Last Day of Preschool

Last week Thursday was Jackson's last day of preschool.  I can't believe that the year has already gone by for him.  Although he still remains our extremely shy boy, he did make some new friends.  Thankfully some of those friends will also be joining him at Hamilton Elementary next year.  And now he's developed such an interest in learning.  Yeah!  Last summer he didn't want to work on anything related to school and now he loves working on "school" stuff.  We're so excited for him to begin kindergarten next year! 

Such a big guy!  He was so proud to have finished school - he wouldn't let me forget his picture!

Jackson and his best buddy Ben.  The two boys go to daycare together and were in preschool together and have become the best of friends.  One of the teachers who started halfway through the year thought they were brothers because they were always together!

Whitecaps

Fun night at the Whitecaps!

Even Lydia liked it ... Mom was a bit tired after a long week at school

Friday night, just the 5 of us journeyed to the Whitecaps game.  It certainly was odd just being the 5 of us ... surprisingly it wasn't too crazy!  The weather was gorgeous and the boys were in heaven watching baseball!  (they are definitely taking after their dad!).  I'm thinking we'll be back at some point soon!

Tulip Time

Brendan and Dad watching the Dutch Dancers.

Big smiles in front of some of the tulips (there weren't many!).  Can you find Brendan in the background?

Who would want to take pictures by the tulips when you can take them by statues???? Odd boys....

Time to go home....

An more statues...

I love the cheesy smile:)  This little one makes us laugh constantly!

Yeah!  3 kids all together... but not really looking.

Wow... we are busy with 3!  But I have a picture proving that I do actually hang out with the kids.  Usually just Dad makes the pictures:)

Soooo excited for the parade to begin (even though we got soaked from the rain!)

And this is why we go to the parades... the boys LOVE them!

Happy

Lots of smiles from Lydia as she has begun to love playing (biting) her toys.

Lydia if my first child that just loves rolling all around the floor ... the bad part is that you really have to watch what's on the floor!

3 reasons to smile!  I was trying to get a picture of Lydia and the boys decided they wanted to get in the picture as well ... Lydia didn't like having to wait for them (by the way, that's Brendan's new "cheese" smile)

We put these PJ's on Brendan this weekend and realized how much he's grown - they were so tight!  But we love his little diaper butt ... looks like he did too!

Yesterday at Sunday School Jackson had to draw a picture of what makes him happy on one side of the paper and what makes him sad on the other side.  On the happy side, he drew a picture of me (love!) and on the other side he drew a picture of a spider.  As we asked him about it, he told me that I always make him happy .. (sigh).  As the end of the school year draws near and the craziness of ending the school year begins, I always feel that sense of frustration that I can't be 100% at anything that I do ... being a wife, mom, teacher, friend, etc.  It seems especially difficult this year as things just keep piling up but talking with Jackson yesterday made me realize what I truly value most and how blessed I am to be the mom of these 3 precious children.  One of my favorite moments of the day is when I walk in and see them at the end of the day - the boys come running toward me and Lydia gives me one of her huge smiles.... and that makes me happy:)

Lil' Dutch Kids

Even though Tulip Time is a couple weeks away yet, I've been anxious to try to get downtown to try to get some pictures with the kids by the tulips.  As a good Dutch girl, I have forced my children into costumes each and every year although they've fought it each time!  The other night I thought it might be a good idea to just see if the costumes fit them and try to get some pictures just in case they do what they do every year and refuse to wear costumes downtown.  Although it was a struggle - I am MORE stubborn than they are so I ended up winning the battle.  Forgive the cheesy grins as I had just said "smile if you want to eat at Froggy's" (their favorite restaurant). And Brendan's dirty face ... he had just finished eating and we decided to just fight the battle of getting the costume on rather that adding the battle for wiping his face off.   Jackson is wearing Luke's costume from when he was a kid, Brendan is wearing one my mom made for Jackson and Lydia is wearing the costume that I wore as a kid.  Lydia's is a bit big this year but I'm sure she'll grow into it for next year and maybe then the hat will fit her.  Hopefully we'll actually get downtown to see some tulips this week because I have a feeling there won't be many left come Tulip Time.

Sunday Fun and Lydia at 5 months

A retake for our Easter picture... per Jackson's request:) 

The actual Easter picture - Jackson was NOT happy with me because I bought him new Khaki pants and he didn't like them.

Life is certainly busy here at our house.  I can't believe how quickly the weekends and evenings go here.  It seems like we're always in a rush and I have to constantly remind myself to slow down and just appreciate the little things ... I keep telling myself it's okay to not get that next load of laundry in, or vacuum the floors, etc. 

Jackson is thrilled because Luke is playing baseball again this summer.  He was especially excited when Heath and Christie bought Trent and him jersey's that match theirs.  Luke then found baseball pants that match his for Jackson so Jackson is officially a "mini Luke."  Although the games don't begin until June, the team practices on Sunday afternoons so that means we get extra time with Christie and the kids.  The past 2 weeks they've come to play at our house and we're excited to soon start playing at Sandy Pines during that time (although it needs to get a little warmer).  It's certainly fun to watch the boys play with their cousins.

 Lydia has reached her 5 month milestone.  Yikes!  Time is going so quickly!  The biggest news for her this month ..... TEETH!  She has her first two teeth and two more and ready to come.  It was amazing how quickly her temperment changed when they popped through.  We have our happy little girl back.  We attempted starting cereal but she wasn't thrilled and so we're going to hold off a little bit longer if possible.  Her pediatrician said that anytime between 4 and 6 months so we're just going to wait:)  She's a great mix of her brothers - active like Jackson yet smiley like Brendan.  I am so looking forward to spending more time with her this summer yet I know that as we reach summer she'll be 6, almost 7 months old so I don't wish this time away too quickly.  Before I know it, she'll be moving all around and I'm NOT looking forward to that yet.  I want my baby to stay a baby just a bit longer:) 

Spring Break 2012

Leaving our house ... ready for the long drive to Florida!  We made sure to take a pacifier for Brendan so there would be some peace and quiet.

Walking to the pool ... ready for a swim.  The boys loved finding lizards whenever we walked around.

Ready, Set, Jump.... the boys would jump in together (SOOOO cute!)  Our favorite was Brendan would then "push" himself in by putting his hand on his back.... priceless!

Jackson said one of his favorite parts was miniature golfing by the condo.

At Downtown Disney ... 14 years ago Sara and I took our picture by Sleeping Beauty now Lydia had her first picture there.

Riding the train at Downtown Disney - so much cheaper than actually going to Magic Kingdom (shhh... don't tell the boys that wasn't Disney!)

Enjoying lunch on the porch.  I miss waking up to the palm trees!

Brendan and Papa in the pool

Lunch at T Rex ... Jackson loved it and Brendan wasn't so sure which was surprising since he's my brave one.

Jumping in the pool - something both boys couldn't get enough of.

It seems like so long ago that Jackson and I started our countdown to Florida and now it's already over!  We made the long trek down to Florida with 3 kids ... YIKES!  However, we can't complain.  The kids did quite well in the car it was difficult though because one of us had to always be in the back to help them and keep them busy.  Thankfully my sister rode down with us so then there was another person to keep the driver awake:)  We made it down in 23 hours but it only took us 21 on the way back (there was some serious traffic this year). 

Our plan when we were down there was to possibly go to Sea World, the zoo or the beach but of course the boys were enamored with the pool and since they were perfectly content swimming, we were happy to stay back and play with them.  We did manage to head to Downtown Disney one morning and had lunch at the T Rex restaurant (very similar to Rainforest Cafe) but the boys were anxious to head back after that to swim. 

As usual, it was hard leaving the area - I love the enormous amount of Disney themed things down there, the palm trees, the flowers, etc. but of course walking into our house that first time was glorious too.  But I have to be honest, I still wish we were down there.  There's something about being somewhere other than home and not having jobs to do around the house and just having family time.  The memories we make on a vacation will certainly last a lifetime!