Graduation

It's been a couple weeks since it actually took place and I still can't believe Gavin has officially graduated from preschool.  I couldn't believe he was even old enough to start preschool way back in September 2011 and now he's a graduate, preparing to start kindergarten.  It's so cliche, but time really does fly!

 

We attended his graduation ceremony a couple weeks ago.  Maybe by the time Riley graduates preschool they'll have figured out the seating a little better.  I got there 'early' and was still stuck in the third row (might have something to do with the fact that one family took up the entire first row! I get grandparents wanting to see the program, too...but come on!) 

It was a cute program.  They worked their way through the school year, showing off something they learned from each month.  I uploaded some of the videos to YouTube.  There are four of them - Check out Dinosaur Song, A Cheer, Butterfly Song, and Freeze Dance on my You Tube page - www.youtube.com/mrspate

We're really going to miss his teacher, Miss Linda.  She was amazing, and her teaching style reminded me of my own.  She is laid back, joked around with Gavin, and you could tell she just liked to have fun with the kids.

We had his end of the year conference today, and she had great things to say about him.  He got great rankings on all her evaluations, and she gave us some things to continue to work on with him over the summer {writing his numbers, his pencil grip/fine motor skills, and some gross motor things, like balancing and hopping on one foot, etc.}  She also said the same types of things that I am already anticipating...he's going to do great in kindergarten, but he has to get to the point where he's comfortable enough with his teacher to show what he knows.  That self confidence is something that he is working on!

We're so proud of you, Gavin!  Mommy and Daddy love you bunches.

Wordless Wednesday

Oklahoma Aquarium

I realized just how bad I've been slacking on this blog...it's time to play catch-up!

Earlier this month we headed to Tulsa for a little daytrip and took the kids to the Oklahoma Aquarium.  We had a nice trip; it's a pretty easy drive, we timed it so we'd get there when they first opened on a Sunday hoping that it would be empty, and it was!  It was awesome. :)  We spent an hour and half or so exploring the aquarium, and then went out to lunch before heading back home.  I love little road trips like this with my family!

Let me tell you....lighting in an aquarium SUCKS!  So, I just spent the last ten minutes deleting photos that were just plain awful.  These aren't exactly the greatest, but at least I captured the memories we made there and will have something to look back on someday.

They really enjoyed watching the beavers and otters!  They were so adorable.

There was one stingray in this tank that kept swimming up along the edge so fast and he would kind of 'flop' out and splash - they thought that was hilarious!

 We definitely had a great time and will likely head back again next year!

Wordless Wednesday

Mother's Day

This year, I was invited to attend a Mother's Day program at Gavin's school.  Let me just tell you...it was so sweet.  I cried.  They sang to us, danced for us, presented us with flowers and gifts, and then served us cookies and juice.  So stinking special.  I loved every minute of it!

The picture he drew me said that I'm special because I rub his back at night.  That really pulled at my heartstrings!  Sometimes, I feel like he's just stalling at night when he asks me to rub his back longer, but I always try to remind myself that one day he won't be asking me to rub his back before bed.  When I read that, I realized just how much he likes it, and I think of it every night now when I go into his room.

Mother's Day around here was nice.  The kids woke me up and Gavin had a gift bag for me.  After opening my new phone case, he realized that the flowers he had picked the day before and stuck in the bag had died, and he started crying.  I had to console him and tell him how sweet it was to even think of picking me flowers.  He is such a sweetheart.  

We went to Walmart and bought new flowers for our pots on the porch and came back to do some planting.  Then we headed out for some shopping, dinner at Mama Fu's and Yum Yos for dessert after naps.  I love any day I get to spend with my little family, but even more when Gavin's constantly telling me 'Happy Mother's Day' and that he loves me.

And because I love to do comparisons....here's the past 2 years!

2011 - Pregnant in Florida to celebrate Steve and Heather's wedding

2012 - With my little baldie as I celebrated my first Mother's Day as a mama to two!

Is he really 5???

I'm still in shock that this is happening.  My baby boy is 5.  FIVE?!?!  Not sure how that happened....everyone says it happens so fast, and it's true.  In one sense, I can't remember a time when he wasn't in our lives, and in another sense, I feel like it was just yesterday that we were carrying him around face down across our arm because it was the way that he wanted to be held as a newborn baby.

We celebrated Gavin's 5th birthday with a low key party.  When I asked him about about planning his party, he just wanted to invite a couple friends over to play.  The more he thought about it, the two friends turned to four (and three were able to attend) but he still just wanted them to come over to play, have cake and open presents.  Nothing big!

The theme?  Angry Birds Star Wars, of course.  But he had an Angry Birds party last year, right?  Yep...but this was totally different according to him.  This was Angry Birds Star Wars!

That Sunday afternoon, we friends came over and he had his Angry Birds Star Wars games set up in the toy room for them to play, we made up a 'pin the nose on Darth Vader' game, had an amazing cake made by my friend, Mara, and opened presents.  Pretty laid back party, if I do say so myself!

We were so impressed with his cake!  Mara did such a great job.

 He had school on his actual birthday, so instead of goodie bags, we took in Krispy Kreme donuts for the class.  They used to get them on their birthday, and after a management change, they stopped giving the preschool the discount, so we thought it would be a nice treat. 

I surprised him after school with a stop at Chuck E. Cheese to play.  He LOVES that place!  And it's cheap fun...$10 worth of tokens and an hour of play time.  :)

Lastly, to celebrate his birthday, we started a tradition of ice cream for dinner last year.  So despite a few days filled with sugar, we headed to Yum Yos for some frozen yogurt.  He thinks that's so cool.  And I love that it's a special memory he'll always have.

Happy birthday, Bug.  We love you to the moon and back!

7th Anniversary

Oh, about two weeks ago now, Jarrod and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary!  {Why am I still slacking on this blog???}  We didn't do much, but Gavin and I planned him a nice surprise 'fancy' dinner at home.

I got the kids all dressed up...but getting proof of that turned out to be quite difficult!

 

We had a 'fancier than normal' dinner thanks to Fresh Market, Bliss Cupcakes, and of course, our wedding champagne flutes.

We played the CD from our wedding while we ate dinner and had a great night!

Seven years and tons of memories!  Love you, Jarrod Pate!