week twenty-two

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Elise:  We're so thankful for Mrs. McCrary and the wonderful year Elise had with her in second grade!

Caleb:  Couldn't have asked for a better way for Caleb to start his official school career, than in Mrs. Wells' kindergarten classroom!

{It wasn't until the last day of school that I realized we DIDN'T have to say goodbye to teachers and friends and schools forever when we said goodbye on the last day of school.  Two years ago, sweet Elise said goodbye to Mr. Atkinson and friends in Sicily and we soon moved to North Carolina.  By the end of her first grade year with Mrs. Jackson, we knew we were on our way to Missouri, so again we were farewelling teachers and friends for the foreseeable future.  It will be so nice to start the next school year in a familiar place with friends already waiting for us!

Elise, Caleb, & Lucas:  Looking too cool for school as they headed off to their last day!  Lucas has been such a good cheerleader to them and he is SOOOO excited to have them home for summer!

Lucas:  Loving some "beach time" at the Magic House!  A few weeks ago, Lucas saw the sun glistening off the trees on the horizon and he was really convinced that it was the ocean.  I did my best to explain just how very far we were from the ocean here in Missouri...not quite sure if he got it, but at least the Magic House imported several tons of sand so that we could still enjoy getting covered in it!

Eden:  Took the littles out for a coffee/cookie date to celebrate the great year we've had as the three amigos at home!

week twenty-one

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Elise:  I don't know why this picture melts my heart, but it does.  Elise was a star strawberry picker and with her growing skills in the kitchen she's also helped to prep for batches of jam and shortcake for all of us to enjoy!

Caleb:  Field day this week was a huge hit!  So fun to see the kids enjoy their classmates and have fun as we come to the last week of kindergarten!

Lucas:  Had to include this one since we're still laughing at(with!) Lucas for later referring to "that time we went out for 'beard ice'!!"  It was also our first outing to Tropical Moose Shave Ice which is in the Farmer's Market a few blocks away.  :)

Eden:  A very determined lady in the strawberry patch...she filled up her bucket and refused to let anyone help her carry it.  When she got tired of waiting for all of us, she plopped down (Little Sal style!) and ate her berries with glee!

week twenty

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Elise:  Inspired by some independance in the kitchen, we've been treated to quite a few dishes from her "Pretend Soup" cookbook lately!

Caleb:  His teacher showed the class a clip from "Stomp" on YouTube and you better believe we had a week's worth of homemade musical (and/or noise making) instrument creations!  

Lucas:  Always up for a bike ride!  One of my hopes when we were looking for a house was to live in a place where we could bike (or walk) to something...anything...  What a treat it is to hop on bikes and end up at school or the library or park or maybe even the custard shop in town. (maybe!)

Eden:  She's two!  How can it be?  She's just the right combination of sweet and spunky and we just love her so!

week nineteen

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Elise:  Apparently the idea came to her at 6:43 a.m. and by 6:57 she and the boys were tiptoeing into our room to present a Mother's Day breakfast in bed!  Josh sweetly popped out of bed and encouraged them to let me sleep a little longer...they returned at 8:00 after a brief detour to Krispy Kreme.  Sorry I didn't capture a picture of our bed completely covered in glaze after we managed to devour a dozen donuts there before zipping out the door to church.  

Caleb:  First taste of a root beer float when Uncle John came to town.  He's known for his root beer affection, so naturally we HAD to share some of our local Fitz's with him!

Lucas:  In the grand opening of our newly painted loft, Caleb taught Lucas how to draw a star!  What a treat to see them patiently working together.

Eden:  She worked so hard to get the air moving the right way out of her little lips so she could blow some bubbles by herSELF!  (Good practice for blowing out birthday candles next week!)

week eighteen

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Elise:  Loved spending the afternoon with our dear friends, Bryan and Aida! (who generously shared part of their kid free weekend with us!!)  We are trying to set a record for how many different countries/states in which we can visit AND have ice cream together!

Caleb:  New reading lights for everyone's beds were a big highlight of the week!  

Lucas:  First shiner!  He came into the kitchen crying, but was instantly distracted by the pile of flour I had just dumped on the floor.  I didn't even notice his eye until bedtime when I was brushing his teeth.  

Eden:  "Bubble water 'eas mom" (Well, if you're going to talk in sentences, then by all means!)