May crowning of Mary

It is one of my favorite traditions the children have at school. May is the month of Mary. Juliette and Tripp woke up early this morning to pick some fresh flowers to bring in. This year Juliette chose the oak leaf hydrangeas in the yard. 

 

Just watching the children file in with such honor makes their school even more special to me. This year Juliette's classmate who lost her Mon this year was chosen to crown Mary. I was so touched when Juliette let me know, "Mommy, Mary is Ellori's heavenly Mother. She is all of our Mothers."

 

This year I chose to park the car and go be a part of the ceremony. It was the best 30 minutes veered off the normal routine that I had taken in a while. I was so moved by the children, the honor they showed, and the behavior they exhibited which is not seen in most schools today. 

Ready for his part time job lifeguarding

This guy is a climber! Let me tell you he is into everything. Tyler climbed right up on to the bench and sat back enjoying the frolicking going on in the pool by his older sister and brother. He sat back and just let the wind catch his fine little strands of hair!

A well loved shoe or maybe no shoes at all

They are just about my favorite little boy shoes! Tripp has lived in his blue pair and red pair. A few months ago I went to buy the next size... yup! This was the biggest size that they make. I was SO sad! The next model looks like such a big kid. So, we continue to wear the shoes! You know Tripp and his shoes and his clothes....if he loves them, he'll wear them until holes are popping out of the toes!

But speaking of style, Juliette tried on her new mermaid tail! Tripp was beyond excited and was sure that he would make the perfect mer-man!

Juliette convinced him that who needed shoes anyway! He could just live his life like her... as a "Mermaid" with no feet!

So his style continues to impress.... he is sporting his size 18 month old classic favorite t-shirt "I'm a good catch" along with his favorite "jammie pantalonos pants" and his new fin!

These two just may have a shot in Hollywood!

The last hurrah for the elephants!

We made it to the circus.... all four little ones made it! I wanted to make sure that all had pictures at the last Barnum and Bailey's performance for the last show with the elephants. The kids loved it. Tyler actually was interested and enjoyed watching. Thomas gave it about 6 minutes and was squirming all over the place. It took Tripp the whole first half to get dippin dots (ice cream) out of his mind. He must have asked 165 times for the darn ice cream. Don threatened if he asked again he would not get any during the show. At half time with ice cream in hand, the circus became suddenly great for this guy!

Juliette and Tripp were of course thrilled with their purchase. Tripp insisted on the sword. Juliette let him know, "Tripp, that has to be made in China... it is going to break!" She chose "Tigee and Tiger" as she so lovingly named them. When I let her in on a secret that Tigee and Tiger were most likely made in China too... she would have none of it! She let me know "Mommy, Tigee and Tiger were made at a zoo..."

These two guys were hilarious! The kids in front of them may not have thought so as the boys thought it was entertaining to try to pull children's hair during the event.

As you can see... these boys can throw a strong hair pull...

 

Mission accomplished! We saw the elephants and thoroughly enjoyed the whole circus! Enjoy retirement see guys down in Florida!

If the circus needs some new talent, let them know they can come and knock on our door. We have plenty of circus potential.

"Mommy, it's my last turn to bring da snack..."

So Tripp and I hit the store! The choice was his... what would be the favorite items for all of his friends! We scanned the aisles. He took the job quite seriously. When we would pass one of the favorite items, he would screech in his loud voice... "Dat!"

So what did this guy decide?  Caprisuns with the orange on them, cheez-its because Zoey loves dos, birthday cake oreos because Carson loves oreos and Mommy threw in some strawberries although he assured me with cheeze-its and birthday cake oreos, none of his friends would want any strawberries. Not sure if I could blame any of them...

This year has flown by and Tripp sure will miss snack day! Luckily he can explain to his little brothers what it means to bring in the snack.

A beautiful day for an art show

It never gets old.... 

An absolutely gorgeous day for an art show. Juliette is always so excited when we arrive! It was her last day and with that came this special day.

Ms. Stephanie and the children had all of their work displayed across the back porch!

This was my favorite of her work this time! The tutu and the whole ballerina theme is so her. 

She was ecstatic that she was able to make bunnies for Easter. You must know that neither of these bunnies though are Buckwheat. They are Checkers and Patches due to the ears. Juliette was sure to let me know that they did not have lop ears like Buckwheat.

I just love her creative nature! She LOVES art and loves to meet new children each session.

Thank you Juliette for creating memories for all of us that will last a lifetime. We cherish all of your creations.

Camping.... what counts?

Today the children and their Daddy (yes, only the children and their Daddy) decided that they would love to camp! So we drove to Field and Stream to find the perfect tent. The tent got up easily. 

I'm thinking to myself... "This is fabulous! I'll make a cocktail, watch some shows, organize and whatever else in a nice quiet house."

I continually reminded the children how fun it was going to be sleeping outside...

So we grill out like campers do... (I shouldn't tell you it was grilling on our Big Green Egg). I make Don a nice stiff bourbon drink so he will be so excited about sleeping on grass that he will forget how much his back is going to love it...

Somehow the wind started to blow and their Daddy who was less than excited to sleep out there convinced them that the coyote really likes the wind. I mean seriously? But yes, they believed it.

So we convinced the children that a camping party with their tepee in the family room would be as much fun as an outdoor camping party! Don even pretended to fall asleep like a camper.

Once the little peepers were closed, one of the three did not last long there...

Yup, Daddy!

The next morning "the camper" after showering, spritzing some of Mommy's nice perfume, insisting on her zebra robe and carefully wrapping her wet head looked out the window and said 

"Mommy can you be fancy and sleep in a tent?"

"Mommy how can we lock the door so the robbers don't get us?"

I'm not sure if the camping life will be for her!