Emmy

Emma has definitely noticed that life is different since we added baby #3 to our family. To her credit, though, she has shown nothing but love to her baby brother. Our lovie LOVES being a big sister. She is so proud of baby John-John. Today, when I was reading her a story for her quiet time, she wanted to stop the story (and we were just getting to the scary part of "The Little Mermaid" - her favorite) to snuggle with John. I put him next to her on her pillow, and she wrapped her arms around him to snuggle up. It was very sweet, and something I wanted remember. Hence, I blog.

Emmy - we love you!

Breakfast for Dinner

The other day, we had breakfast for dinner, which is Spencer's absolute favorite meal of all time. We have already planned that as his dinner of choice on his first day of kindergarten. Because I never want to forget how creative Spencer is, I had to post these two pictures. He made his meal into a work of edible art.




Spencer is a project man. He is always doing experiments, which today meant taking some equal sweetener he swiped from a restaurant table and adding salt, pepper, brown sugar and water to make "medicine." In the absence of random ingredients, he makes ant traps (tupperware containers with straws leading in...since ants like tunnels), draws inventions (the latest being a car/plane/boat combo), and makes forts. I love this kid.

2 months old already??

The other day, I set up an informal, amateur photo shoot for our little John after church. He wore an outfit that my Aunt Susan and cousins Mackenzie and Kirsten sent out, and it was too adorable not to document. (LOVE it! The thank you note is still sitting on my counter...gotta get that in the mail...)

And so, to celebrate his 2 month birthday, I am posting these photos of our little John.


Amazing how a picture like that can come from a set-up like this, no?


John gave us a sleepy smile. He is starting to give lots of awake ones too, but you gotta be quick with the camera on those.


I love this serious look. John is a VERY observant boy. He spends his awake time actively looking around the room. Ceiling fans are a particular favorite of his. He will spend long periods of time calmly watching the revolution of the fan blades. He also loves to people watch.
(Note the "Super Baby" onesie peeking out from under his Sunday outfit. One of my seminary students made that for him.)



Just to keep us on our toes, this little man continues to defy physical expectation. He is already able to sit up by himself! Sure, it lasts only a second or two before he slumps forward to a tripod sit, but still WAY impressive. I can't wait to see what this little He-man does in life.

Annie Jr.

Last week, we went to see Pickwick Drama Camp's production of "Annie Jr." Trina, my youngest sister, was one of the orphans. She LOVED being in the show. She stayed with us last week while my parents were out of town. When I commented to her about what a wonderful, pleasant helper she has been, she explained that she learned that from the play "because orphans are nice to each other and help each other." Love it.

Here's a video of one of the numbers. It was such an impressive show, especially since it was put together in just a 2 week camp with 7-14 year old cast members. Awesome.



Rascals. I cannot get blogger to upload the video. Maybe it will magically work after I post this. If not, check flickr for the real deal.

Isn't he handsome?

John is starting to give some sweet, sweet smiles. He is winning my heart all over again. Love you, Johnny!

Preschool Graduation

June 7th was Spencer's preschool graduation. We attended the ceremony as a family. We're so proud of our graduate!


Here is a photo of the graduating class.


And the graduate himself: a 5-year-old in full regalia.


As we pulled out of our street, Emma pointed to a book that we have entitled "It's Graduation Day!" In the book, a big brother graduates, and the little sister insists that she needs a hat too. The brother finds her some bunny ears to wear. Emma was holding the book and said, "Let me read you the instructions," which indicated she, too, needed to wear bunny ears if she was going to fulfill her role in the day. We did a quick U-turn to comply with the request since we had some extra time and since she was modeling a fantastic reading strategy. What a great text-to-self connection!

Here's a picture of the pages Emma showed us.


Here's our Emma, making the story come to life.


We were very fortunate to have a carpool of GREAT kids from our ward. Here they are, all dressed up for the big day.


Mrs. Corwine was the lead teacher. She had classes of "student teachers" (high school students) that she mentored as they planned lessons and activities for the preschoolers. Spencer really came to love Mrs. Corwine; I did too. She is a fantastic educator.


Here is Allie, one of Spencer's favorite student teachers. He talked her into many a private drawing session through the course of the year. Thank you, Allie, for drawing Easter eggs, cars, airplanes, and boats upon request. We definitely see why Spencer liked preschool with so many cute student teachers to hang out with.


Finally, here is Spencer with his buddy Luke on their first day of preschool.


This photo is of them on graduation day.

The photo can hardly do justice to the amount of growth these boys have had through the course of the year. They entered the preschool door the first day clutching hands, a bit anxious about what they were getting themselves into. By the end of the year, the darted forward along the sidewalk on the way to school. I was hard pressed to keep up with them. Spencer has become a more independent, confident kid. He has shown some definite math smarts and can decipher many words. I know he will be hugely successful in kindergarten; he's ready for it. The question is...am I ready for my little boy to be in kindergarten? The time is passing all too quickly...

Photo Shoot!

Okay VA folk...my sister-in-law is coming to town. At least, she is coming if she gets bookings for 12 photo shoots to help bankroll the trip. So, if it's been a while since your last family portrait, go to this link to see her stuff and book a session.