It's Graduation Day!

This post is going to be long and loaded with pictures and videos. It's the best way to share them with Reid's loved ones that couldn't be there today...



Today was Reid's preschool graduation ceremony. The kids sang four or five songs and then they walked across a "bridge" and received a certificate. After the ceremony we enjoyed some cake and punch at the school. Grandpa and Grandma Sharp came to the ceremony and offered to take Reid to dinner to celebrate his big day. We picked Ryan up from daycare and went to the T-Rex cafe. Ryan wasn't real sure about the restaurant (besides the bathroom - where we went FOUR times before we left), but Reid really enjoyed it. He was in full energy and excitement mode today. At the ceremony he hardly stood still during all the songs, etc - he was VERY animated. Then at the restaurant he wanted to talk to everyone from the waiter to the family that set beside us - truly, I can tell you their names, birthdays, ages, etc. He ended up playing in the sand with that boy before we left the place!


Here are the pictures and videos:

Nope - this wasn't a song... it was Reid posing for the camera when he finally caught sight of me...

This one was a song... thumbs up

A video of a portion of the song...

The end of the song - thumbs up, shoulders back, knees together, tongue out, eyes closed... Reid did it well - as you can see :)


Graduation Day- Hooray!


Here is Reid actually walking across the bridge to get his certificate from Mrs Lentz...

Reid posing with Grandpa and Grandma Sharp and his certificate...


Reid with mom... and yes, I know - getting a little chubby - my mom told me. I think we'll be telling the boys in two weeks after we have our sonogram.






Reid with Mrs Lentz, his teacher - he really loves her... they had a great year.


Here are a couple of pictures of the boys playing in the sand at T-Rex Cafe after we ate dinner...

Some super proud parents!

What a night! First, Reid had his last skating lesson in Skating 2. He got an evaluation and he passed and is ready for Skating 3. After skating 3, he will be ready for the real hockey path. We were so happy and proud of him.


After lessons we went home and saw that our friend/neighbor, Eli, had learned to ride his bike without training wheels. Reid decided during dinner that he wanted to go out and try. They were practicing on a little 12 inch bike so they could put their feet down when they lost their balance. Reid actually had a VERY unbalanced start. Russ and I both thought there was no way he was ready to be without the training wheels. Then, a couple of trips up and down the sidewalk later, he had it down! Eventually he moved on to his regular 20 inch mountain bike and was riding that up and down the street as well. What a great night - Russ and I were so proud of Reid just for trying it, and then for catching on as well!

A Belated Thank You!

Aren't sound asleep kids just the cutest! This is a picture from the trip that the boys took with Russ to see Grandpa and Grandma Linda the weekend before last. My best friend from DC was in town and we had a great time eating out, scrapbooking and catching up.

Russ said that the boys played extremely hard - pretty apparent from how sound asleep they were when he snapped this picture. They had a great weekend. They did all of our favorite things from the McDowell farm - rode the tractor, the 4 wheeler, shot some guns, played on the swingset, and got spoiled rotten by Grandma Linda (who knew there was such a thing as John Deere fruit snacks)!

All mother's know that while we love our husband and children it feels as if we are constantly "needed" for something. Russ has quickly discovered that one of the greatest gifts he can give me is just some time alone. It's so refreshing and allows me to recharge so much that I absolutely can't wait until they get back home! So, thanks honey... I had a great weekend and I'm really glad that you guys did too.

Lesson for any of my male readers:

1 - most women would die for a day or a weekend home alone - don't make 'her' plan it... just plan it and do it - she'll thank you later

2 - if the kids are bad for you, she'll feel guilty... she probably feels partly guilty for wanting the alone time anyway... so no matter how the kids are - just say they were fabulous, say that you had the best time ever - you'll be giving her a great gift of relaxation and peace.

Russ has discovered these tips early and he's done this for me a couple of times this year - it's fabulous! Thanks again Russ... I love you!

Introducing #3

If it wasn't official before, it's official now. Here's the first "picture" of #3. Reid was Peanut, Ryan was Whap, and this one gets '#3' as it's early nickname. We got some great news today. He did a quick ultrasound since I really had no clue what my due date was. We thought I was 8 weeks along but I'm actually 10 weeks and 1 day... WOO HOO! The official due date is 11/1/09. If past performance predicts the future, I'm estimating a birthday of the week before Halloween. The baby's heartbeat was 162. I'll go back to the doctor on 5/5/09 for the first real ultrasound where they will take all the other measurements, etc.

April Fool's

10 November, 1954, sculptor Felix de Weldon and the United States Marine Corps unveiled the USMC War Memorial in Washington D.C. The memorial is an enormous bronze recreation of the iconic Joe Rosenthal picture depicting the flag raising atop Mt. Suribachi. Shortly after it’s unveiling, rumors swirled that de Weldon had wished to symbolize God’s support of the Marine’s efforts that day by adding a thirteenth hand, the Hand of God, to the twelve used by the six men raising the flag.

This recent picture is of our children. As in de Weldon’s work, doesn’t it seem like there’s an extra something, provided by God, in there?
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It’s not April Fools, we are expecting!

Officially a BIG BOY!

We told Ryan that he would get a new big boy bed when he was potty trained. We went to underwear last Friday evening. He had a poopy accident on Saturday and not a single accident since then. We're definitely counting our blessings but it seems that he's all on board with being a big boy! Given we went a week with no accidents and he's telling us when he has to go potty... we went and got his big boy bed Thursday night. Last night daddy and Ryan put it together and he slept in it all night long! I snuck in around 11 pm and peeked at him and he was sleeping great. Russ and I went in to get him up at 8 am and he was awake but just laying in his bed. He loves playing in his new room and laying in his big boy bed. LOTS of pictures attached.

(and we do plan on getting proper bedding and a bed skirt... but we're not going out in this weather!)

Update

FYI... uploaded new pics on the 3/17 post of Reid in his soccer jersey.