Nothing better on a hot day than enjoying some sunshine with your BFF, and eating popsicles !
We love love love popsicles around here, and I'm not sure why, but it is my go to solution when the sunshine is just too hot too handle and the little ones are trying their best to beat the heat!!!
Elem enjoying his favorite popsicle-blue of course!
Cecilia chomping on a purple one-her favorite.
I know they are basically sugar and water, but popsicles work wonders around this house, and can pacify some hot and worn out 4 year olds who need a boost! Thank goodness for popsicles!
Elem and Cecilia have been going to Geyer Springs First Baptist Preschool since August 2010, and preschool graduation was last week! Elem goes to school 5 days a week, while Cecilia goes MWF, and stays with Ali the other 2 days! I wish I could work that out with my schedule but it just hasn't been possible! Luckily Elem and Cecilia have been in the same 3 year old class all year, with their teacher Ms. Tracie, and it made for a smooth transition to start the school year, and provided a great level of comfort for both of them! Here is Elem's class on graduation day!
Back row-Ms. Tracie, Brooke, Ethan, Cecilia, Aubrey, Sadie, Elem, Hannah
Front row-Quinlyn, Colt, Luke, Cayden
Over the last year, Elem has really learned a lot from his little school. I know I have mentioned before that I had my doubts, but the staff and the kids are really great! I don't think any teacher or group of kids could ever live up to the expectations I have as an educator, so considering I don't have anything negative to say is a major plus! Elem has grown in so many ways, sociallly-he is so much more accepting of playing with other kids, and although he knows who he wants to play with, he is never mean to other kids at school. Behaviorally- he very rarely goes to time out and listens to his teachers well. (this is not always the case at home! but we are talking about school, so I will leave it at that! haha). Educationally-he has improved greatly in his artistic ability and creativity when it comes to art work. He goes in phases of drawing lots of people, to phases of lots of sports, to rocket ships, etc. He writes his name as good as to be expected, and just yesterday he counted to 110!!!!! I was shocked, but so proud! Spiritually-he rattles of so many things at random times about Jesus or other characters from the bible, and I am so proud of him for retaining all of that info that is really hard to grasp! He is not super into prayers, and only every once in a while will I catch him singing a bible song from school. But he does LOVE bible verses and loves sharing that he knows them.
Elem and his friends during the graduation ceremony
Elem and Cecilia after the ceremony. This is pretty typical of personalities-Cecilia is giggling and being pretty and prissy and Elem is shoeless, and talking -half way covering up his face because he knows I want a picture! haha. Oh well-We are so proud of you Elem and Cecilia, way to go! Now onto the big kid 4 year old class!!
Cecilia and Grammy :)
I cant believe the whole year went by so fast and in August Elem will be moving up to the 4 year old class! So many of his little friends were from the 4 year old class this year, and I know he is so sad to see them leave and move onto kindergarten, but I am positive he will make lots of new friends. Elem, we cant wait to see all of the great things you will learn at school this year, and all the new friends you will find! Keep on being such a good boy, and know that mommy and daddy love you so much! Happy graduation day!
Here is a little video of Elem and Cecilia getting their graduation certificates from Miss Tracie. They are so proud. I love it. So sweet I could just keep them at this phase forever!!!! Well-minus the back talking and mood swings. hehe.
On Elem's birthday, Seth was tweeting to DJ Williams and some other football players, of the Arkansas Razorback football team! And much to our surprise, Elem got a very special and shocking phone call just a few minutes later, to wish him an extra special birthday wish on his special day.
Elem wasn't quite sure what to do, and as you can tell, Seth is almost more excited to talk to the football players than Elem is. :)
(***Whistle blow**)TIME OUT PEOPLE!!! Its Birthday Party Time!!
With my nursing school semester coming to an end, the summer program for the shelter ramping up, a new part time job in the works (ill fill in on that one later), mother's day approaching, seth in and out of town for work, and T-Ball games in full swing, the month of May was busy-to say the least. But thankfully, I knew this was going to be a tough month, and I planned early-way early-for Elem's birthday. I actually had everything done in March, which is a little ridiculous I know, but when you are a busy woman, you gotta plan ahead! I debated on what to do for Elem's birthday since it was going to be one I knew he would actually remember and participate in, and I came to the conclusion that I was going to let him choose the place and who he wanted there. Until this point, I have had his birthdays at my house, because I wanted him to be able to have as many people as he wanted, and I wanted to have activities he would like and what not. But like I said this year was different. He has friends, he knows who he wants to be around, and he knows what sort of activities he likes to do, and I wanted this birthday to be FOR him, and not for me or seth or our families. So back in March I took Elem around and he checked out a few places. As soon as we walked in the door at the Little Rock Athletic CLub-and he saw the HUGE maize of tubes and basketball goal area he and his little friends would be partying on, he was SOLD. From that point on, I pretty much knew his party was going to be something sports themed, but I just didn't know what! After some serious work, I ordered the invites and we decided to have an "MVP" party, where all the kids could wear their favorite team jersey, shirt, or colors, and Elem chose to have a Football Cake-that he was beyond excited about. I brought home a paper with all the names of all the kids in his school, and we went through the list and he picked who he wanted to invite. This was so much fun, because it really showed me who he liked, and who he wasn't sure about, and who he for sure did not want coming. Haha. We didn't invite anyone that Elem didn't name specifically, and he chose all his non school friends on his own as well. So that was something different and fun that we haven't done before.
Elem was so excited when he saw the invites! (he was just happy to see himself in a football uniform haha) but I thought they turned out great!
Once we sent out the invites, we just planned to be there on time, an honestly the athletic club pretty much did everything else. And boy was I thankful! Nothing like trying to throw your little one a special party right in the middle of exams! Whew!
Mommy, Daddy, and Elem-we went all out and all wore a D. Wayde Jersey to support the Miami HEAT -by Elem's choice of course.
As soon as we got there, he was off and did not stop until we begged him to leave.
Still going.....
We are so happy his best friend in the whole wide world came. Elem and Grayson :)
Cecilia and Sailor Grace-pretty girlies.
Nate kickin it in the gym, decked out in his baseball team attire!
Uncle Spoon and Elem (jerseys were super cool, I must say!)
Elem and Lacie (his little girlfriend from school) ......I will post on the girl love elem receives at school on another day.
Da, da, da, daaaaaa-Football Feild cake, just exactly the way he wanted it.
Who is ready to eat some cake??
Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Elem, Happy Birthday to you!
After cake, presents of course! I love how all the kids crowd around at this age, and are so excited to see every single present. It is too cute! Elem racked up too I might add! Thanks to all his awesome little friends (and their extra generous parents)
Elem's birthday card from Grace-uhm and that would be Grace and Elem kissing, per Grace's mom)...hmmm not sure how I feel about this one.
After presents and cake, there was still much more playing, and lots of sweating, haha, and then we finally headed home! Elem and Aubrey playing basketball!
Overall it was such a great day! And I was just so thankful to all of Elem's sweet little friends for coming out and showing all their love to my sweet 4 year old. The day was so stress free, I didn't have to plan anything or worry about stuff showing up and being ready, no mess or cleaning up for me, and no trying to ask people to leave to go home at the end of the day! Just a perfect place for a party, and I honestly think we might have to go there again next year! I still cant believe Elem is 4 years old, it just doesn't seem like time can go by so fast, but it does. I wish there was a way to freeze time and just keep him little forever, but I know I cant. He is literally growing up right before my eyes, and becoming such a little independent person, with ideas and feelings all his own. I could not ask for a sweeter, kinder, more adorable little boy, and I hope to look back and remember such special moments like his 4th birthday as crystal clear as I do right now!
Happy Birthday to me sweet Elem. You are 4 years old and I cant believe how fast you are growing up!
At 4 years old you have grown up to be so many things! You are:
Independent (very able to do what you need to get done when you want it done! Sometimes a little too independent!)
Silly, silly, silly (always telling jokes, loves to giggle, and make people laugh)
Smart (always asking why and thinking deeper about an answer I might give you)
Good friend (kind to others and thinks about others)
Athletic (you have better hand eye coordination than we could have ever thought possible-:) You love all sports)
Music lover (enjoys every single kind of music, and dances until you drop! Always bouncing your head to a beat, trying to play the drums and guitar-air guitar is one of your favorites! And knows the words to more songs than I do)
Hardworker/Competitive (always wanting to succeed in everything you do, from playing a basketball game to pouring a cup of milk, you will be a winner no matter what! And you will take nothing less.
Mommy's boy (loves his mommy (and daddy too of course) and loves to snuggle when you are tired. Loves being tickled and being held-even though you are right around 45 lbs. Clingy when you need to be, and has me wrapped around your little finger.
Talkative(never stops talking unless asleep. and we will leave it at that!)
Elem, mommy and daddy are so proud of you and who you are at 4 years old! You are always wanting to be more grown up than you are, and sometimes we treat you like you are already there! But you are our sweet little man, so loving to others and genuine. Your smile lights up a room, and your determination to be the best makes you so special! Thank you for being YOU! And don't ever forget that we love you and how happy you make us. Happy 4th Birthday!
We have been doing a LOT of yard work lately, just taking care of the flower beds, our little vegetable garden in the back, and trying to keep our grass looking good! And I must say it is truly a family affair. Typically, Seth does the grass (I dont even try to do it), and I do the weeds and trimming of the flower garden in the front. And we all water, and take care of the rest of the duties. Elem has been so helpful this year and so excited to be a part of the process of keeping all our greenery looking good and in shape.
He loves to water the flowers and the veggies in the back. I was shocked to find out that this year he can pull the hose off the caddy and turn it on and off at the faucet. This is a little surprising to me because I still have problems getting that hose off of the caddy without tangling it up from time to time. HAHa. Not to mention turning the water on and off. That is hard work sometimes! I can name at least 5 days out of 7 where I find myself wanting to curse the whole precess because I cant get the hose long enough. lol.
For as long as I can remember, he has also been obsessed with big tools/items/electronics that we use around the house like the vacuum, weed eater, blower, and for the longest -the lawn mower! If there is even mention of Seth working on the yard and mowing the grass, he is all over it. He wants to be front line in all the action! And he takes it to a whole new level of trying to mimic his daddy with these tools. We will turn around and he will have the weed eater out in the yard (which is pretty heavy I might add), waving it back and forth around some weeds, working on it and trying to "fix it up" haha. It is so funny. The other day Seth was moving and I captured my proud Daddy's Little Helper working in the yard, putting his ipod in his pocket and ear buds in, with who knows what kind of fabulous music, while he rocked out and mowed that yard!
He is just so serious. But hopefully this little love for the lawn mower and weed eater will come in handy in about 10 years. !!!
