Soaring Eagles Graduation

It's hard to believe, but Alden is officially done with with preschool!  He has had an amazing year- great teachers, fun, smart and spunky friends- we couldn't ask for anything better!

The day of his graduation his grandparents, Al and Theresa, came down from NY.  We were super excited- Alden had kept the entire ceremony a secret- good job! And an added excitement was that Addie was the commencement speaker!  They both did an excellent job and we couldn't be prouder of both of them!!

Alden class

Super excited waiting for the ceremony to start!

Our little graduate!

Love these two!!

Miss Annabeth- Alden's teacher assistant

Miss Monica- we LOVE her- and had to promise to stop by and see her several mornings every week!

Addie giving her speech- the video will have to uploaded another day...

Joey and Alden- to peas in a pod!

Alden and Sally

Alden and Piper (yes, Alden is clearly a ladies man....)

Little Graduate

I can't believe it- on Thursday, Alden officially graduates from preschool and becomes a full-fledged kindergartner!  I love that his preschool does the cap and gown- the next time he will do this will be for highschool- what a comparison that will be!

He is such an incredible little man and has grown physically, emotionally, academically and spiritually this year- it's simply amazing!  I look forward to how he is going to be used by God in his school next year- and am super excited for him to have that experience!

All Moved In!!

Over the weekend, we were able to get moved in- whew!  For the first time ever in all our various moves, we hired some movers- they moved all the furniture- old house to truck, truck to new house- all with crazy summer weather!  It was wonderful!!  Saturday morning, thanks to good friends- Mike and Nick- all the boxes were moved out of the old house and into the new house in a matter of hours! And the best part- for me at least- was my good friend Karen, who graciously offered to watch the kids all day!  This left me free to clean the old house and then unpack at the new house!  By the time the kids came home- their rooms were done and their playroom mostly done!

Here are a few pics of various rooms- there will be more posted once I paint!!

Office

Master Bath

Addie's Room

Family Room

Piano

Playroom

Playroom other side

Kitchen- notice I have started changing out the hardware- such an improvement!

Looking into the eat-in portion

Kid bathroom

Master

Other Plans- Better Plans!

Our plans for Memorial Day Weekend, for over the last two months, involved moving- unpacking, putting up blinds, etc.  God had other plans- due to complete incompetence, we did NOT close this weekend and instead of sitting around our house that is 99% in boxes, we went to the Eastern Shore and visited our good friends, the Ts.  What a blessing it was- God knew that we needed a break- and it was great to spend time at 2 of our favorite beaches with dear friends!

The kids are now old enough, and strong enough swimmers, that they embraced the beach for all it is- and I was able to sit back and watch them and occasionally jump in and play with them!

There are a ton of pics- but there are my favorites.  I hate the new layout here- so the pics will just stand for themselves!  

The kids loved Kiptopeak Beach where we met our friends our first day there, then they played soccer, climbed the boys tree house, drove the golfcart, played basketball, and ate icecream!  The next day we played on the beach on Assateague Island- and even got to see one of the wild ponies up close- next to the car!!  It was wonderful- simply wonderful!  We are now fully recharged and ready to move SOON!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is always special- I love that there is one day set aside to honor Mom- being a Mom is a tough job!  For me, I love that I can focus on what makes me a Mom- and what a blessing I have been given!  This Mother's Day we had a low-key affair- I was allowed to sleep-in, then the kids made me a yummy breakfast (Al helped), we all worshiped at church, then it was peaceful during nap time....  The best part- I was able to snap some super cute pics of my two blessings!

For the last 2.5 years, Addie has been growing out her hair (sadly, she inherited my super-slow-growing hair)!  Orginally it started out that she just wanted long hair, then she wanted Tangled's hair, and finally she wanted to give her hair to a little girl who couldn't grow hair!  We have been measuring it and looking forward to the highly anticipated 10"!!  Friday, we reached that magical length and she was SUPER excited to cut it off and send it to a little girl!  I am so proud of her and her desire to help another little girl!

Morning of hair cut- look at her sweet little face!

The Pony Tail!

Snip-snip!

Cutting it off!!

SO happy to have short hair!!

Rockin' the new do!  Alden called it her Tangled Hair Cut!

Spending time with her Daddy