We now have a first grader!

Brenner's last week of kindergarten ended this week. It is hard to believe that it is over! He had a track and field day on Wednesday before graduation on Friday. I missed it because I was on a work trip :( But thank goodness for Iphones and video capabilities (oh and great Papas that don't forget about mommies!).

 Nola and Papa found a turtle under the truck on Tuesday morning!

 Brenner in the 100 yard dash. He wasn't the fastest but consistently finished in the top three.

 Shot put....not his best event!

 But - he won the long jump - clearing over 6 feet!!!!!!! Way to go buddy!

 The pictures from the tug-of-war were hilarious. The looks of determination on their faces! I love that even though everyone else except the girl behind Brenner had given up!

 Brenner and his buddy Logan. Oh Logan - you taught Brenner many things this year....I will let the shirt speak for itself......

 Brenner heading off to his first day of Kindergarten. 

 And Brenner on his last day of Kindergarten....they both grew a lot!

 Loved the graduation caps - blue solo bowl, construction paper, yarn, and elastic chin strap! Brenner was earned awards for leadership (yeah) and humor (this one is odd since the teacher also said he was so serious but every kid got two awards).

 Brenner with Mrs. Bishop. He learned that he will have Mrs. Rapp next year. We were excited because Mrs. Rapp is adored by a couple of young boys at church!

 Such deep discussions likely will lead to trouble.....

 Miss Nola attended graduation as well - pretty in pink!

First grade - are you ready for me?!?!?!

A beautiful weekend

We had a great weekend - the weather was gorgeous - sunny and 70s. We went to an 8th grade graduation on Saturday and then headed to the St. Louis Renaissance Faire on Sunday after church.

 My Mother's Day stepping stones. One with a pink butterfly to remind me of Nola, one with a frog to remind me of Brenner, and one with scripture for God :)

 We also got blue cushions and Boston fern for the front porch - nice and comfy!

 Nola posing with some of the flowers we potted a few weeks ago. The red pot has Nola's pink dianthus. And the petunias in the flower boxes are peeking over the rail!

 Love to reuse things! Matt used an old aquarium stand to make a table for the back deck. It looks great!

 Matt's new mill arrived this week. He was very, very excited!

 Papa taught Brenner to tie his shoes. Way to go, buddy! Look at the concentration!

 Graduation parties are special occasions for the kids got orange soda. Nola sucked it down quick but Brenner paced himself.

 Sunday was gorgeous at the Renaissance Faire. We didn't tell the kids the surprise until we arrived. They were very excited!

 It wouldn't be a complete day without a turkey leg. Brenner insisted on having his own.

 Nola chomped down too. It was almost as big as her head!

 I wanted to see the joust - so we made sure to have good seats! We were on the side of the bad knight - Sir Malcolm. We were suppose to shout "blood, blood, blood" which Brenner and Nola enjoyed :(

 Sir Malcolm cheated so the good guys had to bring in backup.

 Watching the joust with our little fairy and Brenner.

 The throne of swords! Funny, when we got there we met another little boy named Brenner! That has never happened before.

 Nola wanted homemade lemon ice cream - it too was almost as big as her head!

 It wasn't a day to watch calories. Matt eating a deep fried twinkie (plus powdered sugar on his chin), Brenner chomping on funnel cake, and Nola still working on her ice cream.

 The kids loved the storyteller - couldn't keep their bottoms on the bench!

 Brenner stopping to talk with the juggler. Nola got the fairy wings and Brenner wanted a sword. Against our better judgement, Matt and I agreed. The sword was noticed by the juggler.

 He offered to balance the sword on a knife propped in his mouth.

 Nola got to ride a pony named Chip (His mama was Chocolate :) ).

 The last event was shooting crossbows - both loved it!

Brenner's school work is winding down (too early for my taste but what can you do). This drawing depicts that he wants to be a cowboy when he grows up!

Graduation speech and Mother's Day

I am a little late with the posting this week. It has been super busy around here with mommy having people in for work. We hosted a BBQ last night - Brenner and Nola did great but got a bit too much sugary junk!  Last Friday, Matt was asked to give a commencement speech at the school where he taught then it was yard work galore to prepare for our BBQ. The weather was warm and beautiful. The garden is growing like crazy - the spinach and kale have been super yummy!

 Miss Nola striking a pose! We had a followup with the plastic surgeon. He was pleased with the progress of healing externally, but she has scar tissue developed deeper inside due to the depth of the bite. We are suppose to deep massage the area twice a day - with one finger in her mouth on the inside of her cheek - good luck with that but we are doing our best!

 Brenner is growing like a weed. Here I was bugging him about a girl in his class- broke into a huge smile!

 Brenner's class took a trip to a local state park - same park were Matt proposed to me! It was a cold wet day but the kids had a great time! Brenner enjoyed dipnetting for critters in the water.

 Matt did great on his commencement speech. He got a rousing applause when he took the stage. The kids sure to miss him and he misses them as well! One girl even cried and begged him to come back!

 

 Brenner has been having assessment testing to wrap up the year. A reading level 12 is almost out of the first grade - way to go, buddy!

 Many of these types of worksheets have been coming home - working on correct spelling and math. Pretty easy for the big guy.

 "The best transportation is a truck because they have four wheel drive. They also have comfy seats and air conditioning. Trucks are the best transportation.

 Loved his little sprint car in this, Grandma Val!

 One upon a time, there was a beautiful girl but one day she was stinky. One day a prince kissed her toes and made her toes smell like flowers.  (You can see the prince's head by her feet. The other figures are having a battle. Go figure. We have been having lots of talks about violence in our play.)

 Mother's Day did not go as I had hoped to be perfectly honest. The kids just wouldn't listen and it wasn't relaxing - but pictures like this warm my heart. I am very blessed for Brenner, Nola, and Matt!

A wonderful Mother's Day gift from Brenner made in his art class at school!

Turkey hunting and flower planting

A very busy week with mommy gone to Phoenix for a work trip. Luckily, Grammy Vo came to help and was a huge lifesaver for Papa. She did tell Matt that she didn't know how he could get anything done with the kids going, going, going :) Guess you don't realize it until you get a break or someone else points it out! The kids had a ball with Grammy!

 Papa pulled Brenner out of school on Friday so that he could go turkey hunting with the boys. The weather was gorgeous - they even had time to fish a bit.

 The hunters didn't see any turkeys but they heard a few.

 Hunting is hard work - Matt sent me this picture with the caption "Billy Idol doesn't want to get up this morning!"

 But he did finally get up and got filthy dirty. That is what hunting camp is for, right?!

 I got home late Friday night so Saturday was a girls day! We switched out clothes in Nola's closet....until we ran out of hangers. She was so excited to get into some of Reagan's hand-me-downs. Thank you, Aunt Mellie! Nola especially loves any of the the shirts with horses!

 We then headed into town to get flowers for our planters. Nola only wanted pink flowers but I convinced her to get a bit of a variety!

 Nola doing it "on my own, mommy." Yes, ma'am.

 Gardening is hard work - scrub those toes, Nola!

 On Sunday, we went to the confirmation of Aunt Mellie's son. Nola sat relatively well through the almost 2 hour church service. I brought snacks including beef jerky which she ate with much flair!

 On Sunday afternoon, I finally got to see my boys after a week. I sure missed them! Wonder why Papa looks so tired!

 Grammy got me this beautiful magnolia plant. And she said Matt had to plant it for me :)

 Brenner learned the stages of the frog.

 His class also worked on making sentences.

 A funny story about doritos...which we don't buy which makes it extra funny!

This story was cute too! Love this kiddo!