Kindergarten Graduate!

 I can't believe an entire school year is gone already. I am pretty sure I was just walking my little boy down the long sidewalk to Mrs. Nielsons class yesterday, and crying like a baby on the drive home. It is really incredible to think this chapter is over and now we begin an entire full day of school. I am  completely not ready to leave my little boy for 7 hours every day, but ready or not here he goes.

Ethan has done an incredible job this year and had so much fun in kindergarten. He adored his teacher and made a lot of great friends. We are so proud of Ethan and all he has learned. I have a feeling from now on, the school years will be flying by and before I know it I will be blogging on graduation day (which is in 2024 by the way) how quickly the time flies by. I don't really want to think about that so for now we will just worry about 1st grade.

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Pirate Princess Party

My sweet little Ella had her mind made up months ago that she wanted to have a Pirate Princess birthday party. I wasn't really sure how the two go together but we went with what she wanted. Pretty much add pink to a girly pirate theme and you have a pirate princess party :-) Guests arrived dressed up as either a pirate or a princess, or in Ella's case both. It wouldn't be a pirate party without a pirate ship to decorate and a pink treasure box cake. I think  Ella's highlight was playing daddy's homemade walk the plank game. Ethan's highlight was making pirate swords and parrots.  I think the kids had fun, and most importantly we made a memory for Ella's 4th birthday that she won't ever forget. I was reminded today by a sweet little foster girl in my sunday school class just how precious these memories are. She had heard Ella talking about her birthday cake and said Ella was such a lucky girl to have a party like hers and a special cake made by her mommy. I feel so blessed to be Ella's mommy and so extremely thankful for these memories that we are making. What a privilege I have to be a mom, a true gift that shouldn't be taken for granted. 

Here are a few pictures from Ella's "Pirate Princess Party". 

"My excited Pirates"

 "The Spread"

 "Mommy's attempt at a pink Treasure Chest Cake"

 "Walking the Plank"

 "Princesses"

 "The Crew"

"Ella and her best buddy Jadon" 

"Making Swords" 

 "Present Time"

  

"My 2 Pirates and Tinkerbell"

"Happiness"

Zoo Field trip

Ethan's class had a field trip day today at the Wildlife World Zoo. I am pretty sure that is by far the coolest zoo we have ever been too! Definitely better than the Phoenix Zoo. We were able to get up close enough to tigers, lions, giraffes, and rhino's than I have ever been before. The kids had a blast, and mommy and daddy did too :-) Nothing better than beautiful weather and a day to be with your family exploring the animals God created. 

 Ethan posing with "Melman"

 Even the Zebra wanted in the picture :-)

 Rhino

 Nothing like posing with a lion!

 Tiger face

 Madalyn watching the monkeys with daddy.

 Our friendly lion

 Sharks!

Madalyn enjoyed herself on the way home :-)

Lemonade stand for their cousin

Ethan and Ella decided they wanted to help Uncle Brandon and Aunt Meghan raise money to bring their new cousin home from Ethiopia. They set up a lemonade stand complete with fresh lemons and homemade signs. They managed to raise $195.00. They were thrilled to serve each customer and even more thrilled to give their earnings to Uncle Brandon. 

Spring Break

We had our first official spring break this year with Ethan being in kindergarden. I tried to think of something fun and out of the norm to do every day. I think we managed to do something exciting everyday of the week, from miniature golf, the children's museum, games at Dave and Busters, to the movies and picnics in the park. It was an exciting week with beautiful weather. Here are a few snapshots from the week!

 Daddy with E and El on the Bumper Boats.

 Ethan hit the Jackpot! 1800 tickets :-)

 Ethan enjoying a drive in his indy car.

 Ella golfing with a pink ball of course.

 Posing for Mommy.

 Ella bouncing her little heart out.

 Madalyn Grace posing at the Phoenix Childrens Museum

Ethan and Madalyn building together at the museum.

Ethan bouncing.

Shark Party for Ethan...

It is crazy to think that it has been 6 years since we welcomed Ethan Cole into our lives. What an incredible 6 years of joy he has brought to us. Ethan amazes me each and every day with his kind heart and sweet spirit. 

As most of you well know Ethan is in love with learning about sharks these days. Well it has been about a year and a half now and he is still fascinated by sharks. Ask him a fact about a shark and he will give you an answer :-) So needless to say we had a shark birthday party, complete with  shark games, a shark craft, and a shark cake, and a bouncy obstacle house too. (If only we could of found a shark bounce house :-), I did try). And we visited the aquarium to see the sharks get fed their lunch on his actual birthday. Here are a few pictures of our shark party and Ethan at the aquarium.