Spring Rocks!

Jonathan ended his school year with a wonderful concert. I was very excited this concert that he actually took his hands out of his pockets and did some of the hand motions. He even looked like he was enjoying himself! (At the Christmas concert he stood with his hands in his pockets not moving at all...) Of course I could not get his to keep his shirt tucked in. He is really trying to show his independence! Notice TJ (to his right, our left) un-tucked his too...

The very next week was Kindergarten graduation! My little scholar! Jonathan received an award for knowing every memory verse for the entire year. They received one memory verse a week, so that is quite a few verses to remember when you are 5! Jonathan definitely liked school. I just hope he keeps that up for many more years to come. The best part of this night was the fact that he got to keep the cap and gown! You know Jonathan and his costumes...

Jaden has decided he is old enough to ride a bike. He was oh so excited when we finally let him! I will have to say it was rather exhausting for me. I made it around our block, hunched over pushing him, and needed to trade Joe for pushing Makayla's stroller. I'm trying to figure out how we are going to get Jaden back in the cart we pull behind our bikes...

Makayla had her first trip outside in a bathing suit. She seemed to enjoy it. I was rather surprised at the suits that were for sale for her age. I just couldn't imagine a bikini at 8 months old...I found a cute one piece with butterflies and a matching hat. I am really into the butterflies and caterpillars with the girl colors. Poor girl probably has nightmares about all of the bugs in her room!

She is also sitting up by herself now. This makes playing with her a lot more fun for us!

I'm not sure what Makayla thought of the grass the first time we put her in it. I can't tell from her face if she likes it or not...

The boys really had fun with their new Slip-N-Slide. Jaden has to do everything Jonathan does, so when Jonathan started drinking the water, Jaden jumped in.

I think this stems from the potty training we are doing with Jaden right now. Apparently he is really catching on to washing his hands!

After all of that water Jaden got cold and asked me to cover him in the towel. I put it on him and pretty much lost him under there...

Makayla is also scooting on the floor. The only problem is the only direction she has is reverse! I can't tell you how often I have to pull her out from under our bed. She also gets stuck when she gets a table or chair leg caught between her legs. She can't figure out how to go a different direction and just gets frustrated not being able to move. Joe and I talked about how we have to put the gate back on the stairs now...

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I have not taken recent photos of the basement. I will have to do that soon and post them. Joe was able to hang all of the drywall in the bathroom, so it is ready for finishing! He also had a group of guys from his bible study over last Saturday and they hung the drywall on the ceiling in the "entertainment room" and about 1/2 of the "game room" in about 2 1/2 hours. That was a huge help!

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We just received a time table from our contractor today with dates by which we need to have our pieces completed so that he can complete his parts. Our goal was to complete the basement (carpet, trim, paint, etc.) by the last week in July, since Amy, Sean, and Nathan are coming to stay with us on August 5th for a few days. (They stayed with us the last time they were here, but we had 2 less kids back then and more rooms available upstairs...) When I looked at the calendar, our contractor has us finishing on August 3rd. That means no slacking for us!

We hope you are all doing well and enjoy the summer!