End of the school year, Father's Day

Here are some end of the school year pictures from both the kids.  Zach had a great experience in the "Mother/Toddler" class each Thursday.  We think this class will help him tremendously next year when he ventures to school all by himself!

God bless his teacher, Ms. Elizabeth.  She was relaxed, nurturing, and fun!  Thankfully she didn't give Zachary his first suspension for smacking her on the butt, instead, she squealed loudly and explained to him that it is NOT OK to smack your teacher's butt.

Helaina also had a terrific year in her preschool program.  By the end of the year, she was able to recite letter sounds for all uppercase and lowercase letters and knows about 20 sight words.  We're working diligently on "reading" as that is a summer goal she's trying to meet.   She also got to know several classmates who will join her in kindergarten next year.  I suspect her transition to be relatively easy as she's only moving down the hallway and there will be many familiar faces.

Helaina and Mrs. Santrach on her last day.

And just a few days later, we celebrated another one of my favorite holidays of the year, Father's Day!!!  We are just so blessed to have so many terrific men in our lives.  Dad's hold a special place in each child's heart and truthfully, you never stop needing your Daddy or your Grandpa.
The kids with Randy's Dad, Seedy.  Each and every day the kids ask about Seedy and if we are going to him.  When they are disciplined at home and just don't have another option, they ask to call Seedy.  They love their Seedy!    

Last week, Helaina started coed T-ball.  I literally got goosebumps watching her in action.  Brings back so many wonderful memories.  And the good news, she loves it!

We are very fortunate to have a riding stable about 1 mile from our new home.  The kids took horseback rides this weekend and then finished their time at the farm with the baby goats.  We have some real animal lovers in our family!

On Father's Day weekend, my Dad and Randy (along with four other family/friends) enjoyed a weekend in Port Clinton, OH.  We were able to make the trip on Saturday to spend some time at the beach and at the cottage.  Nate's girlfriend, Jess, is definitely a favorite with our kiddos.  Just take a peek at Zach's hand, did not leave her leg the entire trip.  I know what you're thinking, and yes, he has a thing for pretty woman!!!

Randy's Father's Day charter, 180 pounds of walleye in two days.

The kids on the beach.

Guitar lessons may be in his future :)

Summer Fun

Even though the kids are still finishing up their last week of school, the summer fun is here already.  We basically skipped spring and hopped right into summer, but that's pretty normal in this part of MI.  

Helaina had another birthday party for a classmate from her school.  This one was at "Creatopia" in Plymouth and she was able to paint a unicorn.    

Zach is still home with me everyday of the week except Wednesday and some days are more difficult than others.  Just when Randy and I were discussing how things were getting "easier", we've recently hit a few rough spots in the road.  We've come to realize with parenting that it will always be one step forward and a maybe a few steps backward, but some days (or weeks) we feel like we've started running in the wrong direction.  Maybe it's the age, 3 was a tough age with Helaina and now Zach, after turning 3, is really pushing for his independence in ways we've never experienced.  This guy is a risk taker and a rule breaker and suffers from short term memory loss as almost every discipline tactic we try is short lived and we find him repeating the same bad decisions over and over again.  His separation anxiety has come back and he walks around the house in a frenzy if I'm out of his sight for more than a minute.  I'm scared for his preschool teacher next year and pray that we make some significant behavioral improvements in the near future or it's going to be a long, long summer.  BUT, he is so darn cute that I can only stay mad for a short little while.  

A homemade car wash at his school.  Some people are just so darn creative!

The church festival was a huge success and the kids could not have been more excited for the rides at the carnival.

We are anxiously awaiting a few babies.  Last weekend was Jeff and Julie's baby shower for Baby Boogren.

Stayed tuned, hopefully we'll have more pictures to post or perhaps our children will be in timeout for the remainder of the summer, say a small prayer for us!  Keep on, keepin' on!