. We headed to Kansas to visit another college bff, Kelly, who moved to her husband's family farm not too long ago. We had been wanting to visit and finally found a weekend that worked for everyone. Shae and I were nervous taking a road trip with 4 kids ages 4 and under, however, it was fine. Shae was a great driver and I interceded the kids' every want/need :-) We make a great road trip team! And thank GOODNESS for the car dvd player, ha

Once we got to the farm, we couldn't believe how beautiful it was. Very picturesque with green winter wheat growing as far as the eye could see! I wish I had gotten a picture of the gorgeous landscapes. We were so happy to see Kelly and her family and there was a big tractor in the driveway that the kids thought was really neat.
(Caroline looks really mad in this picture but I think she was happy...can't remember ;-)
 

Smith, Aaron, and Bode thought these ride-on toys were awesome! My kids? Not so much...too cautious for such scary toys!
They were much happier coloring with sidewalk chalk and playing hopscotch in the driveway.  

 

 

 

 

Kelly's sweet husband, Jarrett, took all of us for rides in the tractor. The kids had died and gone to heaven! They couldn't believe they were riding in a real tractor! Jarrett even let all of us (even the kids) drive it. Very cool! 

 

 

You don't have to wear seatbealts to ride around the farm.
Here they are piled in the back of Shae's car. Those beautiful mommas are Kelly & Shae.

Checking out the farm equipment. They were mostly enthralled with the combine. I love how Shae's boys went "farmer style" with no shirts on. When in Rome... 

Playing on a swingset and a really huge sand pile: 

 

 

Picnic at the park!

Bode's cheeto face...I could eat.him.up.

One of my favorite memories of the trip...making s'mores one beautiful evening.  My kids look terrified of the fire which is actually probably a good thing :-) Kelly's sweet momma was also there visiting and was a HUGE help!

Caroline thought the s'mores were too messy to eat (of course) but Matthew completely dug the whole idea. He would have eaten 100 of them if I had let him!

Kelly and Shae are two of my best friends, however, they're also like sisters I never had. To have time away together is wonderful, even if it IS chaotic with our littles running around. Our next girls trip will probably be sans kids though. Hopefully, to Cali to see our other college bff, Steph, before she has her first baby (so exciting!)
Kelly, thanks for being such a wonderful host. Your farm is awesome and we can't wait to come back. Matthew is still talking about the tractor :-) Shae, thanks for road trippin' it with us. Let's do it again soon. Much love to you both!!!!