Emery is Three

  Today is Emery's third birthday, but we had her little jump party yesterday evening.  We just invited family and some friends, and had a nice little party.  Emery had a pretty good time.  I did have to go with her on most of the slides though.  At the end she had had a little too much party time, and to have a bit of a quiet time.  She perked up though as soon as cake was mentioned.  Tyler was very sweet when it came time to open up the presents.  He was very good about helping her open things.  There were two birthday cakes because I just picked up two cakes from our local grocery store and one wasn't going to be enough.  Emery noticed there was a second cake at a different table and came over requesting a second piece of that cake in addition to her first slice of cake.  She knows what she likes.

I like that Harper's mouth is open in the middle of a thought.  She actually talks a lot, but her preschool class didn't ever get to see that side of her.

I love Logan and his giant kissy cheeks.

Harper being goofy again.

Angie took Logan down one of the bigger slides and he seemed to approve.

Luke had a great time playing with Karl.

Zander wasn't feeling the bouncing, but he still gave us some great smiles.

Emery was insistent that she have a Minnie Mouse cake, and gratefully accepted that she got a store bought cake with a Minnie Mouse figurine stuck on top.  Also she didn't mind that the toppings were a little funky because Avery and Harper helped bring the cakes from the car and putting them on the counter upside down.

I love how happy Tyler and Emery look in this picture.  Emery had no trouble blowing out her candles.

Avery and Harper having cake.

The Weekend

  This weekend Daryl's brother Kyle flew into town triggering an improtutu family gather with Daryl's brothers and sister.  Saturday Karl brought Kyle over after picking him up at the airport. We wanted to get together with Ashley as well, so we had her and Thomas and Ayva come on over Sunday with everyone else.  It was a great weekend of family, food, and board games.  

All the boys on Saturday.  Kyle, Daryl, Luke, Karl, and a less then enthused Tyler.

I just really liked this picture of Harper with a giant bike helmet on.

Tyler wanted to help me pit cherries.  Also I understand now why my Dad always pitted them outside.

We remembered to get a cousin picture which of course Avery decided she needed to stick her tongue out during.  There's plastic on our stairs because we are renovating our upstairs bathroom.  Avery is holding Ayva, Tyler is holding on to Luke, Harper is by Tyler, and that leaves Miss Em sitting on her own. 

Ayva has changed so much since we saw her last.  She looks like she got a fabulous foil job on her hair.

Here are all the siblings.  Karl is on the top step, then Daryl, Kyle, and Ashley.

Ashley did a lot of posing for me and Emery tried to sneak into this picture.

Ayva is also into posing like her mother.

This was Saturday after the big kids had spent almost the entire evening out on their scooters.  Tyler took off his helmet and looked like he had spiked his hair with mousse.

Other Stuff that Happened in June

  Avery and Harper finally had their first round of swim lessons this month.  Harper did pretty well despite the fact that she isn't entirely comfortable in the water.  Avery did great and is working really hard not to swallow too much pool water.  The rest of the pictures are just some of the every day happenings around the house.

Here's Harper getting her cheese blocks put on by her teacher.

Emery was not always thrilled to be at swim lessons too.

Here's Luke standing on the air vent at swim lessons.

This is Luke eating his first doughnut.

Emery potty training Minnie Mouse and Teddy.  Her potty training is not going quite as well.

Luke eating a chicken drumstick.

I caught Dax sleeping inside my piano.  To her credit she wasn't on top of the strings, but sadly I had to shut the lid to prevent cat fur from getting inside my piano.

Luke and Emery's First Hair Cut

  Last Wednesday I decided it was time for Emery and Luke to get the hair cut.  Luke's hair was really wild and long and constantly in his eyes, but he also has darling baby curls that I didn't want to go away.  Emery's hair wasn't as bad.  It was just a little uneven.  Emery and Luke were both really good during their hair cuts.  Now they look a little less like ragamuffins, and Luke still has his darling baby curls.

A before picture of Luke.

Emery's before picture.

Now here's a before picture at the salon.

She played with Minnie and Mickey the whole time.

Here's Emery with her new cut and the stylist gave her a sweet little side braid.

Here's Luke at the salon before the big cut.

Luke was super happy to have his hair cut as long as he had toys and a dum dum.

Here's Luke after his hair cut.  I just love his sweet face.

Avery's Last Day of School

  Avery's last day of school was actually last Thursday, and neither did I get a picture of just Avery on her last day of school.  In fact that day I picked her up from school to take her and Harper to get their hair cut. Otherwise it was a pretty uneventful day.  The last day of school also means a ton of school stuff to sort through, so enjoy some of the art that Avery made in first grade.

Fortunately Avery's teacher took a last day of class photo.  Avery is of course sitting on the floor on the first row on the right rocking some amazing My Little Pony leggings.

I think this is a water color of some venus flytraps.

Here's Avery's kite with an acrostic poem about Spring.  I'm pretty sure she had help from her fourth grade buddy.

Avery at School

  Avery has had a lot going on in the past month of school.  She went on a field trip to Alki to see all the sea creatures with her class.  Her class also went on a little walking field trip to eat lunch on the pedestrian bridge that goes over I-90.  Finally the whole class had been studying about the life cycle of a butterfly, so everyone had their own little butterfly that they were eagerly awaiting for it to emerge from its chrysalis.  What's nice is that her teacher can email pictures of all these fun things, so we can all feel like we were there.

Unfortunately Avery is partially hidden behind the chaperon in the pink cardigan in the front left hand corner.

Avery and her butterfly Sabrina.

I love this picture and you can see her missing front tooth.

Avery is about the fourth kid in from the left.  I am so glad they went to Alki when the weather was so nice.

Weird Stuff and Luke Grows Bolder

  Sometimes you find yourself in the weirdest situations as a parent.  Like the other night I went into Avery and Harper's bedroom while they were sleeping (In unrelated news Avery lost her other front tooth this week) and fount that Harper had fallen asleep with a bracelet in her mouth.  I had Daryl go into see for himself and take pictures of course before removing it from her mouth.  Then the other day I sat down at the computer only to discover that it looked like someone smeared peanut butter all over the keyboard.  Why children why?  

  In more typical toddler news, Luke is now almost always insisting on standing up on a stool at the kitchen counter instead of eating at his little seat.  The other day he took advantage of the stool being left at the kitchen counter to climb on top of the counter and get his own sippy cup out since the service in this house is just lousy.  

Avery''s new gummy grin since she lost her other front tooth this week.

Harper asleep with a bracelet between her teeth that she was chewing on in her sleep.

How can you fall asleep like this?

Peanut butter on the keyboard because why not?

Luke hanging on a stool like a big kid.

I love his little body.

Don't worry Mom this is totally safe.

Harper's Last Day of Preschool

  Friday was Harper's last day of preschool.  She was actually ready for the end of school because she kept asking me every day if it was her last day, so Friday morning I excitedly announced it was her last day only to be met with a super sad face and a few tears.  It didn't last long though.  Harper is really excited to be a Kindergartner next year and be bus buddies with Avery.  I include some pictures from Avery and Harper's Eager Reader party (Eager Reader was their school reading program) because Harper was one of the top three readers from preschool.  Not that, that was hard to do since there are much fewer preschoolers compared to the other grades.  Harper was pleased with her $10 gift card to Barnes and Noble.  Friday evening she had a goodbye picnic with all the preschool classes, and despite all the rain, wind, and cool temperatures we still managed to have some fun.

Harper with all the other Eager Reader winners.

There's Harper's little poster with the 4105 minutes she read this year.

Here's Harper lined up with her class on the last day.

Here's everyone with their diplomas.

Harper at her preschool picnic.  I tried to get her to wear pants and socks, but what do I know.

One of the highlights of the picnic was seeing this deer pop by.

This is Harper with one of the classroom helpers, Miss Ronda.  Harper was pretty cold so everyone had to cuddle her to convince her to get her picture taken with them.

This is Harper with her teacher Miss Devon.  She was a great teacher, and I hope Emery and Luke will be in her class some day too.

Here's Harper with the other helper Miss Charlene.