Pierce finishes Kindergarten

 On June 6th Pierce had his end of the year Kindergarten program. He has been really excited about it and been practicing really hard for it. Each class had to get up and sing a song for the parents. The morning of Pierce came to me and told me that he had to warn me about some thing. I asked him what and he said," Well, the other class before us gets to sing 'Party Rockin' and we have to sing dumb old Baby Beluga, BORING!" Hahahaha. He was right the class right before his got up and sang "Party Rockin'" his class sang "Baby Beluga" another class preformed Thriller and the last class seranaded us with Whitney Houston's "Greatest Love of All". It was unlike any other school program I have ever seen. Very entertaining!

Afterwards, we went back to his classroom for a little awards ceremony. Mrs. Pettit had created individualized awards and she was so wonderful as she presented. She hit Pierce right on the dot when she gave him the "Thoughtful Thinker award". She said it is because he is always thinking about others first and is such a great friend to all.
Pierce has enjoyed every moment of this school year and Mrs. Pettit is an amazing teacher. He can hardly wait to start first grade! Way to go Pierce, love you buddy!

Luray Caverns

 On May 26, 2012 Brown Papa took us on an adventure to go and see the Luray Caverns in Virginia. It was quite a drive to get out there. We stopped at Arby's on the way and had lunch. By the time we got there the kids were restless, it was warm and the the place was packed!

 We had to wait out in the sun in a long line, luckily it was moving pretty fast. We sure were glad once we made it "underground" to cool down though. Brock was being a serious pain and complaining about everything.

 Thus, his "happy" face in this picture. Jaida was another piece of work and cried if she was not being held, especially if it wasn't me! Once we got moving inside it got better. Plus we figured out if we gave Brock the "job" to be camera man that he would be happy!

 He got some pretty good pictures !

 Here are the boys by one of the lakes that is inside of the caverns.

 She loves her Papa.

We had a great time and thought it was really neat to see. On the way home we stopped in Front Royal, Virginia to see the Carlson's. They are here on a mission. Susan of course catered to our every need and even created an impromtu Thanksgiving dinner. She is impressive and full of energy that woman! We were so grate ful for their generosity. I wasn't feeling well at all and they even let me lay in their bed for an hour to rest. It was much needed. Man, we were worn out by the time we returned home! Thanks Brown Papa for a fun time!

Brock's Preschool Graduation

Brock with his teachers Mrs. Stine and Mrs. Lewin

Brock had  an amazing year at Christ Memorial Preschool. He had his big Graduation on May 25th. He was really excited, Mostly because his teachers had told him that if he sang really loud that he would get a "goody bag". Well he of course didn't dissappoint and sang super cute and loud. His favorite song was the Wheels on the Bus and I Can't Spell Hippopotomus.

 Grammsie and Brown Papa were able to come and congradulate the graduate.

 So proud of my Lumps. He did so well in school and loved every minte of it. His teachers often told me what a good boy he was and that they wished they could clone him. They loved hearing his stories and his squeaky voice.

This is Brock's Best buddy Ren Rosenberg. Their birthdays are just a day apart. They were two peas in a pod. Every Friday during the school year Brock went to play over at Ren's house after school, it was some thing that he always looked forward to.
His report card stated how he was such a good friend to all and was a peacemaker in the class. Way to go Brock! Next year on to Kindergarten!

Dream come True

 Since we have lived out here in Maryland it has always been on Trent's to-to list, to go to the Preakness. Every year he says he wants to go and then doesn't end up doing it. Well it has also been the dream of my Dad to be able to go to the Preakness. This year in particular he was very excited about. Trent's dad was also very excited to be able to go. They had a terrific day!

 He made a special trip to come and see it (and us too of course). A few weeks before this the horse "I'll have another" had won the Kentucky Derby. In honor of the hopes of a Triple Crown winner this is who they were routing for!

 Here is a picture of "I'll Have Another" before the race. Such an amazing horse.

 And they are off. "I'll Have Another" Wins over Bodemeister in just a nose. It was such and incredibly close race and the crowd was going wild. At least when I was at home watching it on T.V. that is how it seemed.

I am so glad that Trent got to cross this off of his list and also that my Dad got to live his Dream!

Miniature Golfing with Papa and Dax

 We decided while we had Dax here that we should take him to go have some fun. What is better than miniature golf? We thought that we would manage alright with 4 kids and 3 adults, but it proved to be a little more challenging than we thought! haha

 Balls were flying this way and that and into the water. Brock fell and skinned his knees. Jaida was more interested in picking up every ones balls after they hit them, then actually playing, which made some people very upset.

 By the time we got to hole 18 we were tired! We had a fun time though.

 Jaida and her Daddy with her not so thrilled about golfing face on!

Dax was so patient the whole time. He really is such a great little boy. We were so glad that he was able to come spend time with us.
Before Dax came I had asked the boys what they wanted to take Dax to do for Fun. Brock said to me: "Mom remember that time you took us to the gas station and let us pick out sody pops, I think we should take Dax to do that. It was a lot of fun."
 Well, we didn't want to disappoint Dax while he was here so after golfing we went to the gas station and let each of them pick out their very own drinks. They were all thrilled.

Black-Eyed Susan at Pimlico Race Track

 May18th my Dad and cousin Dax flew into town to join us for a fun-filled weekend. Papa Russ was here for the BIG Preakness horse race and took us to the Black-Eyed Susan Friday races.

 I dropped my Dad, Pierce and Dax off early at the track so they could meet all the Jockeys. I packed some lunches and picked up Brock from school and headed up afterwards.

 We ended up staying for quite a long time. One thing I learned is that Horse racing is a very short-lived excitement. The races last literally like 2 minutes and then they have 30min breaks in between each race. The kids loved when the races were happening, but it was the down time that proved to be annoying! We still managed to have a spectacular time and the kids made it through with little or no melt-downs. Jaida LOVED every moment of the entire day. She won the best behaved award, go figure!

 Brown Papa also came and joined us. I cannot believe I didn't get a picture with my dad, What a slacker I am!

Here is the beginning of one of the many races. The kids had a fun time picking their "winning" horses for each race. A couple of times I wished we would have bet on their guesses! All in all it was a success! Thanks Papa Russ for a very fun day!

Innocent Faith

I don't want to forget this story so I need to jot it down. Yesterday, as we were siting in the car waiting in the carpool line at Pierce's school we had the windows rolled down and Jaida decided that she would throw her paci out the window. Now anyone who knows Jaida is attached to her pacis like no other. She immediately started to cry and complain. Brock told me I better hurry up and find it cause she was driving him nuts. I got out of the car and looked around but couldn't find it anywhere. So I simply got back in and told her to get over it! I was a little bit nicer, but you get the picture! Brock was really frustrated with me and said ," Mom, I am going to say a prayer and Heavenly Father will make this better!" I said," Go for it buddy!" He then said the most amazing simple prayer that we could find it and that Jaida would be calm. He thanked Heavenly Father for always remembering us and then turned to me and said, "Now mom, open up that door and it will be right by your door on the ground. Heavenly Father made it be there, I promise." I opened my door and will admit I was thinking of how I was going to explain to him about how prayers don't always get answered with the snap of the finger. I opened my door and there it was laying there on the asphalt looking right back at me. I got back in the car and Brock was so excited and he said," I knew it would work!" He immediately told me that he needed to thank Heavenly Father. His following prayer was something amazing and brought tears to me eyes. It was something like this: Dear Heavenly Father, I prayed to you to help me find my sister's paci and you helped me. I can't believe you could totally hear me. Thank you, because now my sister is happy and I know you heard my prayer. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Moments like this you realize how divine children really are. I was so proud of him at that moment. Oh how I love my Little Lumps!