Kindergarten Graduation

I can't believe it the school year is almost over, man has it flown by! Emmah is going to be in first grade already, WOW! Well on Friday they had their celebration of learning, an assembly to show what they have learned over the year with little songs. It was really cute. They all did a great job! When the songs were done they had a little graduation ceremony....and this is where mom lost it! My eyes were a little teary hearing her name called (what will happen when it is high school graduation??). I am so proud of how she has grown this year and developed into quite a little learner. She loves to read and learn new things. I am hoping to post a few questions I asked her about school this year tomorrow.

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a great weekend with family!! Kyle and Kimmy came up from Florida so we got to see them before the baby arrives and just hang out! We spent Saturday up near Baldwin at Aunt Marcia's cottage. It was a ton of fun! We had a small shower for Kimmy and just hung out! The kids got to ride on 4 Wheelers, which Jake called "Monster Truck"!

On Sunday we spent the day with the Bloemers, all of them! It was fun. Toby got to golf, and the kids got to swim. We enjoyed the company of all of our family and made some great memories!

Overall the weekend was wonderful! We spent a lot of time together and really enjoyed it! I love those kinds of weekends and hope the kids do too!

My Newest Project!

Well things have been busy! I am so behind on the posting! I wanted to post a couple of pictures of my newest project. I found some really cool blocks on another website, and thought to myself.....I can make those! So I gave it a try. With many babies coming I figured this was the perfect opportunity to try them. So here they are! They are drool proof and have the new additions name on them!

As I come up with these projects I realize more and more that I would love to eventually have some kind of home business selling these type of items......someday!

Whitecaps!

On Sunday May 17, we went to a Whitecaps game. Emmah got 2 free tickets for all of her reading in March, so we got 2 more and all went to the game. Jake and daddy got to play catch on the field before the game, while Emmah and I got some autographs.

We enjoyed the game, with lots of Emmah's friends from school and had a great time! After the game the kids got to run the bases! Overall it was a fun family time! We are definetly going to go again.

Pictures

Here are the pictures:

They also shared a really nice poem, I thought I would include it too!

Thinking of you with Love

We thought of you with love today,

but that is nothing new.

We thought about you yesterday,

and days before that too.

We think of you in silence,

we often speak your name.

All we have our memories,

and your picture in a frame.

Your memory is our keepsake,

with which we will never part.

God has you in His keeping,

we have you in our hearts.

A million times we've wanted you,

A million times we cried.

If love could have only save you,

you never would have died.

It broke our hearts to lose you.

But you didn't go alone.

For a part of us went with you....

the day God called you Home.

-Author Unknown

A love of reading.

My mom always loved to read! Most nights you would find her curled up in her chair, and tucked in bed with a good book, and boy did she read a lot of them! I haven't always loved reading as much as she did, and still would rather read a children's book!

I remember her reading often, well as a teacher she shared that love of reading with her students. It was truly amazing she did read alouds, book reports, book studies, and always made sure they could read the books they checked out of the library!

With my mom's passing, comes the generous gift of monetary donations. As they arrived, I began to wonder what an appropriate use of this money would be. Suddenly it came to me. She loved North Holland Elementary with all her heart, and what better then give them some new books for their library in her memory. Now, when this began, I figured I would try to get up to 65 books or so and go with that. Well North Holland would have none of that, they had a fundraiser where students and teachers could donate money to buy books. So along with what I had recieved and their fund raising and the proceeds from the book fair they were able to buy 92 books for their library. And I still have some more donations.

Toby and I had the pleasure today to participate in a short assembly to present the books they had purchased. It was very touching to hear the students talk about her and to see all the books. I know that my mom would be proud, and was definetly looking down today with pride and honor. Each of those books has her name and picture in it, so that her love of reading can be carried on for generations. I also recieved a ring with books pages on it to represent all of the books, they each have a name of a student or teacher who donated for that book. It was truly AMAZING! I will add photos later, it's not letting me right now!

Not So Important

I follow a couple of blogs, and one of my favorites is A Listmaker's Life. I decided that I would follow her and post a list of 6 unimportant things, you know that things that you love, but really aren't that important or necessary for life!

So here is my list of 6 things:

1. Flip flops! I wait all year to be able to wear them! And although they are the most fashionable shoes, and greatly disliked by my husband, I LOVE THEM!
2. Fountian pop, I just love all the bubbles!!
3. Matching towels. I have this weird obsession with having towels that not only match each other, but also match the bathroom or kitchen!
4. Painted toenails. They don't really have to be from a pedicure, but I just like having them painted, they don't look right to me plain.
5. Etsy! Katie also has this on her list, but I agree. I love looking at all the fun stuff and gettting really fun ideas that I can try on my own.
6. Coffee. I know lame, but I love to indulge myself with fancy coffee, but I really don't need it!

I hope that you will give it a try too! If you do let me know, I would love to check it out!

Mother's Day

Mother's day is a great day to celebrate the mothers in your life. And today that is exactly what we did!! We enjoyed a great lunch cooked by my mother-in-law, and spent some time with Grandma too!! It was nice.

The kids and Toby, got me some great cards and some great gifts too! I just love my plate from Emmah, it has her handprint on it, and my cool wooden spoon magnet from Jake! They are great kids, and I love them dearly.

One thing that was missing today was my mom. I guess I noticed all day long, but it really hit me at night. The day just didn't feel right. I know that although she is not here physically, she is definetly here in spirit. I see her everyday in myself and Emmah, even a little in Jake too! My one hope is that I can be half the mom that she was too me!! I love you mom!!

Little Lady

Today at school Emmah had a very special day. They call it an Elegant Event. The kids are asked to wear formal or party attire. I decided to help today and had a really good time! They got to have a dance, and of course a little YMCA! Then enjoyed some fancy snacks, like a chocolate fountain, fruit kabobs, and fancy cookies!

Then to top it all off they all got to take a short ride in a limo! The kids had so much fun, and looked adorable! She can't stop talking about it!