Jocelyn Graduates Preschool!

The special day has arrived:

Jocelyn graduates from Preschool at Lutheran Redeemer!

I still can't believe how fast the year went by.

She happened to be the youngest and smallest in her class and they couldn't get over how quiet she was. (Totally different story at home I must say! She can't STOP talking for us!)

Her teachers said she went all year without talking in class but by golly, three mornings a week, she lived to see her two best buddies, Leah and Logan and that's all that she seemed to care about. :)

My happy (and shy!) four year old was a big ball of nervousness and excitement but was ALL smiles from the time we got to the church to the time we left.

And to say I was bummed my camera was still in the shop being fixed would be an understatement but we were still able to snag a few good ones from my phone.

It was HOT and we were all sweating in our dress clothes. Landon snuggled on Daddy's lap and fell fast asleep. Andrew acted like he had ants in his pants and was seriously in anticipation for the food after graduation was over. That's a boy for ya, right? :) Sounds SO much like my brother growing up. "We're going to a funeral? A wedding? A baptism? Will there be food there?" hahaha

{Pretty smile!}

 {The new little graduate!}

 {Aubrey + Jocelyn enjoying some after graduation goodies!}

 {Jocelyn and her Preschool teachers}

{Jocelyn and her best bud, Leah}

Happy Graduation Day, Jocelyn!

We love you and are so proud of you for completing Preschool! :)

Love, Daddy + Mommy + Aubrey + Andrew + Landon

One More Month...

and we're MOVING!!

I still can't publically announce (I promise I'm not trying to torture anyone but I will gladly message you personally if you'd like to know before we arrive to our new destination)!

Things have been so busy and chaotic here at home since finding out about our move. Mainly our busy days are preparing to get the house in order for a renter. We are currently upgrading the downstairs bathroom so I will post pictures this weekend when we're done!

Kids are almost out of school, four kids are keeping me very busy, we sold our truck this past weekend (which was hard since we just paid it off but we can't take it with so it's just one of those things we had to do), the weather is getting warm and muggy, soccer season is over and in ONE month....we'll be on the road to visit family and friends for a few weeks and then onto making our new house a home. :) I'm excited for the adventures we'll have the chance to experience at our new place but we will really miss the family we made here in Virginia. Change is good though even when it's hard - one door closes as another one opens. I can't wait! :)

Family 5K Run for Food

About 8 weeks after having Landon, I decided to walk a 5K event that was put on by the church and local community to raise food for the food bank here in Fredericksburg. Entry fee was one can of food per person. It was a family run but everyone chickened out last minute and decided to sleep in. So I took the opportunity get up early and go walk it with my friend. 

I'm so glad I did...it was a lot of fun! And it helped me get a kick start back into working out again after getting cleared postpartum just 2 weeks ago. I think we got done with the race around 50 minutes or so? Definitely helped having a walking buddy! And more fun too! :)

{Me with: my friends, Sabine & Beth}

When I got back home, I was greeted at the door with these two little cuties! :)

Bass Pro Shops

As previously stated in the spring break post, everyone was sick. With today being the kids last day of break and sickness finally on the mend, I thought it would be fun to get the kids out and enjoy the sunshine. What I didn't factor in was my sanity! As a mother to now four children I felt it would be best to just throw myself back into the ring and get it over with. This would be a test of faith and a whole lot different than just a trip to the grocery store. Which isn't always a success. If I could clearly do this with three, what's one more, right? HA!! The joke was on me when I drove them an hour from home on a 100 degree spring day to Bass Pro Shops for some lunch. The drive wasn't hard - especially with the newly loved built-in DVD players. The "way-over-my-head" moment was when we were all seated at the table built for a king ("PLEASE PASS THE SALT!!"); Landon was fed and is normally not a fussy baby in any sense - except for during this particular lunch. Of course, right? And to make matters worse, I then realized I had completely forgotten his pacifier at home! :( Things were starting to get a little overwhelming. I'm convinced breathing techniques aren't just for labor and delivery!!

So with the kids seated miles down the table away from me, Jocelyn started to whine that her burger sliders were gross (she didn't like the toasty bun) and Andrew was picking at his food saying he didn't feel good and kept trying to stand up on his chair so I could pick him up and hold him. All this along with the fact that they were all eating and I was holding and rocking Landon wishing I could eat the food that was sitting in front of me - as well as wishing that the annoying comments from the waitress would stop..."oh he's fussy!!" I had a brief thought at this boiling point: why did I bring them all the way down here instead of just driving up the road from home to Chick-fil-a? One of the main reasons I took them there was because of the massively huge fish tank that they get so excited about. But I suppose I also did it to prove to myself that after one and a half months, I was finally ready to take all my kids out by myself. And yay me! I made it in one piece!

Poor Andrew though! He was clearly not feeling well and getting more gloom by the minute. After I let them roam around and look at the fish, we got back on the road and sat in almost 2 hours of traffic to travel 45 miles back home to take big sis to soccer practice. Come to find out once we stepped foot in the door, he was burning up with a 104.5 temperature!! John was almost home so we decided to meet up the road at the ER and we found out he had come down with an ear infection! :(

What did this trip prove to me? That no matter what is thrown at me...I can do it!!! Four kids and all! :)

We are all so glad school starts up again tomorrow! At least I am! :)

Spring Break

Our family was hit with severe colds during spring break. And I don't mean just a few of us. I mean ALL of us!! It was not the best week to go and do the fun things we had originally planned (one of which was to take the kids to meet up with Daddy at the Lincoln Memorial for lunch: sick + traffic=not fun!!)...but that doesn't mean we still didn't have a good time! :) We did things from soccer games, to family barbeques, to coloring, to watching movies, to blowing bubbles in the backyard. We thought of it, we did it. We managed to pack quite a few things into our week. Here are some pictures of our time together. I know there's a lot of them - but I couldn't narrow them down more than I already did. Enjoy! :) 

Andrew loves this magnifying glass toy we picked up while at Luray Caverns last summer.

Going to family friends for the evening.

Aubrey got a free Chick-fil-a kids meal for having her school artwork presented at the restaurant for the month of March.

Made some yummy zucchini muffins with chocolate frosting.

Getting loves from Daddy.

Snoozing (and waving hello?) :)

Break out the sidewalk chalk!

Practice piano for upcoming recital.

Cars!!!

Annual spring family silhouettes.

Play mat time!

Wawa smoothies....

and pastries! Mmm.

Playing cards with Daddy.

Nap with Mommy.

Not feeling well! :(

Trip to the park!

Played some DS games.

LEGOS!

More DS games.

NBA Playoff games (AKA: Portland Trailblazer watching!)

Fresh air!

Dyed eggs for Easter.

BUBBLES!!!!!!!

Sitting with us outside blowing his own little bubbles! :)