Todd's Musical Graduation

We attended Todd's preschool graduation this evening.  Daddy felt a bit of Mr. Incredible angst about calling it a "graduation," but he still came, and did his best to act like the whole thing wasn't totally irrational.  Thank you, Engineer Daddy. :)

Personally, I thought the ceremony was really fun.  The kids performed several songs their teachers had taught them.

Then they received a delightfully colorful diploma . . .

. . . and gathered for a class picture.

Thanks for everything Miss Julia and Miss Rochelle!  Todd had a great time in your class, and learned a lot about being a good friend to his classmates. :)

Clapping for Anna

School's out for summer!

Joy and I went to Anna's school this afternoon to cheer for Anna in her clap-off parade.  Our town has two elementary schools (one for grades K-2, another for grades 3-5), and it's traditional for family, friends, and younger students to applaud for the second graders on their last day at the younger school.

The dress code is casual, but that family in yellow decided to take things up a notch or two.  I'll bet I could've talked Joy into doing that with me, but I think Phillip would have been a hard sell.

It was sweet to see my daughters holding hands as we left Anna's (old) school.

They also found a tree to climb. :)

Then we picked up Todd and Daniel, and headed to the store for our annual end-of-school-year treat run.  I took the kids to Aldi, gave each of them a $3 limit, and let them choose anything they wanted.

Todd - Grabbed the first yummy thing he saw on a shelf (granola bars). 
Daniel - Opted for a sweet cereal.
Anna - Chose messy, totally-bad-for-you cheese puffs because her mother never buys them.
Joy - Methodically went through the entire store, and opted for a box of 8 ice cream sandwiches because she figured they would last her longer than a bag of chips or cookies. 
Mama - Bought some store brand knock-offs of Girl Scout Samoas, which are DEE-licious. 

Then we came home and traded with each other so everyone got to try everything (and all the kids got their fingers covered with messy fake cheese powder :P ).

Our Daddy Rocks

For Father's Day, I presented Daddy with what is quite possibly the most beautiful cake I have ever decorated.

Eat your heart out, Martha Stewart.  Actually, Sour Patch Kids are a surprisingly scrumptious addition to a frosted cake.  Also, the "I am clueless about CAKE" sign is Joy's addition.  It's an inside family Minecraft joke.

Last but not least, this painted stone was a Father's Day gift from Anna, because her daddy rocks.

Tennis and a Funny Sign

This morning, we gathered up all the things we decided to let go of yesterday . . .

. . . and took them to the donation event at the high school.  Funny how I always feel a bit lighter after I let go of old clutter.

Our next stop was some nearby tennis courts.  Daddy helped Joy practice her new tennis skills . . .

. . . while I tapped balls over the net to Anna and Daniel.  Todd preferred to help out by collecting our stray tennis balls.

On the way home, I got a chuckle out of the sign above this window:  "MIR ASSOC. PARKING ONLY.  DON'T CRY IF TOWED."

Last but not least, Anna's Activity Days group had a party today to kick off summer vacation.  While the adults chatted in the screened porch, the girls had a blast playing on the trampoline with a sprinkler underneath.  Not a bad way to cool off on a hot day. :)

Letting Go of Things

I helped the kids declutter their rooms today.  Each of them let go of some things they had been fond of but don't use anymore, and they asked me to take pictures of them before we stored, donated, or discarded those things.

Daniel's favorite shirt is too small, so we put it in storage for Todd to use in a few years.  Daniel says his favorite part about the shirt was that it had a zipper.

Joy and Anna both let go of school ceramic projects that they put a lot of effort into, but which didn't stay in one piece for very long.  Anna's project was a kangaroo.  Joy's was a "living" teacup that had four legs and its own hand-drawn comic.

Todd loved wearing these snow boots all winter, possibly because they were so easy for him to put on.  They will be too small next winter, though, so we are donating them tomorrow.  I actually had a harder time letting them go than Todd did because they are so cute.  Plus, Todd's name means "fox," and I thought it was fun that my "fox pup" had adorable fox boots.

Oh well.  As I often tell my kids, "It was fun, and now it's done."  Time to let go of old clutter so we can focus on the things we actually use and love.

Sunday in June

I don't know what it is about Sundays that makes me pull out my camera and take random pictures of my kids.  Maybe it's because we rarely have anything planned on Sunday afternoons, and it's interesting to see how the kids fill their time.

Anna read Ella Enchanted. 

Todd made up a Yahtzee-esque game using dice from multiple games on our shelf.  That's fine with me, as long as he puts them all back.

Joy and Daniel played with their stuffed animals.  That red handkerchief in the background is actually a make-believe computer that belongs to Daniel's squishmallow Salleeey, but Joy's enderman likes to hack into it when Salleeey isn't looking.  The handkerchief also doubles as a pretend trampoline.

Speaking of computers, I helped Anna prepare a talk for Primary yesterday, and she insisted on typing it herself.  That's my girl.

Blue and Gold Cake Buffet

We went to our ward's cub scout Blue and Gold Banquet this evening.  I'm not sure why they called it a "banquet," since we didn't eat dinner.  Tradition perhaps?

They did have a cake pot luck, though.  Every family was encouraged to decorate a cake that illustrated some virtue in the Scout Law (e.g. thrifty, reverent, clean).  This assignment stressed me out for days because I have the cake decorating skills of a kindergartner.  How the heck was I gonna make a cake that symbolized some abstract concept like "courteous"?

Fortunately, I had a flash of inspiration at the store today, when I saw a big bag of chocolate candies.  I made a sheet cake, and encouraged Daniel to make some symbolic candy design to illustrate a Scout Law virtue.  I suggested a happy face for "cheerful," or maybe two happy faces for "friendly."  He went with a check mark for "obedient."  Done.

Other cakey contributions included a gluten-free vanilla cake with a "helpful" pulley on top, and a Chewbacca cake because Chewie is "loyal" to his friends.

Another cake had "trustworthy" army men, whom we can trust to obey orders and defend our country.  There was also a "brave" lion tamer; you have to be pretty courageous to stare down a lion.