Last May M graduated from his second year of preschool. He had the same teacher, Miss Becky, both years. She was a wonderful teacher. She was so kind and loving with her students, and did a great job at getting them ready to start kindergarten.

For the graduation, the kids sang songs they had learned throughout the year. Then they received their diplomas, and the kids who were graduating and moving on to kindergarten got to wear a blue cap and gown. Cutest cap and gowns EVER.

Here is M singing along to some of the songs. He is wearing the light yellow shirt with the navy blue sports coat and khaki pants. He LOVES to sing. Let's just say he made sure his voice was heard in the program...! Jake and I were sitting in the front row, and a couple of times we had to motion for him to tone it down. We thought maybe the other parents would like to hear their kids sing too! :)

"Two more monkeys, jumping on the bed..."

We were happy dad could make it to the graduation this year! Last year he had to miss it.

Here is M receiving his diploma packet.

Eating treats with friends after the graduation program.

We are so thankful for this sweet lady and all she has done to help M learn and grow. We love you, Miss Becky!

life with M

Time is going way too fast! I am loving the stage the kids are in right now. I don't want to forget all the details of how these kids are learning, growing, and having fun! So, here is to remembering what M has been up to the last few months... 

M was our "stair shoveler" this last winter. He got pretty good at it! I know it was nice for Jake to get home from work and have the stairs shoveled.

Putting away Christmas decorations in his room. 

Warming up by the "fire" with little sister. 

The faces!!! He has a lot... 

 

He loved playing on his snow "slide." He was extremely entertained by his creation.

He wrestled for the first time this last winter. I'll write more on that later. Here he is in the middle of a match.

He LOVES being with cousins! Here is him, cousin E, cousin K, and papa watching a show. 

Grandpa B gave him some real tools and wood blocks for his birthday. He has loved building things with them out on the porch. 

Playing with our neighbor girl. 

Learning how to make a paper airplane from Dad. 

I cut out the hearts, and M made napkin holders with them for our Valentine's Day dinner. 

Pirate Day at preschool. 

We got two old boxes, and he transformed them into his "house." He played with these boxes for months! One night before I went to bed, I went to check on the kids. I found him asleep in his "house." 

He loves to serve his Nana and Papa  by making their bed. No joke, he did the bed all by himself in this picture. I love it...

He is a big help to let J help him unload the dishwasher, and teaching her where things go. 

Playing in the crawl space with cousin K. 

He made himself a "truck." He has a great imagination. He taped on the  box part at the back of the car and said, "Mom, I've got a truck!" 

Reading to little sister. 

He got an extra chore one day for one reason or another, and so I assigned him the chore of folding the towels. He did a really great job!

We love our little M!

M turns 5!

Back in January, Mr. M turned five!

Before he headed out for work, Jake ran to town to get some breakfast for M--donuts and chocolate milk. And a ring pop! It didn't disappoint. I'm not sure who liked it more, M or baby J!

 Opening gifts!

For his birthday dinner, he asked for Little Ceasears pizza. "Booyah," I thought. Done. For his birthday cake, he asked for a blueberry bundt cake. I found this very interesting, seeing as how I have never made a blueberry bundt cake. Thanks to pinterest, though, we found a recipe that turned out great.

A few days later, we went to eat dinner with grandparents and other family at Texas Roadhouse. I forgot my camera so didn't get any pictures, but it was a fun time. He is blessed to have good people in his life that love him.

Since he turned five, here are my top 5 favorite things I LOVE about M!

1- He likes to laugh!

2- He teaches me about patience

3- He loves to learn

4- He is crazy about dancing and singing to a song he likes

5- He is extremely thoughtful 

I am so thankful Heavenly Father would send M to our family. He has taught Jake and I so much. Lately I have been thinking that he was sent to me because there are things he needs to learn from me, but more importantly, there are things that I need to learn from him. He teaches me so much about being patient, and that it is okay and good to take a chill pill and have fun in life!

We love you, M!

for you, M--so we can laugh about it when you are older

Life is in the little moments. I wanted to write down this moment we had last night so we can all laugh about it with M when he gets older. 

Last night I was getting ready to bathe little J. I opened the shower door, only to find there was something all over the floor in there. After a few moments, I realized it was dried up pee. "M!" I thought to myself. I was not happy!

Calming myself down, I called him into the bathroom, and it didn't take long for him admit that, yes, he had peed in the shower. When asked why he did it, he responded, "So I wouldn't have to wash my hands." I can only imagine what was going through his mind when he did it, "If I don't touch the toilet, then I won't have to wash my hands... I'll go in the shower."

I thought, "You made the mess, and you're going to clean it."

Needless to say, we both spent the next while in the bathroom while I instructed M how to clean the floor of the shower.

Without him seeing me do it, I snapped a picture of him cleaning. I couldn't resist; he kept saying about my playtex cleaning gloves, "Oh wow, these 'nayclex' gloves really work well!"

"Yes, they do work well," I replied. I couldn't help but laugh in my head.

Here he is inspecting his work.

After it was clean, Jake and I had a little talk with him. Hopefully this is the first, and the last, time he does that!

(And, on a side note, he did a pretty good job. From now on, I think he will be my partner when I clean the shower!)

Brother Fart

With the new year, Mr. M got to move up to the next class in primary. Exciting thing! After church we asked him how it went. He said fine; he liked it. He said he couldn't remember his teacher's name, so we reminded him. And that was that.

Well tonight while cleaning the kitchen, this happened:

M: "Hey mom, want to hear something funny that happened at church today?" 

Me: "Sure."

M: "So in class, I couldn't remember my teacher's name," he says casually, "so I called him Bro. Fart." 

Me: Muffled snorting as I try to contain myself from laughing out loud hysterically. (Something on his face told me he knew his teacher's name wasn't "Bro. Fart" when he called him that...) "Hmm, I see." More muffled noises as I try to regain my composure, "I'm glad you remember now. We probably don't want to call him that anymore. He probably doesn't like being called that, ya think?" 

M says with a smile on his face, "Yeah, probably not. I remember his name now." After a few seconds, "Everybody laughed."

Me, smiling: "Oh, well let's remember to call him by his real name." 


Bro. Farley, my apologies. Hopefully he does remember your name from now on!

growing up

Time is going way too fast these days! This little guy of ours is getting too big, too fast! Back in December he finished up in nursery. He was in there for a long time, so I think he was ready to move on to Sunbeams! Here he is on his last Sunday in nursery.

He was a little unsure about Primary, at first, but he quickly seemed to get over that. After a few weeks in Primary, he was asked to give the scripture in opening exercises. When I explained to him what that would entail, he said, "Does that mean I get to go up and talk into the microphone?!" After telling him yes, he got a big smile on his face. "Sure! I can do that," he said. He didn't flinch at all when it was his turn to give the scripture. He just walked right up and said the first article of faith. He did great! 

Here is his first picture he colored as a Sunbeam. 

He also had a birthday in January! Here he is blowing out his candles. 

(Oh, and don't go being jealous of my high-rise apron. You know it looks stylin')

I had been wanting to make him a toy kitchen, so with the help of family, I was able to make him one for his big day. I will post more on making it later, but I think he was really surprised and excited when he saw it!

 

I am loving this stage M is in right now! He is so much fun! Today Jake told him to stop growing so fast. Later, as Jake was tucking him in bed, he told M to, "be good to Mom tomorrow." M replied, "Okay, I will. I'll stop growing so fast." He knows how to obey! 

We are so thankful that he gets to be a part of our family! 

We love you, M!