Puddles, parades and a graduation

Last week, before this awful heat wave hit, Lily, Hannah and I sat on the porch and watched an afternoon thunderstorm roll into our neighborhood.  The rain didn't last long and after it stopped Hannah and Lily asked to go outside to do some puddle jumping.  Happy to enjoy the cool breeze and to not have to water the garden that night I told them to grab their flip flops. 

They found some water to splash in and I watched as daredevil Lily jumped in the water and mud while Hannah, in true Hannah form, decided to keep herself dry and clean and drop rocks in the water instead.

From puddles to parades...I forgot that I have not shared the pictures that I took earlier this month at our annual neighborhood parade.  The parade is held right down the street from our house and afterwards the street is blocked off for a neighborhood band party. It is always a good evening visiting with neighbors and friends and enjoying the music and rides for the kids. 

We also recently celebrated Hannah's graduation from her 4K program.   It was in the church and included prayers and songs by the two 4K classes at her school.  Hannah sang her little heart out and kept me smiling with how she rounded her mouth like a professional (you can see this in one of the pictures below :))  Afterwards they had a little reception in the parish hall with cake and punch. 

I had such mixed emotions over this day because I know that next up is real deal 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. five day school. Life is changing and I know that there will be so many wonderful things in our future but I have to tell you that I am really having a hard time getting ready for this next step.

I was grateful that Lily had Mother's Day Out the week after graduation so Hannah and I could have a little time together.  I left it up to Hannah to decide what she wanted to do with our time.  She had some birthday money and wanted to buy a new book so we ended up at the book store having hot cocoa and scones before we made her purchase. Afterwards we bought new flip flops for both Hannah and Lily and had lunch at Zoe's.  Our next outing started with a breakfast of pancakes and french toast at Another Broken Egg Cafe (can you tell we don't get to go out to eat much these days?) and then it was off to visit the dinosaur exhibit at the McWane Center. I took a few pictures on my phone...

It was nice to calm my heart a little with these two "Mommy and Hannah" dates as Hannah calls them.  Thankfully I have the summer to prepare for kindergarten and I am going to try to make the most of these next couple of months of being at home with both of my girls.

Jam packed weekend

We had a jam packed weekend literally full of making jam, planting our garden, fishing, farmer's markets, and homemade playhouses.

We woke up early Saturday morning and while Lily and I went to our local farmer's market for some fresh strawberries and peaches to make jam, Hannah and Matt left to spend the morning together fishing.

The fishermen came back empty handed but they had a great time and Hannah did get a few nibbles.

Lily and I collected all our necessities for making our jam Saturday morning so Sunday afternoon we were ready to go.  Hannah and Lily helped me cut up the strawberries although I really wasn't sure that we were going to have any strawberries left with these two assisting.

I love having homemade jam in the fridge for morning toast and we will keep some for gift giving throughout the year.  Later this week, if I can keep Hannah from eating all of our peaches, peach jam is next on the agenda.

In our "spare" time over the weekend we finally planted our garden.  I have been meaning to do this for many weeks now but just have not found the time.  I promised myself it would get done and so we pulled on our gardening gloves and got to work.

We started by adding some compost that we have been preparing in our little backyard composter for months now to our soil.

And then we planted several types of peppers, tomatoes, okra, eggplant, herbs, cucumbers, cantaloupe in the garden.  We left a few empty spaces that we will fill with other veggies that love the summer heat in the coming months. Here is the finished garden.

In the process of working on the garden Hannah's imagination took over and she decided she wanted to take some of the wood slats we were no longer using as dividers in the garden and turn them into a playhouse.  Matt thought this was a great idea (can we say two peas in a pod) and immediately got out his drill and a dropcloth.  The playhouse had more of a tent look but it was a fun spot for Hannah and Lily to play.

A fun and productive weekend...I couldn't ask for much more than that!

On Stage Again

I don't normally post twice in one day (lately I actually don't post twice in one week :)) but I had another free minute and wanted to share that Hannah wasn't the only one on stage this week.  Lily had her annual school performance where she and the other children in her Mother's Day Out program performed the songs that they have been singing at music time.   Lily was front and center and she did a great job of sitting and singing.  I loved the smile on her face when she looked out into the audience and saw me.  That little smile just makes my heart so happy.

Lily's biggest fan was sitting in the front row with some of her friends.

Each class also does a board showing off some of the art work that they created over the year.

Lily's teacher Mrs. Gladis is so good with the kids and Lily absolutely loves her.  There is nothing that makes me happier than to know that when I leave my children they are in good hands, and that is exactly how I feel with Mrs. Gladis.  We are so blessed that she is in our lives.

Hope you are all having a good weekend!

On Stage

Hello friends!  I am finally back at the computer after a week of Matt taking over this space for his work.  We are still sharing the office but he finally had some time to clear his 3 computers and other work off of the desk so that I could find my camera memory card reader.  So far things are going well with Matt working from home.  No commute means a little more time with us, which is always good, and Hannah and Lily are working hard on using quiet voices when Daddy is on the phone.  It is taking some adjusting, but so far things seeming to be going pretty smoothly.

This week Hannah stepped on stage for her first ever dance recital. It was so much fun to watch as the different things that she has learned all year came together in this performance.  I loved how low pressure everything was and that the girls even performed on stage with their teachers.  I was amazed that there was not one child the whole night that was scared or in tears with all of those eyes watching them.  All of the children including Hannah were incredibly comfortable and seemed to have so much fun.

The recital was held at the Alabama Theatre, which was a beautiful backdrop for the performance. Hannah was pretty much awe struck over the whole experience and would probably dance on that stage every weekend if she could.  We spent some time exploring this theatre after both the dress rehearsal and the recital.  The details and decor of this historical building are amazing and it is a wonderful place to take photographs.

The night of the recital we sat high up in the third floor balcony in the front row.  This was great for viewing and videoing but not so much for photographing.  We were a little far away for my lens as you can tell in these pictures.

After the finale we retrieved our little ballerina and found some great places around the theater for pictures.

After this day I think that Hannah is going to love dance class even more than she already does.  And can I just say that this mama who danced for 15 years of her life could not be happier.  Not to rush the months along but this performance has given me visions of sugar plum fairies and I am already thinking about how much fun it is going to be to take Hannah to see her first Nutcracker performance in December!