kid ketchup

Tosh's teacher just sent me this photo from when I went into his classroom to read a book for Dr. Seuss week.  Two parents were "mystery readers" each day and the kids would try to guess who it was before we started reading.  My face was covered by a big piece of paper and I tried to wear clothes and shoes that Tosh might not recognize.  Lots of kids guessed "Tosh's mom" but Tosh didn't think it was me because he didn't recognize my new flats--ha! I've really enjoyed volunteering in his class regularly this year (his school is very convenient and easier for me to get to AND I need to keep an eye on this one).  

I need to rewind and capture some of the things that went on with the kids over the super busy month we've had!  

While I was in California, Liv had a little dance recital (the final class that parents were invited to watch).  Rob mostly took video, so this is the only photo from Rob's phone.  Liv was on the young side of this 3-5 year-old class.  It seems that she is cursed with her parents' lack of flexibility, but we'll see if she gets a passion for dance later on.  Rob wasn't convinced that dance is her thing.  He was just talking yesterday about putting her in fall soccer.   

Park shots:

Tosh is our strongest kid and has been able to do monkey bars much earlier than our older boys.  Rob loves watching him on the rings:

The pinewood derby was while I was in California as well.  I just noticed the cute light decorations in these photos.  Honestly, the first time I looked at the pictures I couldn't see past the messy hair and missing uniform pieces (one of my friends laughed when she told me that Liv's hair had a big rat's nest in the back at church while I was gone.  Funny!)...  I hope the boys enjoyed the race although they were at the very bottom of the pack--Burke even won the "turtle" award.  I think he was fine with that though, as the award came with some chocolate.

After Patti and I returned from CA, we all attended a music program that the second graders put on.  Hewitt is always entertaining and did his dance numbers quite well.  

Liv and I went for a little bike ride one morning and she insisted on wearing this scarf even though it was already quite warm:

Liv put this next ensemble together as well.  She wouldn't accept my help with the sweater--I love how it's twisted in the back :)

Tosh got a little cough and slight fever right before we left on trek.  He actually passed out while eating breakfast and fell off of the stool in the kitchen and sort of got caught between the stools.  He was very lethargic for about 30 minutes and then seemed fine the rest of the day (besides coughing some). It was actually interesting because he wanted to do puzzles all day (or read) and I joked that the passing out possibly made him smarter.  Doing a puzzle with Grandma:

We love playing games with Grandma!

While we were on trek Patti got some shots of the kids at the park:

We ordered two five-gallon water coolers for trek and they came in this big box that the kids had fun with:

In fact, the boys put together a puppet show that they were so excited to show us.  We were even served bottled water and potato chips as part of the show!  Hewitt/Tosh Studios is pretty awesome.

I'm a bit 'old school' when it comes to holidays.   For St. Patrick's Day we wore green (to church anyway) and I made lime jello to go along with our roast beef dinner.  Liv found these lens-less frames and insisted on wearing them to church.  She looks quite pleased.

Rob and I took Patti out to dinner to thank her for watching the kids while we were away, but I wanted to give her another big

THANK YOU!

 It was so nice to know that the kids are in such great and capable hands while we were away.  It was so great having her here with us for two weeks!