Last Day of School and a Redo

Landon had is last day of school yesterday. He had a great 2nd grade year and an awesome teacher. Here he is on his first day of sencond grade...





And here he is on the last...





Look how much he's grown!! He has learned so much and is proving to be quite the student...he had all A's a couple A+'s and then an unsatisfactory grade (they dont do F's) for his handwriting...go figure! :) So lil man is now an official 3rd grader! Woohoo!!! Our summer has officially begun.

Speaking of which, the boys are packing now for the annual camping trip to the Smokies. And this year it will be a boys only trip. I thought it was a little much taking this 2 year old...



and a 9 month baby that crawls around everywhere, eats anything, and is a general mess! :)



So the girls and I are staying home this weekend and tackling a few projects. Actually it will be one major project, my kitchen. Now, don' get me wrong I really like my kitchen and it doesn't need a big overhaul by anymeans, but there are a few things that bug me. You can play a little eye spy with this picture and try to figure out the 5 things I want to change...




One is this bad boy...



I had an elctrician come out to fix this, but the light is completely burned out and needs replacing. I also had him come out to fix this one...



Same deal, the entire can light was burnt out. And to make it worse, he recommened NOT replacing it. Somthing about how close the attic beams were and how much insulation there was up there was over heating the light and causing it to completely burn out, blah, blah, blah. So, you would think I thought, perfect, I can replace it with a pendant light which would look a lot better and is something I have wanted to do. But, I can't because the darn light isn't centered over the counter. {sigh}

So, now I have some major decision making. Because without knowing all of that, I recently made a splurge purchase on this...




I LOVE LOVE LOVE this chandelier. Its part of the Lucia collection with Murray Feiss. I bought it to go over my dining room table, which is right next to the kitchen counter. So, I'm going to have to find some very understated lighting fixtures for the kitchen as not to compete with the chadlelier which I think is a statement peice. Anyhow, my plan for the weekend, is a date with my kitchen. The elctrician is coming later this afternoon so, the girls and I are off to Lowes in a minute to look at budget friendly lighting fixtures and paint. Have a great and safe Memorial Day Weekend!!

What a Weekend

It was a slap back to reality when I realized that Landon still had school after our carefree summer fun weekend. It started with fun days at school for both kids. Lucy had her year end party at pdo which marked her official end of the school year. I dropped her off as usual in car pool and headed back up there around 11 for the big "partay"! Lucy has a great year of school and had the best teachers ever! She constantly talks about Ms Lisa and Ms Morgan and I couldn't have asked for better teachers this year!






She made lots of friends one of which she just loves...Miss Evey! These girls are a mess and we got notes every day about her playing dolls, or kitchen or playing on the playground with Evey. I also heard lots of stories about these girls and their wild ways! :) They would sit in the circle tunnel thingy on the playground and take their shoes off and throw them through the holes. And since they have both been potty trained lately, they would go potty together...all day! When one would go, the other would go, and vice versa. I think Ms. Morgan told me for the past couple of weeks they pretty much have spent their days in the bathroom! ha! We hope to have lots of play dates this summer with Evey!



Next year, Lynlee will have Ms. Lisa and Ms. Morgan, along with about half of the other siblings of Lucy's class, one of which is Evey's little brother. So, these little blue eyed babies got aquanited during the party. :)





After, Lucy's party, I dropped the girls off at Ash's office and made my way over to Landon's school for May Day Play Day! This is a play day on steroids!







I manned the sponge race, which was super duper easy. I pretty much chatted with the other volunteer moms and snapped pictures....Landon's class won!














So, this is how our weekend started. That night we ended up having an impromptu get together with some of our favorite friends, made a stop at Yogurt Lab (yum) and then enjoyed a few beverages into the late night. Saturday morning came and went and we just piddled around the house. By mid afternoon, we were all antsy and decided to drive up to the Gardendale splash pad. This was our first visit and I can tell you it won't be the last. The kids had a blast...

















even Lynlee...











and just as we were leaving the ice cream truck showed up. My kids were in pure bliss! So, for all my birmingham area friends, its a quick drive up 65 to Feildstown Road exit, take a left and the park will be on your right...can't miss it! We will be making several trips up over the summer.

On Sunday, our sweet friends invited us to their lake house for the day at Highlands Lake. So after church the kids and I made our way up. It was a pretty drive and just under an hour. And the weather could not have been more beautiful! We all changed into our swimming suits and enjoyed the day...

















laying out, swimming, grilling, fishing, feeding the fish, riding the seadoo. My little dare devil, didn't hesitate a bit on the seadoo riding and kept asking to "go again"





And Lynlee was good as gold playing in her pack n play in the shade.



She had plenty of company...



It was a perfect start to our summer almost summer. Landon has just 3 more days of school and we can't wait for all our days to be lazy, care free and fun filled!

End of Year Teacher Gifts

As the end of the school year approaches, the busier my calendar gets. Between various feild trips, May Day Play Day, End of Year Parties, teacher gifts, etc, etc I'm am stressed with all the various "events" going on. Anyhow, I know that each of my children's teachers will be getting a generous gift card that every family pitched in for, but I like to give a little extra something to show my appreciation for everything they have done throughout the year. I am the first to admit, I am not the most active mother at school, in fact, I'm really quite detatched from the hustle and bustle of school activities. I'll help out for the major things, but the rest of it, flies under my radar. Anyhow, I have been brainstorming for a cute gift that our teachers could actually enjoy and get some use out of and while I was filling a prescription, I found it, at none other than Wal-Greens.

Now, you may have heard me go on about Wal-Greens but I swear to goodness, they have everything you could ever need. I'll go in looking for the most random of things, and sure enough, I'll find it at Wal-Greens. Anyhow, I came upon these towels for only $8.



They are actually big towels and really soft. So, I monogrammed it with our teachers last name (so the whole family could use it) and rolled it back up...



and stuck these cute flip flips on top priced between $1.99 - $2.99, and perfect for the pool...



and I rolled up an In Touch Magazine for its pure trashy gossipy goodness (and a People for Landon's teacher, since she's a little bit older :) ...



and tied it all up with some cute ribbon.



I had Landon write a note and Lucy drew a picture to stick with it, and thats it...a really cute personalized gift for our favorite teachers this year.








And all for under $15. If it's in your budget you could also include a gift certificate for a pedicure, manicure, or both :)




I'm not a teacher nor do I ever have the desire to be one. So, I am most sincere when I say thank you to all the teachers out there, thank you, thank you, thank you for all you do!