Choir Concert

Carter had his second choir concert tonight.  I told Dave that we should video tape one of the last songs that his group was singing - it was a Justin Bieber song.  That would have been great to play when he is graduating from HS

Dawson came with us.  Not sure that he was that impressed with a choir concert!  But, I also think he was a tired boy this time around!

It will be fun to see how the concert changes next year when he is in 7th grade.  I would guess that you might hear some "deeper" voices from the boys!

SO close

Carter's team has been doing good this year.  They started off with a few ties, a win and a loss.  I am still figuring this camera out, but I am getting some good photos of the boys at their games!  Here is one of Carter - from hitting the ball, running the bases and just barely getting out.  You can see the ball just before his helmet!  So, so close!  They won so that is a good thing.  Now if we can just get some nice baseball weather - I am incredibly tired of wearing jeans and a sweatshirt/rain jacket to every game!

 See the ball... on the left side of the photo just above the tree top!?

 Now the ball almost looks like it is going to hit him on the helmet!

 Just barely out!

Dawson is loving "real" baseball!

Because the boys both have baseball on Mondays and Wednesdays, Dave & I have been "dividing and conquering!"  I take one boy and one girl to one game, he takes one boy and one girl to the other baseball game.  Tonight Dawson's game was right down the road from Carter's game (don't think I have had a chance to see one of his games yet for more than a minute or 2 and Daddy did not take any photos!) so we decided to swing on by when Carter's game was done.

Of course, he had just hit so he did not get to be up again in the batting line-up, but we got to see him in action in the field.  Or, maybe not too much action.  Dave has stated that when he plays outfield, if the ball does not come in his direction, he won't move an inch.  It is true.  He did not move an inch.  Guess he will learn at some point that you have to back-up other players just in case they miss the ball!

 I love this photo.  He was talking with Carter and I took a few photos.  You don't always have to be looking at the camera for a good photo!

Just like daddy... just a little more colorful!

The kids have loved grillin' with daddy!  Carter would occasionally, but Dawson, Kendall & now Reese, drag the little grill outside when daddy is getting' his grill on!  So glad that Auntie Dawn bought this grill for Carter when he was like 4 or 5!  It has grilled so many times!

When will this loose-tooth madness end!

Before you know it, Kendall will be losing teeth too!  But, Dawson's bottom teeth were loose also.  Yikes!  The poor kid isn't going to have hardly any front teeth this summer!  No corn on the cob for him.  At least his teeth won't hurt anymore when he eats.

So cute... until they grow up!

Last year we had a TERRIBLE mess with the geese.  Dave was out one night picking up goose poop for an hour & a half.  This year when they showed up, we were the "crazies" running out in the yard, throwing rocks at them (not to hit them, just to scare them!) and yelling at them to get out of the yard.  I am pretty confident that only 2 geese were in the yard, occasionally, and luckily they only had 3 goslings this year (last year was six!).  As much as I don't want them in our yard, they are just so cute when they are this little.  Then they grow up.  See the one in the far left hand corner!

Preschool "Graduation" for Kendall

Though they did not have a real ceremony, Kendall graduates from Preschool today.  She is the only one in her class going on to Kindergarten this year.  The other kiddos still have a year!  I am sure come the fall, she will be so sad that none of her "friends" are in her class.  But, I don't see a problem with her making new ones - she loves to talk (not sure where she gets that from!).

Ms. Jenny with Kendall

Ms. Pam (AKA Ms. Ham, as Dawson thought her name was back when he was in this class) with Kendall

Whoops and nothing but giggles!

So every night I have to lay with Reese to get her to go to bed.  We sing you are my sunshine and then I sit with her for a few minutes.  Tonight was no different!  Well, expect for a certain someone, who will remain nameless, may have let a "little" toot out.  Another certain someone said, "you toot!"  And the giggles just started and could not be stopped!  Reese would giggle.  I would giggle.  Someone would tell another someone, "you toot!" and the giggles would just go on!  It was so funny and I wish I would have had a video camera in my pocket.  I just love hearing the sound of 3 year old giggles!  Truly, one of the BEST sounds in the world!

Happy 5th Birthday to Kendall!

Happy 5th Birthday to Kendall!  I cannot believe that you will be in Kindergarten in just over 3 months!  Oh, where has the time gone!?

The day that you were born, you came out screaming.  Daddy and I knew that we were in trouble being that you were our first little girl!  You have turned out to be such a talker, and a loud one!  YOu want so much to "hang" with your BIG brothers.  You want to be able to do what they do and you are desperately trying to talk us into buying you a pink bow - we have told you that you don't get one until you are 6, but you keep telling us maybe when you are 5 1/2 at Christmas time? 

You love the color PINK, though purple is a 2nd close favorite.  You love to wear dresses and skirts - just like cousin Teagan used to.  You have picked out your own outfits for the last 3 years and sometimes they are the craziest outfits but we let it go!  It is your "style!"  You were NOT happy with me the one time I put my foot down and told you we would not be leaving the house with that outfit on!  It was just too much for me!

You love to do art projects.  You love princesses and Dora.  You love to have your toenails painted.  You love to play outside.  You love to ski - you are such a dare devil!  I can't wait to see what skiing brings next year!  You love treats - not sure where that comes from!  You love your blankie and it has been a long road to get you to stop sucking your thumb (we are mostly there, but occasionally we catch you sucking your thumb!)

You are our Spirited child, strong-willed.  You do not like to be told no, or not right now, or any derivitaive of that word.  Once you have something set in your mind, you are bound and determined to accomplish it. 

You told me last week that you were going to be an ice cream truck person and a teacher - like Ms. Jenny (your preschool teacher, who you are sad you are not going to be seeing anymore after tomorrow).  I cannot wait to see what you want to be in the future!

Happy birthday to you, Kendall!  We love you so much!

One of your first photos!

 The "sassy" side of you ~ loving your new cleats for t-ball! Kendall is "ONE WHOLE hand!"

Happy 3rd birthday to Reesey!

Today our baby turns THREE!  I cannot believe that she is already 3!  Where does the time go?

Reese is our "caretaker," not quite sure where she gets that from?  She LOVES to play with dolls.  She loves to look at babies when we are out and about.  She loves "baby Vi" from Sibling care at school - they would tell me if Vi needed her nose wiped, Reese would go grab a tissue and wipe it for her!  Sometimes she is a little "over-bearing" when it comes to hugs, especially when it is with her cousin Cooper!  That poor boy!  Luckily she is still pretty gentle with cousin Tanner, though you need to watch her every second with him or she probably would pick him up!

She loves to color.  There are times where she actually tries to stay in the line, though it might only be for a minute!  She started counting a few months ago... all the way up to 12 now.  She hears us all spelling her name and knows most of it - R-E-S-E - close.  I am sure by the fall she will have it down.  She also wants to try and "write" though it is mostly just scribbles!

She is fiercely independent.  Wonder if that has to do with older siblings doing those things, or just her personality?  She wants to open doors by herself (though they are often too heavy still), she wants to put on her own shoes constantly (90% they still end up on the wrong feet and she has no desire to put them on the right feet), she wants to buckle herself in the carseat (and has recently learned to un-buckle which I do NOT like at all!). 

She does not want to nap but is a BEAR when she does not.  So, I lay with her at naptime til she falls asleep.  A little nap is so much better for her then no nap as she often only sleeps about 1.5 hours, maybe 2 hours at most. 

We love you so much Reese!  Happy Third birthday to you! 

Reese's first photo!

 Reese and her new doll, Daisy!

Three fingers finally!

Dawson's First Baseball Game!

For the next 5 weeks, Dave and I will be dividing and conquering - both Dawson and Carter have baseball games on Monday and Wednesdays!  Good thing we signed up Kendall to play t-ball during the day or she would have had games on Mondays and Wednesdays, too!  Yikes!

So tonight Dave was meeting us at  Carter's game to pick up Dawson and bring him to his game.  He took Kendall with him and I kept Reese with me!  If the 2 girls are together we would never be able to actually watch the games because they would want to play! 

It has been cooler out, so it is not that perfect baseball weather yet.  So, it is sweatshirt weather... and sitting under a blanket or an umbrella!

Dave said Dawson did good.  He was really, really excited for his first game!  No more of that t-ball stuff for him.  Since I was not there, unfortunately there was no photo taken! 

Girls Birthday Party!

Having 2 kids share a birthday party is crazy - especially since we do it this way two times every year.  The first 2 years were pretty hard - Reese was just not too into opening presents, and it got a little long for her.  But this year, it was different!  She was totally into opening her presents, just like her BIG sister!

We had our typical party and the weather was actually decent.  It has been such a crummy spring that I was not sure if we would be able to be outside at all.  But, it was pretty nice.  We ate some dinner, the girls opened presents, then ate cake and then it was outside to do some running around with the cousins & friends.

I love to make the kids cakes (or cupcakes) - daddy thinks I am crazy for it, but I remember my mom making our cakes.  They may not be as perfect as the stores are, but it is fun to see the kids reactions!  This year Kendall wanted a Cinderella theme & Reese wanted a Mermaid theme (Ariel).  So they picked out their napkins and cake plates, we got some little party favors and we were set.  We went to the cake supply store and found some Ariel cupcake liners, some Ariel cupcake toppers and a little set of Disney Princess Cupcake picks (none with just Cinderella on them... really?).

 The girl wanted cleats for t-ball - that is the nice thing about a MAY birthday!  Perfect for the summer stuff they may need or want!  Like Cleats!

 Kendall told Auntie Jen that she wanted a short nightgown...and something to match with Reese.  What a perfect gift - matching princess nightgowns!

Reese got this seahorse for her 1st birthday (actually 2 of them, but I returned one, ironic?) and the sound thing inside of it just had died.  So her daddy bought her a new one (funny thing is, she still prefers the older one though she likes to play the music occasionally on the new one).

 On Mother's Day, Kendall & I ran out to get a little flower for the important mommies in our lives, and at Bachman's we noticed the fairy garden section.  What a perfect gift idea!  Nana got the call and did the rest!  What fun this will be for the girls!

Kendall wanted her hair done for the party!  Good job Teagan!

 Kendall & Boston were just laying on the little trampoline talking and eating their ring pops!

 Kendall and her new doll - thanks to Boston and Cooper!

Reese and her new doll - thanks again to Boston & Cooper!

 The cousins!

 Gramps with Reese and Cooper

Kendall scored a goal and Dawson grabbed her for a celebration LIFT!

 Uncle Joe & Uncle Tommy are always so good about playing with the kids.  Last year Uncle Tommy was involved in the water balloon fight, this year it was a friendly game of soccer.

You must be from Wisconsin

Dave & Dawson ran a few errands today to get ready for the girls birthday party tonight.  One of the stops was to the liquor store.  I get a text from Dave after they had left the liquor store:
$30 for pop
$100 for beer
Your son saying "yuk" to the Vikings jersey on the cooler in the front of the store manager, the manager noticing all the Leinenkugels cases in the cart and saying "you must be from Wisconsin" - PRICELESS!

Some in this family like this purple jersey, some do not!

One of our favorites!

Thumb sucking...and trying to stop

Since Kendall was about 3 months old, she has sucked her thumb.  Prior to her 4th birthday (over a year ago now!) she told the dentist she would stop sucking her thumb by her 4th birthday.  Well, we are only 2 days away from her FIFTH birthday and she still occasionally sucks her thumb.  It is mostly when she is cuddling with her blankie.  About a month or so ago, I told her that after 5 times of catching her sucking her thumb(we had a little sheet of paper hanging up on our calendar that had 5 boxes on it, each time she was caught, we put a frowning face in one of the boxes), I would be taking her blankie away until she was completely done sucking her thumb.  As luck has it, I just threw that sheet of paper away, with FOUR frowning faces on it, and I think that I caught her sucking her thumb 3 times this week. 
I caught her sucking her thumb today while she was taking a nap.  When she woke up, I asked her if she could guess what I caught her doing while she was napping.  She said that she did not know.  I told her she was sucking her thumb.  She did that little smile that she does, and says to me "Well, you know, my mouth just wants me to suck my thumb!"  Seriously!  Where do they come up with these things!

Field Trip and Happy Early birthday Girls!

Grandma and Grandpa Coleman came to the house today to help me out - Carter's whole 6th grade class was taking a field trip to the State Capital and MN History Center today.  They came down to watch the girls and be here when Dawson got off the bus.  I said back when Carter was in 4th grade, that I would NEVER go on a field trip with "older" kids again.  Watching his group at the Science Museum 2 years ago was SO much work.  I was thinking this might be the same sort of "organized chaos!"

First off, it is supposed to be 90 degrees today.  Sounds like a fun bus ride with a bunch of 6th graders!  :)  Second off, the MN State Senate just passed a bill legalizing Gay Marriage in MN yesterday.  Guessing that there could be some protestors/supporters down there making it CRAZY busy at the Capital! 

My group started off at the Capital.  It has been years since I have been down there (probably in school myself the last time, too) - Carter has never been there either so he was excited to see it.  We got in to the Capital and within about 10 minutes or so, I noticed that we were already missing one girl in our group!  Yikes!  We looked around for her, could not find her, and so I went and spoke with one of the SLP teachers.  She said that she knew who she was and that she was smart enough & would find another group to hang out with. 

We walked around the inside - it sure is pretty.  I had forgotten that.  The kids really liked all the details of the artwork.  The marble - even the garbage cans are marble one of the kids said!  Then we stepped outside to view the grounds.  I don't recall all the statues, the tributes that are on the grounds.  It really is quite pretty.  The kids all really enjoyed it!

We had lunch in the front "yard" of the Capital then we walked over to the MN History Center!  Yikes!  This is where it got complicated and hard to watch the kids!  A group of 11 6th graders at an exhibit that you can touch and play with things is really hard to get to stay together.  At one point we were missing a couple of kids, another point I was missing 4 kids... at one point, we were looking for 2 of the kids and all of the sudden I was down to a group of 6 kids!  In the end, I just had to tell them, when you are done looking at this exhibit do NOT leave it!  We will all meet up here before moving on.

Carter took some photos!  They were on my phone so they are not the best, but I did not think that he would want me to bring my camera (I could just hear it... "Mom, stop taking photos your embarrassing me!).  Turns out in the end, he would have loved to have the camera with!  Next time.  If there is one! 

 The Vietnam War Memorial Wall in MN.  Amazing to see all these names, so young.  So tragic.

Kendall's almost a Kindergartner!

I thought that I would take a few photos of Kendall at school before her last day of PRESCHOOL!  Soon, she will be on her way to Kindergarten!  She has done really well in school & will do great when she starts in the fall.  Mommy & Daddy are so proud of you and all that you have learned this year.

I was taking some photos of her, but also snapping of few of the other kids with her, or by her.  I thought that maybe it was "against the rules" but then again, why not?  But, I did get pulled aside by the teacher, who did not want to have to tell me this, but I knew it was coming "that I could not take photos of the other kids in the class, just of Kendall."