Wrapping It Up

Needless to say, leaving Cleveland is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I've been dragging my feet with this whole blogging thing and while I would like to get up to speed and start covering what's currently going on with us, I'm not willing to move forward without documenting the great times that now seem so long ago.
Soooo.... here are several random happenings that in no way fit together other than that they all involve my family and happened before we moved from Cleveland.


Cute pictures of Charlee going through her rain-boot phase.



The last kids book club meeting. We had read Little House in the Big Woods and the girls were trying to fashion something out of "calico's" to wear atop their heads.



I LOVE Family Dance Night at Canterbury. It's my favorite event of the year. This video was taken earlier in the night before Molly's friends got there and she started to "feel" the music. I missed having Travis with us, but still a FUN night.



I finally got around to recovering our dinning room chairs.
Hopefully you can tell which is before and which is after.



We made some little gift bags for teacher appreciation week.
Contents: homemade bread, homemade jam, cute kitchen washcloths, a spreader for the jam



Dillon and his buddy Eli made a "lean to" in our back yard. I was wondering what was keeping them occupied for hours out there. They were pretty proud of it.



Molly's team won Battle of the Books at Canterbury. I was so proud of her. She was the team captain and they were up against 7 other teams from grades 1 - 3. She managed to read all 12 books and memorize their authors. Her team scored highest in every Q & A round and had a pizza party to celebrate the win. This challenge was really great for the kids and I am hoping to follow Mr. Lapowski's lead and incorporate it in the schools over here. If you want to know more about it, or are interested in the book list, go here.



Charlee and Jack continue their romance. Someday, when we convince them to move out here close to us, they will be reunited and all will be right in the world again.






Our last trip to Castle Park in Coventry.



Molly says goodbye to Nicole, her fist Cleveland friend. The two met in preschool at age 3 and were close from that point on. We'll miss you Nicole.



Mrs. Fierer. You know I was doing OK the last day we were in town. I took treats into the kid's classes and their teachers had little "goodbye parties" for them. It wasn't until I came to pick up Dillon after school and walked up to Mrs. Fierer, who was already crying, that I started my complete break down. I can't imagine having had better teachers for my kids while attending Canterbury. They're support and influence of my children and family has made an impression on me that will last forever. Of all the things I miss in Cleveland the most, the school and teachers are right up there. Thank You Canterbury!

Preschool Co-op Graduation

Congratulations Charlee!


Thanks Ladies for helping to make this a great year for our kids.

My Boy is 6

My little Dill. So full of life. How are you growing so fast!


For Dillon's birthday this year we decided to combine two of his favorites, his buddies and his Lego's. First we had the building competitions.


Then we headed to the basement for some destruction... pinata style. I was impressed how well my little home made pinata held up. All they boys got at least three hits in before she fell apart spilling her insides all over the floor.


Pizza, fruit, cake, yummmm.

(I spent a couple of hours making this cake only to have Charlee stick her little fingers in it about 10 minutes before the party)

Presents!





Party Favors. I found these cool candy Lego's that you can actually build with. A bag of those tied to a Lego builder set made the perfect party favor. The kids loved them.



A few other birthday memories.




Dillon,

Oh how you have changed in the past year. Your interests are ever expending and your curiosity growing daily. You are fascinated with the way everything works, functions, moves, etc.. Your more recent hobbies include taking things apart, creating new things, and getting your hands on any non-fiction books possible. You have a big heart and are always looking out for your sisters. You have done a great job of being "the man of the house" while daddy has been living in Washington and I know someday you are going to make a wonderful husband and father. We love you Dillon and our family wouldn't be the same without you!

Love,
Mom

Don't do this at home

Seriously, don't. This took FOREVER! The ending result was pretty cool though.
The things we do for our kids.



Behold... the Lego pinata. (to be used in a later post)

Curtsy Charlee

She's the prettiest little ballerina I ever saw. Thank you Katie, for being an excellent teacher!

Cleveland With Daddy

We had time to do a few things with Travis before he left to go back to WA. A trip to the zoo, the Arcade, and the West Side Market.


We'll see you again in a couple months.

Easter Fun

Our family Easter picture taken at the church egg hunt.


Welcome home daddy!



Many contributed to make these Easters baskets good ones. Thanks!


The hunt is on. This is the main reason for taking pictures on all the nicely decorated eggs. Not just to document the cuteness, but to document the number, that way I don't end up with a rotten egg somewhere when the Easter Bunny forgets how many eggs he hid.


Travis go to help Dillon put together his motor kit that he got in his basket. It took a really l-o-n-g time and still wouldn't really work. Bummer.


Then we had our super cool friends come over and eat some yummy food, hunt for candy eggs and roll around in the big ball. And you wouldn't know it from the pictures (not sure why) but Grammy and Poppy got to spend Easter with us too which made it all the better. What a great Easter!