To heck with staying up to date!

Oh good grief...I would love to stay up to date, but frankly, I've got too much other stuff going on and (the biggest reason) I take way too many pictures! Ha! I'll be skipping most of the summer and going straight for the fall/back to school pics. Fall is my favorite anyway :) Maybe if I get snippets of time with both kids in school I'll go back and update the summer stuff...

Jump on it!

This summer has sparked a new friendship between Maguire and Elizabeth.  They crack me up!

O is for Oliver and Owl

One of my best friends, Megan, is having a little baby boy named Oliver.  The rest of the original "Girls Night" girls had a dinner out to focus on Megan and give her our gifts.  We ordered her swing (owl-themed, of course!) for her and I had a few other small gifts as well.  It was fun--as always--to spend time with my great girl friends and celebrate Megan and Oliver!

This is the owl bib I crocheted.  I saw the pattern and HAD to make it for Megan/Oliver!

Do your ears hang low?

That's one of the songs our ice cream truck plays.  June ushered in the "official" start of summer with the return of Renee and her bright pink ice cream truck.  Most parents cringe at the tinny sound of that music off in the distance that every kid can hear miles away {I admit, there are days when I do too}, but we here in this neighborhood love it!  Summer hasn't truly arrived until we've got a picture of the kids on our front porch eating their crazy-expensive sweet treats.  Fortunately for us, Renee {the ice cream truck driver} always lets us know what her summer schedule will be.  For the last 3 years it's been every Tuesday and Saturday between noon and 12:30.  So, if we want to be home...or don't want to be home, we know when she's coming.  Renee drives the cleanest truck I've ever seen and she knows all the kids' names and the parents' names too. 

Yep, Maguire's still in his PJ top and undies.  That's just how he rolls on summer mornings :)

The girls!  Elizabeth, Leah, Ashlyn

Who needs the World Cup??

Not us! This spring we signed the kids up for soccer at the YMCA.  Looking back, I'm not exactly sure why I pushed to do this.  I never played soccer as a kid.  Kyle played in high school, but wasn't overly anxious for them to start "organized" sports.  Well, he was 1/2 right :)  

They started out excited...

...but then Maguire wasn't so sure...

...he was more concerned with water breaks and using the port-a-potty...

...but Ashlyn enjoyed it and was actually quite good (she scored 3 goals!)...

...all-in-all they had fun...

...and their soccer experience was...

{an experience}

Maguire moves on

Moving up from the Young 3's to the 3's class next year!  This year was a great introduction to preschool for him.  He absolutely LOVED Fridays when he got to go to school like Ashlyn.  It didn't hurt that he had a fabulous teacher and some fun friends in his class! 

Mrs. Whitmore pumped them full of treats...thanks ;)

Drew and Maguire:  making typical boy/truck noises

Lanee:  Oh boys...

Our best attempt at a class picture.  One girl wasn't there and the other two were a little camera-shy, so we just got Mac, Drew and Lanee.  And it was TOUGH to get one where they were all even close to smiling-and-looking-at-the-camera!

Mrs. Whitmore

We're going to miss her!!

Maguire loved her...and so do I!

I did the same gift for Mrs. Whitmore as well.  I mean, when you've got a good idea, why not use it...again??

The Graduate

 A preschool graduate that is.  I can't believe how fast the time goes.  The kids put on a little program with songs, certificates and a final blessing from Pastor Love.  I love this preschool and I'm so glad that we still have another 2 years there with Maguire!

A few pics with her girl friends -- the Fab Five...minus Elizabeth

After the program, all the students went to a nearby park for a picnic.  That's also where we gave Mrs. Christians and Mrs. Fagerlin their end-of-the-year gifts.  Kristi and I collected money from all the parents in the class, pooled it together and purchased gift cards from the mall, Reds on the River (one of the best and nicest local restaurants) and Starbucks.  We arranged them inside paper flowers stuck into a lily plant.  They were a hit!  I know I'd love a gift like that :)

After the picnic Emily stopped over for some impromptu pool fun

No more pencils, no more books...

...no more teachers' dirty looks?  Nah!  {We'll miss these teachers!}

Another school year has come and gone.  It's hard to believe that Ashlyn's preschool years are over and that she'll be heading to kindergarten in the fall!  Here are a few pictures of Ashlyn and Maguire on their first day of school and then on their last day of school. 

Beautiful Ballerina Bear

I am so grateful that we have an incredible Christian dance academy in our area.  Hearts In Step is a dance  school that teaches young girls (and boys!) how to dance in ways that are technically sound while also being God-honoring.  Ashlyn is in love with dancing and--I'll completely forgo humility here--I truly believe she has a gift for it!  She takes after her daddy and is very comfortable performing on stage (while her mommy is quite UNcomfortable).  This year Ashlyn's class danced to "Jesus Let Us Come To Know You", a sweet song from Michael Card's "Sleep Sound In Jesus" lullaby album.
In the weeks leading up to the recital I asked Ashlyn to show me her routine, but she would tell me she couldn't remember it.  When she still "couldn't remember" the routine a few days before her recital, I started to worry a bit.  I told her she needed to know it for the performance, be she assured me that if she forgot, Sarah Grace (her teacher) would be on the side doing the routine along with them and she could just follow Sarah Grace.  Kyle and I both told her UH-UH!  Learn the routine, Girly!  Before her final class I asked Sarah Grace if Ashlyn knew the routine.  She looked at me like I was a little crazy and said, "Uh, yeah!  She leads the whole thing."  I recounted Ashlyn's "story" and she told me that she NEVER does the routine along with them and certainly wouldn't be doing it the day of the recital.  We shared a laugh about my goofy little girl.  I mean, if you're going to lie, why lie and say that you don't know the routine when you absolutely do?  Silly girl!  (Ashlyn is in the front/center and begins & ends the dance)

A few days before her recital Ashlyn told me that they would be "dancing for Jesus.  And if people doesn't know about Jesus, our dancing will tell them!"  Just melts a mama's heart!

 After the dress rehearsal, Ashlyn and I went to dinner at Red Robin and then to a flower shop to pick out flowers for Sarah Grace (Sunflowers--SG's favorite!)...and to get an idea of what flowers Ash liked best so I could purchase them for Maguire to give to her :)  We did this last year, too, and I'm really hoping that our little tradition sticks!

What support!  Grandma & Grandpa Warmington, Papa & Mimia, and Great Grandma Desi (my dad's mom) came to watch their little ballerina.

Next year I think we'll get a babysitter for Maguire.  Dance recitals aren't necessarily his thing.  Right as Ashlyn's class came out on stage, he had a little meltdown and Kyle took him out into the lobby.  I was just sick about Kyle missing her dance!  Oh well, I guess that's why you buy the DVD :)  In Maguire's defense (now that I've had time to "cool off"), Ash's group was the 13th group out of 15!  He had sat through everything up to that point so nicely.  By the time she came out, he'd had it!

Ashlyn's best friend, Elizabeth, joined her ballet class this year.  And two of her other best friends, Grace and Isabelle, came with their mom's to watch Ash dance.  Ashlyn loved having her friends there!

We're so proud of Ashlyn and we just adore watching her dance her way through life..."dancing for Jesus", as she says :) 

I'm a happy mother!

For Mother's day we traveled to Muskegon to attend my parents' church, then had brunch with them and my grandma.  I received some super-special handmade cards from the kids (one of them complete with our favorite "knock-knock" joke written on it :) ), an incredible poem from Kyle (he's so talented!), a nice big Starbucks gift card (my usual request :) ), and a really cool photo card (made at Shutterfly) from my parents.  There were a few other things as well, but--being a "words of affirmation" girl--the cards are tops for me :)  After a relaxing afternoon at my parents' while the kids napped, we ended the evening with my favorite pizza--Mr. Scribb's!  There's just nothing quite as good!

I'm blessed with two fun, smart, gorgeous children; a godly husband/father to my kids; a mother who is one of my best friends; a grandmother who I love and enjoy spending time with, and two other grandmothers who I love just as much and recently got to hang out with in California.  Because of this...I am a happy mother.

 

Papa, Mac, Kyle - 3 of the most important men in my life

 

Sweet Ashlyn kisses

  

Ashlyn telling me this secret: "Mama, you're the best and I love you so, so, so much!"

 

Four generations of Spoelman women

Maguire took advantage of the chocolate fountain at brunch and ended up with chocolate lipstick ;)