Another school year is over...

Wow.  You blink just a few times and another school year is over!!  

My Hannah is now a SENIOR.  Seriously? Can that be true? I can't help but shake my head as I type.  She had some struggles in math/chemistry...but did really well other than that and got two varsity letters (Water Polo and Swim)    

 Hannah with two of her friends at their Varsity Swim team banquet.

Taryn finished the 7th grade as an honor roll student all three trimesters and is ranked #9 out of almost 400 7th graders.  We are so proud of her drive and determination to do her best.

Taryn with two of her friends at a graduation party.  They'v been friends since they were four years old.

 Naomi was glad to take an end of the year gift for her teacher.  We got a beach towel, drink tumbler and filled it with ice tea mix packets, sunblock and Subway gift card.  

We attached a free printable card (found at  Skip to my Lou Blog)

 Mr. C was such a great teacher for Naomi.  

She had a great first grade year.

This is Marco who will be 5 years old at the end of July.  He starts Kindergarten in the fall.  This mama may be just a wee bit emotional about that. *sigh*  I know he will be a good student.  He's so curious and hungry to learn about everything.  He was a little stressed when we went to pick up the girls from their last day of school.  He thought it meant that he was starting that day and he didn't know how to write all of his letters!  I had to stop myself from laughing.  He was so sincere and worried about it.  You should have seen the relief on his face when I told him that he still had time to learn. =)

Our summer is already off to a great start.  The two olders have enjoyed some time at the home of some friends, gone to the beach and have a water activity with the youth group and plans with their aunt and uncle for the weekend.  The two youngers have spent some days at the park which has a splash area and wonderful playgrounds, "lake", etc.   Today we spent the day at the park and had a picnic.  Naomi wrote a list of what our day would be: Picnic/eat, go for a walk around the lake/explore, get wet, play in the playground and get wet some more.  They completed the task.  It was an awesome day.

I asked the kids what they'd like to do this summer and here are some of the things they mentioned - big and small.

• Go to the beach
• Go to San Francisco
• Visit Grandma (their Great-Grandmother) on the way to San Francisco.
• Go to an amusement park.
• Establish an exercise routine for all of us.
• Eat healthy and lose weight.
• Read
• Help Marco get ready for school.
• Have picnics
• Grill outdoors more often
• Go to Market Night as much as possible this summer (huge farmer's market)

We shall see how it goes! We are already on track!!  How about you, my friend?  What are your summer plans?

Hello June and welcome summer!!

This is the last week of school for my children.  I will then officially be the mother of one SENIOR in high school (Hannah), one EIGHT grader (Taryn), one SECOND grader (Naomi) and KINDERGARTENER (Marco).
All four children will be in school this fall.  It's a bittersweet feeling, really.
Hoping to make the most of this summer.  We all have plans of:

• getting in shape
• getting organized and simplified
• making the most of each day
• spending lots of time outdoors
• catching up on reading

Of course, there will be a lot of other things thrown in for good measure, but this is what we're thinking for now.  How about you?  Do you have any big plans for the summer?  =)

On Mother's Day...

 My Hannah Joy (Mini Me) made a mixed-media collage page for me.  I loved every bit of it.

 My sweet boy made me a Perfect heart and even wrapped it himself.  Naomi made it clear to everyone that she had to help him cut it out 'cause "he was 'bout to ruin it"!  haha!

 Naomi gave me this awesome tile trivet that she decoupaged herself with tissue flower punches and also made me a tissue hydrangea that actually smelled nice!  She was so proud of her gifts.  I love when elementary school teachers take time for stuff like that.

This is my Taryn and she picked out thee greatest card for me.  It was "Great Moms throughout History".  "You can cross the Delaware AFTER you've finished doing your chores!"~G.Washington's Mom

"It looks like this room hasn't been cleaned in fourscore and seven years!"~A. Lincoln's Mom

"You actually met men who are willing to ask for directions??"~Sacajawea's Mom

"It doesn't take a genius to see you need to comb your hair!"~A.Einstein's Mom

And the greatest mom of all time... (a little foil mirror)  YOU!

Isn't that perfect for me?  

Then hubby picked out this beautiful Brighton charm bracelet out for me.  You can add the charms to either side and so he got the four different birthstone charms of my children.  I love all the detail on the bracelet - especially all of the inscriptions and the cool font. 

They know me well.  I know I'm blessed, but that morning I felt more blessed than ever!

Reverb 10|Day 25|Photo

December 25 – Photo – a present to yourself
Sift through all the photos of you from the past year. Choose one that best captures you; either who you are, or who you strive to be. Find the shot of you that is worth a thousand words. Share the image, who shot it, where, and what it best reveals about you.
(Author: Tracey Clark)
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First of all, it was easy to look through the photos of me because there are so few. I don't generally like to get my picture taken. If it is taken, it's usually not a candid shot. Those almost always get deleted. =( I know, that's terrible. BUT hey, that is one thing I want to change for next year. I want to be in the moment and not care if a photograph is being taken.
I went ahead and chose this picture, because this is who I am - crazy lady...no, not really. I love my kids and I love to have fun. The best times I have with my family are when we are laughing and being silly. I love that we can be that way.
However, it is not always easy for me to be this way with them all the time. I can tend to be a little...well,... uptight. There. I said it. I know that I can be extremely hard on them and that sometimes, instead of enjoying the moment, I can kill it by trying to get things "perfect".
I don't want to be that way with my family. I don't want to ruin special days and events because I am so stressed about the house being cleaned perfectly or the food being just right...those are important, but they are not more important than the people that I am doing it for in the first place.
I'm striving to be a less-stressed, more impressed mommy for 2011. Good idea, no?