First Ever VBS

Claire went to her very first Vacation Bible School at one of the local churches. It was a last minute decision to put her in and I am so glad we did. She was a little nervous the first morning at drop off because there were about 1,000 kids signing in and that was overwhelming. When I picked her up a few hours later she was bouncing up and down and said "this was the best day ever!"

{random tangent} I actually had a few tears as I drove off that first day. It was one of those moments that you just know your baby is growing up. I know it has to happen and that there are amazing moments ahead of us and memories to be made it is just happening so fast.

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Friday night they hosted a family fun night for all the VBS kids and their families. We had such a wonderful time. Some of our new friends from our small group at church had sent their daughter to VBS as well and so we spent the evening hanging out with them. It was pretty cute to watch Claire and Harper hold hands and lead us from activity to activity. The Boogie Woogie Choo Choo and the horses were a definite highlight.

Claire ended the week a little sad that VBS was ending and doesn't really love the idea of waiting all the way until next year to go back. I love that we have opportunities to send Claire to really fun events where she also learns about Jesus. She seems to grasping what God's love means and wanting to make good decisions even when it is hard sometimes. I am so proud to be the mommy of such an amazing little girl. She blesses my life daily.

Poor Pup

Yesterday morning when Allan got Roger out of his cage to go potty he wouldn't put any weight on his back left leg and you could tell he was in pain. We waited a few hours to see if he somehow got better and he definitely was not so the kids and I loaded up our pup and were off to the vet. After a few xrays, a little anesthesia, and being checked out by two doctors (one of them an orthopedic surgeon) it was determined that our very active, very healthy, almost six month old puppy has a partially torn ACL. The good news is that it is a partial tear which usually doesn't have to be fixed with surgery. The bad news is to ensure proper healing he cannot jump or run for six weeks and has to be on anti-inflammatory meds for four of those six weeks. Poor little guy will be spending a lot of time in his crate for the next six weeks to keep him as still as possible and protected from a certain two year old who really enjoys acting like a dinosaur/football player when playing with his pup. I will have to take him out to potty on a leash for the next six weeks so he doesn't get it in his head to chase his shadow or something. Lord help us all, this was not how we planned to spend our summer. I am trying to convince myself that him having no choice but to be calm and leash trained will benefit us in the end and he will be the most well mannered dog ever. It will either be that or he will go totally stir crazy and lose his mind.

Father's Day

I thought it would be fun to take a look back at Allan's past Father's Days. He hasn't changed a bit, but holy cow the changes in the kids are amazing. Allan is seriously one of the most amazing fathers I have ever known. He is consistent, his love for his children is unconditional, he is passionate about investing in their lives. He makes the choice daily to totally engage with them at their level which at this point looks a lot like running like wild man playing chase around the house, playing hide and seek, pretending to be their horse, and wrestling all over the living room. He never seems to be looking for an out with the kids and almost always will completely stop what he is doing to love on them. They have no idea how blessed they are to have such a wonderful daddy. He is a man that sets a wonderful example with his daily life for them and they will benefit greatly from that as they grow. I love this man, I love watching him be a daddy!

Sunday morning Allan and I were finishing up our overnight getaway to the Gaylord so Allan's parents brought the kids to meet us for brunch at his favorite breakfast place, The Original Pancake House. When I asked Allan what he wanted to do the rest of the day he opted to sit on the couch and watch golf after he opened a few presents. He got the camo Waffle House hat he wanted and some headphones for playing video games with his friends online (nerd!). Claire made him a card in the shape of an I which mean "I love you", she is pretty creative. I love her homemade cards and may never spend money on a real card again.

The highlight of the Father's Day gifts was the recordable book that we got from Hallmark. It was the Daddy and Me book and since Claire is the only one that can talk I did the Q and A with her. It was so sweet and funny. I got tears in my eyes watching Allan listen to every page and Claire was so proud that she gave him a gift that made him so happy. I HIGHLY recommend this gift! I can't wait to do it again when Jacob and Aubrey turn 4.

Happy Father's Day Allan Joseph! I love you so much. You inspire me to be a better parent. You are a true gift from God and I am thankful that we get to raise these kiddos together!

Papa and Mima Visit

Allan's parents came to visit this last weekend so Jacob got to extend his birthday celebration a little longer. They gave him one of the highlights of his birthday, his very own basketball goal. He has shot a hundred or more baskets over the last few days. It is SO fun to play with him and watch him play. He is actually pretty good.

His "Kavalich" extended family sent along a present as well. Trucks are another favorite of Jacob right now. He is ALL boy! Thank you Solovjev and Lewis families!

Allan and Gig (aka Mima and Papa) are always so sweet to give a fun gift and sentimental gifts for every birthday. I love the box tradition, they give the kids a Halcyon Day box for every birthday and this year Jacob got one with a choo choo on it which he was super excited about. Gig also gives the kids lots of books with special notes in each one. We have been reading his Five Little Monkeys book every day a time or two or three. Thank you Mima and Papa for loving our kiddos so much!

We saved Mima's birthday gift until they got here, her birthday was earlier in the month. Claire and Gig had a deal that Claire would give her a puppy for her birthday and since Papa has said no to a real dog Claire decided to paint a puppy treasure box (with a little help) which we added a little bracelet to. I think it was a hit.

Holding Lexi

Jacob has never shown much interest in babies, but a couple of weekends ago he decided he was ready for some Lexi cuddle time. It was hilarious and he was SO happy and proud of himself. All I can say is it is a good thing that Sara is a laid back mom and Lexi is a laid back baby. It was fun to get a glimpse of what he might be like once Aubrey is born. I absolutely love the pictures of these two little cousins.

He Turned TWO

On June 11th, my baby boy turned two years old. How has time flown by so quickly? My little Jakey is absolutely the person that keeps me on my toes everyday. He is hilarious, active, loving, and a rascal. I am head over heels in love with him. There are absolutely times I think I need to bury my head in the sand until he is about five because I don't think I can pull him off the counter one more time, but even during those times he is so full of joy and adventure I can't stay too upset with him. One of my favorite things about Jacob is the way he will randomly run up to me in the middle of a sword fight or basketball game and hug me so tightly and plant a kiss on me. He likes to get reactions out of people and can be quite the performer, he seems to be super confident and that makes me proud. One of the coolest things to watch is the way he loves his daddy. He is 100% a Daddy's Boy and watching their relationship makes me smile daily. I am so thankful God chose Allan and I to raise Jacob!

We spent Jacob's birthday morning as a little family celebrating our little man. He played in his ball pit (which got returned the next day because it was such a mess), wearing his super cute construction costume while pushing his new tractor all over the house, learning how to play a puzzle that his sister picked out for him, eating a yummy breakfast, and playing hard until naptime. Such a fun morning!

His party was that afternoon and it was fun chaos. Allan made another wonderful cake for our birthday boy who is a lover of all things sports. The ball pit was emptied and refilled over and over by the older guests at the party, the bubble machine was a hit with the younger crowd, and Jakey was blessed with some super fun toys from everyone who could make it to the party.

I love you Jacob Allan and I love celebrating your life. You bless this family everyday with your infectious zeal for life. I can't wait to see what this year brings for you and our clan, I am sure it will be adventure filled because of you.

Splash Day

Because of all the snow days we had this year Claire's preschool added days onto the end of the school year. The very last day was Splash Day and the kids had so much fun. The Boogie Woogie Choo Choo was definitely the highlight for both Claire and Jacob, they rode it a lot. Claire was not a huge fan of getting wet since it was a little overcast out that day, but the clouds didn't deter Jacob one bit. He actually gathereda lot of attention when he decided to bathe himself in shaving cream. It was a fun afternoon of final playtimes with her school friends.

Weekend in Arizona

We spent a long weekend at The Phoenecian in Scottsdale, AZ with Allan's family in mid May. It was a beautiful resort and totally relaxing (minus Jacob not sleeping well). We spent most of our time lounging by the pool watching the cousins play, splash, have sea horse races, and pretend they were mermaids. I love it when Claire and Jacob get special time with their cousins. We are so blessed by Allan's parents and the priority they put on family time. They are always so good to make sure we can all get together even though we live all over the country. We were sad that Allan's sister, Elizabeth and her family, were not able to make it out but look forward to seeing them in July.

PreK Graduation

Claire had her PreK graduation from RockPointe Preschool a few weeks ago. It was bittersweet because we have loved our two years there so much. I am already praying we can get Jacob in there when he turns three. It is such a great little school! The graduation ceremony was so cute. I loved all the little people in their caps and gowns, Claire's was so big it had to be clipped on with a clothespin. Each student had a moment in the spotlight showing off different things they had learned throughout the year. Claire and her friend, Tanner sang Jesus Loves Me. Claire said that she really wants to sing in front of people with a microphone again, but not just her family. At the end of the ceremony each student was given a Bible which they all loved.

This year was especially sweet because Claire's cousin, Cooper, was in the same PreK but had a different teacher. Claire's love for her cousin really grew so much throughout the year. I don't think she realizes that next year she won't be seeing him nearly as often since he will be moving on to Kindergarten at one school and she will be in a different three day PreK program at the school she will go to Kindergarten at in a year. I loved seeing my sister on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and it was so wonderful having her pick Claire up in the afternoons so that Jacob could take his naps.
My mom was sweet enough to take the day off and come celebrate her two grandkids big graduation day. It was special to have her there. Allan, as always, made a stellar dad choice and went in late to work so that he could cheer his baby girl on as well. Can I just say I have no idea how we all would function without him in our lives, he is such an amazing dad and helper in our family...love him.

Gender Reveal Party

May 7th we hosted our first ever Gender Reveal Party to celebrate finding out who K3 would be. We had our closest friends and most of our family here and it was SO amazingly fun!! Allan and I went in for the ultrasound on Thursday and had the tech write the results on a card and place it in a sealed envelope. I delivered the envelope to my friend Randi who got the honor of finding out who was joining our family. She went to the party store bought a lot of balloons in the right gender color sealed them in a wrapped box and brought it to the party.

As the guests arrived they chose a pin with pink or blue beads to vote for a boy or girl. We had banners hanging that said "Who Will It Be?", "Aubrey Joy", "Nathan Joseph". I also had a table filled with my favorite cravings for everyone to munch on. We didn't wait too long for the big reveal.

The kids unwrapped the huge box and then out popped a bunch of PINK balloons. There was a lot of screaming and jumping and Claire gave hugs to everyone within arms reach. I can honestly say I would have been just as excited had it been a boy, but seeing Claire's pure joy brought tears to my eyes. I loved watching the people that I love so happy with us. I would say this was the most fun party we have had, it was full of pure joy. Another reason I was happy to see pink was because of her name. We chose Aubrey because it was my Pap's middle name, she is named after one of the most amazing people I have ever known. Joy is my middle name so that will be fun to have a kiddo named after me.

I cannot wait to meet Aubrey Joy! I have been busy planning her nursery and occasionally buying can't pass up super cute clothing which is one of the fun perks of having another girl.