Last Day of Mother's Day Out

Thursday was the last day of MDO for Spence and Allie. They were so blessed with wonderful teachers and friends and had a great year! I love their school!

Last day of MDO!

Remember the first day of MDO?

One of the supplies that the school asks for at the first of the year is a disposable camera. The teachers take pictures all throughout the year, then put an album together for each child and give it to us on the last day. Yesterday while the kids were at school I remembered that I would be getting the photo albums and could hardly wait! I had to flip through them both before we left the parking lot. I love getting to see what all they did at school and pictures with their little friends. We're looking forward to a great summer, then after awhile we'll be looking forward to a new school year!

It's Pool Time!

Today was our first trip to the neighborhood pool. So much fun! And Coleman even gave Allie her hat back when we got there.

Candice has some great pictures from our trip to the zoo. Check them out here!

Fun at the Fun Run

Wednesday Coleman participated in his school's Boosterthon Fun Run. It was a fundraiser for the school where the kids got pledges for running laps. They had a set amount of time and were supposed to run between 25 and 35 laps (each lap being 1/16 mile). A course was set up with cones and inflatable arches to run through. Coleman did awesome! He ran 35 laps and could have kept going. On the back of their shirts was a place for volunteers to mark their laps, so at the end of each lap they had to stop briefly to get a mark on their backs. I thought that would make it chaotic, but it really didn't. It went pretty smoothly. There was also a water station set up so the runners could get a drink when they needed. Fun music was played and everyone cheered the runners on! I loved it! The kids raised over $23,000!

Getting pumped up to run!

Coleman's cheering squad

Coming around the corner

Stopping to get a mark - gotta keep up with those laps to get all your pledges

One day they'll get to run too

Coleman and his best buddy from his class

A little monkey at the park

I've been a slacker this week, then blogger was down last night. So I have three posts today. Keep reading to find out what fell from our sky yesterday, and where we went today!

Cover Your Heads!!!

We got rain yesterday! I can't even remember the last time it rained. What a wonderful blessing, which led to Allie wanting to wear a rain coat, which led to this adorable picture!

Perfect Day To...

...meet up with friends

...take a train ride

...crawl through an underwater tunnel

...wave to a scuba diver

...pose with an elephant

...go to the zoo!!!

Happy Mother's Day!

I love Mother's Day! I am blessed with the most wonderful mom. She is an amazing woman! And not only do I have an awesome mom, I have the best mother-in-law in the world! They are both there for me always to listen or offer advice and laugh at the crazy things their grandkids have done. They are truly a blessing in my life and teach me so much about motherhood. I couldn't ask for more.

And then there are my three little stinkers (see picture below). I look at them and can't believe how abundantly God has blessed me. Being a mom is my job. It's also my passion. Again, I couldn't ask for more.

Stinkers!

Silly faces

Three of my favorite people

Blessed to have my mom with me this Mother's Day!

Sweet and Sour

If I had to assign a dipping sauce to motherhood, I would choose Sweet and Sour. That seems to describe being a mommy pretty well. There are moments of sweetness where I can't imagine loving these little people anymore than I do. They do and say the most precious things. Then the moment turns sour. Quite sour at times and I'm ready to find a wall and bang my head against it repeatedly. I'm pretty sure I need the sour though to fully appreciate the sweet. And honestly, I never fully understood how God could love me, with all my flaws and failures, until I became a mom. It doesn't matter what my kids do or don't do, become or achieve, I love them. And oh do I get frustrated and flustered and flabbergasted at times, but I love them. It's like no other love in the world.

This week was a little crazy, and so I guess I was going a little crazy. I found things hilarious that normally I might have chuckled at but not given a second thought. One of these instances involved a granola bar and Allie's hiney. I had let the kids eat granola bars in the car, and the next day when Allie was getting out of the car I noticed this:

It was stuck pretty good and I eventually had to peel it off. After, of course, I found the camera and chased her around!

Here's a more flattering picture of the princess:

Her first pony tail!

The older classes at Mother's Day Out have a Mother's Day Tea. It was Tuesday and I had such a fun time! I got to do this twice with Coleman, and this year I got to do it with Spence.

I like to say he's carrying on the weird gene!

I'll try to get a picture of me with all three kids tomorrow on Mother's Day. I can share about my gifts today, but I haven't taken pictures yet. Brian took the boys to pick up my present this morning. It is a lovely chest for storage in the computer room. While they were gone I took Allie and Maestro on a walk. We followed the signs to a garage sale, where there was a double jogging stroller for sale. I couldn't pass it up, so I bought it for myself for Mother's Day! I'm not a jogger (I'd like to be but I'm not sure my foot can handle it) but my regular stroller doesn't handle well on the cracked sidewalks here. So this will make it so much easier to walk to Coleman's school and the park. I might have to put it in storage until next October when it's cool enough! Actually, we're still having some nice weather. I'll take advantage of it while it's here.

Happy Mother's Day to all you Moms! We have the hardest, but most rewarding job!

A Rare Treat

All 3 kids, in the same picture, smiling, looking at the camera, standing still, and loving on each other!