Ten...

Matthew and I celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary last week, and I can't believe how fast a decade has gone by.  So in honor of 10 years, here are 10 things I love about Matthew:

*He voluntarily passes up chances to play golf on a regular basis, to instead go on bike rides or go swimming with the kids and me.

*He can fold laundry like lightening!  Seriously folks, he can have four loads put away in 15 minutes or less.

*He keeps our yard looking great.

*He plays baseball in the yard with Mason even when it feels like 130 degrees outside.

*He listens to my ideas, and many times obliges me, even if it means giving up his own way.  

*He unloads the dishwasher for me when I'm not looking, simply because he knows it's not my favorite thing to do.

*He dances with Ellie and Mollie in the living room, even though dancing is not his forte.

*He provides for our family so I can stay home with our kids.  He is a hard worker and gives 110% at his job every day.

*He seldom complains when I get stuck in a rut and make the same things for dinner over and over. 

*He always makes an effort to find ways to make me feel loved.

Happy Anniversary, Matthew!!



Mollie's Crawlies...

None of my babies have ever been able to resist crawling through this space under the coffee table.  Mollie discovered she could do this a few days ago, and it's been a fun challenge for her ever since:

"Mommy, are you watching this?" 

I'm pretty sure at this point she's starting to wonder if this was a bad idea:  

Ahhh...success!!! 



Summertime...

Three weeks into Mason's summer break, and I have yet to hear the words "Mom, I'm bored" come out of his mouth.   I can credit this to Ellie, who makes a good little playmate and sidekick for a boy who spends his days making up games and playing pretend.  She loves to join in on whatever activity he is working on, and most of the time, he likes this.  Here is a game the two of them came up with the other day.  They took turns giving each other rides up and down the hallway on top of the Cozy Coupe:

 

Mollie became interested in their game, and did her very best to keep up with the car.

She only seemed to get in the way though, so Mason made this sign to hang on the wall in the area she was crawling.  I guess he thought it would make a good reminder for them to watch out for her:

 

 (Notice how he even highlighted the yellow flashing "yield" light.  And I love the stick figure of the crawling baby.)

Here is another game they've been playing.  I'm still not sure what it is, but it occupies them for a long time. They look like two peas in a pod:

 

Poor Mollie, she always tries to get in on their games, but because she moves so much slower, she usually shows up about the time they're moving on to something else:

We All Scream For Ice Cream...

Last week my friend Kelly and her boys invited the kids and me on a day trip to the Blue Bell Creamery in Brenham.  The kids had never been, and I hadn't been since I went there on a field trip in the 3rd grade.  We weren't allowed to take pictures during the tour, but I got a few of the kids before and afterward.

Mason's favorite dessert:

The kids had fun seeing how the ice cream is made and packaged, but I think their favorite part was the Blue Bell ice cream given at the end of the tour:

Note to self:  Mollie is most definitely not interested in this cold stuff...we'll give her a few more months. :)

Kinder Es Terminado...

Friday was Mason's last day of kindergarten, and the completion of his first of 6 years in the dual language program.  They held a classroom awards ceremony, followed by a pizza party for the kids.  But before that began, the kids sang a few songs in Spanish for the parents.  The entire video I took was too big to upload here, so here is a short piece of it.  Mason is wearing the bright yellow shirt. 

Then the kids each received an award with an attached candy bar.  Mason received the Crunch Award (along with a Nestle Crunch bar) for his ability to "crunch" numbers, as the class' math award. 

Another exciting award that was given was the Johnson Jogger award.  This is part of their P.E. program, where every Friday throughout the school year, all the students jogged around the track.  Their laps were added up at the end of the school year, and the students with the most laps from each grade level won a medal.  When the medals were presented, it was stated that the top 3 runners in the kindergarten boy's division were actually all in Mason's class.  Mason received the 3rd place medal with 133 laps.

This school year went by way too fast.  It seems like only a moment ago that we were preparing for his very first day of school, and now he's officially a first grader.  As I've said before, we have been so blessed with the wonderful elementary school he attends, amazing programs provided for him, and the most awesome kindergarten teacher ever, Mr. Mosqueda. 

Being The Baby...

...is sometimes a tough job.

(Ellie gives new meaning to the term baby sitter.)

Kindergarten Field Day...

Mason's school held their annual end-of-year field day last week.  Each student got to choose 3 events in which to participate.  Mason chose the 100m relay, the egg and spoon race, and (very low to the ground) hurdles.  Mason's team won 4th place in the relay:

And also 4th place in the egg and spoon race:

Mason won 2nd place in the hurdles, but because I was busy juggling Ellie and Mollie, I didn't have my camera ready to take a picture until after he ran...ooops:

Ellie had fun hanging out with Mason while he waited for his events: