Schools out for Summer

The 2nd to last day of school was Water Day at Faith North. The first slide Willem's class went on was the 18 foot double slide. After one trip on that slide, Willem had his game face on. I was able to volunteer for the morning and enjoyed seeing Willem go on the slides over and over again with such determination. He just loved the whole morning. Playing with friends, going down the slides, getting soaked. Definitely something he'll look forward to next year.

 

1st and Last day of school pictures

 

 The last day of school was Game Day and just about every child brought Candy Land, so Candy Land was played by all. Jason happened to be off that day so he was able to drop and pick Willem up with Ellie and I.

To celebrate the last day of school, we took the kids to the Childrens Museum. Ellie loved the 3&Under room while Willem played in the art room, making a puppet and painting the castle.

 

 

 

We cannot believe Willem will be in Pre-K next year. Time is flying by and yet at the same time he seems so grown up. He keeps me on my toes all day long with his active curiosity and cannot wait to go full day next year. Until then, we are going to make the most of the Summer as a family and look forward to having Willem home.

Random May Happenings

The kids have decided 5:30 is a good wake up time. Not so good with Mom. Hence, they have teamed up to watch Mickey on youtube in the mornings while I am coaxed out of bed.

Who got into the brownie batter?

They are still sleeping beautifully together. We set up the video monitor and find great entertainment in watching the two of them fall asleep. One night Willem crashed quickly and we see Ellie just sitting there moving his head back and forth, back and forth. Didn't wake him at all.

They are becoming two peas in a pod.

One morning before school, Willem decided we were the pig family and pigs like to play in the mud. So after a failed attempt to create mud in our backyard, we headed to the garden. Once the mud was in place, Willem enjoyed it for a few minutes but Ellie went to town.

 

Ellie has declared my old purse hers and wants to take it with us anywhere we go. It's about as big as she is and requires that she hold her arm up to keep it from falling off her shoulder, but she is thrilled. As you can see, she dressed herself and decided it was time for us to go somewhere. She does not like being left behind.

 

Ellie's beautiful smile. She is so full of love and concern for others. Always there comforting Willem if he's upset and has taken to giving kisses and hugs goodbye. If Willem and I have been at violin or somewhere without her, when we get home she runs to Willem and gives him a hug. She's also starting to talk up a storm. She can say duck now and will play duck duck goose if she sees people sitting down for awhile. She's starting to sing whole songs without the words. She'll sing twinkle twinkle saying dada the whole time but is in tune. It's really interesting to see how her personality and talents shine through more and more. We love you Ellie!

Missouri, here we come!

In May the kids and I went with Grandma to Columbia, Missouri for Julie's graduation from Med School. We had quite an adventure exploring the wonderful parks in Columbia, catching up with family and getting ready for the graduation festivities. Jason couldn't join us so being a man down definitely resulted in very few pictures and a tired Mom.


Willems first time traveling with the violin. He had fun playing for his cousins and held true to his word, carrying it through the airport.

When we were landing, all we saw was green down below. May is a fantastic time to visit and we definitely took advantage of the beautiful weather and the countless city parks.

Grandma Rose was Willem's buddy. She insisted on making him waffles each morning and the two of them together looked high and low for syrup and were quite happy when they found it. (neither one seemed to notice it was sugar free)

 

G&D was Julie and I's favorite restaurant growing up so we've kept with tradition and taken the kids there everytime we go home. They love riding on the truck while waiting for the food to be made.

Willem couldn't wait to go swimming. The weather was in the low 80's most days and the pool really wasn't that warm yet but that didn't stop Willem from swimming most days we were there. He was especially thrilled when his cousins were all over and liked being able to swim independently with the life jacket we found in the garage. Ellie ventured in as well with Grandma one day, but most days she lingered on the steps. 

We flew in and out of Kansas City and rented a car so we had quite an adventure simply getting to Columbia. On the way there we had 4 suitcases, a stroller, violin and 2 carry on bags. We were sort of like a slap stick comedy troupe getting from the terminal to the rental car place. Bags were falling off our cart and by the end Willem was pushing the stroller so Mom and I could manage the luggage. But we made it! The kids loved riding on the shuttle bus. They absolutely enjoyed every part of the journey.

Julie's a Doctor!

The night prior to graduation, we were invited to a dinner honoring Julie and 3 other graduates who were active members in SNMA. It was great getting to learn more about Julie's med school experience and such a wonderful organization that is working to make headway at MU and other schools to increase diversity among doctors.
 

Best picture from graduation

The kids brought their lovies to graduation and with the help of Paw Paw, Rachel and the Brendels, were troopers during the 2 hour ceremony. A great deal of candy was consumed in the making of this magical moment.

Julie being hooded

After graduation, family and friends gathered at Grandma's house to celebrate Julie's graduation. Willem was in heaven being surrounded by his cousins.

 

1st night sharing a bed:)

Ellie has been begging to sleep in the big bed with Willem for months. At bedtime she holes herself up in the far corner of the bed, lays her head on the pillow and asks for la(her blankie).

Tonight we couldn't say no. Willem has always wanted her to sleep with him and they were so cute tucked into bed. We told willem we were worried Ellie would crawl out of bed in the night and he said, don't worry just close the door Mom. Big concession from our son who begs to have the door left open every night though it keeps Ellie up.

The night is young, but for now we have two sleeping angels.