School is out!

William and Rebecca are done with another year of school!

Kindergarten grad with his teacher Mrs. Shaffer

Rebecca is a second grade graduate. 

She didn't have a graduation ceremony like William did, so I didn't get any pictures of her from her last week of school. But here she is enjoying summer break with her mini twin.

I'm excited for a break from the every day routine and to spend more time with my big kids! 

Wet 'n' Wild is open again...

And it is five minutes from our house! We got season passes since the price of a season pass was about the same as the price of two general admission tickets. Since we have season passes, we've been there about 3 or 4 times a week since it opened two weeks ago. It's been wonderful!!

The names of the rides have changed, but they basically have a Der Stuka, Lazy River, a wave pool, Royal Flush, and a few other cool slides. There is a huge kids' area where we spend most of our time. And life jackets are all over the place, so I don't have to worry about my two non-swimming boys.

Next year a Cowabunga Bay is supposed to open in Henderson, and I'm hoping that that new water park will make the one by us less crowded.

We're having a great summer so far thanks to Wet 'n' Wild!

Six Months Old Tomorrow

This happy girl will be six months old tomorrow. I can't believe she is already halfway through her first year!

Some things about six-month-old Lia:

• She's been laughing a little more lately. She especially laughs at whatever her siblings are doing around her.
• She has zero interest in rolling over, unless it's from her belly to her back. She does not enjoy tummy time.
• She's a champ at Wet 'n' Wild. I have an old Baby Bjorn that I don't mind getting wet, and she sits in it while I follow the bigger kids in the wave pool and the lazy river.
• She still has light blue eyes, so she probably won't end up with brown eyes like her sister. Most people who look at her comment on her blue eyes.
• She sleeps through the night in her sister's room every night. Rebecca likes to bring her to me in the morning, which is nice, except for when she brings her to me while she's still sleeping. We've since had a talk about letting the baby sleep.

We love having this happy baby around!

One More Mother's Day Thing...

Rebecca brought this paper to me after Mother's Day:

I think she made it at school. It says:

My mom was voted #1 Mom because...She gives me alot of kisses.

I love when my Mom smiles at me when she kisses me.

3 Fun Facts About My Mom  1. She likes to cook  2. She has brown hair  3. She has brown hair

(That's not a mistake. She wrote the same thing for 2 and 3.)

My mom and I like to make cookies.

By the way, I really don't like to cook, so I'm not sure where that came from. I do like to make cookies with Rebecca though. And I love the little picture she drew of me in the left corner.

These little questionnaires are my favorite Mother's Day gifts.

And William made me this cute card at school:

William is 6

My Bubba turned six yesterday. I took cupcakes to his school in the afternoon to celebrate. He'd been telling his teachers all day that it was his birthday, but they didn't believe him because his birthday was listed as May 4th in their system. When I walked in with cupcakes, they realized the poor kid was telling the truth.

After school we picked up William's favorite cousin Spencer and took them to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate.

I love the fake smiles. I had some pictures taken of the kids on Saturday so that I have a picture of the baby in the house. The photographer knew how to get real smiles out of my kids. I have to figure out how to do it.

On a whim, we got Rebecca a scooter for Christmas. It was a really good Black Friday deal. All three of my older kids have loved that pink scooter. So we got William a red one for his birthday. He loves it. I'm sure Braden will get one for Christmas. This morning while William was at school, Braden said, "Can I go outside and ride Bub's scooter? It's Braden size..." 

William has been the sweetest little boy for all six years he's been mine. His church teachers and school teachers always love him. He loves school, and he likes playing the Wii and watching Power Rangers, Batman, Sonic, or Super Mario Bros. on tv.

We love this boy. Happy Birthday, William!

Mother's Day

I got some great stuff for Mother's Day this year:

Kevin has brought me home one of these plants from work for the past two years. I think a resident buys them for the employees to take to their wives. Kevin said they are just sitting out with a note that says, "for Mother's Day."

I got all of this stuff from Kevin and the kids in the morning. I traded the apple for a banana. Rebecca made me the card and decorated candle at Activity Days. I picked her up from her AD meeting on Tuesday and didn't even notice the stuff she made for me. She kept it hidden from me until yesterday.

I hope everyone else had a nice Mother's Day!

5 Months

Lia is five months old today. She had a well check appointment about a month ago, and she weighed 13 pounds, 2 ounces, which seems petite to me, especially since her cousin who is three months younger weighs 15 pounds!

Kevin got out her doorway bouncer which is my favorite baby accessory ever.

Sorry about the funny pictures.  It's hard to get a non-blurry picture of her when she's jumping around in this thing.  These were the best I could get.

I love watching babies jump around in these jumpers.  She seems to like it.

She also likes to clap her feet together when she's on her back:

Some other new things about five-month-old Lia:

• She laughed for the first time two days ago.  She was on my lap while I watched the boys in the tub, and she laughed at everything they were doing.
• She likes to eat sweet potatoes, bananas, and applesauce.  We tried carrots, but I think she is still a little young for them.  She gagged when she tried swallowing them.
• She's out of our room and sleeping in her crib in her/Rebecca's room.  She's been doing great in her crib!
• She was sleeping through the night, but I stopped swaddling her, and now she's waking up at night.  I hope she gets used to no swaddle and sleeps through the night again. Soon!
• She still looks just like Rebecca as a baby, but her eyes are very blue.  If she keeps them, we will have two kids with blue eyes and two kids with brown.

We love this girl.  She is growing up way too fast.