Goodbye to Some Things, Hello to Others

I love this time of year. I think it's the feelings of accomplishment and anticipation of the summer at the end of a traditional school year that have stuck with me after all these years. In that vein, here's what we're wrapping up for now and some of the things we're welcoming with arms wide open!

Katelyn's music class that we attended once a week since November has come to a close. We loved Kindermusik and Katelyn enjoyed dancing, singing, playing instruments, and seeing her little friends each Monday morning. Our teacher arranged for a photographer to take snapshots at class and on our last day, each child got a class collage. Isn't it cute?

I've also concluded the weekly Bible Study that I participated in and helped facilitate. It kicked off in October and ended in May and was held every Thursday night for a few hours. Michael was incredibly supportive and always got home from work in time for me to leave (which, at times, was a real challenge - thank you, honey :) It was a rich and rewarding experience and I'm grateful for it - even though it was another commitment for both of us. Definitely time well-spent.

With fewer things scheduled, it leaves us with time to pursue other fun summertime activities, such as...

More time at parks! There are 5 parks within a 2-mile radius of our house, so we have been frequenting those each week. Katelyn often asks "Where did my friends go?" when we're the only people at the park. But there's still plenty of fun to be had when it's just us. This picture could be appropriately titled Playground bliss...

Hours, upon hours of swinging...

Learning new things! Such as how to operate a squirt gun by the squirt gun master himself, Papa. Lawn mowing has also been perfected (photo taken at school - I guess we need to get Katelyn a mower at home to help Daddy!)

Coming up with new "Kate quotes." Here are a few notable comments made recently..

- "What's that sound noise?" Whenever she hears anything and wonders what it is.

- Singing and making up her own song in the car... "Do you like that song, guys?"

- "We're in my neighborhood!" while simultaneously stretching her arm out to "present" the neighborhood through her window in the car. "Is that my home? Nooo! Is that my home? Nooo!..." until, of course, we reach our home :)

- Pretending to tuck Daddy into bed on the couch... "Time for night-night time, Daddy. Sweet dweams, Daddy."

- "Thank you for holding the door open (for) me, Mommy."

- Pretending to play coffee shop in the bathtub... "Here's your coffee. Now don't spill it, lady!"

- On a particularly hot day heading out to the park, "I dwink wotsa watah when we go to the pawk."

Spending time with family. We look forward to not only spending time with the three (soon-to-be four!!) of us, but also time with our families. A new baby brings a brand new reason to plan a trip up to Minnesota - and there's no better time here than summer and fall :) All are welcome!