Already 3!

I can't believe our baby has already turned 3! The years just keep getting faster and faster it seems. We love this boy to pieces and are so thankful for his own unique personality. Smiley lives life fully and holds nothing back, seems to have no fear, shows lots of love and affection, is ready with a smile most of the time (and sometimes to save himself from a bad situation he has gotten himself into), laughs a lot, loves to sing songs at bedtime, holds his own with his big brother and sister, and is really a pleasant and happy child! We thank God for him and celebrate his 3 full years of life!

We had a party with friends the week before heading out on a big trip. It turned out to be a smaller group than we had planned for, but we enjoyed having time to really catch up with the parents while the kids played in the backyard. We had a lunch of hot dogs and sloppy joes and fixings to match. We sort of had a farm/John Deere theme so I had some green gingham, toy tractors, blue enamelware and fresh flowers to decorate and John Deere fruit snacks to send home with guests. For dessert we had green frosted cupcakes and dirt and worms, the latter being a huge hit, at least with our kids. Who can go wrong with a mixture of candy, cookies, pudding and cool whip? For entertainment, the kids played in the yard with bubbles, on the trampoline and with some outdoor toys. It was a low-key, but fun party.

Year-End School Events

Our family really benefited from the combination of homeschooling and sending Sportster to a charter academy homeschool program a couple times a week this past year. He loved the interaction with his class and his teacher and the fun things that I may neglect or not find feasible in a one-on-one setting here at home.

With the end of the school year, there was a flurry of activity which was great fun. But I also felt relief when the school year was over. Here is a little recap of things that were squeezed into about 2 weeks in May.

Field Trip to a nature center in town
My dear husband took a morning off so I could be one of the drivers and go along with Sportster's class which I really enjoyed.

Field Day with lots of fun activities for the kids

Keeping this young one out of the action was a challenge!

Patriotic Program
Sportster's teacher did a great job of putting this all together and I'm glad he is now familiar with many patriotic songs and parts of speeches and written documents. At the end of the program, his teacher also showed a DVD of photos from the year set to music. I don't think there was a dry eye left by the time that presentation had ended. Next up: a summer of fun and First Grade in the fall.

Where to begin again?

I haven't dropped off the face of the earth, but life has been really busy and I haven't been juggling it all well enough to do even basic posts to keep the grandmas up to date on the kiddos. And now that it has been so long, I don't know where to begin....just leave a huge activity gap and go from the present or work at catching up. It likely doesn't matter to you all, so I do the latter, for the sake of far-off family.

My blogging, or lack thereof, is just a reflection of the state of my life right now. I really need to get it together. But I also don't want to fall into the trap of equating who I am with what I produce. Ah, such a balance!

I hope you have all been well. More to come later!