Spring Catch Up

Phew... We made it through one Very.  Busy.  Spring!!! 

Our Spring has included:

 

A Superhero Dance Recital. 

(Of course our favorite dancer was Maarti!)

Sports Day.  Maarti's Preschool was invited to join Sam's school for the day.  All the preschoolers were assigned a "Big Buddy" and Sam took his roll of looking after Maarti very seriously.  Good job Sam... you made us proud! 

Luke's favorite event at sports day was buckling up all the straps on the stroller.

Our spring also included two unexpected trips to Enderby.  Sadly, they were to celebrate the lives of two very dear people to us.  Granny and Uncle Harold passed away within 5 weeks of each other and though we miss them we are happy that they are with their Saviour who they both loved so much.  I think my brother said it best:  " 'We do not grieve as those who have no hope!' but we do cry a little".

 

Despite the circumstances of our trips, we did enjoy our time with family... it is always so rich to be together.

Papa's tractors are always a hit!

Sam is growing up and, as promised, Papa taught him how to drive the lawn tractor.

Luke also had a lesson...

In how to ride a Buckin' Bronco!!!

He's well on his way to 8 seconds!

Thankfully... it hasn't gone to his head yet and he still knows he needs his Daddy.

On father's day we had a picnic,

Flew a kite (Made especially for Jeremy by Sam),

and went to a car show.  (Jeremy will be disgusted that I'm not posting any pics of the cars, but it's my blog, so tough bean-er-inos!!)

Maarti graduated from preschool.  She had a great year and can hardly wait for kindergarten.  She has certainly blossomed this last year... it's hard to believe that this same girl spent much of last summer crying about not wanting to go to preschool at all!!



We have had a super wet couple of weeks, but that's okay... nothing popcorn and a movie can't fix. 

Love these three in their jammies!!

And now it's summer... I think!!... come on Mr. Sun... we're waiting for you!

Wacky Hair Day... x2

 

Happy to be Five!

I'm pretty sure this picture was only taken just yesterday...

 And now all of a sudden she has gone and had her fifth birthday!!!

This birthday has actually been celebrated for a pretty long time....

First an early celebration with our little family.

Then a Pizza Party on her actual birthday with our extended family:

And then... a couple of weeks later we hung up a bunch of decorations and

welcomed 7 little girls to a zebra party! 

There was food...

 and presents...

 and games and crafts!!!

 

( There was also some jumping on beds, but we won't talk about that!!)

 

We Love you so much Maarti!! 

We love your soft heart,

we love your joyful presence,

we love all the ballerina shows you give us,

we love how you are becoming so brave and independent,

we love that you are so girlie,

We love that God gave us you... the best little girl we know!

 

Birthday Interview:

 

First the favourites:

Food ..... Fries

Colour ..... blue

Story ..... Strawberry Shortcake

Song ..... Twinkle, Twinkle

Show ..... Cowgirls and Angels

Game ..... Checkers

Activity ..... Swinging

Place ..... Papa and Grandma's farm

animal ..... elephant

Flower ..... rose

Verse ..... "When God so loved the world"

 

What is your best memory from being 4?

Sharing a room with Luke.

 

When you grow up what do you want to be?

A mommy.

 

What is something you would like to do when you are 5?

Go to Alaska!!

 

If you could say one thing to the whole world what would you say?

"The verse we are learning.  The one Granny likes."

("With God all things are possible"  Matt. 19:26)

 



It's Good to be Different

Most kids are emotionally attached to normal, boring things like stuffies or blankets.  Not Luke... he couldn't care less about soft things, but woe to the fool who tries to mess with his boots... WOE INDEED!! 

And tonight... well, tonight we were tired and just not up for that kind of a battle so we decided to just roll with it.  It's good when kids go to bed happy, right?

Good night Luke.  Sleep tight.

For the Love of Pancakes

In the evenings we enjoy "talking time" with our kids before we tuck them in.  Sam always asks for stories from when we were young.  The other night I was telling him about summer camp and what a typical day was like.  We talked about the games and the campfires, about going to bed late and waking up early and eating breakfast...

Sam:  Do you get to have pancakes for breakfast?

Me:  Of course you do!

Sam:  Oh!  I TOTALLY want to go!!

Just Like Price is Right

We were recently given a very thoughtful gift, and I was touched, and I shed a few tears. 

Of course the kids wanted to know "Why are you crying, Mom?". 

Grandma was there, and seeing that I was too choked up to talk, told the kids they were happy tears.

This made perfect sense to Sam.  He said "Oh yeah, it's just like on The Price is Right when someone wins a car."

Easily Impressed

Tonight at bedtime I was explaining to Sam who Stompin' Tom was (I may have also sung a couple lines of "The Hockey Song").  I then told him that one time Stompin' Tom stayed at the motel I worked at and I cleaned his room for him.  Sam's eyes got big and he said "What?!!  You could be on TV for that!!". 
Kids sure have a way of making a person feel good... for the very first time I think I'm actually feeling pretty happy that I had the opportunity to clean out a famous person's ashtray!