Last Day of School

I know I say this every year, but this time I really mean it...I can't believe another year has gone by.  Seems like yesterday it was the first day of school and the kids were excited to find out who was in their class. 

The kids had their awards ceremonies at school.  Last year I didn't know parents were supposed to attend until I picked the kids up from school and Matt asked why I didn't come.  So Doug and I went this year, thank goodness, because ALL the other parents were there!  Anyway...we started in Matt's class...

Matt had some great kids in his class and we really liked his teacher, Mrs. Gommels.  She was very thoughtful about the awards she gave to each child.  I really enjoyed listening to her describe each one and at times I felt like I might cry even though she wasn't talking about Matt!  Mrs. Gommels couldn't find the words to start Matt's without giving it away that she was talking about Matt.  She started by saying "this student is very athletic" and the whole class screamed "Matt" in unison.  I guess it kinda surprised me...he does love sports but there are quite a few other little athletes in her class too. Matt got the Best Athlete award. 

All of the Specials teachers give awards too and these awards are really "special" because they select only one child in the entire grade to receive the award.  Matt got the PE award from Coach A and he was pretty excited. 

Marlie's awards ceremony was equally as delightful but a bit different.  Mrs. Edson selected small groups of kids to give specific awards to.  Doug and I were very proud of Marlie for getting the "Glowing Example" award for always being a good example to others.  She was joined by her sweet friends Patrick, Sydney and Gavin in receiving this award and I'm proud that she was in the same award category as them.  Like Matt, Marlie also received one of the awards from one of the Specials teachers.  Guess which one...Music!  Marlie was SO excited she got the Music award from Ms. Janes.  Marlie we are so proud of you! 

Mrs. Edson also showed a slide show that had a poem written by each child and had the audio of the kids reading their poem.  Then she had another slide show that had a picture of each student with a list of their favorites.  On their desks there was a portfolio of their important work from the year.  And this is why everyone loves Mrs. Edson.  Not only is she a great teacher but she's amazingly organized and creative. 

The girls in this class have had a love/hate relationship all year long! Man there is drama involved with girls even in 1st grade.  But they do all love each other, just not ALL the time. 

When I picked the kids up from school Marlie was crying and Matt was sad.  I surprised them by taking them to Chuy's for lunch with the Pattons followed by a trip to Tutti Fruitti.  That seemed to cheer them up and now it's time for summer!

My Little Flower Girl!

Stuart and Celina finally got married!  Stuart is Nona Lisa's son (Doug's Stepbrother) and he and Celina have been dating for years!  They are both really sweet people so Marlie (and us too) was so excited when they asked if she could be the flower girl in their wedding! 

Marlie loved everything about being a flower girl.  Getting dressed was fun.  She wanted curly hair and some make-up (minus the not-so-fun mascara we have to wear for dance).  And getting to see the bride before most everyone else was pretty neat too! Celina looked beautiful and only seemed a tad nervous!

She was also excited to meet all the bridesmaid and immediately fell in love with Ms. Stacy, the maid of honor that she got to sit next to during the wedding.  Ms. Stacy helped her and chatted with her and Marlie adored her!

Marlie loved the flowers that she carried and was so careful with them at the ceremony.  When she finally sat down she continued to hold them high (not on her dress) so Ms. Stacy helped her hold them since they were so heavy. 

The church they got married in was beautiful!  We snapped a few photos after the ceremony.  For some reason Marlie is squinting in almost every picture I have of this day! So these were the best I could come up with...

Here is Marlie with the Ring Bearer, Primo.  He was 3 and too cute.  He was told to stay with Marlie so he would not leave her side and she thought that was crazy.  In rehearsal, they were walking up the aisle and he literally stared right into her eyes the whole way.  It was adorable!

Oh I love this family!

The reception was just as lovely as the wedding.  All the cousins were there and the kids had a blast.  Marlie and Tim got the party started and tore up the dance floor all night.  Matt and Aunt Dawn loved the photo booth and both of them must have come home with 30 pictures!

What a fun day! Stuart & Celina, congratulations!  The day was amazing and we are so thankful we got to share it with you.  We'll be excited when you move to Houston so we can see you more!  May God Bless your marriage!

Smurfettes!

We were busy with dance this spring but Marlie really wanted to play softball too.  So we signed up and managed to make it to most of the events. I was not excited about the craziness this would add to our schedule but in the end I'm so glad we did it.  Marlie had so much fun! 

We missed tryouts but we told them that Marlie and her friend Kate were cousins so we needed them to be on the same team for carpool purposes.  At the end of the day, as long as Kate was on her team she was happy! Kate lives in our neighborhood and the girls have played soccer together for the past few years.  Kate is also in Marlie's class and has an older brother who is as in love with baseball as Matt is. The boys were always there to cheer them on or maybe I should say...add in their 2 cents on coaching strategy.  So I think they had fun too. Introducing #3 and #4 of the Smurfettes...

The other girls on the team had played together for a couple of seasons but Marlie and Kate both turned out to be really good adds! Marlie only struck out once - her very first time at bat - and then hit the ball every time.  Once she popped it up to the pitcher and with a little bit of luck, the pitcher caught it.  Marlie was so upset and couldn't understand why she was out.  At some point while crying she said that it was "illegal" and I had to laugh. 

The girls won their first 6 games and were crazy excited.  They were all hitting well and Marlie did great in the field!  She primarily played shortstop but played some third base and second too.  She made a couple of outs every game. She was so fast...a few times she'd run girls down and tag them out.  The Smurfettes then lost a few games and somehow ended up in 3rd place for the year.  But they didn't care...they were very excited about their 3rd place trophies!

But guess who won the end of season tournament? We did! It was a lot of fun.  Some of the games along the way were really close but we made it to the championship game.  Both of our coaches were out so Kate's Dad, Jason pitched and Daddy coached third.  The "fill in" coaches did a great job with the girls and the girls played SO well!  They couldn't have been more excited and they truly deserved the win. 

Marlie we are so proud of you.  For not playing often or even getting to practice much, you did amazing!  I'm so glad you had so much fun along the way.  Thank you to Dad for taking her to her practices and helping her.  And thank you to Matt too for coaching her in the backyard at home!

Let's Go Astros!

A few weeks ago my very kind boss gave us tickets to go see the Astros!  Although the Astros weren't doing great at the time, we still love going to cheer them on.  I find that my kids typically eat their way through the game (and well maybe I do too).  Hot dogs, nachos, popcorn and ice cream all make a 3-4 hour game go by pretty fast.

We even got to take a picture with the Astros mascot Orbit.

And on Friday nights they have a great fireworks show after the game, so no matter how long the game is we hold out until the end to see the fireworks.  So at about 11pm (3 hours after our bedtime) and after lots of sugar, this is what happens...

Which is hilarious but not nearly as cute as the video I took of her at the rodeo during the Maroon 5 concert.  This girl is full of life!  I love it! 

Marlie's Musical

Our school has a wonderful Music Teacher, Ms. Janes.  Each year, each grade does a great performance.  1st grade did Seussical the Musical and guess who got one of the lead singing parts...Marlie!  She LOVES to sing and loves performing so she was so excited.  Now granted the lead part in a 1st grade musical is maybe 1 minute long but to her it was a really big deal.

Here she is before the musical being her silly self.  I love all the funny expressions she makes. You can tell how excited she is!

Here's a little clip of her BIG part...

Marlie we are so proud of you and your friends were too. We can't wait to see what other musicals might be in your future!