Purple Polish

We went to the beach today and as usual, Kathryn fell asleep on the way home. I always carry her inside and lay her down on her favorite corner spot on the couch. She usually sleeps for a couple of hours then. But not today. After my shower I met Nate in the hallway upstairs and he said, "I think Kathryn is doing something really bad." I rushed down the stairs and caught a whiff of nail polish. A two year old left unattended with nail polish has got to be one of the worst scenarios ever. It was bad, but could have been way worse.

Luckily we had a full bottle of nail polish remover.

It's amazing how she had access to the box of nail polish, but she only tried painting her nails with it. She's serious about her glamour.

Not bad for a two year old. It doesn't look much different than that when I do my own nails.

Carpet fuzz from the rug all stuck in her toes.

Like I said, it could have been waaaaay worse. This was all I had to clean up in the house.... I think. I hope.

Congratulations, Graduate!

It's hard to believe my baby boy graduated from preschool today. He's experienced four schools in his 5 years of life, so I would say transitioning to kindergarten won't be too much of a struggle. He is definitely looking forward to becoming a kindergartener because that's just one step closer to heading off to college. He has big dreams. He's still deciding on where he wants to go to school (and he has plenty of time), but one thing he knows for sure is he can't to go off to college. This is all thanks to the movie Toy Story, but when he goes to college I'm not supposed to get rid of his toys because he's always going to want to play with them even when he's older. Nate is the second one on the front row.

Oh, so cute!

He even got to walk across stage to receive his diploma.

 Class picture.

Won't this picture be great for comparison down the road.

Of course, Nate's cool little sister watching him graduate with her sunglasses on.

Lady only stayed for the graduation ceremony because Mace was waiting in the car. (Separation issues.) She rushed up to give her favorite little boy a hug before she left though.

Steve made sure to get a picture of him with Nate to prove that he attended this special occasion too.

I'm always the camera woman so here is proof that I was there too. I can't let Steve one up me.

Nate with his girlfriend Kate.

Nate with his buddies, Beau and Patrick.

Everyone is looking everywhere but the camera, but I still think it's such a cute picture.

Nate's other good friend, Wyatt.

Nate with his teachers, Mrs. Shannon and Mrs. Jeanine.

A reception followed the graduation ceremony. Paw-Paw may not realize it, but it's actually a huge honor for Nate to let grandparents come around his friends. Paw-Paw must have proven himself as nonthreatening to Nate's cool guy image.

After the reception this little party crew headed out for lunch to continue celebrating their preschool success.

If you ask any five year old where they want to go for lunch it's always the same... Chick-fil-a. Nate and Patrick and Beau just played the entire time and maybe took a combined total of 5 bites of food. It was his day to celebrate.

Kathryn just sat with Paw-Paw the entire time while the boys played. Again, it was a major privilege for Paw-Paw to get to hang out with Nate and his friends in the Chick-fil-a play area.

After we got home Nate opened his graduation presents.

Oh... great... a book. He asked if he could go pick out more graduation presents at Walmart later on. That's my boy!

Next year preschool just won't be the same without having Nate and his friends walk past my classroom each day with big smiles and waves. He's the reason I became a preschool teacher in the first place and now he's moving on and leaving me behind. It certainly was fun while it lasted! 

Congratulations, Nate! You are one special little boy bound for greatness!

Beach or Bust

Next year Nate will be in kindergarten all day so we won't have as much beach time. We're making sure to take advantage of all our free time until then. None of us have school on Fridays so if it's sunny, you can expect to find us on the sand under the sun.

I'll admit, life is pretty good down here.

I forgot Kathryn's sunglasses, but luckily there was a pair of Nate's old sunglasses left in the bottom of the beach bag from last year.

Nate and I built a big mountain on the edge of the water. We watched to see what would destroy the mountain first, the water or the sister. We just kept adding to it as the waves washed up and as Boomba wandered around it. Nate thought that was such a funny situation. It was the sister, but only accidentally. She lost her balance and fell on it. Then they both climbed on it and jumped off the cliff.

They took turns pushing each other off the cliff.

She was happy to return the favor.

I like the t-shirt bathing suit top better because it provides more sun protection, but she insisted on wearing this top because as she says, "I want to show armpits." She is extremely proud of her armpits and wants the world to see them. Don't ask me. I'm still trying to figure this little girl out myself.

Oh how we love the beach!

One Lucky Mother

I woke up this morning to my two lovely babies showering me with love and affection. They were so excited to celebrate Mother's Day, so much that towards the end of the day Nate said everyday could be Mother's Day. I like his thinking.

Steve took the kids shopping at Dollar General for some Mother's Day surprises. That's become the Mother's Day tradition ever since Steve forgot about me on my first Mother's Day as a mother (in all fairness, Nate was only a month old so it came as a surprise to him) and rushed out to the dollar store and bought me a figurine. This year Nate and Kate went crazy picking out only the most perfect gifts for me. Nathan got me some Frosted Flakes. (Funny story about the Frosted Flakes... on Saturday night he confessed that he asked Daddy to buy me Frosted Flakes for Mother's Day because he really just wanted to try them.)

  Kathryn was so thoughtful. She picked out bubbles for me.

Here I am opening my paper towel wrapped figurine.

Kathryn picked out this year's figurine. It's pink. I can't wait to add this to my cheap figurine collection. (Let me remind everyone that I'm not a figurine person, which makes Steve's first gift that much funnier.)

I also got some flowers.

Kathryn made me this at school.

Nathan made me this at school.

He also painted a necklace for me.

Nathan and I went to church together on Mother's Day. During the sermon the pastor asked everyone who is perfect to stand up. Of course no one stood up, but Nathan leaned over to me and told me to stand up because I'm perfect. He insisted on it. I just smiled at him because I didn't want to admit to him that I'm not totally perfect. I like him thinking I am. Hearing him tell me I'm perfect was a perfect complement to Mother's Day. What else is interesting about this story is the fact that Nathan was sitting there listening to the sermon. 

I am one lucky mommy to have such sweet kids and I'm also very lucky to have a perfect mom myself.

Happy Mother's Day!

Picture Perfect

Nate and Kate had their pictures taken at school again. They get really good photographers in there, so it saves me the trouble of having to take them out for pictures. I'll share a few of my faves. First off, my handsome little boy, age 5.

Now my little beauty queen, age 2.