2nd grade, the beginning

After a successful first day, we are looking forward to a great year in Ms. Hamacker's 2nd Grade Class!

 Teacher gift (Teacher Survival Kit)

 Pete with his playdough

 (he was so excited that his teacher let him keep it!)

Home from his 1st day of 2nd Grade.

irresistible

Pete lost one of his front top teeth, adding to his already irresistible smile!  I love this guy!

utah vacation 2011

We spent the better part of July in Utah, Nevada, Colorado.  Will share more later, but for now, here is a photo of us camping with Grandma and Grandpa V. at China Meadows, in the Uinta Mountains, UT.

this IS the place

 We spent a morning at This is the Place State Park in Salt Lake with my step-sister Nancy and her three boys.  The cousins all had fun and were so glad to spend time together.  We also spent an evening at their home and the boys had a Wii night!  Pete and Andrew are the same age (only a month apart) and always have fun when we get together.  

I love this photo of my boys and cousin Andrew.  This is what 99% of our photos look like.  Usually, I pick out the 1% where they are all smiling nicely.

 Ben

 Jack

Pete and Jack panning for "gold"

Jack found some!

 All our boys together (minus Conner who is still a babe in arms). 

Andrew, Ben, Pete, Joshua, Jack.

 Nancy and I with all our boys!  I sure miss hanging out with her like we used to.

 Grandma with the boys.

Jack on a pony ride. And this is when I ran out of memory card space :(.

We went on to the petting zoo, the mini-town play area, and then to get ice cream at the ice cream shoppe.  It was a fun-filled day!

4th of July

  We arrived in UT this summer just in time for the 4th of July weekend.  The festivities included some rocket launching on the 4th.

Happily filthy.

 Rockets were followed by some impromptu sprinkler play when they surprised us and came on during our little show.  Jack and Ben wasted no time getting wet.

Ben quickly figured out how to use the sprinkler as a weapon against his brother.

  You can just feel the brotherly love!

bike parade

 My family reunion also happened to be in UT over the 4th of July weekend and we spent some time with my extended family.  My cousins neighborhood has a little bike parade, flag ceremony, and breakfast on the morning of the 4th each year, so the boys got to ride in the Rhino and participate.  It was fun!

   When it comes to my boys there is no situation too inappropriate, nor space too small for wrestling.

Riding in the Rhino with my cousins Joel and his kids, Corrie, and Jessa's little girl Maddie.

fireflies and goodbyes

Most summer nights, the boys beg us to let them stay up and catch fireflies.  These are photos from a couple of different nights of firefly catching this summer.  In some of the shots, you can see the fireflies that look like blurry little dots of light.  It is difficult trying to catch a good photo of an already busy 4-year-old chasing a firefly.  Luckily, fireflies almost seem to flutter slowly around and blink on and off- making them the perfect target for little hands!

Both nights photos included the Mizukawa family.  For some reason, when we get together for a cookout, it usually ends up with firefly catching outside.  The Mizukawa family has moved away from Nashville and were wonderful friends that will be missed!  Luckily, they are moving closer to the city that we will be moving to next year (hooray), so we'll be planning some fun get-togethers in the future still.

You can see the firefly at the top of the photo.

Ben with his firefly catch.

Ben honing in on one!

Jack

Pete showing his catch to Ashley.

 

The Mizukawa and Van Horn Families.  We will miss these guys so much!

the best yard sale EVER!

Pete helped me make a list of 50 things we could do this summer and one of them was to have a bake sale/lemonade stand.  Our friends were putting on a yard sale and so we thought it would be the perfect time to have our kids sell their goodies.  My friend, Julie, also ended up selling her home to someone who came to the yard sale, hence it is now referred to as "the best yard sale EVER!"

Notice the summer buzz cuts- my favorite kind to do! 

Goofing around on the job.

 And, of course, no yard sale is safe from my boys.  Pete had to have a toy (he ended up with the calculator).

our REAL superpowers discovered

It all started when Jack became upset that I wouldn't let him have anymore chips for a snack while I was making dinner (mean mommy).  He sent me to time out FOREVER. 
"You have to go to time out. FOREVER." 
So, being the obedient mommy that I am, I went and sat on my bed (with the obligatory pouting lips of course).  Jack was even more upset that I actually went to time out, but after some coercion, he finally came in to "get me out" of time out.  I asked him why I had been sent to time out. 
"Because you weren't being nice." 
This is where the wrestling began.  I picked up Jack and "tossed" him over me.  There was some tickling involved and then Ben came and joined the fun.  Sometime during the commotion, the boys said they wanted to use their powers.  Ben quickly discovered his rolling power and thus began the somersaults.  I was given tickling power which is very useful and quite dangerous.  Jack took a little longer to discover his power, but soon it was clear, Jack has jumping power!  You should see that boy jump right over Ben's rolls.  It is a sight to behold.  Peter joined in at the end and we never did discover his power, until later that night at dinner.  "Mom, I have dancing power!" he said. 
Our wrestling sessions will be much more exciting now that we know we have REAL superpowers.

1st grade, the end

 Pete had an amazing 1st grade teacher this year.  I can't tell you how grateful I am to wonderful, caring people who love and teach my little ones. It is very difficult to send my kids away for the day, but it was so much easier knowing he was in Mrs. Nava's class.  She took care of him, taught him academics, helped him learn the proper way to behave, taught him not to eat his boogers, and helped him reach his goals!  I'm sad to see it end, and it is bittersweet to see Pete growing up and moving on to 2nd grade.

Super Fly Science Guy and Honor Roll!

Pete with some of his friends from 1st Grade

Pete with Alli.  Pete and Alli were also in kindergarten together.  They have plans to go to prom together and then get married (this is seriously their own plan, not influenced by parents at all)!

Pete with more 1st Grade buddies

With Mrs. Nava and the cupcakes we made for the class.

Getting cupcakes and ice cream at the end of the year class party.  Even Jack and Ben got in on the action!

 With Mrs. Nava, 1st Grade Teacher.

Goodbye 1st Grade