A Few of My Lou

For the last few weeks we were in CO, Janet and Steve were so nice to let the kids and I stay with them before we made the trek to Atlanta.  During that time, Jilly became obsessed with the hose.  Every time grandma would go out to water the flowers, Jilly had to go to.  Once Janet would go to spray the flowers, Jilly would get her face right up to the sprayer with her tongue out and ready.

Silly girl!

Poor girl.  She was not amused by all the time we spent in the car during those last few weeks.  Little did she know, it was just a prelude of what was to come once we moved.  

Stops at grandma Guercio's house tended to leave her looking like this.  That's what grandma's are for, right?!

I love her after bath curls.

She's got her sweat band on and is ready to go!  She was actually pretty ornery about Michelle and I putting that on her head, if you couldn't tell by the look on her face.  ;)

I look back at these pictures of her and can't believe how much she has grown in the last few months.  Hair and all!

Last Day of Kindergarten

Oh boy.  The last day of Kindergarten sure has a way of bringing on the water works for me.  Preston's last day was no different than it had been with the three older kids as far as me being a blubbering mess.  Except maybe it was worse.

First off, everyone met in the cafeteria where the kids got a book from Mrs. Winkler, a Kindergarten certificate, and there was a packet for the parents with some of the kids' most special work from throughout the year.  I shed a few tears.  Just a few.  Then we all went to the gym to watch a slide presentation the teachers had made with pictures from throughout the school year, along with sentimental music.  Heaven help me!  All I know is it was good they turned out the lights.  The end of a school year tends to do that to me, and especially so this year with us getting ready to move.  I was a bit more emotional about it than normal.  Knowing that my kids wouldn't be going back to a school family that we had been a part of for the last seven years was a bit heartbreaking.  In that time, we had gotten to know a lot of the teachers and staff really well and had come to love them dearly.  It's making me feel teary just thinking about it even still!  Anyway… Onto the fun part.  After the slide show, the kids basically had another field day.  Jilly was much better natured about it this time.  

 Little besties.

 I love these two together.  We miss the Lee family so much!

 Parachute fun again!

 Preston and Mrs. Winkler, the best Kindergarten teacher ever!

 Some kickball fun!

 Jilly was the star of the dance center.  She stayed right by the speaker and danced her life away!

 Buds stayed and danced with her for a little bit, but then had better things to do.

 Then Andrew came and took over.

 Doesn't it look like he's asking her to dance?!

 Then she gets all shy...

 And decides dancing with him is just her cup of tea.

 He must have said something really funny.

Watching this whole scene play out just made me giggle!  I'm so glad I got it all on camera.

Taking a minute at the end of the day to cool down a bit.  There were tons of spray bottles full of water and all the kids were having spray bottle wars.  Jilly was grabbing squirt bottles left and right and kept trying to put them in her mouth for a drink, but I thought this was a better option.  And much more fun!

It was a great last day to a wonderful year of school!

Field Day

Preston LOVED his Kindergarten field day!  Which I am not surprised considering how much he loves to be outside and how active he is.

A little indoor hockey.

Racing!

Preston LOVED this one.  Probably because it was a very warm day, and he got to get all wet!

A relay race.

All the kids loved this one.  There is something about a big parachute that is so much fun.

This is how Jilly felt about field day.  She could have totally passed.

We didn't stay too much longer after this, but at least we got to watch some of the Field Day fun!

The End of Something Wonderful

While living in CO amongst our family, we had more family get togethers and BBQs than I can count.  They were regular events!  These photos are from the last family get together we had, with all of us there, before the move.

Trent left just a few days after this to stay in Atlanta permanently, and the kids and I left about a week and a half after he did.

This is Mike.  My kids adore him and his lovely wife, Jan.  They have been there for many of our family gatherings whether it was a holiday, birthday, or just a family dinner.  We always loved when they would come and join in the fun.

If I had a dollar for every picture I have of Steve and the fat tongue...

We called this our last hurrah.  While we know it's not the last, we sure do miss the regularity with which we used to all get together.  One of the woes of moving across the country.  We sure love and miss the grandparents and uncles and look forward to those times we do get to be together again.