1st Grade Graduation

I truly could not be happier with the decision we made to send Lilly to Bella Vista. I loved her old school, and it had better ratings, but I just felt really strongly that it was important for her to go to the neighborhood school. I am so glad we made the move. The principal, her teacher and the staff were amazing. And, I can't tell you how much it has helped me to feel "settled", now that we are involved with the school and the community. We have such a cute group of kids in our neighborhood and they have gotten to be the best of friends! I love it, because that's how I remember growing up! Anton and I are so incredibly proud of Lilly and her amazing year at school. Her end of school report card was incredible...my jaw dropped when I saw some of her placements. She is turing out to be a remarkable little girl. She is smart, so kind to everyone, has a darling sense of humor, and is a hard worker. She was heartbroken that school was over, and she said she was mostly going to miss her teacher. Mrs. Wheatley couldn't have been better. I loved volunteering each week in her class, and I think she is such a wonderful teacher. I hope Claire gets her when she goes to 1st grade! It was a great year, and I look forward to next year when both my girls are at the school together!

Here is Lilly with one of her very best friends, Blake. I tried to get them to put their arms around each other, but that was not happening!

Lilly & Mia...two of the cutest little girls!

She was SO sad. Therefore I was sad. We were both emotional messes. Pathetic!!

May Randoms

We headed out to the dump to get some mulch for our yard. You can't tell here, but the girls were laughing so hard because every time Anton would bend down, you could see the top of his bum...all without him knowing! It has been so fun to make our yard "ours". We have been doing quite a bit of stuff to the front yard, but haven't quite tackled the back yet. 

Claire is GLUED to my hip. Everywhere I go, she follows. I go upstairs...2 minutes later, she is with me. I tell her I am going up to work out, she is up there in no time. It is so funny. She doesn't ask me to play or do anything, she just wants to be near me. I remember Lilly being similar when she was this age. This is why I think Claire is ready for school. She needs and wants more stimulation and interaction with people. She is such a cutie! Anton and I were leaving town with some friends, and I worried how she would do when I was gone because of how attached she has been...but she was great! It was Lilly who cried. I thought it would be the opposite. Funny little thing!

Lilly had her "Egg Drop" at school. Anton wanted her little box to look cute, so we went and bought a whole bunch of these little springs and glued them on this box. It looked really funny and cute afterward. Her egg didn't survive, but she had fun with it anyway!

Claire finally let me put her hair in sponge rollers!! I thought for sure she would take them out once she got in bed, but she didn't. He hair was in super tight curls to begin with, but later in the day they loosened up and her hair looked SO pretty!! She is a particular little thing and wants things her way, so she was a little iffy on having a change of hair. 

Claire's cousin said the other day, "Claire isn't a tomboy anymore, she is a Tomgirl now". It's kind of true. She still loves some boy things, but now prefers to play with girl things. But, her all time favorite is still anything "Cheetah". Anyway, it got hot here, and Lilly was out of summer jammies, so we went to Costco to get some new jammies for her. Claire found these night gowns and was dying to get them. I caved and bought them even though that wasn't what I usually buy. She asked me if she could wear it all night, and "all the next day". I caved again. They are only little once, right?! 

Anton's sister and her family came up last minute to visit. They are some of our very favorite visitors (and people!), so we were thrilled when they called to say they were coming up! It was beautiful weather, and a low key weekend. We had to get ready for Anton to be gone for three weeks, so we just stayed around home, and spend most of the weekend outside. Our cul-de-sac seems to be the usual gathering place for all the neighbor kids. So, on Friday night we not only had all the neighbor kids, but their parents...and Nicole and her kids! It was so fun to just enjoy the beautiful evening, chat with friends & family, and have the kids get all their energy out!! In my opinion, there is nothing better than summer nights!

Granny's Big Day

My cute granny was quite old when she was baptized a member of the church, and my gramps was never active in the church. He was baptized, but never active. When my gramps one year anniversary of his death came around, my granny was too ill to go to the temple to be sealed to him. She has gradually recovered, but is so frail and is slowly declining. Anyway, my mom had been so anxious to get her to the temple to be sealed. We finally were able to find a time that worked for most of my family, and for my granny. It was such a sweet experience to see my mom be sealed to her parents, and to see my granny be sealed to her son and to the love of her life.  I am forever grateful for eternal families...I love my family so dearly!

End of Preschool

It is a little bittersweet to write those words...End of Preschool. I have adored Miss Lorie's preschool, and I think I am more sad than Claire that she is done with it. It it hard to wrap my head around the fact that Claire will be heading to Kindergarten in the fall. My sister asked me the other day if I was sad...and, I don't think sad is the first word to come to mind. Of course I can't stand that my girls are growing up, but Claire is so excited to be going to Kindergarten, so it makes it exciting for me too. Anyway, back to preschool....the week she graduated, they had some fun activities planned, including a cute little carnival. The kids played some cute little games, then afterward we took the kids to a park to play for a few minutes.

A couple of days later was her graduation. Each child had to recite a poem that they memorized. Claire was the only one who didn't say hers with a partner. I asked Miss Lorie why, and she said that Claire offered to be the one who did it by themselves. I thought that was funny, but so typical of Claire. She is always OK doing things on her own! She did a great job, and I loved watching her sing and do her poem...all in a little graduation cap. Too cute! Right after her graduation, I told her I would take her to lunch anywhere she wanted, so in true Brog fashion, she chose Del Taco! So funny! So long to preschool...I will miss it! But, we still get to see Miss Lorie this summer because Claire is going to take swim lessons from her. If anyone can get Claire to swim on her own, it would be Miss Lorie!