Tomorrow, Tate will be baptized and then we're headed to Amelia Island, FL to meet up with my family for a week's vacation. I'm excited to have a break away as a family. Then, we'll be going to my parent's for a week - just to have a change of scenery. So, for a bit, I may be gone, enjoying the sun too much to sit and blog!
On Tuesday night we celebrated Tyler's kindergarten graduation! The school did a nice program where the kids showed off several things they'd learned throughout the year: Bible passages, poems, reading, songs, etc.
Tyler won Certificates of Achievement in Bible, Phonics, Handwriting, and Reading. And, she was chosen by her classmates as the Class Favorite!
Afterwards we had a reception in the school's cafeteria. Tyler ran around with her friends and took pictures, ate cake and showed us some of school work.
As a gift from us and my parents, I took her the next morning to "Wacky Bear" (it's like Build a Bear) and she made a bunny she's named "Fluffy".
We are so proud of all she's accomplished this year. It was a hard start with tears in the morning when dropping her off but she really finished strong and can't wait to move on to First Grade. To help her in first grade, Nona and Pop-pops bought Tyler her own desk for graduation. She picked it out and it's a perfect fit in her room!
Here is video of the ceremony for anyone interested:
Graduation Video Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5
Although Tate has been mobile for more than a month now, I would just now say he's really crawling. Now he knows where he wants to go and how to go there. As you can tell, he still isn't terribly fast (which I consider a good thing!) but it won't be long before I'm chasing him around. He's started pulling up too which isn't too smart because once he's up he either falls or doesn't know how to get back down - either way, he ends up frustrated!
Ha, ha, just kidding! Last weekend the kids and I WALKED a 5k for the March of Dimes. My moms' group did it as our monthly service project and so I took the kids out on Saturday morning and walked it with four other moms and their kids. Tyler walked about half of it but got to take breaks on the stroller whenever she wanted. Tate slept through about half of it and Eben rode with his friend, Julian. It was neat though to see several kids with their "I was a preemie" t-shirts on. March of Dimes is an awareness and education campaign to help families have healthier babies and the 5K walks help them raise money. Eben was technically a "preemie" although he was so healthy he didn't face the risks other babies have. But the little trouble we had with him just gave me just a touch of what some of these families go through. It was really fun to do together!
We've been growing cherry tomatoes for the last couple months and recently enjoyed our "first fruit". They are so yummy! We've only had two ripen so far but we probably have 50 more or so that are ripening.
Tyler will graduate from kindergarten on May 15. This year has flown by and I can't believe how much she's learned. Her cursive is beautiful and she's a great reader - in the top reading group of her class! She can tell time, identify money, count by tens and fives. She continues to be most interested in anything artistic or crafty. She's an incredible big sister and a huge help to me. While I'm looking forward to having her home this summer, I'm also worried about her being bored and lonely (we have yet to make any friends with kids her age). Please pray for patience for me (actually caring for all three day in and day out) and friends and fun for her.
My early, early prediction for an American Idol final two was Chris and Blake. Obviously, I was wrong! But, several weeks ago I decided Blake and Melinda would be an awesome final two. I love Blake but will concede that Melinda is by far the best singer. She's just not as marketable. Blake was incredible this week - Scott and I have been wanting to hear more of his beatboxing (is that really how you say it?). So I'll keep rooting for Blake and hoping he and Melinda will go head to head in the final two. It would be a really great show!
