End of the school year!

Shane had his final day of preschool last week Tuesday!

And Faith had her final day of second grade on Thursday!  We are so proud of each of the kids and the strides they made over the course of this past school year!

 

Shane's class sang a few songs for the parents in the end of the year chapel. In this picture they are holding up felt candles and singing "This Little Light of Mine." 

 

After the chapel, there was a very mini "graduation" ceremony in Shane's class.  Most of the time was spent playing one last time in their outdoor classroom!

 

Olivia was thrilled that popcorn and watermelon was served as the snack!  Eating was how she spent most of her morning at preschool!  While it will be strange to not have someone at CPC Preschool next year for the first time in five years, we are looking forward to what lies ahead for September!

 

 

Piano Recital

Yesterday Faith performed in her very first piano recital!  It has been just under a year that she began taking lessons, so it was a fitting celebration of her first year of playing the piano!  Hearing the different students of her teacher (especially some of the older students!), makes me excited about what Faith too can learn musically! 

She did very well with the two short pieces that she played.  As she played the last notes and walked back down towards Steve and I, a huge smile adorned her face.  And she shared with us, "I didn't miss a single note!"  Even though she refused to admit it, she was nervous and thankful to be finished!

 

And it was a very good thing that the recital was yesterday because today...

she ended up in the Urgent Care center with a broken arm!  We were preparing to leave for the beach, and she and Shane were playing in the backyard with their boogie boards.  Apparently she fell of the board Shane was pulling, and she must have braced herself with her arm!  So the beach was out and onto the urgent care.  Thankfully Steve was home and could stay with the younger two kids while I took her in for x-rays. 

 

She thought that a little chocolate ice cream would help her arm feel better!  And I'm sure it did!  Tomorrow we go to see and orthopedic doctor to have the arm further examined.  From what I was told, it's a clean break that should heal up very well!  While it's not exactly how we would want summer to begin, we are also thankful that it was not any worse! 

Butterflies Alive!!

This past Thursday we took a field trip with Shane's preschool class to the Santa Barbara Natural History Museum.  While I had heard of the museum for years, this was the first time our family visited it!  And it proved to be a fun, educational, and interesting place that we will visit again in the future!  All three kids enjoyed seeing the Butterflies Alive exhibit!  We were able to enter a large green house where there were thousands of butterflies!  What a neat experience!  Faith even had one land on her!  And Olivia has a new word in her vocabulary!

Food Truck Tuesday

In keeping up with the latest trends, Ventura has a few different food truck nights a month!  Since the Foothill food truck Fest is literally right up the street from us, how could we not check it out?  It proved to be a fun evening.  The idea alone had the kids full of excitement - a restaurant that you don't go into but is in a truck?  Cool!  We enjoyed walking around upon arrival and looking at what the different trucks had to offer, but we ended up picking the Grilled Cheese truck as our primary vendor!  What a huge menu!  We can't wait to try different combinations!  And all of this yumminess is such a great location - on the hill with a beautiful ocean view!!

 

Shane was working hard at being patient waiting for his mac-n-cheese grilled cheese sandwich!  Thankfully he was into posing for the camera to kill some time!  Now that we have figured out a few things (including how it really pays to know people!  One of the parking attendants goes to our church and gave me a prime parking spot when he saw I was alone with the three kids until Steve met us there after work!), we are really looking forward to the future first Tuesdays of the month to enjoy a food truck dinner!

 

This was Olivia heading out this morning to take Shane to preschool!  She needed her purse this morning before she was ready to get in the car! 

Preschool Program

Last week Thursday night was Shane's final preschool fine arts program!  We enjoyed hearing his class sing two songs, as well as the other classes songs!  Then we were able to go to his classroom and see different art projects he completed throughout the year!

Shane next to a self portrait!!  It's pretty crazy to think that next year, for the first time in six years!!, we wont have anyone at CPC Preschool!  Both kids really enjoyed their time there, and it will be strange to not drive over there a few times each week.  I'm sure Olivia would love to start there next fall, but there is no chance I'm ready for that!!

 

This clearly is not from preschool, but I thought it was cute!  We went to visit our next door neighbor's pig that she is raising for the Fair.  While all three kids were interested in the pig, the chickens received the most attention! 

 

And finally...a little preview of Faith's ballet recital!  The actual recital is not until June 21, but Faith was able to have some professional pictures taken in her costume last weekend!  We're looking forward to seeing her dance on the 21st!

Memorial Day at the Beach

We celebrated our gratefulness for all those who have served our country in the military by spending the day at the beach!  After breakfast out as a family and nap time, we met some friends from church at the beach!  It ended up being a great beach day!

 

Faith received a boogie board for her birthday, and today was the first day that she was able to put it to use!  Without ever having boogie boarded, she did really well!  And she had a ton of fun on it!

 

When not riding the waves, the kids enjoyed building sand castles and finding sand crabs with their friends!

 

Olivia really had her first ever beach day!  Last summer she went a handful of times, but it was before she was walking!  She absolutely loved it!  Even the cold ocean water!

 

She would crawl in and out of the water!  It was the funniest thing!

 

A true beach bunny becoming one with the sand!

 

Shane enjoying the water!  After getting knocked down by a wave early on in the day, he claimed he was never going in the ocean again!  That lasted an hour!

 

Towards the end of the afternoon!  In the background of the picture is the Ventura pier.  I think all three kids are going to sleep very well tonight!

Olivia the Wild!

In a few days our sweet little Olivia will be 18 months!  In many ways it is really hard to believe that she could be that old already!  And on the other hand, it's not that surprising given the way she shows us daily how much she is getting older, knowing more, and communicating more.  It seems as though she is adding to her vocabulary daily, and even saying short little phrases!  Today we were looking for one of her shoes and she asked, "Shoe...where go?"  I just love this age as kids seem to take that level of interaction to the next level!  It is truly amazing to think about all the she has learned in just a mere 18 months!

But of course as she grows older, the list of things that I worry about her doing (actually I should say attempting to do and getting hurt!!) also grows!  A few months ago we put a chair in front of the ladder leading up to the clubhouse as she figured out how to climb that.  Where there is a will there is a way, and little Livvy now climbs the slide to get to the clubhouse!  She can no longer be left to roam a bit in the back while I make dinner, or put away groceries, or whatever small task it is that needs to be done!  Naturally, she is quite proud of herself!

The trampoline is also a place where she likes to play.  She is yet to be able to climb up there by herself!  On Friday she did find an interesting place to climb...the toilet!  As in she climbed inside and was standing in it!!  I was so thankful there was just water inside, and that she was not wearing pants or shoes!  While she is not ready to be trained (and there is no way I'm ready for that!!), she is very interested in the toilet.  Since the toilet incident on Friday, I have been in the bathroom with her where she tells me she wants to use it and I think that was why she climbed in!  There is never, ever a dull moment in our house with this child!!

 

Proof that she is not crazy all the time!  Her love of books continues to grow too!

 

And she tends to be more mellow in the morning!  She loves to cuddle with Shane on the couch and watch their favorite morning shows!

 

One last picture!  On Tuesday and Thursday mornings we go to a cross fit workout for moms at our church!  It's totally perfect as the big kids play (after they do a short workout!), and the babies all hang out together in their strollers.  Next to Olivia is her buddy Santiago, who she calls Ago!  They often cheer us on as we struggle through the workout!