Happenings

We've had a few happenings this past week that I haven't posted about so here goes. If you follow this blog, then you may have already seen the swimming lesson video from below. I'm new to the video posting as it took me a while to learn which way was fastest to upload to the internet. My new camera(Canon Rebel Ti 2) can video record and it is great! I haven't recorded much on it until recently. It certainly beats having to switch back and forth from a camera and video recorder. The fastest way seems to be You Tube.

Back to the swimming lessons. I also got some footage of all the kids screaming yesterday. Day 1 is the hardest for all kids as a lot of them scream the whole time. It was pretty comical. Day 3 usually gets better and by day 10 they are fine. LG did much better today and told my mom "she did excellent!". A trip to Pizza Inn is in the works for her efforts.

Jake had his last t-ball game last week. I don't have any still shots from the game, but he was fired up about the pizza and trophy afterwards.

One last huddle. It was a fun year!
And if you only KNEW what I went through to get this picture.....finally, I told them they could "spank me" and I got this. Yeah, it was totally worth it!
SO last Friday I decided to take the kids to the Alexandria zoo with my mom in tow. Let me preface this by saying that the vehicle I drive is pretty old(over 10 years...) but it's been paid for and I'm happy with it. The gas gauge, however, has been acting up lately and when I thought I still had 3/4's of a tank left...I was wrong:(. Perhaps I should have remembered that it was on empty, but I live 3 miles from where I work and just don't have to fill up that often. So about an hour into our 2 hour trip, we ran out of gas on the side of the road. BUMMER. 2 hours later roadside assistance gets there and gases us up. By this time my mom needed to get back to Ruston. This went over like a lead balloon, but after promises of a pet fish, we were good to go. We'll make another trip after swim lessons are over.

Landry Grace thought this detour was real fun at first!
Mom even found some sidewalk chalk in my car and got game of hopscotch going. We were very careful with them on the road. At this point, containing them in the car was no longer an option.

And here they are eating treats from LG's new Easy Bake oven. She didn't want a fish and chose this instead.

Jake's new pets: Mr. Alligator and Mr. Monster. Mr. Monster has already passed:/....

And last Friday my brother Brian flew in from Denver to see his girlfriend, Mandy. We got a chance to hang out with them by the pool on Saturday and then had them over for crawfish.

Below is LG is all her tooth-less glory:). We go to see Dr. Ward next week about getting replacements. My kids LOVE Miss Mandy!! She has such a sweet heart.
The whole crew eating some crawfish.
Tomorrow we are getting geared up for Landry Grace's dance recital. She has her first practice in Monroe on the "big stage" and is pretty excited about it. I am finding that she talks more and more about the recital everyday. Her performance is Saturday. This should be fun!!

Day 1 Swiming Lessons

Katie Caroline Ward

The church sermon this morning spoke of the Beatitudes. It certainly spoke to my heart because yesterday, Katie Caroline(she suffered from complications of Crohn's) went to be with Jesus. She was doing better but apparently suffered a major stroke yesterday morning. Many many of us are absolutely heartbroken for Toni, Will, and big sister Lainey and their extended families. Please keep this family in your prayers.

Summertime!

Jake is super excited about all the swimming we plan on doing this summer. LG could care less as she hasn't been in the pool yet and we've made 3 trips. Hope this changes on Monday when we start swimming lessons. Jake went through this last year so I'm thinking hers is a phase that'll pass.

Please disregard my extreme country accent. Consider yourself culturified today( and no, that isn't a word but it is now)!

TEARS!

I am adding some pictures from the weekend in this post, but my post title comes from our Spring Fling at WMS tonight. Jake and Landry Grace's school has loved them, taught them, and disciplined them for the past 9 months. I have an enormous amount of gratitude to each and every teacher and aide at the school. It was emotional moment tonight as Jake has come so far this year thanks to Mrs. Renee and Ms. Kelsey. They mean the world to me. I feel the same way about Landry Grace's teacher, Mrs. April, as well.

Sunday morning before church. Can you tell Daddy is thrilled?
After their singing debut in church with their choir teacher, Mrs. Amy. She is truly a special person and friend.
Darn it! These are all mixed up. The picture below should have been first. You get the idea how quick we have to be in getting these family photos. Especially when you're children are afraid they are going to miss something on the playground.
Posing for a picture with some friends. So proud of him for his achievements this year.
Landry and her classmates just before their singing began. Just love her!
The beloved Ms. Cindy!
Jake and our sweet sweet sweet Mrs. Renee. There is no other!!!
With her teacher, Ms. April
What a wonderful year it has been. Praying and seeking guidance for what next year has in store. Summer is almost here!

Events and Parties

We continue to have activities going on and I am just doing my job by posting some of our outings this week. Jake had his next to last game on Thursday and continues to enjoy t-ball. As he was rounding second and headed to third, the ball his teammate hit rolled right in front of him. Seeing this, he stopped and tried to field the ball. I got a good laugh out of it, but also know that his instinct kicked in to try and" get that ball".

Landry Grace's end of the year party was Friday at a classmate's house. She had a great time playing with her friends. We look forward to another year of Montessori next year.
Landry Grace in all her glory. She has certainly been going through a tough stage here lately with a "her way or no way" attitude. Hoping it doesn't stick around long.....
This picture was out of focus, but she had a blast sliding down the jumpee with her classmates and Ms. Cindy.
I caught some cute pictures at an Idea Place birthday party for one of Jake's classmates. Here they were doing the rocket experiment with Alkaseltzer tablets. The film containers shoot up pretty high and Jake thought this was great. We've been to a couple of parties here and they are fun. There aren't many options in Ruston for parties.
The reaction from Jake and Tullie. Love this, even though it's out of focus.
Jake had a great time. Landry Grace was scared to death. She also was not fond of the planetarium, our next stop. It was pitch dark and she was ready to G.O.
Ashley and sweet Madeline. We are going to miss some sweet families from Jake's class next year!
Jack and Jake getting ready to watch the planetarium show. Only 2 more days left with students and then we are done Thursday at lunch. So cannot wait to enjoy some downtime with my growing children.

Sweetness

*This is just a photo from my phone of the kids most recent picture. Not a scan and I don't intend to reproduce. Barnes took this picture during Easter. I thought it turned out great but oh my goodness, Jake looks like a little man in it. So sad!!