Relay for Life – Apollo

Tonight the boys and I went to the Relay for Life at the Apollo High School. We went around 7:00 to help my mom and her team clean up after the surviver dinner. The boys were a great help too. They had fun riding on the cart taking loads to the car. Great Nanny was giving them "train rides". After we finished cleaning up, we headed down to the track to see the luminaries and walk a few laps. The boys just love to run around that track. Landon did so well staying in his lane this year. Lukas always finds Derek's signs and bags and lets us know where they are. We had to leave at 10:00 so that I could wake Ben up for work. Both boys were exhausted and went to sleep right away.

Last day of school!

Today was Lukas' last day of kindergarten. He actually woke up at 7am, got himself dressed and was ready to go to school. This was the first and only day that we didn't have to drag his butt out of bed and force him to get dressed. LOL! It started our morning off wonderfully. 

We can't believe how fast this school year went. He did a superb job, especially for going all day. We got his teacher a small gift that was from Lukas. He picked out all the little things. We got her a macintosh yankee candle, spiral stack of post it notes, a cute butterfly pen, stickers for her "sticker kit", and a couple cute note pads. Lukas also drew her a picture and we made her a bookmark and a card. His teacher was absolutely wonderful and he adored her.

He got a nice little gift from her too. A basket full of goodies. She also sent home a general typed note to all the kids (which made his mommy cry). We also got all kinds of writing books and practice packets to review over the summer of what they learned through the school year. Lukas was actually excited about all of this. We didn't get his report card yet, but he has passed to first grade! We are super proud of you Lukas. Good Luck next year in first grade:-)

Raptosh Farewell Dinner

This evening we attended a farewell dinner for Pastor Ron, Cindy and Sarah. The theme was "Thanks" so we had a thanksgiving dinner with all the fixings. We took the boys with us and they had a blast. For us, it was terribly sad, but fun. We were so glad that we were part of their party. We don't want to see him leave. We are very fond of him and will miss him. He had baptized Ben, married us, baptized Landon, and has guided our family closer to God over the last 5 years. We are so blessed to know and be a friend of his. We decided that we want to visit his new church in Delmont. Like he said at his dinner... he's not saying goodbye, see you soon!

We wish the Raptosh family the best of luck on their new journey. You're all in our thoughts and prayers! We'll see you soon:-)

Last soccer game

Today was Lukas' last soccer game for the Spring season. Luckily, the rain held off till after the game:-). They did extremely well. The entire team made such an improvement since the beginning of the season. The last we counted, the score was 17 to 17. It's not about who wins or loses, but sometimes us parents would keep track. lol! We've decided that Lukas would definitely be a defense player if they had positions this early. He had two great plays where he assisted on two of their goals. Good job Lukas...we're so proud of you! After the game, he got a certificate, framed picture from his coach and lots of treat bags from his teammates. He's not sure if he wants to play this fall. We'd like him to, but we're not going to push him if he doesn't want to.   

Picnic & Swimming

Today we went to a friends Memorial Day picnic. Their pool is amazing. The kids have never been there before and were so excited to go swimming. After we had some lunch, we took them back to the pool. Lukas said "WHOA". It was so funny and amazing to hear that come out of a six year old mouth. We love their pool. It's like your on a vacation in the Caribbean. The neatest and greatest thing about the pool is that it's reverse osmosis. So we didn't mind if Landon got a few gulps of water. We were amazed how well Lukas did for the first time swimming this year. He remembered a lot from his classes last year. Landon is definitely our water baby. He wanted to jump in all by himself. He would get so mad if you'd stand in front of him to catch him and would run the other way and jump in. He's going to be a handful swimming this year. We had such a wonderful day. Thanks so much Tony and Jill for having us out! 

Lukas' birthday party

I don't know

but I've been told...

Lukas turned 6 years old!

Today we had Lukas' birthday party. His birthday is always the start of our Summer and is always so hot. We had a big picnic since it fell on the actual day and this day is so very special to us. He wanted to have an ARMY party theme. He picked out the the decorations and party bags for all his friends. And, of course wanted an army tank on his cake. He was so excited about his party this year. He had a few friends come over and they all had a blast running around the yard playing "Army".  It was hysterical to watch them play. Ben and I had to laugh because all the kids, but our two, cried because they didn't want to leave. We are so glad that everyone had so much fun. 

He got lots of great presents. All kinds of GI Joe stuff, army toys, lots of camo clothes and Toy Story and Toy Story 2 DVDs. We got him the big army tank with the action figures. As always, he made out like a bandit. We are so blessed to have a wonderful family and friends. Thanks everyone for spending and celebrating the day with us. We all had a blast. 

6 years ago...

Exactly 6 years ago, we'd be at Allegheny Valley Hospital waiting for our first child to be born. We remember that it was about 21 hours we were there before he was born. It was long, painful and intense, but well worth it! It was an experience of lifetime and one that we'll cherish the rest of our lives. It's amazing how someone so little can effect your entire life. This was the day that our lives had changed forever. We are so blessed to have a healthy, handsome, intelligent, loving boy. He's such a joy and we love watching him grow everyday. We wish these days would just slow down.

Bedtime story

Tonight Lukas wanted to read to Landon. I was actually surprised. Lukas has been doing great with his reading, but never volunteers to do it. He can read beginner books very well and pretty fluent. He'll stumbled over some words. Landon loved his big brother reading to him. After Lukas finished reading he said "Landon, do you like when I read you stories?" and Landon replied "yep". It was so darn cute. Lukas said he wants to read to his brother every night. We'll see how long this lasts:-) 

Landon loves to look through books every night. He thinks that reading is flipping through them page by page and closes the book and says "The End". I love to just watch him and can't wait to hear his tiny little voice. He has been saying many phrases lately:

"What's that" – this is every hour, every day

"Come on"

"help please"

"The End"

"This is serious" – from Ming Ming (on Wonder Pets)

"Watch this"

"More please"

Ben and I can't believe how big the boys are getting. We are both soaking this up as much as we can. I told him a couple weeks ago "these days aren't going to last much longer"... :-(

Hopscotch

Lukas loves hopscotch. We made a big colorful one on the front sidewalk and they played for hours. It was so cute to watch Landon try to play. He would imitate Lukas. He has the cutest little hop. It's not suppose to rain this week so we may get lots of use out of it this week. The last picture is of Lukas and Mommy messing around. We're so goofy:-)

Bugs

The boys found a slug in our yard and of course had to play with it. Lukas had to get out his little flashlight and magnify glass. They were so fascinated with this bug.