School's Out!

Villanova's Commencement exercises were held last weekend, the residence halls on campus are empty... and Liam successfully completed his first year of preschool today!  For our little family anyway, school is now officially out for summer.

Liam and his teacher, Mrs. Tenney

Liam absolutely loved his first experience in school, and his teacher, Mrs. Tenney, was definitely a big part of what made his experience so positive.  We are so grateful to her and the rest of the staff at Valley Forge Presbyterian Nursery School for taking such good care of Liam and giving him the structure and tools to really grow this year.  He has learned so much about letters and numbers, taking a recent interest in spelling and trying to figure out what letter comes first in each word he hears or says.  ("That's a cool toy!  Tuh, tuh, tuh... toy starts with T, right Mommy?!")

Now, when I was a kid, you got one school picture a year.  And that seemed adequate, right?  These days, they get their school pictures done in both fall and spring.  Good grief!  Here are the best of Liam's spring preschool photos; we liked the fall ones better, but they're still better than most pics I get out of him at home!
 

This next photo was sent to us just the other day from Liam's teachers.  The 4-day teacher, Mrs. Trumpler (who will be Liam's teacher next year), has a nephew serving in Afghanistan, and they got all the kids in the school together to take a photo to send to him overseas.  Liam is in the top left corner.  Especially with Uncle Tim in the military, we just really appreciated that the kids are learning to say thank you to our servicemen and women!

The other thing that preschool has really inspired in Liam is an interest in writing and drawing. He likes to sign his name (and is starting to use lowercase letters instead of all caps) on everything and his drawings are getting much more detailed and fun!

Liam writing in his new book of tools from Uncle Sam

Liam drew this  next one as as 30th birthday present for Uncle Tim before my trip to Charleston, and it is without a doubt one of my favorite drawings of his so far.  Any guesses as to who/what he drew?

Why it's Goofy, Minnie, and Mickey Mouse, of course!!

He drew that picture in early March, and this next one is from early May.  You can see that his people now have pupils, fingers, and some sweet, sweet toes :)

Liam will be off to 4-day preschool (same school, different class) in September... it's going by too fast!

Visiting with GG

As a reward for a week of good behavior, the boys were so excited to go on a day-trip with me to York to visit Nana, Grandpa, and GG last weekend.  GG had her second hip replaced a couple of weeks ago, and we couldn't wait to go visit!

Liam and Joergen entertained themselves with an episode of Caillou on my Kindle while I got myself ready on Saturday morning.  Seeing the two of them peacefully cuddling together seriously made my morning.

Our first stop was Nana and Grandpa's house, where Nana and Liam put together the finishing touches on a fantastic picnic lunch.

"Mmmm.  It's yummy, Nana."

"Nana, you make the dressing while I stir it together."

Then it was off to the rehabilitation hospital for our lunch visit with GG!

HealthSouth had a really nice "backyard" area, just right for a picnic.  Throw in picture-perfect weather, great food, and even better company, and you couldn't ask for anything more!

GG was in great spirits and ready for a party!  She is doing really well in her recovery, making solid progress towards her goals.  Praise God!  As an added bonus, Aunt Jayne, Judy, and Mike even joined us for lunch.  I must have been so busy talking and/or chasing little ones that I never got a picture with them...

After lunch and a little side trip to Rita's for a safe treat, Nana and I took Liam and Joergen off to Cousler Park, which quite possibly has the best playground ever.  The boys love it there!  Liam did a ton of climbing, swinging, sliding, and playing music...

... while Joergen did his own share of climbing, driving the "choo-choo-rain"...

... and picking up girls!!

Although it was more likely the other way around.  This little girl took one look at Joergen, hugged him, grabbed his hand, and paraded him all over that playground.  I was so sure that Joergen would run away from her, but he just looked at me and said, "She my friend!"  Wonders never cease.

After an action-packed day and a yummy dinner at Nana and Grandpa's, both boys fell asleep in the car ride home (Joergen was out before we even got out of town; Liam not long after).  We came home to a sparkling house, clean laundry, and freshly-cut grass... wow, do I have a solid nomination for Husband of the Year!

I feel so grateful for my parents taking such good care of GG, and I know how much everyone's prayers, visits, cards, and well-wishes (including some sweet surprises from our IL family!) mean to her and help keep her spirits high while she works hard in therapy.  She promised Liam she'd be playing tag ("and can we play hide-and-no-seek too, GeeGee?") in no time.

Easter Bunny Eggs

Easter this year was... well... I'm not really sure.  But I heard it was nice!  I spent the holiday weekend battling a fever and generally feeling in solidarity the Lord, minus the whole rising from the dead part.  It turned out to be pneumonia, and after a heavy regimen of antibiotics and the gift of some prescription cough syrup, I have finally rejoined the land of the living.

While I was home in bed on Holy Saturday, our dear friend Cathleen was kind enough to text me pictures of the boys playing at Maple Acres following what was supposed to have been a family Easter Egg Hunt-- and in reality was a total bust.  They still had a blast playing at the farm though!

Who's ready for the Easter Bunny?!

Weeee arrrrrrre!!!

On Saturday afternoon, Nana, Grandma, and GG arrived to spend the rest of the holiday weekend with us.  We were so excited to have them visit, and I was especially glad for all the help while I was feeling so crummy!

Since Joergen's birthday was just a few days before Easter, and Grandpa's birthday was just a few days after, we decided to celebrate them both over the weekend.  Joergen received some awesome new clothes for spring and a Curious George that actually had a blanket stuffed inside (which he now sleeps with nightly).  The boys were also excited to open a package from Grandma and Papa, filled with lots of cool new books!  The icing on the cake had to be the unexpected Christmas gifts from Uncle Jim and Aunt Ellen (new trucks!), which occupied the boys for the rest of that evening.

At last, Easter morning was here!  Liam and Joergen were thrilled to see that the Easter Bunny had come and hid "Easter Bunny Eggs" (according to J) all over our yard.

The boys also found Easter baskets in the kitchen, filled with new books, sidewalk chalk, safe treats, and a couple of other surprises.  Liam could not wait to read Another Monster at the End of this Book with Nana-- the original is one of his all-time faves!

After breakfast and a change of clothes, it was time to grab some empty baskets and forage for eggs.

Found one!

Me too!

Look at this good-looking crowd taking in the action!  I, on the other hand, was in the yard looking half-dead in my pajamas, and am praying that GG did not catch me on film.

That Easter Bunny sure did hide a lot of eggs in our yard... perhaps to make up for the busted hunt at Merrymead?  The kids had to look high...

and low...

Until finally they emerged victorious.

Happy Easter, everybody!  He is Risen!

Thanks to GG for making the trip to be with us, and to Nana and Grandpa for making it happen!  And for being creative in doing so-- especially when it came to providing door-to-door service :)  Who knew our yard could double as a driveway?

Life and Times at Miss Doreen's

... or, as Joergen says, "Misoreen's"

For the amount of time that the boys spend with Miss Doreen, it's no secret that she has become truly a part of our family-- often called Aunt Doreen and of course Uncle Sam for a reason.  Liam and Joergen love her, her family, and the other kids there so much, and are rather blessed to be loved in return... especially with some of the things my darling children have done to her and her poor house over the last 4 years!! (who remembers the events that precipitated Liam having to wear the green jammies that zip up the back and are impossible to get out of...? *shudder*)

Daddy drops them off each day around 7:30 am and I pick them up again around 5:30 pm... which makes for approximately 50 hours every week that we are away from our boys.  I'm so grateful that she and her daughters often send me pictures while I'm at work of what they are up to, and my mommy guilt is at least a little bit eased when I see how happy Liam and Joer are under her care.  So in no particular order, I would like to share some of my favorites.

Doreen often captures them in silly dress-up pictures, like this one of Fireman J:

And this one of Princess Liam!

One of the many things we appreciate about sending them to Doreen's is that they get to help with household chores and learn about things like yardwork, gardening,

-- and when their handyman Frank is around-- light construction and maintenance.  Whenever Frank is going to be at Doreen's house, Liam insists on wearing "worker-man clothes" (the definition of which changes with the wind) and bringing his toolbox so that he can help.  I love this picture of Liam clutching his little hammer and using every ounce of restraint to not climb that ladder!

Doreen's daughters often refer to Liam and Joergen as their little cousins, and they truly might as well be!  They are all so good with our boys.  Theresa (Tweesuh), who once in a while even comes to our house to babysit, has probably spent the most time with them, and the boys absolutely adore her.  Her latest mission is to get Joergen to keep saying "cucumber"-- because he sure does love his "cumummers"! (Insert squeal of laughter here)

A rare moment when all three of Miss Doreen's daughters were home at the same time as the Fab Four:

Em, Krissy, Joer, Liam, Theresa, Kaelyn, and Danielle

As long as it isn't raining or sub-zero temperatures, the kids spend as much time as possible outside in the backyard at Doreen's house. They dig in the sand, have races down the hill, look for bugs, play baseball, and the list goes on.  They've even watched as a bird built a nest, laid eggs, and hatched baby birds in the eaves of her patio roof!

Best buds Kaelyn, Emmy, and Liam

Monkeys

Riding the scooter with Aunt Doreen

My boys gravitate to mud like bugs to light, and Doreen is always kind enough to send me pictures like this so I know what to expect (and how much laundry I'll be doing) when I get home in the evening.

When it's hot (not that we remember what that's like...), the kids love nothing more than to put on their bathing suits and play in the sprinkler or in the little pool.  This was from last summer:

Raleigh, Rylie, Kaelyn, Liam, and J

(Sidebar: Liam now refers to Rylie as "human Rylie" in order to properly distinguish her from our next door neighbor's "dog Riley."  And let us not also forget Liam's favorite stuffed animal Riley, who is simply referred to as "my Riley."  Thank goodness for that clarification.)

Alas, the pool is not simply a summer thing:

Fall Swimming

Spring Swimming

The boys got another friend at Miss Doreen's this year, and for the first time ever, it was another boy!  Baby Declan (or Deck-uh-win, as Liam calls him) joined the gang, and the boys for once now outnumber the girls.  Joergen had to get used to no longer being the baby of the house, and Liam officially made the switch to being one of the "big kids".  This clearly took a while for him to get used to...

Our kids' love of teeny bopper music was born at Miss Doreen's house, where they love to crank up the tunes and pretend they're pop stars:

The new One Direction.  Joergen's backwards hat was his own touch.

One in a while, the kids will take a break from the action to watch a little tv or cuddle together on the couch.  Our boys just love their Emmy and Kaelyn... I have no idea how they will handle next year without them!

Emmy and Liam playing "married." Liam insists he will marry Kaelyn someday, but "maybe Emily too"

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I truly don't know what we'd do without Miss Doreen.  And this doesn't just stop with the boys!  Case in point: I lost my engagement ring last week in Doreen's backyard while brushing sand off Liam, and we spent hours on our hands and knees searching for it to no avail.  I could have died!  When we had to call it quits for the night, it was Doreen (with the help of not one but two metal detectors) while I was at work the next day who not only finally found my ring, but cried when she did so because she knew how much it would mean to me to get it back.  She has more than earned her wings!!