The Quotes Just Keep Coming!

B, getting up after bedtime to hug me:  "I'm giving you 20 hugs.  They're all connected together."

B:  "We should make Ella and Delia out of yarn sometime.  We'd have to have special, special tools to do it."

My phone rang today - which doesn't happen often, by design - and as it was ringing, Benjamin yelled:

"MOMMY, CAN I TALK TO WHOEVER IT IS?!"

I wasn't sure which category fit this one.  Maybe, "Things Benjamin says that Jonathan would never say," or, "More evidence that Benjamin is our extravert," or... fill in the blank!

Also, Jonathan mentioned at dinner tonight that he wished that sin had matter, and that our heads had hinges so that we could open up the top, and then we could just take the sin out and throw it in the garbage.  I mentioned that we wouldn't need Jesus then, and he thought that Jesus could be the hinge installer.  Good idea!

I Couldn't Make These Up

My kids make me smile every day...and make me laugh, too.  Here are some quotes and conversations that tickled me:

#1:

Benjamin and Jeff, talking about peeling nails and how it's a bad habit, and how peeling a nail down too far hurts....

Jeff:  That's the worst feeling in the world!
Grace:  Falling in a volcano is the worst feeling in the world!

#2:

Jonathan:  Mommy, we watched this crazy video, with these ladies (and they were dressed modestly, just so you know.)

Goes on to describe the video he watched with his dad.  Awesome.

#3:

Benjamin:  Stealing cars is a bad habit.

#4:

Benjamin:  Mommy, Adam and Eve didn't wear any clothes, so they had to stand behind bushes when people came by to take their picture.

#5:

Benjamin, to Jeff:  Daddy, were houses invented when you were a little boy?

Jeff:  Yes.  What if they weren't?

Benjamin:  Well, that's good, because if they weren't we would have to live in caves.

#6:

Benjamin, to me:  Mommy, do you have a thin, I mean a skinny, curling iron?
Me:  Yes, it's kind of thin...why?
Benjamin:  Because I might want to curl my child girl's hair, if I have girls.
Me:  You mean when you're a dad?
Benjamin:  Yeah.  And I also might want to take them to Legoland.

Open House for Jonathan and Grace (in May, of Course)

While Cheryl was here (yes, I still need to post about that!) and near the end of the school year, we went to Jonathan and Grace's Open House.

Here is Jonathan at his desk with all of his finished products.

This is the character board that his class created and used for their overnight trip.

And, huge thanks to Jonathan's teacher for a memorable fourth grade year for him!

At Grace's classroom, she got permission to write a note to her teacher on the white board, which I suspect is a rare treat.  I thought her note was very sweet.

Huge thanks to Grace's teacher, too!

There was an art show in the cafeteria, so here are the kids next to their creations.  Grace's is the big, bright one - not surprising, right?

Jonathan is pointing at his.

Jeff and Cheryl went to get the car while we waited here.  The kids goofed around, and I got involved in a nice chat with Jonathan's teacher from last year.  We were thankful that Jeff was in town for Open House, and that Cheryl was here for a visit and got this glimpse into the kids' school year.

Most of all, we're happy that it's summer!

Grace's Kindergarten Graduation

The day before Grace's last day of school, her class had a little graduation ceremony.  Since Jonathan's class didn't have one (and Jeff and I didn't "graduate" from kindergarten, either,) this was our first experience of the sort.  Grace, of course, was super excited.

She and her classmates performed a few songs for us, and she did well, but was also very embarrassed to perform.  Her teacher announced each child and told their favorite part of kindergarten as well as what they want to be when they grow up.  Grace's favorite part was graham crackers for snack, and she wants to be a veterinarian so she can help all the animals.  Her teacher was surprised by the graham cracker bit - but I was not.  Not one bit!

Here are the obligatory posed pics, of us and of my mom and Don, too.

And here she is with a few of her buddies.  There were some of her little guy-buddies that I wish we had in pictures, but she did not want pictures with any of the boys!

 These two pics below are actually from the last day, but I had to include them.  Grace and the little girl below always holler to each other after school when picking up older siblings.  It's pretty cute.

And, one last picture with her kindergarten teacher.

She's on to bigger and better things...in first grade!!!

Last Day of Fourth Grade and Kindergarten

So, here we are.  The end of our first year with two kiddos in school.  And the end of going up to school three times a day to pick up or drop off.  I am sad that they're one year older, but not sad to quit those midday trips to school.  If you'd like to see how they've grown, here is their First Day of Fourth Grade and Kindergarten.  Jeff wasn't with us on the last day of school...and we were feeling a little less serious and diligent...so the last-day pics are a little goofier than the first day.

Grace has grown even more than I realized.  I really like this tradition of wearing the First Day clothes on the Last Day.

Yes, the days of Benjamin in the stroller didn't last for too long last fall.  He's a good walker now, although we have ended up driving to and from school quite often.

The required hugging picture usually produces some smiles!

On the kids' last day of school, Grace's class - and all the kindergarten classes - went to the park for playtime and lunch.  I didn't realize that we'd be able to take her home early, but that was the case...so, I signed her out and we waited for Jonathan.  I had brought a picnic blanket for the time at the park, and it came in handy for some lounging with the younger kiddos.  Passersby kept commenting on our situation, so I asked a friend to take our picture, just so we could remember the moment.  I'm so glad we did.

When Jonathan got out of class (finally,) he wanted a picture with his two buddies, so we found them and managed to get a picture with everyone's eyes open and nobody walking through the background.  Jonathan won't go to school with these guys next year because he will be attending a new school - if all goes as planned.  That will complicate our morning and afternoon routines, to be sure, but that's one of the reasons I'm at home - to give them what they need - and, I won't be going to school midday to pick up a kindergartener, at least!

Jonathan's teacher gave each kid a gift that they were not supposed to open until they got home.  Jonathan restrained himself and didn't open it on the way home...he waited until he actually got home.  And then he read it in the first couple of hours of his summer break.

Gracie had received a birthday present that included a promise of the third Grace book when it was released.  I picked it up for her from the sweet family who gave it to her...and she jumped right in and finished it by the end of the afternoon, as well.  (We got home just after lunchtime, so she had a full afternoon to enjoy it!)

I imagine that I'm going to be seeing a lot of this - the backs of books - all summer long.  As long as I can keep them supplied with books, that is!

Pearler Bead Models (April 25)

Here's one more way that Jonathan likes to build.  I don't really understand what's going on in that mysterious mind of his, but here's the outward evidence of the inward plan to build a three-dimensional model of our house..out of Perler beads.

The beads...

the pieces...

more pieces...

 after the walls are erected...

and the roof and fence have been added.

And, here's the top view of our Perler Bead house.

Origami (March 5)

Something about Jonathan that I have rarely mentioned, but that has been developing and increasing, is his love of - and skill - at - origami.  When Jeff was secretly planning Jonathan's lesson with an origami master, he took a couple of phone pictures of some of Jonathan's more recent creations.  These are things he's made using books and videos, but more recently, he's been inventing his own creations.  Apparently, the larger towns that are not too far from us have groups of folders that gather periodically, as well as opportunities to enter original works in their county fair.  The origami teacher encouraged him to get involved and enter.  Maybe he will! 

The Office (May 19)

In case you couldn't tell, this is Benjamin's office.  You can see the computer screen and the mouse, right?

Please don't bother him.  He needs to make some phone calls.

Plan B (May 9)

Last summer, our church had a father-son campout.  The boys went with Jeff, and they have been talking about it ever since.  (Maybe because of the Oreos and donuts, but I think it is just because they love Jeff.)  Grace, of course, is always so sad that she can't go.  This year, when it came up again, Jeff and the boys signed up to go, so I decided to plan something Grace would love:  a trip out to eat and some local attraction on Friday night, and a trip to the AG store on Saturday.  (This would just be a visit - we would NOT be coming home with a doll, and we would NOT eat at the cafe, but we could look around at everything, which is so fun, and she could spend the small amount of money she had saved up.)  She was excited, and so was I.

BUT...the father-son campout was cancelled.  After much discussion, Jeff decided to camp in the back yard with the boys, but I couldn't just cancel on Grace.  On Friday night, she wanted to eat at Taco Bell and we planned to go to the local used bookstore, but at the last minute, we chose Panda Express, and she chose to look at the animals at the pet store.  And I enjoyed watching her.  She was particularly enamored with a little hamster that kept climbing the wall of its cage, and she wanted to name it Curiosity.  I thought that was a great name!

Here she is getting her dolls ready for their Saturday trip to see their friends.  She has discovered that she has my mom's talent for closing her eyes in pictures, so she's practicing keeping them (very) open in this one.  She decided to carry the Bitty Twin, Maddie, in the carrier, and carry her AG doll, Grace, in her arms.

I promise I will teach her that tights are not pants.  But other than that, they look pretty cute.

Jeff made the point, and I agreed, that we had been apart as a family too much lately - May had a lot of travel and other commitments for us - so they whole family piled into the not-so-mini-van and made the drive together.  The boys visited the Lego store at a crowded mall while we girls went to the AG store, and then we all had lunch together.

Here we are getting ready to go inside.

Grace and I really enjoyed our time at the store.  She had a terrible time deciding how to spend her money.  The amount was below the cost of a lot of the fun outfits and things, so I guess this was an opportunity for me to teacher not to spend her money just to have spent it.  In the end, she found a crafty book that she loved, and we were both happy with her choice.  And I sneakily bought a couple of small items to save for Christmas.

On the way home, we visited a small museum that I thought was underwhelming but Jeff liked, and we took some goofy pictures to remember it.  In the end, we were thankful that to have time together as a family instead of split up into boy/girl groups for the whole weekend.