End of School

What a strange school year this was for our family. The kids started out at their familiar school in Arizona with teachers and friends they knew and loved. They ended the year at a brand new school in Florida with wonderful new friends and teachers who turned out to be surprise blessings! 

This big boy is looking bigger all the time!!  Rowan had a great year and continued to excel at both Math and Reading.  He still has a great mind for numbers and is currently memorizing division facts. Rowan has begun to enjoying reading a little bit more this year.  His teachers at both schools gave him plenty of time to read and he enjoyed reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, A to Z Mysteries, Geronimo Stilton and books about sports.  Rowan and his new friends also enjoyed trading Pokemon cards this year.  It was really huge in helping Rowan to make friends and feel included.  Recess was a huge part of school for Rowan.  He loved playing four square at NVCA and kickball at SCS. Row sang a duet in his spring program at as well. We are so proud of this boy's growth. We saw him grow a lot in maturity through out the year. I can't believe he's going to be a 3rd grader. 

Oh, sweet Cruzy Emerson!!! I love watching kids go through Kindergarten. Their growth is always amazing. Cruz loves to sing, write and read. He is a great reader thanks to his teachers! His favorite books to read are Frog and Toad books. Cruz also has a math brain like his brother. He is very quick at all his addition and subtraction facts. Cruz's biggest accomplishment this year was probably his handwriting. It was pretty atrocious going into the year but now it is legible and his letters are all formed so nicely. Cruz conquered his fear of being on stage and sang beautifully in The Little Red Hen. He's also a little monkey and absolutely loved the monkey bars at his new school. 

Coco grew from a toddler into a preschooler this year. Her year was probably most drastically changed by our move. She went from pre-school five days a week to being home with me every day. She learned so many wonderful social skills at preschool. She worked hard on sharing, kindness and following directions. Her teacher Miss Christensen was such a blessing. Coco and I have loved our girl time since our move. She's my little errand buddy and my favorite lunch date. Last week we had our last lunch date without "brothers" and she said, "I wish they weren't done with school yet." These special days with her have been some of my favorites yet.

The kiddos each got a summer workbook and some fresh pencils as their end of school gift. They were actually very excited about this.

They all got right to work.

We are so so thankful that this school moved turned out to be such a huge blessing for these kids. We absolutely love their school, their friends and the teachers there. We couldn't be more proud of the way they handled these transitions. We have some pretty great kids! 

Happy Summer! 

Cruz: Kindergarten Graduation

Today our sweet middle boy finished Kindergarten and is moving on to First Grade. It's so hard for me to believe that I *almost* have a 1st and 3rd grader. Wow. 

As part of their celebration, Cruz's class performed the Little Red Hen. Cruz had the part of the dog and sang several times by himself and did a trio with two other kiddos. He got up on stage and we could tell he was a little nervous but he did so so well. I was just so proud of him overcoming this big fear. 

Just the idea of people watching him would have previously sent Cruz into tears but he acted and performed his parts so well.

Cruz and Miguel goofing off while waiting to graduate!




Cruz and Ms. Neilsen, his second teacher of the year! We are so thankful for the way Ms Neilsen welcomed Cruz to the class and got to know him right away. We are thankful for the way she encouraged him in his reading and pushed him to fix his handwriting. We are thankful for the way she saw his talent and love for singing and pulled him out of his shy shell. Though this year was a bunch of crazy, I am so thankful for Ms. Neilsen AND Mrs. Davis, who helped Cruz grow into the first grader that he's about to become.


Cora was so proud of her Cruzy. Daddy had to run to work right after the ceremony so we didn't grab a family pic but I did get a cute one of the C's. Rowan's class got to watch Cruz's play during their dress rehearsal yesterday so he just stayed in class today.




"My favorite Kindergarten memory is playing on the monkey bars at recess"



Congratulations Cruz Emerson! There is nothing you could do to make us more proud of you. You are special and we love watching the way God is working in you. 

Grandma & Kiddos

Whew, big day of posting for me! We are just coming off of a wonderful weekend with Grandma. We had fun browsing shops in Sarasota, eating ice cream, playing with punching bags and even playing the game of Life. The kids loved showing off their swimming skills and tricks and even teaching Grandma their favorite "pool baseball." We almost forgot to snap a picture of Grandma with all three kids but thankfully we snuck one in right before I took the kids to school. We love you Grandma. Thanks for everything!

Baseball Wrap Up

The boys had their baseball awards ceremony last Friday. We were all ready to be done. It's been so nice this week knowing the once we come home from school we have no where to be. The boys both did fantastic this season though. 

This little guy plays hard all the time. He is quite the hitter, almost always hitting the first or second pitch. Cruz has improved so much in his ability to catch as well, and he's got quite the arm for such a little guy. He can make the third base to first base throw quite effortlessly. Cruz is very teachable and always tries his best. He is excited to play machine pitch with Rowan next season.

Rowan has natural athletic talent but doesn't always put forth effort! He worked hard on that this season though. You can always count on Rowan for a hit. He went through a slump in the middle of the season where he was striking out regularly but once he found his groove again, he was a slugger. Rowan most often plays third base. He fields very well although tends to goof off a little bit which he's starting to see can affect quick plays and decisions. Rowan is great at throwing and amazing at catching. He caught his first pop fly this season. All in all, I think this was a big learning season for Rowan as sports in general tend to get more focused and intense.

It was so special for the boys to have Grandma there to be a part of this evening.

Coco was also a huge cheerleader for "brothers"

So proud of her Cruzy 

R- end of the year at bat.

C- end of the year at bat.

Cora: Don Quixote

Cora's big ballet performance was this past Saturday night. 

It took place at the beautiful Sarasota Opera House in downtown Sarasota.

Cora had dress rehearsal in the morning so while she was there, Rog, Rowan, Cruz and Grandma (who was here visiting) explored the shops downtown.

Grandma stayed with the boys while we had a special evening with Miss Coco. Her costume was put on after she was dropped off at the theater so it was tricky to find an opportunity to get one of her all dressed up.

The ballet studio put on a full production of Don Quixote. The Tiny Ballerinas were just in a small section.

There was no videoing allowed so unfortunately I don't have any clips to share until we get our performance DVD. Cora did a great job on stage in front of an audience though. We are so proud of her! 

Boys' Spring Concert

The PreK-2nd graders showcased all the things they've been working on in music class this year. They learned a lot of fun songs including echo songs, silly songs, games, and songs in other languages. 

Row spotted us as the kids were filing in!

Rowan sang a duet with a girl from his class. They sang a song called Lachen. We didn't realize this was going to take place so we weren't videoing unfortunately. I had him sing it for me on video when we got home.

Cruz's class performed a musical game they like to play called "Little Sally Walker."

Looks like our formerly shy boy enjoys being on stage! We are looking forward to his Kindergarten graduation and performance in the Little Red Hen next week.

The second graders got to help lead the Pre-K and Kinder kids in the program. Rowan absolutely loved this honor. :)

One more Coco because I really love this dress. :) Cora did a great job cheering on her brothers although she did say several times that she can't wait until she's on stage with them. 

Here's a small clip of a song. It's not a very good video. It was quite hard to see. Cruz is in the first half of the video. Rowan is in the second half. 

Mother's Day 2016

Since Roger's birthday fell on Mother's Day this year, we decided to postpone my celebration until yesterday. I wanted to take the kids to Anna Maria Island, eat dinner on the pier and have ice cream. It was a beautiful evening and we had lots of family fun. The kids picked me out a fitbit and an tracker for my car keys which I am notorious for losing. I've been looking forward to being a mom since I was a child and I couldn't have dreamed up better kids than these three. I'm so thankful for them and the blessing to stay home with them. 

It's all fun until you get wetter than you anticipated followed by a tumble into the sand.

That's the restaurant we ate at in the background. Such a fun evening! 

Thanks for making me get in some pictures babe and for being a great partner in parenting and in life. Love you bunches! <3 p="">