Budding artists!

We checked out some how to draw books from the library this week. All the kids have drawn some beautiful pictures! Taylor has been so busy with her drawings. 

She's very serious and focused during art time. 

It's been so fun seeing the kids develop different interests this school year!  Yeah for homeschool!!

Dress rehearsal #1

The girls had their dress rehearsal this morning. They got up early and we got all fixed up. They even got a little make-up! Could you hear the squeals of delight? 

Their class is full of sweeties! 

We have extra special friends who go to the same ballet school, but just take class at different times. 

The rehearsal went good, and we can't wait for the real deal!!

First fruit!

Our garden produced this delicious strawberry! We might have a little green in our thumbs! 

Girls only date night!

A sweet friend of ours had her ballet recital last night. Of course, we had to attend! So the girls and I made a night of it! We got all dressed up and went to dinner, the show, and then dessert! It was so fun to spend some quality girl time with these sweeties!

We were so excited to get dressed up and sneak off without the boys!!

The show was at the Globe news center. It was so pretty inside and the show was awesome!!

Of course, special friends were there!!

And we had to snap some shots with our favorite ballerina!

More sweet friends!

It was a great night. I'm so thankful for this special time with my girls. I forget how fast they are growing up. This will be one of those special nights we will remember!!

Iron Man 3

We are obsessed with superheroes at our house. Ever since the Avengers movie came out the kids (Jackie and I too) can't get enough of superheroes. So we have been counting down the days until the premier of Iron Man 3. We bought early tickets to the I max 3d premiere. 

We got there an hour before the movie and the line to get in the theatre was snaked all around the lobby. There was a comic book giveaway so the kids all got comic books! 

There were a few people dressed up for the movie. The theatre was so packed! We couldn't sit all together. The boys sat together, just like big guys! Mady, Taylor, Jackie and I sat on the very top row in the corner taking turns with the girls on our laps. It was still awesome! We didn't like it as much as #2, and its not even in the same league as Avengers, but we still loved it. 

All the kids wore their Avengers t-shirts! Aren't they cute?

The boys both told me that homeschool rocks! They knew we would not have been able to see the premier if they had to get up early the next morning for school! :)

Yard work day!

We took a day last week and worked outside in our backyard. We transplanted some plants from a shady area to a sunny area to see if they would grow as well. Then we dug up some dandelions and studied them. We examined their taproots,stems, seeds, sepals, and petals. We also discovered they are milkweeds. 

Then we cleaned out the veggie garden bed and got it ready for new plants! The boys worked so hard! I'm so thankful their Daddy teaches them how to work hard with their hands. Sure helps this Momma out!

Then we planted our garden. Watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries, blueberries, peanuts, jalapeños, cucumbers, patty pan squash, yellow squash, zucchini, string beans, tomatoes, and 3 colors of bell peppers. It was such a fun day and I was so proud of how hard the kids worked. We are in the process of replacing one side of our backyard fence. The kids helped year the old one out and clean up the are so the new one can go up soon. 

We even found an earthworm! Of course Taylor had to hold it! 

We also took a quick field trip and explored two green houses. We saw some beautiful plants. Hopefully I will begin to develop my green thumb and we can keep all this stuff alive and enjoy fresh veggies straight from the backyard! 

Respite care

We are hanging out with this precious boy for a few days so his foster family could get away for a few days. He's been a great guy and had helped with my "baby fever." Right now it's 2:50 am and we are up bonding. I have been so spoiled with my big kids and their sleeping all night long. They have all been troopers and such great helpers!