Three and a half

This is the sweet, dirty face of three and a half year old. Our sweet McKaden has hit this milestone and could not be happier about it. She is proud to inform everyone that she is three and a half now! We, on the other hand, cannot believe how fast the time has gone by ... our baby is growing up.

Bring on the Summer

Not the worlds greatest picture, but we had to record that the weather was finally warm enough to wear shorts! Bring on summer!


Both of the kids had a chance to see their grandparents this past weekend. Mark took the kids to see his parents and my folks, sister and aunt were over here. We got this picture with my parents before they took off. They did not get a lot of time with them, but the time they had was sweet.


Swim lessons are back and now she gets to go alone! No more mom or dad in the pool. She really does a great job swimming on her own and had to prove to the teacher that she could indeed swim. She takes lessons in a warm therapy pool, so it is not that big - but never the less, she swam the whole length of the pool in ONE breath!


Today was McKaden's last day of school. I cannot believe how big she is and how much she has changed over the last few months. She is now in 3T clothes and rocking the scale at 30 pounds. She was funny in her school program today - note to self ... do NOT let your daughter wear a sundress to school that has pockets, as she will put her hands in those pockets and raise her dress up so that everyone can see her little pony underwear. McKaden really enjoyed her teachers this year and still has not really figured out that school is over.

Two Months with Max

Two months have gone by since Max joined our family. We are so happy that he has adjusted so easily to his new and crazy life with us. His language has really come along and he talks a lot now. He understands just about everything we say, so we have to be careful what we say around him now. At just a mention of going somewhere, he will have his socks and shoes on ...

He is counting and can sing his ABC's, although he has not idea what letter is "A". He is getting better at holding a pencil correctly and can use scissors and cut pretty accurately. He never lets us forget to pray before a meal -and we pretty much have to pray for each thing on our plates. He is still a VERY good eater and likes things with flavor. Both kids like spicy food and I am very happy about that! Swimming and Kindermusik are over for the school year - now we have to figure out what other things he might enjoy doing.

The biggest obstacle for us is leaving Max with/in any kind of childcare. I would say that he has bonded rather well ... maybe a little too well. I guess that is our next step in raising this little man. How blessed we are!

Our Other Fish

Max just finished his first set of swim lessons and loved it! The first lesson was not so pretty - in fact Mark thought we might hear him screaming all the way home! When I went to watch his final lesson, it was fun to see his transformation. I knew that he must love the water as he gets soooooo excited to take a bath and spends most of his time under water, kicking, rolling around and blowing bubbles. McKaden loves the water too and we are excited for them to experience the lake and boat this summer. Here are a couple of photo's of our little swimmer ... now McKaden is back in for hers and can't wait to have her turn again.

Summer Night Preview

We can't wait for bonfires on summer nights. For now, we wear our coats. McKaden kept commenting on how she just loves camping out ... we did not tell her that this is not exactly camping out. City Girl.

McKaden's Garden

McKaden has been studying in school about seeds and flowers. She really has an interest in them and wanted to plant a garden. I am not known for my green thumb - I am afraid that my mother took all of that [she has a yard to die for] and she passed a little on to my sister - it skipped me. Every year I have herbs and a small salad garden, along with flowers, but that is it. I don't really take time to plan things out and most things seed or die before the end of the summer - and I just don't care. Anyhow, McKaden seems to have the green thumb from Nana and wants to see what she can do. We took a couple of hours and had a "girls day" and went out to lunch, planned her garden and bought a few supplies [along with a few phone calls to Nana]. I will let you know how it goes - of course now we just need to get things planted. Maybe this will save me from going to the farmers market on Thursday's this summer .... nahh... I love that too much! And where else can you get those GIANT bouquets of flowers for five bucks!

Finding Interests

At library time this week they made rainbow necklaces. I sat down to help the kids string those fruit loop things and low and behold, Max was a pro at it. Once again we are finding that his time at the SWI pre-school was helpful to him and his growth. We are so thankful for The Half the Sky and the programs they do for kids who are in SWI in China.



And of course we stopped to watch the diggers working in the parking lot. McKaden just put her arm around him and they stood and watched those machines work.