Last Swimming Lesson

Today was the last day of swim lessons. Jack and Lauren took only eight lessons this year, but I can't believe how much they improved. I really think the small class size (3 total in the class) helps a ton. Lauren gets most improved. When we started lessons, she didn't like to put her face in the water and by the last class...well, just check the video below...swimming a bit on her own now. Jack is indedpendent in the water now. No more water wings or life jacket for him...next year he will be learning side breathing and improving his swimming form.



My little fish....

Rose Festival and First Laughs

We took our annual trip to the Rose Festival this weekend. It ws so fun seeing Lauren enjoy the rides for the first time..she is finally tall enough! Jack also had a great time. He has now grown out of the "baby" rides and now wants to go on faster ones. Unfortunately, he isn't tall enough to go on most of them. That being said, Jack and Lauren were spoiled rotten and had a great time.

Jack and I on the Scrambler...why do I look so excited?

Lauren's favorite ride was the tiger roller coaster. She went on it three times. Here are her and Papa in the front with Jack right behind them. They loved putting their hands up during the ride.

Jason walked Charlie around the entire time we were there. It was cold and he wasn't too happy.

Jeff and Jack on the bumper cars. This was Jack's favorite ride. Jack loved driving the car all by himself.

I love this one of Lauren!

Holding on to Papa getting a ride! You should have heard the squeals and laughter.

Charlie laughed for the first time yesterday. Nothing is cuter than hearing that! I tried to get it on video...it is below, but it sounds more like grunts than laughter on the tape. But I promise he really was laughing. =)

Preschool Graduation Day!

Today was Jack and Lauren's preschool graduation day. They were so excited to perform their songs and to get their diplomas. The singing performance was so cute. They both had speaking parts. Jack did a wonderful job with that. He spoke loudly and was easy to understand. I was especially proud of Lauren as this was the first time she has spoken in front of a group. (A part of me was thinking that she wasn't going to do it. In large crowds, she can get a little shy from time to time.) But, she did such a great job speaking...you could tell she was nervous, but she did it!

This is one of John, Jane, and my mom watching the performance. I am not sure if you can see John's smile, but you can tell he was really enjoying it! What a proud Grandpa! How lucky are Jack and Lauren to have such wonderful and supportive grandparents who come to watch all of their performances, games and recitals.

It is funny that Lauren "graduated" from preschool today...she still has two years left! She loved her hat and her diploma.

Below is Jack receiving his diploma. It doesn't seem that long ago that he started preschool and here we are two years later. He is SO ready for kindergarten and is excited for it to begin. I know he had a great time this year, but I think he is ready to be challenged academically at his new school.

Lauren is the cutest!

He is such a great little boy...I am so lucky that he is my son.

Happiness.


Nana and her grandchildren
Jane and John with their grandchildren

Teacher Gloria and Teacher Kathy with Jack and Lauren.

They had the best things to say about Jack and Lauren today. I was so proud of them. They said that Jack was ready for kindergarten and he was such a sweet caring boy. They were very impressed with Lauren. She was the youngest in the class and they said no one would believe that. Socially she interacted well with everyone. Her writing and letter sound and recognition is excellent. Way to go Jack and Lauren.

Here are two videos...one of each of them introducing their song.

Is it a doll or...

...no, it's Charlie!!! The kiddos had so much pushing Charlie in Lauren's baby stroller.
There is a back story to the above picture. A month or two ago, Jack kept asking me when he could hold Charlie while he was standing up. After the 10th time he asked me this, I hastily said he could hold him after he was finished with preschool. Of course, I never expected Jack to remember, but a few weeks ago, he reminded me that he could hold Charlie on his preschool graduation day. So today was graduation day and here is Jack holding Charlie. He did say that Charlie was much heavier than he thought.

Here is a cute one of Jane and Charlie.

Ballet

My little ballerina is so cute! She does such a great job at ballet and loves getting ready for her recital in June. She does ballet and tap and likes tap better. Who wouldn't love making all that noise with shoes?? Lauren has been in ballet since January and this is the first picture I have taken. Oops..

Happy Birthday Tio Todd!

We went to Amy and Todd's to celebrate his (and Mike's) birthday on Friday. What a fun celebration!

More TBall!

Here are the kiddos ready for Jack's first came. Charlie looks especially thrilled to be put in the chair for yet another picture. =)
Batter up!I love this picture...Jack on first, Jason coaching and Lauren running around her Daddy. As you can tell, the games are pretty intense!

Playing first base...can you see the second baseman in the background?? Yeah, he is playing in the dirt. About half the team is usuallly playing in the dirt while the others are paying attention. It is such a crack up!

Team cheer!

Jack's second game had so many fans...Grandma, Nana, Papa, Auntie Amy, Tio Todd, Gunnar and Mav. Jack was so excited to have everyone watching him and cheering for him. I asked him if he could hear everyone cheering for him after he hit the ball, and he said, "Yes, you guys were REALLY loud."

I have a real appreciation for sports cameramen. It is so hard for me to get a good video of Jack's hit, where the ball goes and Jack running to first. So this is the best I could do.

A growing boy!

I can't believe how big Charlie is now! He is holding up his head, sleeping through the night (9-6) and cooing and smiling ALL the time. He still has a fussy period of time at the end of the day, but it really isn't too bad. He is a mama's boy and seems happiest when I hold or interact with him. Charlie doesn't have much of a set schedule yet...some days he takes a several 30 min. naps and other days he takes two naps for about 1-2 hours. (He sleeps longer when I hold him, but when he is sleeping is when I get to play with Jack and Lauren or actually get some cleaning done, so I usually put him down. Or there is this morning when I should be dusting, but instead I am blogging. =) Here are a few recent pictures of Charlie. He is already 11 weeks old! I can't believe that!He holds his head up pretty well now. He can stay in his bumbo seat for about five minutes before getting tired. Below is a picture of the kids first bath together. They all had so much fun in the tub together!

He loves spending time on his tummy.



He lost his hair quickly and now it is growing back in.



He is just starting to laugh now.

Lauren loves her little brother.