N/P Lake House and PK Weekend

Tom and I were invited out to The Harbor on Possum Kingdom Lake for the weekend. Nana and Papa said they'd watch the kids for us. We brought them out to the lake house on Friday after Dylan's and Chases graduation program. We stayed over Friday night and then headed to PK the next morning. Madelyn was so excited about this. We've never brought them somewhere and left them. She kept saying "so you and daddy are going to stay over tonight and then leave tomorrow and we're going to stay?!". When I would say "yes" she would get so excited and say "Marek, did you hear that?! Yeah!". Seriously, are we that boring or is it that we're too strict and Nana and Papa let them do whatever they want? I think it's the latter of the two. :)

When we arrived at the lake house, Nana had their explorer backpacks all ready for them. . .

They swam for a while . . .
Then we took a little boat ride around the lake. . .

After dinner they enjoyed some s'mores!

Relaxing by the dock with daddy . . .

We all sat down on the dock that night and just kicked back and chilled. . . for about 5 minutes when the kids began to get antsy . . .

Checkin' out the lake with their binoculars . . .

The next morning after breakfast, Tom and I packed up again while Nana and Papa entertained the kids with bubbles! Always a crowd pleaser.

Marek using his ninja skills to get the bubbles. Those bubbles didn't stand a chance!

We had such a great time at The Harbor. It was an amazing place and we WISH we could afford a cabin, cottage, even a condo there. We just bought a house so we're a little broke. :)

Here I am with Chris's girl friend, Donna, and another friends wife, Rene.

We took a boat ride around PK lake on The Harbor's charter boat. They stopped by these cliffs, of course, because Tom and Chris wanted to jump. Here is Tom jumping after Chris - he did a flip in the air. Best part was, Chris' brother pulled up in his full boat blasting the song "Jump" by Van Halen. Of course Tom waited to jump when they yelled "JUMP!" in the song. It was classic but he's grounded.

It was such a fun and relaxing weekend. Thank you so much, Nana and Papa, for watching our babies so we could get away for a quick weekend.

Dylan and Chase Graduation

Dylan's and Chases graduation ceremony was during the day. I loaded the kids up and took them up to go watch their cousins graduate! We were leaving as soon as we got home for Nana and Papa's lake house.

Here is Dylan with his sign for the song . . .

And Chase - holding it up on que!
Receiving their "Diplomas". . .

Congratulations, Dyland and Chase!!

I had taken a ton more pictures - had a 2Mb card filled from Memorial Day Weekend et al. Gone. At some point during this ceremony I had to switch out the my cards because the other was full. Apparently I left the little zipper open on my camera case and my 2Mb card with all the pictures is gone. :( So sad.

Madelyn's Pre-K Graduation

I just love the preschool my kids attend (past tense for Madelyn!). They had a big graduation ceremony for all the Pre-K students going into Kindergarten "next year". I think it's funny how they say "next year" when it's only 3 months away!! My baby is going to be starting school in just 3 months. My baby. I'm not sure where the time went.

We took up an entire row at the program. :)

It was a Beach Party theme.
My tired guy and me.

Madelyn waving to her adorning fans (us). Brian was soooo cute. He stood up and made sure she saw where we were sitting and kept waving to her and snapping photos. Such a proud uncle and God Father.

Trying not to smile . . .

She just can't help it!

There's my rock star!!

Here is a short video clip of one of their 3 routines on stage. In this one her class was playing kazoos.

It was all a little too much for my man. He was out before the program even started.

I layed him down on the seat behind me to make him more comfortable. Now my (much larger) bottom was sitting on about 2" of cushion. :)

Here is Madelyn accepting her "diploma" from Ms. Brenda.

The recession. They all have their new bibles. So sweet.

After the show, we all went to get her out of her classroom. Nana had flowers for her.

She felt like a movie star.

We found out about half way through the year that Ms. Brenda and Mimi were related! One of the readers books we brought home had "Brenda Stavinoha" stamped on the inside. Not a very common last name. I asked her about it and she seemed a little concerned as to how I knew her maiden name! When I told her she was relieved that it wasn't because I was doing background checks. :) Turns out they are related - Mimi's dad was her grandfather's brother, I think. Anyway, I gave Ms. Brenda the Stavinoha genealogy chart. So fun! I know my girl was in good hands. :)

My baby girl and me.

Madelyn and Maleina (daughter of one of Tom's MBA friends who attends the same preschool).

After the big celebration, we all headed back to our place for the afterparty!

BJ got lots of hugs, kisses, and tickles!

So much fun. We really appreciate everyone coming out on a Thursday night (school night) to celebrate our precious girl.

Kindergarten Roundup

Yes, my oldest baby starts KINDERGARTEN this year! I can't believe it - I blinked and she was 5. I was able to get her enrolled at the school in the school district that our new house is in. Thank God everything happened as it did.

She looked so small with all those kids. Remember, elementary school goes up to 5th grade!! Those are BIG kids! There's a wing just for the Kindergarteners. As I filled out the remaining paperwork (printed most of it online and had it filled out beforehand) the kids took a tour of the school with one of the sweet Kindergarten teachers. I just can't believe she starts in August!

Dylan's RAD

Reactive Airway Disease. He has breathing treatments every so often (at home) for this. He had a bad attack last night in the middle of the night. Kelly took him to the ER and they sent her to Cooks Children's Hospital. They were having a hard time getting his breathing back to normal. Mads and I went to go visit big D and bring him and mommy some snacks and drinks.

Madelyn cozying up with Dylan in his bed.

Dylan playing some video game on the TV and Madelyn playing the Nintendo DS.
The nurses came in to give him a breathing test to see how he was doing . . .

Taking a walk to get rid of some of the congestion in his throat.

He was released tonight, thank goodness. We will say some prayers for our big man.

It's a . . .

GIRL! Madelyn and Marek will be getting a baby sister on October 20th (actually probably a week - or more- before)!! We're so very excited to meet our precious little angel.

Here she is!! I put Madelyn's 18 week sono up to this one and they look identical! Same little button nose!

Here is her teeny tiny hand waving to her momma!

Feet . . .

Girl parts!
We're still trying to think of names - we have a few ideas already . . .

Any suggestions?!

Happy Mothers Day!

What a beautiful day! On Sunday we got a picnic lunch (thanks to McAllisters!) and headed to the park next to our new house!! They accepted our bid now we're in the option period! We are so excited but don't want to get our hopes up before getting it inspected. It's a very solid house and I don't suspect we'll have any issues, though!

Here are the kids playing at the new park!

It has several ponds with fish, turtles, geese, ducks, walking trails, etc. Just a beautiful area. I had brocolli cheese soup with a bread bowl that I didn't eat so we used that to feed the ducks!

and the turtles . . .

That night after naps, we had dinner at my favorite place, Mi Cocina! Although it's not quite the same without the mambo taxi . . .

After dinner, we always walk around Southlake Town Square. Here are my babies making wishes and throwing pennies into the fountain . . .

Family picture! Doesn't Marek look happy. :)

That's better!

Me and ALL my babies on Mother's Day.

I'm so blessed - beyond my wildest dreams. My children are happy, healthy and beautiful.

I hope every Mother feels as special as I do today and always.