Class of 2023

Well, Taylor is officially a kindergartener now! Even though she's been through several graduations, I still teared up a little when she was singing. She's grown up so much in the last year and I'm so proud of her.

All prettied up and ready to go!

After receiving her diploma from her fave, Mrs. Washburn. (Her little cap was sliding down on her face all night!)

Taylor and Mrs. W at the reception. Such a great teacher!

Thursday was the end-of-the-year picnic at the park. The school rented three big inflatable bouncers (one with a huge slide) and the kids just had so much fun.

Taylor and one of her besties, Eryn.

Michael in one of the bounce houses.

On the big slide.

Taylor and her lifelong buddy, Noah.

The Pear ditched the inflatables and stuck with the old-school equipment.

The Worm and the Pear.

This picture is for Taylor - Mrs. Washburn on the big slide.

Taylor didn't want to leave her.

A few other pictures from the week:

The yard after I mulched. Mulching SUCKS, but I like how it looks. How much is that doggie in the window?

Pear showing his muscles.

Tay Tay.

I'm going to post about the weekend next. Two posts, one day. I. rock.

Until next time,

Mommy Kel

We Are Family

We had a taste of Pittsburg here in rural Ohio this weekend. Mike's mom and his stepdad came to visit Friday night and his uncle and his family stopped by on Saturday and we joined them in Columbus for cousin Matt's AAU basketball game. It was great seeing everyone!

Rich, Marilyn, Taylor and Michael at breakfast.


The kids with their grandma.

The Pear enjoying a ring pop and Matt's game.

Matt takes a shot.

Matt showing Pear how to play a game. Matt and cousin Gracie were so sweet to the Worm and Pear!

Gracie, Pear, Worm.

The N****a family menfolk.

Group shot #1 - taken by me...

Group shot #2 - taken by Maureen.


Can't wait to see everyone again in July!

Until next time,

Mommy Kel

Growing Up and Happy Trails!

Today was Taylor's last day of school and tonight is the big graduation ceremony. Yes, she went through graduation last year before we decided on another year of preschool and actually even had a promotion ceremony when she was three. So, this is graduation Numero Tres; we've joked that she could probably direct it.

I took a picture of the kids this morning. Look how much they've grown since the first day of school back in September!

September:
Today:


I fear the day that Michael is taller than Taylor and we all know it's going to happen sooner than later!

I think I've mentioned on here before how much I like where we live in the spring/summer/fall. We're kind of off of the beaten path but still in a smaller city, so there's tons of outdoor stuff to do. We see wildlife all of the time, a real treat for this city girl. One of my favorite places is the bike trail. The trail is actually two smaller trails (about 2 1/2 miles each) with a connecting path that goes through the city. Our house is about a mile from the start of the trail, so when I bike the entire trail, I get in a good 9-10 miles.

I see all kinds of cool things on the trails - tons of cardinals, blue jays, etc., always deer in the adjacent meadows, creeks, bridges, rabbits, etc. The second half of the trail goes past farmland - sunflower fields, ponds, crops, cows and the like. Beautiful! The only bad part is the connecting trail that runs through a bad part of town. I joke that the 10-mile path takes me past farm animals, forest animals, a college, two parks, a crack house and a refuse dump. Variety is the spice of life! (Oh yes I did just quote Tony Horton.)

Here are some pictures of the "farmy" part of the trail. I walked it with the kids and Champy over the weekend!

The entrance to that part of the trail is a park. We never actually play at this park because, as I mentioned, it's kind of in a bad part of town (and I don't get creeped out easily). We were the only ones there and had fun!

Taylor likes to push Michael. I was dealing with Champ, who is ordinarily good, but a sniffing/pulling/marking machine on the bike trail where so many other dogs roam.

Lots of big, old trees.

Stopping for a break at the creek.

Big field, ready to produce some crops!

The Worm on one of the bridges.

Cool old barn. Reminds me of being at my grandma's house when I was a little girl.

Champ appreciates the shade.

He had fun!

Picking flowers.

Sorry kiddos, Champ gets to ride shotgun.

Time to get ready for graduation, Part III.

Until next time,

Mommy Kel

Happy Mother's Day!

Shout out to all those mamas out there! I'm so blessed. Great kids and a great mom, too. I can spoil and be spoiled. :)





The kiddos and I.





On Saturday, the Worm and I went to see Beauty and the Beast at the local theatre. I thought the Pear would have little interest (but in hindsight, I think he might have enjoyed it) so he hung out with Mike for the hour or so that we were gone.




After the play, Taylor got a chance to meet the cast. She was thrilled!! There are some definite advantages to living in a small town.

The whole cast. Yes, I'm creeping on Beauty.

Beauty, the Beast and the Worm.

She literally ran up to them. They did such a good job and were soooo nice.

On the way back to the car, Taylor shocked me by talking about how cute the Beast was (for what it's worth, the actor was very handsome). She's not boy crazy at all yet (thank GOD) and still thinks boys border between being her victims in monster-type games and too loud. I was taken aback, but then she added, "yes, he was so furry and cuddly." Yes, she was talking about the actual beast, not the actor, haha.







Church Saturday night and then hung out with our neighbors. The kids had so much fun playing with Ben. I only got one picture:








The Pear was so into this drum. He'd tap the sticks together and on beat say "one, two, three, four" before he'd start playing. So cute.







The kids and I loaded up this morning and went to Panera for breakfast with my mom. She's so much fun! We're only 35 minutes away, but I was she was closer so we could do fun stuff more often. We all visited my dad afterwards, and as usual, I had to pull the kids out of there to go home. Mike and the kids surprised me with a beautiful hanging basket and some sweet cards. I love them all so much. :) We went for ice cream after dinner, which I figure is okay because I did get in about a 12-mile bike ride. The weather was perfect and I enjoyed every minute of it.







Here are a few other pictures from the week. It was hot all week so the kids convinced me to get out the sprinkler and pool.







This was on one of those nights that wasn't really warm enough for the sprinkler, but they were so excited to do it. Their lips were a lovely shade of purple afterwards.

Random cute picture of the Pear.

Have a great week!

Until next time,

Mommy Kel

Note - The spacing on Blogger is driving me insane tonight and this is my last attempt at making it look okay...

Funny Blog!

A coworker passed along this funny blog today. I was laughing so hard at work that I had tears streaming down my face! I'll link to my favorite post, but the whole blog is great.

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html

Until next time,

Mommy Kel

Spring Cleaning & Organizing

Bet that humdinger of a title pulled you in.


It rained a ton this weekend, so we had plenty of time to get some things done around the house. Mike is organizing the basement and recently bought a bookshelf for his poker stuff. It looks so good that he went back and got another unit for the Worm and Pear's basement toys. We already have one cubby unit in the basement, but it's not wide enough and games and puzzles always fall off. It looks much better now (and the Pear can't reach all those fun little pieces anymore).

This is one of the moments when they weren't fighting today. They go at it when they are cooped up in the house all day.

I wanted to get flowers planted and mulch down this weekend, but the rain got in the way. I planted most of my flowers, but the mulch will have to wait. It was a muddy enough job planting the flowers! The Pear joined me in flower shopping (you'll notice lots of red this year), while the Worm went with Daddy to pick out the shelves.

Some of the flowers. I wish my bushes looked like this all year long!

The happy little bush got some friends.

I've been kind of wondering why my rose bush looks kind of wimpy this year. Then I saw this:



Taken through my kitchen window (screen) during heavy rain.

Headed back under the deck. I'm assuming this is the maniacal creature that hissed at me the other day. I didn't think rabbits hissed until I checked the Internets. Just look at it - it's got crazy in the eyes.

Taylor gets to celebrate her birthday tomorrow at school. Since nobody in her class has a May birthday, they use this month to celebrate the summer birthdays. Nice that she doesn't get hosed.

We made cake balls and got all crazy with the colors. I think I liked the blue ones the best.

A couple of other weekend pics:

My handsome hound.

Taylor dressed Michael on Saturday. Nice monochromatic look; very slimming. She also put an old pair of her socks on him. Yes, the Pear is wearing girl socks. It's also pretty obvious that she didn't bother to brush his hair.

Have a great week!

Until next time,

Mommy Kel