July 4th

Our neighborhood does a 4th of July Parade every year. We decided the girls would enjoy riding along in the parade this year so we decorated Megan's bike, Emily's scooter, and Matthew's wagon and joined the festivities. Matthew didn't keep up for more than the first 10 yards so James was on his own with Megan (going fast) and Emily (going painfully slow) while I tried to convince Matthew to just go.

The fire department brings an engine and leads the parade. The kids LOVE it.

James and Emily

Megan - so big and independent!

Popsicles to cool off after the parade!  

Even the Popsicles were patriotic!

Matthew's Birthday "Party"

Somewhere along the road, just a few sleeps ago, Matthew turned two. We have had such a busy summer that I haven't had much time to breathe, much less blog. I barely take pictures with my camera anymore but have thousands on my phone. Some day I will transfer them all from the "mobile uploads" folder to the month folders they belong in. 

Lucky kid enjoying a breakfast of donuts!! The kid can put away some donuts. 

He had a Fireman theme birthday. Not party, just the day. I think my fire cupcakes turned out pretty cute!

He was barely able to open his own presents. I think the girls were upset he is big enough to figure it out on his own.

For his birthday party, we took the family to Chuck E. Cheese. We did the whole party set up but didn't invite anyone other than Grammy and Grandma. Really, he is two. They don't have friends at two. We had a great time and I think the girls really enjoyed themselves. Matthew had fun but was NOT a fan of the giant fuzzy rat visiting the table or the sweet party host trying to sing Happy Birthday to him. All in all, the pizza was good, the games were fun, and the kids won their own party favors!

Megan's Pre-K Graduation!!

They don't stop growing up. Ever. They just grow up faster and faster and if you blink, you can miss the best moments. Or, if you forget your camera. The following pictures are from Megan's Pre-K Graduation, some are from my phone and the rest are from Mom. Thanks Mom! It was such a sweet night where all the kids gathered onstage to act out their version of "Oh the Places You Will Go" by Seuss. It was fun to watch and I think the kids had a good time too. Then each child was called out to receive their diploma, which was actually a blank piece of paper rolled up and tied with yarn.

Entering the auditorium to Pomp and Circumstance

All the graduating Preschoolers. Megan's Pre-K class and the 4 year old classes.

Megan's teachers were wonderful this year. On her last day of school I couldn't really say anything to them because I was fighting back tears. They taught her so much and were such a big part of our lives this year that I hate to leave them. Megan said she is sad she won't be a Wolf anymore.

The Wolf Class of 2012-2013

Megan being goofy, of course.

Sure, the other kids were there too but this night was all about Megan.  :-)

Bubby is TWO!!!

It's amazing how time flies as you just get older and older. The kids grow up way too fast. I can't believe Matthew is already 2 years old. I can't believe it has been two years since I was pregnant.  I can't believe it has been two years since I had breakfast delivered to me in bed ... ahhh hospital days.  oh ... uh ... back to it. Matthew had his two year check up today and screamed bloody murder while the poor nurse was trying to take his measurements. He wouldn't get on the scale at all. Wouldn't sit. Wouldn't stand.  Wouldn't lay down. Wouldn't stop screaming. Silly kid!!  So we did the highly scientific weigh-us-both-then-weigh-me-alone-and-subtract method. Yeah, I wasn't planning to step on a scale today but what choice did I have?  He did great with the doc though and barely cried when he got his shot. He only had to get one so he was a lucky kid today. Tasted his first lollipop after the appointment and just didn't quite get it. Good. I don't need a two year old running around with lollipops in his mouth AND I got a lolli! 

Here are his measurements ...

Height:    36.3 inches (92%)

Weight:   29 lbs 2 oz (77%)

Head:      20.5 inches (>99%)

Overall healthy and looks good but not many words and none used regularly. Worried? Nah!

Here's Emmy when she was two and her measurements.
27 lbs 14 oz
35.5 inches tall
20 inch head

And Megan too!

30 lbs 15 oz

37.5 inches tall

20 inch head

I guess it's not too surprising that Megan was the biggest at two years old. They are/were all around the same though so I guess there's some proof to genetics. They are all going to be taller than me someday. Well, maybe not Emily. She may have more of me than James in her. Poor kid. Destined to be height-challenged.

Attention Tooth Fairy

Megan lost her first tooth today!! One of her bottom ones finally came out after being loose since Spring Break. Her other tooth has sort of migrated to the center of the hole so I'm guessing it won't be there much longer. 

She wasn't a fan. She pulled it out herself but freaked a little when the bleeding started. I guess I had forgotten how scary it could be for a part of your body to fall off.  :-)

School Naps

Emily has always been a pretty good napper at school. She was often the only one asleep at pick-up in her 18 month class (those poor, poor moms). In the 2 year old class, most of them slept during nap time but my little Em was often the first out and the last one up. Today, at the end of the year of her 3 year old class, this is how I found her. Half her class was already gone and the lights were on. The kids that were still there were running around and being loud. Little Emily was flat on her back sleeping so soundly that it took me about 3 minutes to wake her up. 

Such a sweet little sleepy girl. 

Being crazy demon child at Target yesterday must have worn her out. 

The End of School is Near (queue screaming moms everywhere)

Each year, the kids' preschool does an end of year program with the 2-3 year old classes followed by a family fun night. The 4 year olds and Pre-K classes have their own Graduation ceremony closer to the end of the year so this year, only Emily did the Spring Program. We stayed afterwards and had hot dogs in the parking lot where a trackless train was giving rides, two bounce houses were set up and face painting was available for the kiddos. As usual, the kids had a blast. Next year we will remember to pack scooters and bikes (right, I think I said that last year). I don't have any pics from the after party but here are a few from the program.

Emily is in the frog class this year. That's a frog on her shirt. I don't think all her Frog friends wore their shirts but we jazzed Em's up with a purple tutu skirt and a purple princess headband. They sang some great songs and we were all laughing. Megan was sitting with us this year instead of performing and she was singing along. Loudly. I wonder what the recording sounds like for the people seated in front of us.  

Today (yes, I am posting same day. WOW!) Megan's class had an awesome end of year party. We totally scored with our room mom this year. She was awesome and I'm posting all these pictures to share just how completely awesome she is. She planned this all by herself, as far as I know. Tables set with a Luau theme with fancy pineapple cups and lots of MMs. They had pizza and KoolAid and cupcakes for dessert to celebrate one classmate's birthday. The cupcakes were awesome too --- his mom made chocolate/candy LEGOs to put on top of them as decoration. Genius! Nothing like getting great ideas from other moms. Maybe someday I'll be the one with the ideas. I should spend more time on Pinterest ... maybe I'll be Matthew's room mom some day.

The first table you see below is a "sand art" table. That was a lot of fun for the kids. They each got to make a jar or necklace of colorful sand art. Surprisingly it wasn't as messy as it sounds. We will probably do this at home this summer.

These are the games they played for prizes. The prizes were mostly donated, leftover Happy Meal toys. How smart is that? I had about 8 to send and it was quite obvious that other moms had just as many. It was awesome watching the kids dig through the buckets of crap and get so excited about a Transformer or Hello Kitty worth about 5 cents.

Frisbee tic tac toe and tossing balls in buckets.

This was Kelly's Angry Birds game. The kids absolutely LOVED this one. They got to knock over all the boxes with a basketball. After everyone had a turn in their rotation, the other games were all abandoned for this one.

And the funniest one? The toilet paper toss. It's a box, with a toilet seat on it, and they had to toss in a roll of TP. Megan's class is 11 boys and 3 girls so it was right up their alley.

Oh, and the prize for the toilet?

Tootsie Rolls.

My beautiful almost-kindergartner enjoying her lunch.

The Wolves anxiously awaiting instructions for the games.

Matthew was my little helper. He enjoyed some pizza and playing with the big kids.