Last day playing soccer!  The girls have enjoyed it, what they could of it, anyway.  Mac's tonsils took her out for several weeks.  Mimi was so thrilled to get a trophy.  Or a participation prize, or whatever they are.  :)

AWESOME!  I'm trying to coax more things out of Derek that he wants or needs.  I send packages often, more than the 'official' decorated ones shown here on the blog, and I would much rather be sending him things he can actually use in addition to the fun, crazy stuff I dream up on my own.  So.  He needed something to hold ritz crackers in while he travels.  He needed to be able to fill it full of crackers, not have them knocking around, and have it be lightweight, but strong so he can stuff them in his ruck and not have to worry about them.  Check and mate!  I finally found this CRACKER STORAGE CONTAINER on ebay...they don't make them anymore, but it is EXACTLY what he needs!  I was very excited to get this off to him.  And crackers, of course.  :)

I decided it is time to start reading Harry Potter with Leiden.  She reads voraciously on her own, but I wanted to read with her for several reasons.  First, I want to enjoy them again with her, second, I want to slow her down a little, and third, because as they get darker and a little scarier, I know what she's got in her head, and we can tough it out together.  She was very excited to start tonight!  We read after the other two have gone to bed.  I think this will be a fun little tradition for our evenings.

More Birthday Fun

Today was a fun day.  Leiden had a walking field trip with her third grade, and I volunteered to go along with her.  We walked to the park by our house, where the teachers had games and activities.  It was fun to see Leiden interact with her peers, and Mac and Mimi had fun tagging along.  

The field trip ended with lunch at the pavilion.  Leiden was excited to have me along!

A while ago I planted tomatoes and herbs in the front garden beds, and today just got around to dosing them with some MiracleGro.  The stuff is amazing.

Tonight marked the end of Leiden's birthday festivities.  Derek jokes that we have birthday WEEKS instead of birthDAYS.  He's kind of right.  But you have to celebrate with everyone!  We headed up to Grandmere and Bapa's house for dinner, treats, and presents for Leiden.  She requested cookies, so I womped up some really good ones--big ones!

Good times were had by all!

Leiden got some Naartjie clothes, of course,

and a new art set.  This girl loves her art supplies.

Thanks for the fun evening, Grandmere and Bapa!

Zest

Derek doesn't ask for much...in fact, I wish he'd let me help him out more than he does.  But I mentioned I was headed to the store, and asked him if he needed anything.  He needed some body wash.  Well.  It wasn't at the store I was currently in, nor was it in the following two stores after that.  I finally asked him where HE buys the stuff, and he told me Walmart.  Chuckle...the one store I HADN'T been to.  So, today I hunted it down, and felt so proud of myself for having obtained it, I took a picture.  It's on its way, Derek!

Happy (Late) Birthday, Leiden!

This sweet little thing was gone over her birthday, so we are celebrating today!  We had our giant pancakes, which I'm getting better at making!

Then presents!

New jammies,

New swimming suit...which I totally missed the giant cut out on the side of the suit.  Darn it.  It's such a cute suit.  We will be returning it and finding another before swimming lessons start.

Mac picked out this cute little present all by herself.  It's a tiny version of Leiden's favorite stuffed animal, Sci.  (pronounced sky...Leiden's doing.  :))

Slushie mixers for when things heat up.

And the long awaited, wonderful Minecraft on the computer!

She was so excited!

Her birthday treat request?  Crepes suzette...how funny!  So we stuck candles in it and called it good!

I think she got her wish!

In outside news, we have broccoli growing!

Tiny little florets that will grow into big ones!

We had one sugar snap pea plant survive my lack of watering before the sprinkler system was turned back on.  I don't know if just one plant can even survive...

And in very exciting news, Derek sent me a picture with his first care package!  He got it a while ago, 8 days after I sent it, and I'm so excited to see both him and his package, all the way from Afghanistan!

The girls are gone this weekend with Brad, so I helped my parents with some stuff at their house.  My dad and I left to go to Home Depot, and found this little guy.  Smack in the middle of the sidewalk.

We went out for dinner at a Greek restaurant.  This time was pretty good.  I enjoyed the restaurant we went to some time ago, but I think I got the wrong thing.  Way too much cinnamon.  Tonight I got a greek salad with gyro meat.  THAT was good.  I love greek salad, and look forward to fresh tomatoes in the garden to make my own.  MMM.

I love taking pictures with my parents.  Really, who am I kidding, I love to take pictures, period.  And I'm glad to have some with these great people.  Thanks for an evening out, guys!

Wow...we had quite the patch of ENORMOUS weeds out in the back yard on the west side. The landlord wanted me to level them so they could spray them and then lay sod after they were out.  I took to them with the trimmer, and there were plant bits flying everywhere!  The spots on my face and glasses are bits of weeds.

These things were huge.

I totally forgot to take a before picture, but here is the aftermath, all leveled out.

Another care package got sent off to Derek, today...I am very pleased that they get there so quickly.  8-9 days to Afghanistan is pretty slick.  This one was summer themed, as things are heating up in the sandbox.  I sent him a bunch of stuff he will likely never use, but are good for a smile, if nothing else.  Leis, water guns, an inflatable palm tree...you know.  Awesome summer stuff!

I enjoy decorating the boxes with the theme.

Tonight was the spring carnival at school.  Exactly like the fall one.  The girls were particularly excited for the hair spray paint.  I will have to remember that they like that.  Snow cones were a close second.

I got them the passes that allowed them to play the games as well as on the bouncy houses and slides.  They would win these tiny little junky toys one at a time, and would come running back after each one to show me.

Mac went for red hair tonight.  It is the hardest to wash out by a long shot, but they used the color much more sparingly this time.  Last fall, I think Mimi's hair was red for a week.  Even after washing.

The older two attempted the rock wall...and did pretty darn well!

It's actually a pretty cool idea for a school carnival.

Leiden was a lot more aggressive this time.

She made it to the top!

Kind of a fun last hurrah before school ends in a couple weeks, and it was a lovely night to spend outside.

What a Circus

Mimi is prepped and READY for her last day of school!  She wanted to give out little treats to her classmates.

So I found something cute to print out, bought some KoolAid packets, and voila! 

Her preschool did a circus today, mainly for each other--a fun way to enjoy themselves on the last day.  The girls in Mimi's class were the tightrope walkers and the boys were strongmen.  It was so fun to watch them.

They got out the balance beams for the girls to go across as daringly as they wanted. 

Mimi was pretty sedate until the end when she leaped off the beam! 

We presented each of her teachers and Miss Dee with a little thank you. 

And that is that!  Mimi is officially done with her first year of preschool!  She has loved it, and next year will be just more steps in the right direction for a Pre-K year.