Maddox's 'spring' picture day. It seems funny to say spring as they take them in February but compared to her fall picture I suppose it IS spring in relationship to the school calendar.
Not sure why I took this picture...maybe new clothes?
My girl and I eating lunch at Pleasant View.
Maddox with several of her best buds... Isabelle, Lila, Avery
Kennon and his best friend Caleb at the Family Museum.
....add in Caleb's little sister Grace who adores Kennon.
100 day at school! Maddox had to decorate a hat with a 100 of something. She chose pipe cleaners. We ended up curling all the cleaners on pencils so it looked like she had sparkly, curly hair. Cute!
Kennon and I at the Family Museum...our almost second home.
Maddox's class has a pet bee named Buddy. She got to keep him with her for a week and we were to document things we did with Buddy and then create a scrap book page. Buddy went to Kennon's basketball game.
Kennon getting ready to take the ball down the court.
Kennon became amazingly good at defense as the season progressed. He was like ALL over the boy he was defending. It almost became a bit comical as he'd barely let the kid he was defending move.
He's in the middle in the orange shorts.
Buddy at church.
Buddy at Dad's office playing hockey.
This is the year of 40 for a lot of my high school friends! There are just three left that are still in their 30's. This celebration was for my good friend Amy on the right. We enjoyed a nice dinner, eaten slowly, reminiscing and getting caught up. It was a great evening. Welcome to the 40 club Amy!
Maddox reading books to Buddy and Kennon.
Not too long after we had Buddy at home with us Maddox got to be the special Bee in her classroom. She got to bring in all sorts of things that represented her and display them in this case outside of her classroom in the primary hallway at the school. She brought lots of pictures of friends and family, her ballet costume from last year, some Disney gear, a cross and her first baby doll, named Melody, from Aunt Lora.
Maddox and Kennon got to go to our good neighbor friend, Mason's birthday party at Monkey Joe's a few weeks back. They love to go to that place and this party provided the usual amped up fun! Happy 5th birthday Mason. He'll go to Kindergarten with Kennon next year.
There is a new Doc McStuffin's exhibit at the Family Museum. Kennon has enjoyed exploring it. This is his favorite part where he gets to do surgery on this Robot Dragon thingy. Hmmm...future physician or surgeon??
I think this snow picture was from back in early January or maybe even December.... Any time there is slow we've been taking advantage of it and getting in a few runs of sledding down the hill just up the road from us.
Kennon has become super interested in astronomy. He got this awesome kid's telescope from the Knowles family for Christmas. He uses it regularly and keeps it set up in his room all the time. He got a great Space book from the Smithsonian at Maddox's book fair a couple of weeks back. He loves thumbing through it, looking at the pictures and hearing us read him the facts.
It has become tradition for Maddox and I to attend the February Quad City Ballet production. It was entitled Love Stories and it was absolutely wonderful. Such great up beat music and fabulous choreography. She and I had a great time getting to do something special.
The night after the ballet Maddox and I got to attend the Storybook Ball at the museum. It was fun to get all dressed up again...two nights in a row...two new dresses for each of us.
We got to sit with our good friends Priya and Grace.
Elisha and her beautiful girl, Priya.
Priya and Maddox decorating their super hero capes. The theme of this year's ball was Villains and Super Heroes.
Dancing with the princesses.
Kennon and a yummy pan of brownies!
Kennon got to come to Maddox's school Valentine party. It is always nice to expose him to what he'll be experiencing next year. And it's always nice to catch a glimpse of Maddox with her classmates. Wooeee.....I don't know how Mrs. Welling does it each day! I was ready for a nap when I got home that day. However, instead of a nap I opted to slow myself down by breaking my toe. Grrr.... still healing..but very slowly!
Maddox's Valentine Box....a hot air balloon.
Maddox and her good friend Daxon playing a Valentine game.
Maddox and her teacher Mrs. Welling.
We've been taking advantage of these crazy warm temps...spending lots of time outdoors at the park and even getting in a picnic or two in.
A sun dress in February???!! What? Unheard of, but why not.
Kennon got to go to Kindergarten round up a few weeks back. That particular morning Maddox had this adorable conversation with him at the breakfast table about all the things he was going to get to do. So cute!
Ready for his big day of meeting the Kindergarten teachers and taking a school bus ride.
We were finally able to celebrate Christmas with Papa Dick, Miss Erika and the Gillaspie family on February 25th! The Knowles family was able to drive down to celebrate with us as well. So nice to have the cousins all together!
Carter 6, Kennon 5, Reid 3, Maddox 7, Cashin 2, Hannah 18
We added 4 birthdays to our Christmas celebration. Miss Erika, Reid's 4th birthday, Aunt Brooke and Aunt Diane! Birthdays always call for Hyvee cake.
The eldest reading to the youngest.
Maddox got her recital costume last week. She and her classmates are portraying 'summer' in her June production and they'll be dancing with kites! So adorable.
We did a little bike re-arranging during the last super warm weekend. Maddox was ready for a bike with gears and Kennon ready for hand brakes and a bigger frame. So we handed down Maddox's white bike with red stripes that had been covered with pink stickers to Kennon and he was a happy camper! He tells everyone he got a new bike and doesn't seemed to be phased by the fact that his bike is his sister's hand me down. Maddox got a wonderful new bike with 21 gears! It is a great blue color- which is her favorite currently.
Kennon and I out for lunch...happy kiddo!
Kennon had his last basketball game last Saturday. Grandma Jean was even able to come over to see him in action for the last time this season. He had a great game making two nice shots! I moved him up a league to play with some bigger kids and to gain a few more skills and it certainly payed off. He is doing better with his dribbling and shooting and learning how to play with other teammates.
This past weekend we drove up to Madison for the day to celebrate Reid's 4th birthday. But before we headed to the birthday party we got in a little mini golf AND bowling. As Carter said to Tyler that afternoon between activities 'this day is legit Dad!' I'd have to agree with you Carter.... The kids enjoyed being together and doing some fun sports. Maddox had never bowled before and threw a strike on her FIRST ball ( disclaimer...ramp and bumpers used! But way to go Maddox!) Reid's party was at a great jumpy house place called Pump It Up. I unfortunately didn't snag any pictures but Maddox and Kennon had a blast. Maddox looked after Cashin most of the time which she loved! And Kennon jumped and jumped....although oddly enough no one fell asleep on the way home despite the full day of activity.
Maddox participated in a theatre camp in early January. It is put on by the Pleasant Valley high school theatre students and is quite comprehensive. She learned about hair and makeup, musicality, dance, emotions and motions on stage and overall had a ton of fun. The PV theatre department seems amazing..however I only technically have a sample size of 1. This is one of the routines that she learned.
We got the OSMO program for the kids for Christmas. Both of the kids have loved learning with it. This particular program is a drawing program. Pretty cool! It has a great coding game as well as a numbers game ( including adding/subtracting/multiplying), words game to encourage spelling, and a game called Newton which teaches a bit about gravity and ground reaction, cause and effect. It is so fun and super educational, although the kids don't seem to notice.
Maddox is starting to learn her dance routine for her recital in June.A few videos to show off the first part of the routine.
Phew..I know it has been forever! My phone was totally getting clogged up with pictures which was a sign I needed to get some uploaded to the blog. I am working a lot of VNA still, doing audits and occasionally working with a new employee. However I did just apply for a part time floral clerk at the Hyvee down the road. We'll see what comes of that. May be time for a change. The kids are sport free right now although both will start soccer in a few weeks. Eric ...well my super husband continues to amaze me and do it all. He's up by 6am every morning, working in our home office returning/sending emails to staff and clients and working on any projects he can do for work from home to allow him to get home at a decent time in the evening. He never misses dinner and picks up 'honey do' projects on the weekends. Currently we are in the process of remodeling our 1/2 bath. He kindly put swatches of 4 different shades of greys on two different walls only to have me ask for a couple more to be added the next day. God blessed me with a wonderful husband and an even more loving dad! Thank you Lord! This week is spring break so we've got some fun activities planned. We are also looking forward to our upcoming trip to Florida :) Time just flies. Take care for now.
