Mother's Day & Father's Day

Ok, we're a little out of order here!  We had a lot of fun over Father's Day weekend and I realized when I sat down to blog about it that I never did mention my equally fun Mother's Day weekend.  So, mentioning it now a month late...

Mother's day week was so sweet.  I was treated to a Mother's Day tea in Audrey's preschool class and had such a sweet time.  The kids sang to us and served us treats (and then promptly sat on our laps and ate the treats they'd served us).  Audrey loved having me in her classroom and I loved being there.

On Mother's Day morning the girls (and Corey) surprised me with breakfast in bed.  Such a treat.  And super special when the two little chef helpers of the family sit and watch you eat every bite.  And super duper special when the following conversation takes place while they sit and watch you eat every bite:

Audrey:  Those strawberries look so good, Mommy (referring to the strawberries atop my French toast).
Me:  Yes, they are really good.
Audrey:  I sure wish we could have those yummy strawberries.
Natalie:  Yeah, it's so sad, Mom got the last of the good strawberries.  The rest of the ones in the carton were rotten so there are none for us (insert pout and guilt producing stare here).

Classic.  Motherhood. Moment.

For Father's Day, we spent the morning at Lafayette Reservoir.  Such a great place.  We attempted to walk the 3 mile loop around the lake with both kids on foot but the whining started about the 1.25 mile mark so we rented a paddle boat instead.  Those little sluggish, whiny walking legs suddenly turned into determined and tireless paddle boating legs.  Natalie helped paddle us across the lake and Audrey helped paddle us back to the dock.  Not a whine in the wind.  Funny.

Great Daddy.

Last Days of School

May and June have been a whirlwind of end-of-school year activities!  Both girls had mixed emotions about school being finished for the summer; they are totally excited about not having to hurry out the door every morning, but very sad to leave their teachers.  They both love school and for that we are very grateful.  And they both had awesome years of growth in so many countless ways!

 Audrey finished her year first and had an awesome last week of school because one of her school days fell on her birthday.  That resulted in a super fun day of wearing a crown, being "special helper" (a seriously BIG deal in preschool), being sung to and bringing in a fruit salad treat to share with all of her classmates.  Not a bad way to end the year.  Oh, and Mommy took her out to lunch for her favorite mac and cheese at Panera after school.  What a great day!

 On the actual last day of school later that week her classroom had a little graduation ceremony which was adorable and she was presented with a certificate and a goody bag.  After the ceremony was a picnic for all the students and their families. Super fun day for her.

She loves her teacher so much that while she visited with all the other parents at the picnic, Audrey proceeded to sit on her lap.  Audrey just mixed and mingled with her the entire time and would only come back to our blanket to grab another strawberry.  So sweet.  Thankfully her teacher didn't mind a bit.

 Natalie had an awesome last month, too.  She participated in her school art show and I loved her entry.  So colorful and unique!  Just like our girl.  Her last day was just this past Thursday and she was ready.  She was pretty tired of homework and reading logs!  Although, what did she do on her first day of vacation?  Read!  (yes!).  Awesome first grade year for her; she is adding and subtracting double digits, counting money, telling time, reading beautifully and keeping a daily journal.  Holy smokes!

Natalie adored her teacher this year and we did, too.  Couldn't have been a better match for her with all she went through this year.  Audrey loved Natalie's teacher, too, and gave her a hug every. single. day. at pick up.  And, of course, had to get into the last day picture!

Such a great year and looking forward to an awesome summer!

Pink Party

For Audrey's birthday party this year we chose to do a Pink Party.  We did a pink party for Natalie's fourth birthday and it was so much fun that we decided we had to do it again.  And when I say pink, I mean pink.  We asked our guests to wear pink to the party, gave them pink polka dotted pixie wings and pink bubbles upon arrival, served nothing but pink foods, drank pink lemonade, played with pink balloons and did pink paper crafts.  It was a blast.

And the very brightest highlight was a visit from a special faerie named Miss Starla.  

Audrey was captivated by Miss Starla.  Actually, all the little guests were.  She was delightful in every way possible. She painted all the little guests' faces, made all sorts of fun balloon creatures and filled an already very sweet party with even more giggles and glitter.  

Such a lovely, sweet day in honor of our lovely, sweet girl.