Preschool Graduation

Grace graduates from Creative Beginnings Preschool. They put on a cute little performance about what they could be. Grace was a clown. She performed her lines flawlessly!

Here she is with Mrs. Wilson receiving her diploma.

Balloon Race

The Great Balloon Race that is part of the Kentucky Derby Festival came to Southern Indiana. It's usually held on a Friday morning. The kids and I watched the balloons on our route to school. Then we detoured so we could get an even better view. It was such a beautiful morning for the balloon race.

Perfect Sunday

One Sunday afternoon in May we decided to go fishing at the pond. The weather was beautiful; the kids were excited; it just seemed perfect!

Dan told Grace to dig up her own bait. She was happy to! This girl loves to dog!

Even the dogs were part of our perfect afternoon at the pond.

Grace ended up getting a worm and giving it to Gabriel for fishing.

Being silly with my favorite boy

Jeffersonville Ironman

In May Team Jeff hosted an ironman wrestling competition.  Gabe was supposed to wrestle both folk style and Greco.

It's his first year so we knew a win in folk style would be tough. When we saw that his first round was against the same kid who had whooped him at Floyd Central, we were disappointed.  As expected he was pinned pretty quickly.

His bracket for Greco was much more promising.  Worst case scenario was a second place!

As it turned the other kid in his bracket was a no-show so Gabe got a first place medal!  Hey . . . A win is a win!

Camp Kindergarten

Grace will be going to kindergarten in August.  She and her cousin Cassidy will be in kindergarten together.  We attended Kindergarten Camp so Grace could see the school and meet the teachers.

Water Fun

Grace could not wait for a day warm enough for bathing suits and water play.

She got her wish one evening in May.

Playground Fun

 We spent  a little time one evening at Lapping Park playing on the playground.

 We played a little tag on the play set.

It was a wild and crazy game!  And so fun!

McGrew Twins

 We spent the first really warm Saturday with Crystal and her twin girls, Erin and Carter.  My kiddos are crazy about these precious girls.

 Our original plan was to go to the zoo.  When we got there, we drove around the parking lot for 30 minutes and could NOT find a parking spot.  We headed back to the Sunny Side of the river and went to Gaskell Park.  Grandma brought the kids some chalk so they could color on the sidewalk at the park.

 After bath time, Grace took a turn holding Miss Erin.

Then Grace and I thought we would teach Erin how to take self-portraits.  It's never to early to learn such life skills.  Ha!

Feeding Ducks

 One of my favorite things to do in the Spring is to go to the Clarksville Town Hall and feed the ducks.  If you'll notice the sign, it clearly says NOT to feed the ducks.  I tell the kids that we are there to feed the geese, and we can't help it if the ducks get some too.  Ha!  I know . . . Mom of the Year . . . I'm setting such a great example!

 We are clearly NOT the only ones to feed the geese at the town hall though.  These guys are friendly and greedy little eaters.

Grace was flapping her wings and pretending to be a goose.  She is so silly!

Randoms

 Grace has a style all her own!  Grandma gave her these shorts for Easter.  She loves her boots --- all of them.  This was the outfit she put together for school the day after Easter.  I rarely argue with her about what she wears to school. It's just not worth it.  This particular outfit was so unique I needed to get a picture!

 Grace wanted to find bugs to put in her bug catcher.  You know, as soon as you go looking for bugs, you can never find any.  We started with some snails. The we found this cool little salamander.  We brought him inside and looked at him for a while. Then we let him go.

 I love watching Grace's reading and writing develop.  She made me a card at school.  This is the front of the card.  I love that she wrote the words all by herself.  "For you from Grace."

 This is the inside of the card.  She drew a picture of our family on the inside.  The order of people is as follows:  Daddy, Grace, Mommy, Gabe.

Mrs. Dawn is teaching her PreK class to tie their shoes.  This is Grace's first attempt at home.  She did this all by herself, and she was so proud of herself.  Love it!

Walking in the Woods

 Grace loves to explore the woods around our house.  Aunt Erin gave Grace this Girl Scout vest for Easter.  It was Erin's when she was a kid, and she thought Grace might enjoy wearing it.  Grace put on the Girl Scout vest and wanted to play "Girl Scout" in the woods.

 Daddy and I went for a short little walk through the woods.

Grace is such a fun little girl.  I love that she is totally a girly-girl, but also loves to walk in the woods and dig in the dirt.

Easter Morning

 The Easter bunny brought lots of fun treats for the kids.  Grace was the first one awake and the first to check out her Easter loot.  She modeled sunglasses from her Easter basket.

 Grace's basket had jewelry, candy, stickers, and art supplies.

 When Gabe heard Grace's excitement, he came upstairs to check out his Easter loot.

 I love the expression on his face here.  The Easter bunny brought Gabe candy, a DS game, and a bug catcher.

After a quick breakfast, we headed to church.  I always love how pretty the sanctuary looks on Easter morning.

We're Ready, Easter Bunny!

We were ready for the Easter bunny!  The kids set out their Easter baskets.  We also set out a plate with some carrots for the Easter bunny.  The kids also wrote little notes thanking the Easter bunny for the goodies.

Dying Eggs

 Saturday evening before Easter, we got ready for the Easter bunny's visit by dying our Easter eggs.

 Grace decorated her eggs with a wax stick before putting them in the dye.

 There's is my good looking boy!

 We had a utensil for taking the eggs in and out of the dye.

 Grace preferred to use her hands though.

We had two dozen beautifully colored Easter eggs!

Flashlight Easter Egg Hunt

 A week or so before Easter, I saw an advertisement for a flashlight Easter egg hunt to be held in downtown Jeffersonville.  I e-mailed a few people to see if they would be interested in going.  Alicia wisely gave me some insight into how the event had gone last year.  Upon thinking a little more about the idea of letting my children loose in a public park in the dark among hundreds of other people, I thought better of the idea.  I decided to hold our own flashlight Easter egg hunt.  Gabriel, Grace, and I filled nearly 500 plastic eggs with Easter candy.  We invited some of our favorite people, and the hunt was on!

 The kids had a ball running around the field next to the house and collecting their Easter eggs.

 The goal was for every child to be able to fill their basket with eggs.

  Here are all of the kiddos with their buckets of loot.

 The next step was opening the eggs to see what was inside.

 There were Easter eggs for as far as the eye could see.

 Vada was more interested in eating the candy than opening the eggs.

 I'm sure Jake ate his share of candy too.

 It was so funny hearing the kids announce what they found in their eggs.

 Grace and Landon compare Easter egg loot.

 Preston and Blaise opened their loot too.

 Of course, the U of L game was playing while the kids opened their eggs.

 I love the chaos!

 Everyone put their eggs back into the bucket so they can be refilled next year.  I think that's a sign that everyone had fun and would like to do it again.

These cute girls sitting in the egg bucket were so funny! 

Get ready, Everyone!  This may become a tradition!