preschool

may 30th was isaac's last day of preschool for this school year. there was a graduation ceremony that all of the kids participated in. they were introduced in 2 groups ~ ones that are returning next year & ones that are old enough to start kindergarten in the fall. isaac will get one more year of preschool in since he doesn't turn 5 until february. that night when i put isaac to bed & we were saying his prayers, this was one of the things he prayed for ~

"and please help me turn 5........"

sometimes i'm confused with isaac's age. he prays for something like turning 5 & then he turns around and prays for children in china who don't know jesus. how awesome is that!

here are some photos of isaac's last day of preschool........

isaac & his friend olivia (who says that she's going to marry him) :)

lauryn enjoying a cupcake ~ boy, did she giggle with delight when she got that!

isaac & his teacher mrs. zimet

a trip to baskin robbins

we had a hankering for ice cream last night so we decided to take a trip to baskin robbins. since we usually go to dairy queen, we weren't exactly sure where a baskin robbins was located, but i was pretty sure i'd seen one in a shopping area not too far away. as we took a turn into the shopping area, i pointed out to dennis where the 31 flavors were.

from the back seat isaac pipes up, "look, there's a bank of america. if you see animal shows, it's brought to you by that."

dennis & i burst out laughing. it's been a few months since the discovery channel's documentary series planet earth aired, but we watched it as a family, & sure enough, it was brought to us by B of A.

as we were getting out of the vehicle, i said to dennis, "i'll have to remember that" (to blog later).

isaac quipped, "yeah, you'll have to remember that!"

we giggled some more about our i-guy, had our ice cream at baskin robbins, & then remembered why we usually go to dairy queen.

holiday weekend

we had such great plans for our holiday weekend. they included eating & swimming, and, well, more eating & swimming!

Friday

that afternoon, isaac decided that we'd better have a tea party with lauryn's tea set that santa got her. we ate cookies with our "tea" which i thought was scrumptious. as we continued our tea party, isaac was giggling. i asked him what was so funny & he said, "i'm still laughing that you said scrumptious". from what i hear, i'd better get used to my kids laughing at me. oy vay, i'm turning into my mom more & more everyday. nifty!

friday evening we took in our 2nd 51's baseball game for the season. the kids managed to stay awake to view the spectacular fireworks display after the game. isaac loved the fireworks & was very vocal throughout. lauryn, on the other hand, didn't whine, fuss, or cry, but did have her blanket pulled up over her eyes the entire time.

Saturday

we had errands to run in the morning.......lauryn & me to get groceries & isaac & dennis off to do "manly" errands. they went to lowes where isaac stumbled upon a class for building a wooden race car. then they got the propane tanks full for our weekend of grilling.

isaac came home with a few things from lowes (goggles,apron)........he used them to help his dad hang up our new flag.

that afternoon, as we were getting cleaned up for our second round of errands, we caught isaac on the couch like this watching cartoons.........

we loaded up the kids & headed to UNLV where dennis & i needed to be briefed for our part in handing out programs for church the next morning. then we headed to the mall for dennis to spend some of his b'day money. once home we grilled tequila lime chicken to go along with our black bean salsa and veggies. yum! our grilling was off to a great start!

Sunday

sunday didn't start off too well. thinking i was just hungry, i awoke at 5:30 to have some cereal (i could eat cereal for every meal & do sometimes when dennis is out of town). as i poured the cereal, i felt as if i was going to toss my cookies. luckily i didn't! because we had committed to helping at church, we attended the service at UNLV for pentecost sunday. it combined our 6 weekend services into one.......what a great service it was, although i had to sit down a few times because i was dizzy! we had dropped off the kids at the nursery at the church at 8:45 & picked them up at 12:00. throughout the rest of the day i was tired, achy, dizzy, with no appetite......no fun at all!

Monday

i awoke feeling much better but dennis was out of commission. the kids & i took a brief trip to get some medicine & milk. we laid around the rest of the day, trying to get as much rest as a 4 and 1 yr. old will allow.

so that is how our holiday weekend of grillin' & chillin' went down. guess we'll try it all over again the following weekend. :)

s#%@ happens!

kids are great, aren't they? they are so full of wonder & curiosity at some of the most mundane things in life. they can give you a new appreciation for the world around you. i remember how much isaac loved to be outside from such a young age, taking in all that surrounded him, from the birds to the airplanes, to the wind blowing through the trees. he helped me to look at things differently & cherish the small things in life again.
then today, after going #2, he informed me that it was just a small pebble, a medium one, and a really big one that is yucky.
tmi..........
guess i'll continue to get daily updates since he told me that he'll start wiping his own behind when he turns 5. gives me something to look forward to. :)

growing pains

one morning isaac rolls out of bed, barely able to walk. he complained that his legs were aching so i told him to sit with me & i'd rub his legs for him. i started massaging one leg & about ten seconds later he switched for me to rub the other one. after about ten more seconds he hopped down saying, "well that didn't work!"

den's 35th b'day

dennis declared that it was his best birthday ever! he worked for the first part of the day before coming home to take isaac golfing with him. they went to a par 3 course not far from here. the two of them were ecstatic when they got back home. dennis was a foot away from having a hole in one. he was disappointed at first then realized if it would have gone in, his witness was his 4 yr. old son. :) we then headed for the strip to take in some good eats. our plan was to go to bobby flay's restaurant at caesar's palace, but upon our arrival were told that the first available table would be at 9:45. scratch that! so we headed to spago. we ate at the cafe part (the part you can see people sitting at when you walk by) rather than in the MORE expensive dining area.
because jerolyn will want to know what we ate.............
dennis had the specialty which was meatloaf. the plate was served with garlic mashed potatoes, the meatloaf on top of that covered with mushroom sauce, & topped off with some onion rings. i had a thai salad that was just the right size & was yummy.
we then went to see the water show at the bellagio before heading home to have cake & ice cream. i had made dennis a triple fudge chocolate cake with chocolate fudge frosting, covered in bits of andes mints. it was divine!
a few days after den's birthday i made plans for him & his buddies to spend an hour at skymania. it is a fun center consisting of many trampolines next to each other. dennis & 8 of his friends played 3-d dodgeball. i figured it would be a fun way for them to regain their childhood. an hour later they limped out of there, reminded of how old they really are! dennis came home with a jammed thumb & a strained gluteus maximus. guess that was the gift that kept on giving. :)

mother's day

mother's day was great this year (again)..........it's hard to believe that i've been able to celebrate the holiday for ME now for 4 years. how time flies! i got this bike from dennis & the kids. it was exactly what i wanted! i've gotten to ride it a few times now & love it. i have forgotten how much fun it is to ride a bike. it makes me feel like a kid again. i have many great memories of riding bike growing up. my friends & i would ride all over town & out into the country. we had a big ditch at our yard from the street & we'd ride down the ditch really fast. that's also where we set up our slip 'n' slide when we were probably about 10 yrs. old. we'd start running from the empty lot across the street & dive down the ditch on the slippery wet patch, coasting onto the grass. oh, the good ol' days.
anyway, isaac was as excited as i was about the bike. he knows we'll get to go on family bike rides now. first we have to get a cart to tote lil' miss lauryn around. can't wait!

roll over beethoven!

the kids were very excited to say the least about the acquisition of my childhood piano. i can't wait for them to learn how to play. isaac has already discovered how to play "scary" music. as for me, i'm quite a bit rusty but am looking forward to reteaching myself.

FORE!

so yesterday dennis & i were in a competition for worst parents of the year................
here's how it went down. isaac had just received his new golf clubs (courtesy of dolly'ma & daddy) & was trying them out at the park. he'd been doing pretty well with them. daddy was showing him technique as lauryn sat in her stroller out in the field by me as i shagged golf balls. by the way, the golf balls are too cute......yellow sponge bob ones. :) daddy decided it was time to take the driver out & let isaac give it a whirl. he warned him that it was going to be tougher to use this particular club. dennis ran out to the field with lolo & me, & isaac let it rip.................it took off in the air, took one bounce & went into lauryn's stroller, missing her by an inch. dennis & i were standing on either side of her as it happened & felt awful! thank heavens she wasn't hit.........

visit from dolly g'ma

we were lucky enough to enjoy a visit from dolly g'ma (dennis' mom) for 5 days this may. we had a great time together. she really enjoyed her time with the kids. they'd changed a lot since she'd seen them at christmas time. on saturday dolly g'ma was busy selling her socks & onesies (like lauryn is wearing in the picture) at our church. the day was cool & windy so there weren't too many people taking in the sale since it was outside. she took a break to watch isaac's t-ball game. it was a fun game. because our team only had 4 members show up, they got to bat twice each inning. as one would come in to score they had to be ready to hit again. we had friends over that evening to watch THE fight - de la hoya vs. mayweather. we were all disappointed with the outcome of that bout.
we ate well while dolly g'ma was here, getting to go to one of our fave restaurants, the claimjumper. yummy!! of course, dennis also worked his magic with the grill & on the last night he made his spaghetti.
the last day we went to the bellagio to bring dolly g'ma to the conservatory. she loves flowers & butterflies so it was especially fun to bring her there at this time of the year. there was a butterfly house with live butterflies flying around. as you can see, i love tulips!

no shirt, no shoes, no service

so isaac decided one day at lunch that we live in a trailer park...........
the next day i said to isaac, "how do chicken nuggets sound for lunch?" to that he replied, "i think i'll have some shrimp with it." guess we're in a trailer park no more!