A great weekend !!

Every weekend should be a 4 day weekend!

We got so much accomplished around the house and yet we also had plenty of time to relax and enjoy time with family and friends.

Saturday...my parents and my sister and her family came over for an impromptu backyard barbeque.  I set up our little bounce house and the girls had a blast.

 

After getting over heated in the moonbounce,

the sprinkler was the perfect way to cool down...

 ...and then Maura taught cousin Tatum some new tricks...

 

 Crazy cousins!!

I did actually offer them cold beverages.  I promise I didn't make them drink from the sprinkler!

Sunday...Sean installed a pond in one of our front mulch beds

Before...



(and this is after all of the overgrown, haphazardly planted, excess shrub and plants were removed...
so the real before was actually much worse!)

 

During...

 

After...



We put new edging stone along the walkway.  All the rock layered around the pond is stone we found while digging up another mulch bed area (more on that project later!)

Then fresh mulch and a some new greens behind the pond and...

Voila!

I sure made that sound easy didn't I ?!

Sunday...we also built a small retaining wall!

Before...

 The edge of that same mulch bed was {unsuccessfully} held in from the driveway with randomly sized {tipping over} cinder blocks.  It was certainly unsightly!

 

After...

 Oh, so much better !!

Monday...Memorial Day was opening day for the community pool...and this year we got a family membership!  I see lots of pool days in our future this summer. 

You'll find me in the lazy river with Audra,

Riley will be in the whirlpool until he gets dizzy,

Maura will be in the water works zone with all the fountains and water sprayers,

and Aidan will scaling the rock wall and hitting the water slides.

 

 

School Activities...Part 1

As the end of the school year approaches the weeks are filled with fun school related activities! 

April 24th:  BINGO with Maura's elementary school.  The winner of each game got to go up and select a prize basket of their liking and she had her eye on this particular basket from the very beginning.  About halfway through the games Maura got BINGO.  She was so exited!  And she was even happier because the basket she wanted was still available. 

Someone else, on the other hand, did not find bingo so exciting...

May 13th:  Carousel Night with Maura's elementary school.  We love any excuse to visit our town's carousel.  But having to carousel open to just Maura's school was so much fun.  The kids could ride over and over and over...  Not sure how they can do that--I get dizzy just sitting there watching them go around and around.  And the balloon artist clowns were a hit too!

May 23rd:  Special Olympics Day for Audra.  She participated in the district wide Special Olympics competition with her Life Skills classmates.  It was held at the high school of a neighboring school district.  The school gave each of the kids adorable shirts with their name and number on the back.  They looked like very official athletes, ready to take on the games!

Audra rocked the 50 meter dash and the standing long jump.  Her sweet principle joined all the kids for a picnic lunch and when the games were over they hopped on the bus and headed back to school for dismissal.  When they arrived back at school they were greeted with a super star reception by the rest of the school...

All the kids and teachers lined up outside and through the hallways to congratulate them.  What a sight!

 After a very long day she made it home with a shirt full of ribbons!

 

May 27th:  Maura's Field Day.  The kids love field day...why they wait to have it at the end of the school year when it is so hot, I have no idea?!  Maura is still at the sweet age where she WANTS her mom to come to all of the school events.  Luckily my work schedule is somewhat flexible and I can make adjustments so that I can be there.   

This year it was a really.really.really hot day! 

They had plenty of water events for the kids and drink stations set up, but they still decided to end the events early and take the kids inside for popsicles and a movie. 

Phew....because I was cooked and ready to go home to the air conditioning :)

Other April news...

Here's a few April highlights:

 

Earth Day:

Every year the hospital I work at sells amazing t-shirts for Earth Day.  This is the third year I have bought them for the girls...so I guess it has become a bit of a tradition.

.

This year's blue and aqua tie-dye is my favorite :)

Audra met a new little friend...

a SNAKE!!

 We spent one weekend digging out the grass/mulch area at the front corner of our driveway (more on that in a future before/after post!).  After dumping a wagon full of old dirt/mulch something caught Audra's eye....a teeny, tiny gardener snake.  Now this girl is afraid of every living thing that is not human...ALL animals...even birds, squirrels and worms! 

But this little snake captivated her attention like nothing I have seen.  She was so determined to pick it up...PICK IT UP!  The little girl who squeals at the very site of a worm wanted to touch and hold a snake ?!?!

Eventually Daddy picked it up {with a shovel of course, cause there was no way HE was touching it} and moved it to a grassy area.  Audra poked her finger around in the grass, still trying to pick it up.  And even when she gave up on actually getting her hands on the fast moving, squirmy little bugger she stood guard right there in the area where Daddy deposited her new little best friend.

Who is this little girl...and what happened to my creature fearing little one?

Riley's Track meet:
Riley would say he doesn't like participating in track,
but he says that about any activity that occurs outside of our house!
I love watching him run, and I absolutely love the atmosphere of the county Special Olympics Track and Field Competition.  They go all out for these kids.  A real flame torch that is carried by runners across the county, police escort, marching band, medals, lunch...I could go on!

 

Yes, it's the end of April, but he insisted on wearing his lucky knit winter hat.

 

I love his face in this picture, he is giving it his all

{and actually enjoying himself I think}

 

 

And to finish April out on a high note,

Someone turned 12 years old today....

 AIDAN !!

 I just realized this is his first ever birthday picture with short hair!

Well, if you don't count his 1st birthday :)

April {SNOW} shower ?!

Maura went to bed asking for curly hair...

And she got what she wanted for when she woke up !!

 

 We also woke up to something we weren't expecting in April...

a snow shower !

 

 We really haven't had much snow since the "Blizzard of 2016" in January,

and I'm quite alright with that!

Let's hope this is the last of it for a while.

3rd Familyversary

T'was the night before Audra's 3rd Familyversary,

 and her sweet {big} little sissy read stories to her until she fell asleep...

Today we celebrated 3 years of Audra!

Three years of her silly, crazy, sassy, funny, lovable (with a touch of wild and stubborn) self.



 

Sibling sweetness:

Aidan is so patient and accepting of his little sister's desire to be with him. 

Audra always wants to do whatever he is doing.

And he lets her :)

Maura loves being the "older" sister,

she is watchful and helpful, just like a little mommy.

Now, I'm not so sure that Audra wants another mommy around,

be she usually lets Maura lead the way for her.

Riley is a gentle giant, and I mean that quite literally.

He towers over Audra!
While he usually keeps to himself,
every so often he shows his affectionate side...
talking to her, consoling her,
even picking her up and carrying her around!

Easter

Easter morning,

{a bit earlier than I wanted to be up} 

 

4 excited kids waiting to see what the Easter bunny brought...

This was our first Easter in the new house...

which meant lots of brand new hiding places for the eggs!

I'm pretty sure the kids found all but one egg...

 

Our 1st attempt at group sibling photos before church...

And a 2nd attempt for a decent picutre at Grandma's house after church...

 I think the individuals pictures turned out much better than the group ones.

 

I found Maura and Tatum passing time at Grandma's waiting for the Egg hunt to start...

 

 Finally...egg hunt time!!!

 Maura is a pro...

I need to teach Audra "Easter egg hunt photo etiquette"...

you must look at the camera while grabbing your egg :)

 

After 15 years of egg hunts Riley has this down!

 



Aidan struggled to find his last egg,

which was hidden underneath the rock with his name on it in grandma's flower bed.

Poor Aidan, all the uncles strive to make his eggs the hardest to find!