Summer has begun

So school's out...here's what we've been up to....

• Went to the movies. We don't do this often so it was a special end of the school year treat.
• We started our summer book clubs. We've actually already finished the one at Borders and picked up our free book. I see lots of visits to the library this summer. I can't seem to keep enough books in the house for the girls.
• The sprinkler made its first appearance. It was so great to soak up some vitamin D yesterday.
• It is kind of list mania in our house as we are getting ready for vacation. I actually considered making a list of my lists, but I think that would probably be crossing the line into insanity.
• Late bedtimes. We are starting to settle into our summer routine of getting to stay up later. The first few days of that are kind of trying on all of us because it takes a little while to actually start sleeping in .
• Hanging out at the ENT--John & I were there forever on Monday afternoon. Fortunately I really like the doctor (same one Ashley had) and they were very apologetic. We got his surgery scheduled...July 7th is the day.
• Nathan comes home today. We (well, those of us here...not sure what Nate's feeling is) are all completely pumped that he is coming home. I'm enjoying my last quiet morning for awhile.

Bittersweet goodbyes

Tuesday we said goodbye to our teachers from the last nine months. School was over on Monday, but stopped in to pick up the official report cards on Tuesday. The kids are always a little nervous to see if they will get to move on to the next grade. (If you know my kids, you know that this is never really an issue so it is always really funny to me that they get nervous.) This was one of the best school years that we as a family have experienced. Each of the kids "clicked" with their teachers. This was a big deal especially for Sara and John since these were transitional years for them...John starting school and Sara starting at a new school.Ashley and Mr. Capel (the dog sticking out of his shirt pocket was Ashley's departing gift for him); according to Ashley, he is the best teacher in the galaxy

John and his "favorite teacher", Mrs. Goines

Sara and her all-time favorite teacher...I think this will be a year that Sara remembers when she is my age. She and Mrs. Ward really bonded this year.

our recent visit

My house is so quiet this morning I'm starting to think that I'm missing someone. Oh wait, I am! Nathan isn't here. We did a quick visit to Grandpa and Grandma Horn's yesterday and Nathan got to stay. He begs to stay every time we go and this time we were able to make it work. He's been feeling a little left out lately with all the end of school activities the other kids have been participating in, so this is a good reward for his patience. We got in a little fishing yesterday, met baby Michaela (so cute and such a sweet baby! I couldn't get enough of her!!), hung out with the other cousins and really enjoyed having all the Horn's together. It is a rare event so we cherish it. We will get one more chance to do it in July before the He family heads back home. Here's some pics of the day:

Ashley and her cousin Lydia were inseparable most of the day.

What are they putting in those these days?

Nathan just came out of his room and asked me if he could wear his tennis shoes today. Then he proceeded to explain why he wanted to wear them.

"Because they make me go faster and they fill my bike up with fuel so it can go super fast."

I need to look more closely at what kind of tennis shoes I'm buying this boy.

BTW, what four year old uses the word "fuel". The other day he called the cartoon bad guy a "villain". Maybe he's reading the dictionary when I'm not looking.

The final week

We are in the final week of school here and so much work is getting done. Yeah right! The third graders are moving to a different school next year so Sara informed me last Friday that they were done with school work for the year because this week they were going to pack. Well, surely, I thought, they will just pack for a little each day. Nope, yesterday they packed, watched a movie (if they wanted), did "artwork", I think they went to music class, and pretty much partied all day. Friday she gets to go see Shrek 4 because she did all her homework this year. She even gets popcorn and pop..she opted for the lemonade though because she is not a pop drinker. (Do you think they'll let me into the 3rd grade next year? Sounds kind of fun...) I should add into this that Sara's class did work really, really hard this year and it is nice to see them having some down time the last few days. I think of all the classes John's kindergarten class is doing the most work this week. But if I had 20 5 & 6 year olds in my class I would stay pretty structured as well. The highlight for his week is walking to the library on Wednesday and he is going to get his very own library card. I'm excited for him. Any bets on how long it will take before we lose it? I need to find a place that we always put our cards so that our preparation for library trips are more fun. Ashley is super pumped about field day on Friday. She's in the 2nd grade and they are the oldest at her school, so I'm thinking she thinks they (or one of the second grade classes) are shoo ins for winning the tug of war. Either that or she's just excited that she gets to throw water balloons at the teachers. For the teacher's sake, let's hope it is warmer Friday then it was last year. We technically finish school next Monday. It is a half a day which has totally thrown the kids for a loop. I've gotten questions like..."Why do we have to go Monday? Why is it only a half day?" We are definitely looking forward to Tuesday when late nights and hopeful corresponding late mornings can begin!

I'll know to ask the next time...

So it was a busy day yesterday...laundry, bike ride with the kids, cleaning (it had been two weeks since I'd cleaned...it was Mother's Day last week! Lots of people at the house today so it had to be cleaned), trip to Walmart, more laundry, more cleaning and I was fairly fried by the end of the day. So when the smell of wonderful coffee wafted into the living room while Joe was tucking the kids into bed, I grabbed a cup and settled in for some relaxation. It was mighty tasty so I went for cup number two. About 9pm, which is very close to the time that I normally head to bed, I began feeling quite awake. Turns out my husband made full strength coffee at 7pm instead of decaf. We were able to clean up our DVR by watching some of the stuff that we'd recorded. I think Joe secretly planned it. He's always convinced we are going to run out of hours on our DVR. Anyway, I've paid for it today for my midnight bedtime and you can be sure I will ask the next time I decide to enjoy a cup of java. Now if I can just stay awake until the kids go to bed.

My van has a new name...

and this couple is almost as cool as Joe & I.

Highlights of the week

It is Saturday and the countdown to vacation has started at our house! We have a 5 1/2 days until school is out and 2 weeks and a day until we leave on vacation. And halfway until vacation we get to meet our new niece, Michaela! The craziness of May is almost over. Here's some stuff that happened this last week:

• The girls both managed to get their field trips in despite the torrential rain we had. Ashley's was actually indoors, but she had a picnic outside for lunch. Sara went to the Nature Park on the one of the only days it didn't rain. Joe got invited (yes, her teacher only invites certain parents to go) and managed to get his schedule arranged so that he could. They had a terrific time even though it was very muddy. And I think Joe is now officially the favorite dad among Sara's friends.
• We didn't see much of Joe at home this week. Somehow he ended up being gone every evening and then he has a conference this weekend. But that is what vacation is for, right? I think he got his meetings (and date night with me!) out of the way and will be home this next week in the evenings.
• Yes, Joe & I got to go out...just the two of us and not to some function that we needed to be at. I sadly can't remember the last time we had done that. It had been awhile. We got to see the police break up a fight outside of Chuck E. Cheese. It was an interesting date.
• The girls helped me make chicken nuggets one night. After dipping several pieces into the butter and the breading, Ashley announced that she was going to buy all of her chicken nuggets at the grocery store. She was completely grossed out by the whole process.
• Poor John is out of his antibiotics and feeling bad again. His ENT appointment on the 24th can't come too soon.
• Garage sales! I love garage sales. We picked up some books for vacation. Now if I can keep the kids out of them for the next two weeks.

Nathan and I

Nathan and I were hanging out this morning. He randomly asked me "Mom, is the Old Testament time when you were a kid?" Fortunately he redeemed himself a little later with the following conversation:

Me on the way to Bible study: "Oh no, Nathan, I forgot to put on makeup!"
Nathan: "Mommy, it's okay. You are beautiful. You are the most beautiful mommy there is."

Actually, that probably made up for the next year of comments connected to my age.

A couple of pictures from yesterday