Ninjas never give up.

AK was coming in for the morning hug the other day. She suddenly stopped short and said, "Mom do you smell bad?"
As I had just gotten back from a morning run and not yet had a shower, I responded, "Yes."
AK nodded, turned away and went to lay down on the couch instead.

***

Every Thursday at storytime, while Ms. Yolanda is reading books (in English) to the children, Owen walks across the library, grabs a Spanish board book, and brings it back to me to read to him. Every single time.

***

The other day Owen came charging through the living room shouting, "The tomatoes are coming! The tomatoes are coming!!! I shoot them!!!!!"

***

Claire: Come on, we're ninjas. Ninjas never give up.
Owen: Ninjas don't wear socks.

Wrapping up the School Year

I don't do a very good job of documenting our school year, but here are some random pictures from different things throughout the year. We are so thankful for Classical Conversations - both the program and our local community. This year we learned about the Middle Ages up through modern world history, astronomy and physical science, and so much more.

Here is Claire with some of her best friends at school...

The next few pictures are from field day.

AK and her Anna.

This picture is from the last day of CC. The kids spent a few weeks building straw bridges and egg protectors. This picture shows when we gathered outside to test the egg protectors by dropping them from the top of the playground equipment, complete with a raw egg inside of each!

The next 2 pictures are from the library. Ms. Yolanda is our youth specialist at our local branch, and she is purely wonderful. From storytime to STEM experiences, she makes sure that all ages have plenty of opportunities to learn at the library.

AK sitting with Anna and her baby sister Catherine...

I believe this was from the pumpkin STEM day last fall...

This one is really random but it's from Operation Christmas Child day at our church. The toddlers and children carried the shoe boxes to the front of the church and then prayed for the children who would receive them. Owen was too cute!

These are from a field trip we took to the Rock Ranch to learn about the pond ecosystem. Here they are learning about food webs...

Gathering specimens from the pond...

And observing their finds...

And of course, playing on the huge tunnel slides.

And this one is from a Wednesday night at church. I enjoy teaching the kiddos on Wednesday nights. Anna and AK were really into this Bible story.

Some Things I Love About Owen

I love that Owen is content to play with his trainset for hours.

I love that Owen is not willing to let a little thing like a broken leg slow him down.

I love that Owen still loves to snuggle with me and always lays his head on my shoulder when he is tired.

I love that Owen calls all his plaid button-up shirts and polo shirts his "Daddy shirts," and he asks to either wear a Daddy shirt or a "jersey" every single day.

I love how Owen agrees with my statements in an argumentative way. For example, I might say, "Owen, you found your train!" to which he would reply as if disagreeing, "Yes I did."

I love how Owen always asks if we are going to do things "tomorrow." "We bout to make a smoothie tomorrow? We bout to go to church tomorrow?"

I love how Owen makes sandwiches with random things at mealtimes, much like his big sister AK.

I just really love this kid.

Active

AK is getting ready to wrap up her first season of soccer. It has been so much fun watching her play and develop this season at Upward. And as long as she doesn't hear an announcement regarding the Snack Shack over the loudspeakers, she stays pretty focused!

The kids have been enjoying their bikes lately. We took them to the local trails and were impressed with all of their skills.

Owen is getting pretty good at the balance bike!

Claire attacked the hills all by herself!

And AK tried some hills that she has never tried before as well!

 Mountain Bikers!!!

Hoppy Easter!

Here are some pictures from a family celebration we had on Easter at Dobby's house!

And let's take a moment of silence for the most perfect Easter pictures there could be...

Gotta love those kids.

One of the best parts of the weekend was that Bray got to come from Oregon and visit us! I can't get over how special she is or how blessed I am to have her as my friend.

Comparing the goods.

Owen behind bars.

And lastly, Uncle Scott hanging out on the swing.