On to 1st grade!

Lil finished kindergarten today - a bittersweet day. She has had such a great year and has loved her teachers, her friends, and her school.

Yesterday her class surprised their teachers with a birthday party (both have June birthdays) during their end-of-the-year party.



Her friend Grace had an ice-cream party for the girls after school (Lil, Grace, Addie, Sydney, and Margaret). The other girls were inside (wisely) enjoying the air conditioning when I got there.



Trey and Lil on their way to school this morning

Lil and Mrs Olmsted

Lil and Mrs. Rouse (also known as "Mrs. Mouse")

Lil and one of her dearest friends, Margaret

Leaving school for summer!

Happy Birthday, Susu!

Susu and Ga came to Raleigh for a visit today (Susu's birthday). Nothing like celebrating your day with four grandchildren climbing all over you. Happy Birthday, Susu!


Lil, Reid, and Mae looking sweet while trashing Mae's closet

Susu and Ga cooperated quite nicely for pictures. The other four, however, were a different story.

Susu with Mae and Oren

Ga with Lillian and Reid

Oren and his grandmother

Ocean Commotion

All six kindergarten classes at Lil's school have their own "Ocean Commotion" parties at the end of the year. Hers had sprinklers, pools, pirate chests, bubbles, super soakers, and ice cream sundaes - the works. They had a ball - it was a great way to start winding down for summer. Her last day is Tuesday!

They were divided into groups of 5 to move through all the activities. Lil was waiting as patiently as possible.

Lil with her friends Worth and Sydney at the bubble center

Margaret, Addie, and Lil

Lillian BEFORE the tattoos

Lil with her "boyfriend," James - after her first tattoo

Making ice cream sundaes. Notice another tattoo on her cheek. Those things are going to be on there until the 4th of July, I'm sure.

Lil with some of the girls in her class - Addie, May, Sydney M, Grace, Sydney H, Deantria, and Amelia

Back to the pool

We've had so much fun at the pool this weekend - hard to believe we have to go back to school for another week. Reid has discovered: a) that he can actually swim, which means: b) he can go on the diving board and down the waterslide like Lil. It has made for some good times!

T-ball game

We headed out to the Salvation Army fields this afternoon for another t-ball game.

Reid and his friend Anderson waiting for their turn at bat....


Reid manning first base. Apparently the coach had them all tuck their shirts in so they wouldn't look messy. Um, nice try. That lasted all of five minutes.


Reid scores a run! Notice Trey serving as third-base coach, which means giving them a shove toward the next stop when someone hits the ball.

Disney World

Alas, we have returned from the so-called "happiest place on earth." Between the princess tea party; dinner in the castle; countless Buzz Lightyear rides; the pirate and princess party Friday night; afternoons in the hotel pool; and everything in between, I think it's safe to say Lil and Rooster had a big time!

T-ball, moving, and a trip to the beach

Eventually things will calm down enough around here so I can once again update this on a regular basis! We are officially out of our old house and into a rental until our new house is built (hopefully just a couple more months). Lil was lucky enough to go to the beach for the weekend with her dear friend May's family, but Reid hung with us and had his first t-ball game.

Guess which one of these "Tiny Tigers" is our Rooster.





When Reid wasn't at bat (ie, most of the game), he was pointing at planes in the sky (see below), hanging upside down on the bench (as seen above), or sitting on first base with another kid on his team.


Lil wasn't thrilled to come home to our new digs, but she was delighted with the big maple in the front yard. It didn't take long for her to make friends with the little girl next door - also in kindergarten at Lacy - so things seem to be looking up around here.

Reid's t-ball debut

Reid started t-ball today and absolutely loved it. Coach Andy certainly had his hands full.

Happy 4th Birthday, Rooster!

Reid turned 4 today, and although his party isn't until Saturday, the day didn't go uncelebrated. He took cupcakes to share with his preschool class, and his teacher reported they sang Happy Birthday to him twice - once in chapel, once before they ate the cupcakes. Back at home, he apparently couldn't help himself once he saw the presents.... I was on the phone with Aunt Dailey when I heard, "Hey, Mom, look what you and Dad got me - NASCAR!" (We cannot explain the new Nascar craze sweeping his part of the house, but he digs it.) Trey even came home early from work so they could play baseball in the backyard. We went to Kanki for dinner, but he was so anxious to get home to his Nascar cake that he really wasn't interested in real food. (Clearly I had no idea we'd be dining as a family of 4 when I bought that cake.) We had planned to have the Clines over for dinner, but my weekend bout with the flu changed plans a bit.

Waiting semi-patiently for his dinner at Kanki...

The cake was a work of art - the steering wheel even had buttons that talked.

Getting ready to blow out the big "4"...

Once Reid looted the cake for any keepsakes, he was happy to let his sister in on the fun.

Nothing like a big bubble bath to get them in the same tub!

Even thought the Clines opted (very wisely, I might add) to stay away for dinner, Aunt Lauren appeared this afternoon bearing gifts - a Spiderman backpack he's barely put down and a "new shooter." (Much to Lil's dismay, he's barely put that down either.) As soon as he got out of the bath and got his PJs on, he filled that bag with his Nascar treasures, grabbed his gun, and he was off.