Natalie Kinder Award

I also tried to post this earlier with no luck. Here is Natalie receiving her Reader's Theatre Star award from her Kindergarten teacher.

Colin Babbling

I tried to post this with my previous post and it didn't work. Here is Colin babbling in early May. And he loves to chew on his toes!

Mother's Day, Father's Day, Summertime, and Vacation

We are having a nice summer. Since our last post, Colin has been growing, starting solids, and doing all kinds of new things, Natalie finished Kindergarten and had all of her end of the year programs as well as her ballet recital, Owen finished up T-ball for the season, Henry is potty-trained (he figured it out in a matter of days and even makes it through the night!) and has been keeping us entertained (and busy!), we celebrated Mother's Day and Father's Day, and we went on our vacation to the beach.

Before the end of school, Natalie got to paint a tile for the school garden. She had a lot of fun, did a great job, and we're looking forward to finding it in the garden next year.



At the beginning of May, we started Colin on solid foods. He did really well with his rice cereal, and he has moved on to lots of fruits and veggies now. Nat, Owen, and Henry were really excited about the first solid foods, and they were right in the middle of the action, jumping and dancing with every bite. Colin moved into his highchair for family meals and he really gets excited about sitting at the table with us.





Also in early May, Natalie had her recital for her after school program classes and her ballet recital. She was taking piano and musical theatre after school, so she played piano and was in a little play for the recital. She did a great job with both. She is such a performer, she wasn't nervous at all! I was really impressed. And she did an amazing job with the play - she was the narrator and had more lines than anyone. She remembered them all and really seemed to enjoy herself onstage. I think she takes after another actor in the family.....She had a dress rehearsal for the ballet recital during the week, then the performance was Mother's Day weekend. She did a great job and looked so pretty! We really enjoyed the show - it was a history of ballet/dance.











Mother's Day was nice. Grandma Phyllis and Grandpa Tom came to celebrate with us. We had a good weekend, and I got lots of sweet gifts from the kids. We went to the school playground on Mom's Day, and Owen played ball with Dad and Grandpa, while Natalie and Henry played on the dinosaur bones and slides & monkey bars. Natalie is a pro at monkey bars. Colin hung out in his stroller and gave us sweet smiles. Right after Mother's Day, he started babbling like crazy. I have some video because he was cracking me up. Nat, Owen, and Henry get really excited when they hear him - "Mommy, he said da-da!" Colin can really keep himself entertained.









Owen had a great T-ball season. He really is a good hitter and has a great arm. By the end of the season, he was getting good at catching too. He's so funny - he really gets into it - focused on the game and the stats, and he sure hustles. We're looking forward to the Fall season. No T-ball in summer in Houston - too hot!




Ike and I went on Natalie's last field trip of the year. This was a whole school field trip to Challenger Park near NASA. It was fun, but HOT! The kids did a lot of fun things, including crabbing, planting plants, and learning about life cycles and decomposition.



Owen had his closing ceremonies for T-ball at the end of May, and he got a nice little trophy. Natalie also had her end of the year program and awards. The program was cute - all of the Kinder classes sang songs and wore their class self-portrait shirts. Afterward, we went to the classroom for individual awards. Nat won an award for reader's theatre for her reading ability and enthusiasm for performing poems and speeches.



At the beginning of the month, we went to North Carolina to visit family and go to the beach. It was a lot of fun. We all had a really good time. The kids loved being on the beach, and it was good to see everyone. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for a great trip! It was Colin's first visit and first plane ride. He did great on both plane rides (and so did the other kids, although Henry is in that hard phase and not wanting to stay still in his seat). Unfortunately, Colin came down with some virus on our way up there and he was a bit fussy (and covered in a rash) for most of the visit. I even took him to the doctor twice, but there was nothing we could do except wait for the virus to run its course. He was feeling better by the time we headed home (of course!).



Since we've been home, we celebrated Father's Day. Ike had a nice weekend - the kids all made cute gifts for him, and we went to an Astros game and a cookout with friends. The kids have been enjoying summer camp and swimming. Colin is sitting up and working at nailing down the moves for crawling. He likes to rock when he's sitting, and he does a pretty good job staying on his hands and knees. It won't be long.