Kindergarten Graduation!

We got to go as a family to Josh's Kindergarten graduation this morning. As Sean and I watched them walk onto the stage, sing their songs, say their poems and share their books they've been working on all year, we were amazed at how much our oldest son has grown. I remember being a little annoyed with my parents when I was a kid when they would say, "It's seems like you were born only yesterday!"


Now, of course, I know exactly how they felt. Josh has grown so much, and in so many ways this past school year. He's really gotten over his shyness and has made lots of friends, his reading and writing skills have gone up by leaps and bounds, and his math continues to be way ahead. (Sean's had him doing multiplication for months now.)


Josh did a great job in his graduation. They sang their morning greeting song in English, Spanish and sign language, did the alphabet in sign language, and took turns singing and reciting poems in groups. He did the pumpkin poem. Then they did a writer's appreciation where they shared a favorite page from the book they've been working on all year. At the end the teacher handed them their certificates.


I have been so impressed with his teacher- she does such a great job with his class. 97% of them passed the benchmark tests, (Josh did with flying colors) and all 23 of them are reading. Some of them came in not even being able to hold a pencil.


After the graduation we went out to the playground for Family Fun Day. The kids got to Tie Dye a t-shirt that their classmates signed( a really cute idea) and play with different activities on the playground like bubbles, hula hoops, jump ropes, and chalk.

Signing the alphabet

Reciting his poem

With his friend Brody

Enjoying the activities. It was a beautiful 80 degree day!

With his teacher

Last day of soccer

The boys played awesome yesterday! Nathan's coach was out of town, so I took over for the last practice and game. Nathan played awesome, even in the mugginess. He took it down the field several times. It's so fun to watch these four-year-olds play.

Josh also played a great game. He's really improved, especially since he first played a year and a half ago. He used to be to timid and run around the outside of the "mob" of kids. Now he gets right in there and dribbles it down the field.

We celebrated by going to Cold Stone. We've had some gift cards lying around for awhile, so we decided to hunt one down. We had to go a lot farther than we thought, because the first one we looked up on our GPS ended not being there anymore, so we ended up in the NE corner of Cincinnati somewhere, I think in Hamilton Township. It was worth the trip though!

After the Reds' games last weekend we went and got the boys Red's gear. Don't they look great! I think we've become fans overnight.

Play Ball!!

We went to our first Cincinnati Reds game last night! We had so much fun! Yesterday morning as we were getting ready for an afternoon of soccer games, Sean suggested that we should go. I thought is was a great idea and so we got online and looked at tickets. Since we'd never been there before, we really didn't know where the best seats were, so we ended up almost at the top, at the end of right field. We'll know better next time, but they still weren't really bad seats. And we had a beautiful view of the Ohio river.

So we went to the soccer games, (the boys had another great day) and then went home for a few hours, then headed downtown.

I've decided that of all spectator sports, baseball is the best for a family like ours. We always enjoyed going to the BYU ones, and this one was even better. The setting is relaxed and social, the noise isn't too loud, and the boys love it.

The view from our seats. The boys liked watching the boats go by.

I love the patriotic atmosphere at baseball games.

We went early so we could get the free shirts.

This was Nathan's favorite part. He kept talking about the sky divers the rest of the night.

Josh during his soccer game.

Every Little Boy...

has a picture like this. I was watching the boys through the kitchen windows while I was mopping the floors, and saw them sitting in the mud. (We've gotten a LOT of rain the past few days.) Oh well, too late now, I thought. When Isaac came knocking on the door to come back in he was a bit dirty. I made him and Josh come in the side door through the mud room, and change their clothes. When Nathan came in a few minutes later, I started laughing and ran to get the camera. I definitely had to hose him off first!

Women's Conference

I had so much fun this past weekend! I got to fly to Utah and go to the BYU Women's Conference with my mom and sister-in-law. It was great! It was only my second time leaving the boys, and we were blessed to have Sean's mom fly out and watch them while Sean was at work. He was originally planning on taking the days off, but looked at his calendar a few days after I had bought the non-refundable plane tickets and saw he had a training that only happens once a year and couldn't miss.

And so it worked out great- it's always strange for me to be without my kids. I always feel like I'm forgetting something. But it was really nice to have a break, to get away from everything and spend time with my mom and sister-in-law. And to be spiritually fed. That was definitely an added bonus.

Provo temple, I used to go on walks around this block several times a week. The view is gorgeous, especially when the sun is setting. The clouds in the background are snow clouds. It snowed every day we were there, though it melted by 1:00. Crazy Utah Spring weather! My grandma said it was 80 degrees on Monday.

The blossums were in full bloom. I took this picture in Wymount when I went to visit a friend.

My mom and I waiting to hear Elder Oaks speak. There were some awesome talks, including his and Sister Beck's.

Kristen, my mom and I in our hotel room.