...to work on my project

...outside on this beautiful day

Taking out the drawers...

Using my Dremel...

It was an assembly line of sorts...

Using Brasso can work wonders...

And of course some wood putty...

All this means is that I'm making progress.

...to celebrate the holiday

...with old and new friends.

Happy 4th of July!

Mark and I started our day off with a picnic at Thompson park with the LaCrow kids (as the ladies at the school refer to the seven of them), the Bilotta family, and Meghan and the boys.

Such a beautiful day!

For races on the tires...

Chasing the big kids...

Au--dreeey!!

Cramming on the swing together...

and hanging out with friends...

Donnie and Amy hosted all of us for an evening of fun.

The kids had the house all decorated and had convinced their Dad to buy all kinds of awesome 4th of July fun.

Red, White and Blue hair color:

Lots of streamers...

Pretty flowers, oodles of glow sticks, and even glow-in-the-dark balloons!

We were ready to par-tay!

Good food,

Good friends,

And somehow Donnie even managed to get a projector.  The kids watched The Lego Movie while it was projected at the house!

 Some watched more than others...

Would you believe they even rallied for S'mores and Sparklers?

Such a fun evening for this crew!

...to buy a new house

...in Ann Arbor, MI.

Today was the day.

We closed on our very first house.

Mark and I are officially homeowners.

Now I guess that means that I should officially be looking for a J.O.B.

...to structure our summer

...for the kids who've been having a free-for-all.

Summer's off to a great start.

Warm Days.  Cool Evenings.  Popsicles.  Water Balloons.   Bike rides.  Video Games.  Television.  Friends.

Along with the advantages of summer Mark and I began to notice the...downsides if you will.

Sunburns.  Mosquitos.  Sticky sidewalks and ice pop wrappers in the bushes.  Pieces of water balloons scattered everywhere and mud puddles in the front yard.  Skinned Knees.  Blood shot eyes.  Cranky Children.

After a few days of doing whatever-it-is-you-want-as-long-as-you-don't-bother-me, Mark and I decided to implement a few rules before things really got out of control.

In case you were wondering, our children will NOT be nominating either of us for parent-of-the-year awards.

Here is our note to our children:

Reading.  You must read for at least thirty minutes every day.  A real book.  With words....not just cartoon drawings.  And be able to talk coherently about it when I ask you what you read.
Note to Will:  Tell me about a new chapter each day.

Math.  You must work on some math/problem solving type activity each day.  There are plenty of fun computer game-ish sites available that your teachers introduced you to.  Work on workbooks.  Play on the websites.  Pick your poison.  This requirement is prevent your brain from turning to mush.

Music.  You have to practice.  Every day.  Before you go outside to play.  (Do you like my rhyme Isabella?)

All those piano and guitar lessons are good only if you don't forget everything you learned over the year.

Chores.  Your chores must be done before you go outside/play video games/get on the computer/do a preject...each day.  You have chores to do because you have a big family you are part of our family.  The kids that don't have chores...they are luckier than you.  And their parents are nicer.

Screen Time.  Two hours.  On the condition that you complete all of the above activities.  Screen time includes:  TV, computer, iPad, iPhone, Kinde Fire, Netflix, XBox1, etc...

Brace yourselves....It also includes time spent on screens at your friends' houses.

If you want more screen time, you'll need to earn it.

Will:  Read more.
Isabella:  Spend more time outside.
A & A:  Give mommy a hug and bat your long eyelashes.

...to host a shower

...for Meghan

Baby Morrow #3 is sure to arrive any day in the next few weeks.  Amy and I wanted to help Meghan celebrate this wonderful occasion with a few of her Fort Drum friends.

Meghan's requests included:  Simple.  Small.  No baby games.  

This meant Amy and I had to nix the poopy diaper game and the toilet paper game off of our list of activities for this event!  

Meghan only had diapers and wipes on her wish list.  We obliged.  And Amy found these awesome industrailish baskets for storage and to put these said items in... 

Meghan has an amazing sense of taste.  In her home she implements many of nature's elements.  She is often out clipping leaves and wild flowers to fill her vases.  She has drift wood on her walls...she has a new beautiful wood stump for an outdoor coffee table.

Amy and I attempted to make this shower...woodland chic if there is such a term, and incorporate nature into this event.

Air plants were the favor for the guests to take home.  Amy, Isabella and I gathered and washed lots and lots of rocks...

Slices of wood served as food platters...

Pine cones were the food tag holders...

Clippings from my garden...

Daisies from the path behind our home...

And ferns and wildflowers helped to create the backdrop for the gathering...

The menu:

Raspberry Lemon Scones

Ham & Swiss Rolls

Bacon Kabobs

Fruit Kabobs

Chocolate Ganache/Raspberry filled Cupcakes

Vanilla Bean Lemonade

Iced Cold Brew Coffee

What a beautiful and elegant momma our guest of honor was:

I loved putting this event together with Amy...clipping ferns, washing rocks, rolling out scones, squeezing lemons...

And loved seeing how happy everyone was at this event!

I sure can't wait to meet my godson...now if could only wait for his dad to get home....

...to say goodbye...

...to a school that was the perfect fit for our kids' these past three years.

It was a teary good-bye.

I was boo-hoo-ing the whole afternoon.

I know that we'll love the kids' new schools in Michigan.  I know that these new schools will also be a perfect fit.  But this charming little school, the school where all of my children were in the same building together, the school where the lunch lady made Isabella some broccoli and cheese soup only for her (because she knew Isabella liked it)...will always have a special place in my heart.

Abbey loved her teacher Miss Abrams so much!  Will and Mrs. Sadler photo-bombed this shot!

Mrs. Rios was such a gem!  This sweet lady stayed at this school an extra six months after her husband was PCS'd much earlier than they had expected.

Mrs. Carney celebrated her 25th year of teaching this year!  Amazing that she still loves teaching science as much as she does!

And sister....Sister Anunciata the principal of the school told me over-and-over the past few weeks how sad she was our family was leaving the school.  She has such a great heart.

This is the last time that all four of these jokers will be in the same school....  

You can tell that Audrey is really broken up about this fact.

...to watch a school play

...and enjoy Abbey's Kindergarten celebration.

As you can imagine there have been a lot of tears around here as we move into the last week of school.  Tears about leaving the school.  Tears about leaving friends.  Tears about leaving Fort Drum.  Worries about the move.  Worries about making new friends.  Worries about our new home.  Worries about new schools.

This Momma is a wreck.

The kids'...they seem to be taking all the changes in stride.

As for me...my emotions are out-of-control.

Change really isn't my thing and goodbyes...well I'm pretty terrible at them.  I pretty much cry just thinking about walking my kids to the school bus stop for the last time tomorrow morning and that's just the tip of the iceberg...when I really think about what we are leaving behind...oh my.  It's just so hard.

At the same time there have been some really special moments this week.

Will and his classmates put on a play for the whole school to watch.  The set, the costumes, the storyline was all so much more impressive than I even could have imagined.  I was so proud they all had the confidence to perform in front of all of those people.

I'm pretty sure Will is the cutest fisherman/stagecoach driver ever.  You can be the judge.

Here is a short video clip from the performance, while it is hard to hear, you can still see Will's theatrics.

Will and his classmates were responsible for their lines, costume changes, and scene changes.  Pretty impressive for 4th graders!

Will's in the back of this photo...stagecoach driver.

For some reason I find this photo so adorable.

Will and his buddies.

The cast.

After Will's play, Mark and I went to Abbey's classroom for an end-year-celebration.  Miss Abrams had a special program for the parents.  First, she had the children sing a few of their favorite songs for the adults.

It warms my heart to see that Luke and Abbey are always side-by-side.  And tears me up they'll be so far from each other next year...

Here is a little video clip of their performance.  Grandparents watching this video...pay no mind to the boy in front of them...I didn't exactly have the best camera angle.

The second song the kids' sang the pulled a parent in to join in the action with them...

I love how she looks at Mark.

After the little performance Miss Abrams recognized a special attribute of each child in the class.  

Abbey's award and proud parent moment:  Child most likely to be President someday.

She finished the celebration by presenting each child with a gift bags of items.  Her note:

Have a Fun Summer Abbey.  

Bubbles: You blew me away with your hard work!

Smarties:  You are a smarty pants!

Lollipops and Pixie Sticks:  To keep you sweet!

Book, Bookmark, Pencils, Notebook, Eraser, and Pencil Sharpener:  To keep your reading and writing skills sharp all summer long.

I sure am going to miss these sweet teachers...sniff sniff.