Halloween highlights

Before neighborhood Trunk or Treat...

 Pumpkin carving night...

 A Halloween-themed lunch (yes, that's a Frankenstein made out of bologna!)...

 Family Halloween fun night at school...

Halloween socks at soccer...

 I hope everyone had a fun Halloween season like we did!  :)

summer camp!!

Sam wrapped up his 9-day summer camp at the end of June. He was sad to have to miss 3 days of it due to strep throat and pneumonia, but we made sure he got to do what he was most looking forward to: archery! He thinks he's freaking Robin Hood now. :)

He had a blast at this camp...the complete classic summer camp that included crafts, capture the flag, archery, canoeing, fishing, hiking in the woods, etc, etc, etc, etc! We were invited for a fun show on the last day and then our camper showed us around the camp.

He will definitely be attending next year, along with his sis, who was too young to attend this year. Such a great program!

gone fishin'

The kids finally stopped practicing their casts in the yard and actually went fishing. Thank God...I was getting sick of untangling fishing line from the trees in the back yard! They had a blast and even met some new friends. Sam caught three fish and Grace caught one that managed to get away and flop back into the water before she could get it all the way onto the dock.

They are both anxious to get back out and do it again. Fishing is so not my thing, but it was fun to watch their excitement. :)

time flies... (July 4th festivities)

I'm so far behind on my blogging! That must just mean we're too busy enjoying our summer, I guess...definitely not a bad thing. Going to play a little catch up with this Fourth of July picture post. Lexington puts on a great parade and street fair. No, we have no idea who the kid in the blue shirt is, but he and Sam ended up in the Lexington Herald Leader photos together!

Sam: "Now there's something you don't see everyday." :)

Sam: "Don't shoot!"

Grace LOVES the horses...and Ronald McDonald... :)

And what's a street fair without sugar?

Fun day! We ended it by skipping the fireworks downtown since last year was NOT fun. We got to see a nice fireworks display while at the drive-in movie the night before and we knew we were looking forward to fireworks on the beach in MI, so it wasn't a tough decision. Fortunately, it seemed most of our neighbors decided to put on a show of their own, so we were able to enjoy some anyway from the comfort of our home.

Bieber Fever!

Grace recently participated in a dance camp where the theme for the week was Hip Hop Hula Party. My girl rocked it out and LOVED every minute of it! Even though she's decided against dancing this school year, I definitely see her participating in future summer camps with Miss Lindsay.

what a fun day it was...

Grace's birthday party was one of the best ones, yet. Kind of made me wish Sam had the option for a park birthday party, but February weather prevents that!

Grace wanted a party where they could play soccer, play t-ball, have their faces painted, do a craft and play on the playground...and she got just that! Since past birthday parties were getting a little large, I started the "you can invite the number of kids that equal the age you're turning" rule that my mom had with us when we were kids. It worked out great (that is, after Grace's nail-biting decision of who to invite that almost made me give in and let her invite more...almost). The small group played well together, no one got left out, and Kris and I had an easier time keeping track of everyone. That will definitely be the standing rule from this point on.

Oh, and the cake was a big hit! Grace had drawn a picture of what she wanted a couple of weeks ago and actually had me and Kris sign off on it...a binding contract!! She is a big fan of all the cake baking/decorating shows that are all over tv right now, so she insisted that we use fondant on her cake. Seriously, I don't know if fondant even existed when I was a kid, but if it did, I definitely had no idea what it was!

In true diva fashion, she kept the celebration going beyond the actual birthday, when we headed north to MI on vacation and she squeezed in a birthday celebration with Kris's side of the family. Posts on that will be coming soon!

What we've been up to {Part 11}

We've been watching out little man graduate from kindergarten! It was a fun, yet tearjerking show, as they presented us with a slide show of the year at the end, as they had for preK the day before. Of course they have to get us with the music selections! Let Them be Little, Angels Among Us, etc...there wasn't a dry mama eye in the house! So proud of all Sam has accomplished this year...and he is so proud to be heading to FIRST grade in the fall.

What we've been up to {Part 10}

We've been attending the wedding of Q & U! This is the end-of-the-year program for preK at CKS. It was seriously one of the most adorable things I've ever seen. :) It was bittersweet saying good-bye to Grace's wonderful teachers...what a great year she has had for her first year at CKS.

What we've been up to {Part 9}

We've been participating in fun end-of-the-school-year activities!

PreK Field Day

Even though it only lasted an hour, the PreK kids had so much fun during their Field Day activities. I was in charge of the obstacle course on the playground which was a challenge! The best part was the tug o war, though...Grace's class won and they were soooooo excited. :)

A Day at the Farm with the Kindergarten Classes

Grace got tag along for this one...she was thrilled! It was a really fun day for everyone and the best field trip Sam has had all year. We had a hay ride, played games, had lunch, learned how they saddle a horse/pony, fed chickens, pet horses, and the list goes on! Perfect way to wrap up a busy year of learning. :)