Last Day of School

June 6th was the boys' last day of school.  I think I was more excited than they were!  Now that they've finished 3rd, 1st, and PreK, they are ready to enjoy the summer!

My 4th grader and 2nd grader

I told her when school got out on June 6th she would officially be a Kindergartener!

Some May Happenings

I'm glad the end of the school year only comes once a year.  May is always jam-packed with activity after activity!  We had lots of fun:  a visit from Grandma and Aunt Mary, a wedding, Mother's Day, football, graduation (the Pre-K kind), reunion planning, and Boy Scout activities.  And we always want to show our teachers how much we love and appreciate them, so there were lots of activities and planning that went into that.  Here are a few moments from May!

My two football players

And football games would not be complete without SNOW CONES!!!

 

Brian was best man at our friend's wedding

Mother's Day (Spence was determined not to look at the camera)

First swim of the season

3 high school friends met to plan our 20 year reunion

Boy Scout Rocket Launch

Spence's troup getting their awards at the Boy Scout Blue and Gold Banquet

 

Medals  for the Pine Wood Derby

Allie in her cap and gown

Our baby graduated!

Now she's ready for Kindergarten!

 

The kids posed for one last picture after a Preschool program

Last day of school.  We enjoyed this Mother's Day Out for 6 years!

   

My Last 5 Year Old

Happy birthday sweet Allie!  5 years old?  Is that right?  You have been bringing our family joy and excitement since the first day we met you!  I love the look on Coleman's face in this picture.  He was in love from the beginning.  We all were!

Our family's first birthday tradition is to go to Build-A-Bear.  When we started this tradition I think we underestimated how expensive those crazy little stuffed bears and their accessories can be.  Daddy's wallet was hurting this day, but just look at those smiles!  And we're happy to report that all bears (and monkeys) are still being loved and cared for.

One advantage of a June birthday is that you can celebrate by going to the pool.  This was your 2nd birthday!  

 Third birthdays at the Pik household mean one thing:  Mommy's gonna go crazy planning a themed birthday party that may be a little over the top.  But it's fun!  Your third birthday party had a Dora the Explorer theme, and you and your friends had to find the birthday cake after Swiper swiped it.

For your 4th birthday, we took a family trip to Sea World with your friends Paul David and Judson.  What a fun time!  This picture was taken on your birthday at one of your favorite lunch spots, Los Tios.

This year your big birthday present is a surprise that you won't find out about until we are halfway to Montana at the end of this month.  Mommy feels a little bad that you have to wait so long, but I'm pretty sure it will be worth it!  I can't wait to see the look on your face...  But to hold you over until that surprise, we might have a few things planned this week. 

Happy birthday Allie!  You're 5 years old today!!!!

Here's a picture of my first 5 year old in January 2010.

And my middle 5 year old in November 2011.

I'll try to add some more pictures later this week. And of course I need to go back and post some pictures of all the fun things that happened in May and early June!  Believe me, there were a lot.  May is busier than Christmas around here!

Conversations

Allie and I had a girls' weekend while the boys were away camping.  It was such a fun time to spend just the two of us.  I wanted to share one of the highlights of the weekend, mostly so I will remember it!  Every so often I go back and read posts and remember things our family did or games we played or what life was like when the kids were babies.  It brings such a smile to my face, as I'm sure this will when I read over it again years down the road.

We were out shopping yesterday (see, I told you it was a fun girls' weekend!) and in the car the song We Believe by the Newsboys came on.  This is one of my favorite songs at the moment, and I was singing along.  Here are the lyrics to the chorus:

We believe in God the Father

We believe in Jesus Christ

We believe in the Holy Spirit

And He's given us new life

We believe in the crucifixion

We believe that He conquered death

We believe in the resurrection

And He's comin' back again, we believe

And here's our sweet conversation:
Allie:  Do we believe that?
Me:  Yes!  Well, I do.  Do you?
Allie:  Yes!

I did a little talking about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and how Jesus is coming back for all of us who love Him. 

Allie:  I love Jesus!  And you do.  And Daddy does.  And Coleman and Spence.  And Maestro!  Maestro will lick Him!

We believe in God the Father
We believe in Jesus Christ
We believe in the Holy Spirit
And He's given us new life
We believe in the crucifixion
We believe that He conquered death
We believe in the resurrection
And He's comin' back again, we believe
Read more at http://www.songlyrics.com/newsboys/we-believe-lyrics/#tMXsxSevwTW2lHRy.99

Oh my.  This just grabbed my heart and made it so happy!  Although I'm not convinced of Maestro's affections for Jesus.  But Allie's?  And Coleman's and Spence's?  It's my deepest prayer every single day.  As a matter of fact, a verse was referenced in today's sermon that made me stop and realize what a huge responsibility praying for them is.  Lamentations 2:19 says

Arise, cry out in the night,
    as the watches of the night begin;
pour out your heart like water
    in the presence of the Lord.
Lift up your hands to him
    for the lives of your children,
who faint from hunger
    at every street corner. 

Not every moment of our girls' weekend was shopping and smiles.  I admit there were a few moments where I wanted to send Allie to her room and have a girl weekend, as in just one girl - me!  She's doing this thing now where she must thing it's adorable for her to talk like a baby.  Believe me, she's the only one that thinks that.  And then there's the other thing where she rigs every game or activity so she can be deemed the winner.  We're probably going to have to deal with this before school starts.  I won't even talk about the fighting between her and Spence.  But I'm guessing if every moment was sweet conversations in the car or eating at her favorite restaurant I wouldn't appreciate them as much.  And I may not realize how much I need to be crying out to the Lord for her and her brothers' lives.

Well, that's all of my deep thoughts for tonight.  I'll share some pictures from our girls' weekend and the boys' camping trip in the next few days!

Easter

Believe it or not, it has taken me a long time to write this post about Easter.  I don't want to sound like a grumpalumpagus (sounds just like it's spelled) or have anyone think I disapprove of  the way they choose to celebrate Easter.  So here goes:  I don't like the Easter bunny.  There... I said it!  I think it's because he seems to take the place of Jesus as the meaning of Easter for so many people.  I really like coloring eggs, stuffing candy in plastic eggs and letting the kids hunt for them, and dressing up pretty on Easter Sunday.  But for some reason I just can't get behind the rabbit.  Thankfully my kids don't seem to care about him either.  I don't have a problem with other people including the Easter bunny in their celebration of Easter, as long as he isn't the main focus.

As for Easter, what a meaningful day to think about how truly amazing God's gift of salvation is, and what He did to pay for our sins.  Not only did Jesus physically suffer on the cross, but He who knew no sin became sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21).  He suffered separation from God for a time so He could take on our sins.  Thankfully we can praise Him for that every day, but Easter is a time where we focus our hearts on that truth and worship and thank Him for that ultimate sacrifice. 

We had a very relaxing Easter weekend!  The boys had Good Friday off from school so we got to hang out Friday, then go to birthday parties on Saturday and hunt for eggs with friends, celebrate the true meaning of Easter on Sunday and then just take it easy!
 
We took the camera to church so someone could get a picture of our family on Easter, but we forgot!  Here are a few pictures from the weekend though.


Spence and Allie had fun coloring eggs!  OK, I had fun coloring eggs also.  And had to keep reminding myself it was alright when they would drip and mix the colors. 

The kids and our neighbors had an Easter egg hunt on Saturday.  I got a kick out of the boys' "baskets."  Coleman dumped some toys out of a plastic container and Spence grabbed a box that his newest toy came in.  Meanwhile the girls have pretty buckets and baskets!

I think confetti eggs are my favorite!  We all were covered in confetti.  Even Maestro!

Football and Flowers

I have to laugh when I think back to my Jr. High cheerleading days.  We had to be taught some of the basic rules of football, but I think our sponsor was happy if we could tell if our team was on offense or defense!  We had a cheer about "1st and 10" and I had no clue what that meant!

These days you'll find me cheering on the sidelines for my two favorite players and their coach.  And I love it! I haven't even minded that the last two weeks have been somewhat rainy.  Allie scored her first touchdown last week (I might have already written about that, but I can't remember.) and she had a great run this week.  She stopped short of making a touchdown, so we're not sure if she thought she crossed into the end zone or if she got tired.  Coleman scored two touchdowns this past Sunday, and helped his team win!  They must have an awesome coach...

I made it back in town just in time to see Allie play on Sunday.  I went to a ladies' retreat with some girls from my church.  It was such a relaxing, renewing time.  Just a great time to get away, dig into God's Word, and enjoy a little break from cooking, cleaning, driving a carpool, laundry, and the other 10 thousand things we do every day!  The camp is in Washington, TX, which is just outside of Brenham (where Blue Bell ice cream is made!!!).  The blue bonnets and other wild flowers were spectacular!  Since we didn't have our kids with us to photograph (that's a Texas thing - finding blue bonnets and taking your kids' picture sitting in them) we plopped ourselves down and took our own pictures!  There was even a Blue Bonnet Festival going on.  

Allie loves playing football, but she's not much of a spectator.  I tried to tell them that their brother had scored a touchdown and they should come cheer for him, but I guess this tree was calling their names!
It's so funny how at home we think we "need" all these different toys, video games,  and TV.  When all it takes to make kids happy is a tree.

Fieldtripathon

Last week both Spence and Allie went on field trips, and I tagged along!  The first graders went to Hermann Park and the Houston Children's Museum.  As a former teacher I remember how field trips test your ability to count.  As in you are constantly counting to make sure you haven't lost anyone!  Quit moving so I don't count you twice!  I only got 19.  Who's missing?  But this field trip was very organized and went quite smoothly.  At the park the parents and teachers made a barricade around the playground so no one escaped!  Then at the museum every class had its own guide to lead them around.  Then with the teacher and 5 or 6 parents it was easy to keep up with everyone. 

Waterworks

Spence and his buddies

In the invention room, Spence neglected all the other cool stations to build a Lego car.  Oh well, he knows what he likes!

Racing his Lego car

Rock wall

What a fun day with a bunch of 1st graders!

Allie's field trip was to Bayou Wildlife Park in Alvin.  We've been to several field trips there, but I don't think she was old enough the last time we were there to remember it.  She and her friends had so much fun!  First off was a pony ride.  Well, first off was standing in line for longer than most 4 year olds can handle to wait for a pony ride.  But I'm guessing they thought it was worth it!

The goats just wanted to eat the girls' clothes!

Ready for the tram ride to feed all the animals!

My FAVE!!!

This guy, Goliath, is pretty cool too.  He's not full grown, but when he is each horn will weigh about 65 lbs.  There was a full grown one that couldn't even hold his head up.  I felt sorry for him!

I think I love coming here so much because, really, where else can you go around here to look a camel in the eyes?

And here it is, the last picture of a preschool field trip.  I can hardly believe it!