Life Lately- The Rest of May

May is always a busy month with lots of fun and special activities and celebrations.

I took this picture on the last day I took Nathan to Pre-K, and then I cried on the way home thinking about the great year he had.

He had such a wonderful year and learned and grew and matured so much. He learned all the tools he needs to start reading soon, talked my ear off about all the cool science experiments, made huge improvements in his handwriting, made new friends without me initiating it, and had so many wonderful memories and experiences- field trips, parties and programs. The next time I take him to school it will be Kindergarten! I am so grateful for a great year, great teachers, and the best transition to school for my oldest, and I'm also especially thankful for the two crazies I wrangled at drop off everyday who give me two more opportunities to be a Pre-K mom.

While we were on our cruise, these boys had their last days of school.

Samuel had a great year too (although he was really partial to the days when Nathan had school and he didn't. He asked the other day when Nathan will go back to school so he can play with me without Nathan).

On the last day of school they had inflatables for the kids, and even though it rained they still let them play on them. Nathan laughed that they turned into water inflatables because of the rain.

Last day of school with Nathan's sweet friend Levi who was his ride to and from school while we were gone.

Since school's been out, Nathan has been doing a lot of this. All day. Everyday. He takes them apart and builds them again, over and over and over.

He had an AWANA awards assembly at the end of May too. This boy is no longer in Cubbies. He'll be in Sparks next year! Ah! (And Samuel will be our new Cubby, and Elisabeth our Puggle. My gracious, they grow up fast!)

He had a great year in AWANA and worked really hard learning his verses every week.

We've also been having lots and lots of play dates since summer started. One of the things that makes me sad about Kindergarten is that day time play dates will be harder to come by. And we all love play dates in our family! So we are planning to cram in as many as possible this summer.

Nathan has no problems playing at a house full of girls!

And the kids always have the best time (I do too!) at Levi and Audrey's house!

We even made tie dye shirts at their house. Nathan is so proud of his (and was a little disappointed when I vetoed him wearing it to church on Sunday)

And these sweet girls were always next to each other playing the whole morning. It's fun seeing their friendship develop.

Showing off their awesome shirts!

Friday night we had a pizza and movie night. I let the boys "decorate" their own pizza

Our movie nights always start out like this...

And thirty minutes in, when the popcorn runs out, they always end up like this.

Nathan had his last soccer game on Saturday morning. Sweet sister is a great cheerleader.

He had a really fun season. He was on a team with some really awesome kids, and he had a blast every game. And of course the one time he scored a goal, I was out of town :(. He improved a lot especially for being one of the youngest on his team.

Saturday was also Matt's birthday. We had a Venezuela mission trip meeting that night, so we shared his cheesecake with the mission team.

I'm trying to be intentional about planning some fun activities with the kids each week this summer. So, on Tuesday, we went to the donut shop for breakfast as a special treat, and then visited a fun toy store we'd never been to. The kids got to play with the toy displays, look around, and pick out a small new toy to buy. We all had a great morning!

That evening Nathan had his end of the year soccer celebration that started with pizza with the team. Such sweet, sweet kids!

And the best part of the season is the medal. They had a fun celebration service for all the players. They had a karate demonstration too, so of course the minute we got home Nathan asked if he could do a karate show. He was pretty mesmerized by it!

This week, I also took Nathan on a Kindergarten date. He had his five year well check.

Afterward, we went to the enrollment center and enrolled him in Kindergarten. I thought I was fine, but there were a few tears.

After we enrolled him, we stopped and prayed for him, his teacher, and the kids who will be in his class and for a great first year of school for him.

Then this little Tiger and I went out to lunch at one of his favorite restaurants.

As we were walking out of the doctor's office, he said, "Mommy, those shots hurt more than I thought." Bless his heart, so after lunch, we decided we needed a special treat!

I just love this boy and treasure the one on one time I get to be with him. As we were eating our ice cream, he leaned over and said, "You're the best mommy in the whole world." Great day with my big boy!