Cupcakes for Kindergartners!

At the end of the school year, I tried to get together with the girls teachers and do a couple of special things to celebrate the end of the year...the end of the last year they would spend in an American classroom for a while.  Mrs. Scholtens was very wonderful to work with and some openings in the Kindergarten schedule the last few days so we scheduled a little trip to the park for cupcakes and some great playtime!  The Kindergartners were so excited to get the chance to get out of the class room as well as to play at the park:)

A picture of Karys' class after arriving at the downtown windmill park

They are such a fun bunch and definitely have a crazy silly side :)

Avery and her silly face

Karys pulling a pretty great silly face herself!

Zach showing Janeva his best silly face

Before we went to play, Karys passed out rainbow cupcakes to all of her classmates.  I loved this time! Mrs. Scholtens reminded the class where Karys would be moving to next year.  It was so great because at that time there were 2 or 3 other students who spoke of Haiti, "My mom and dad have been to Haiti"..."My grandpa and grandma have been"..."My little brother is from Haiti".  And test others asked many questions of why we were going, how long would we stay, where would we do school.  I felt like it was such a great chance for kids to learn about what we are doing and an even better chance to watch Karys take ownership of that and tell them the answers!

Karys and some of her be sties

Getting ready for the train down the slide

Karys leading the way!

Look at those smiles!  What a great bunch of kiddos!

Everyone pile on for the train!

So much fun!

Karys and Avery...They started the year a little rough, but by the end of the year Karys talked about Avery all the time and they really were great friends!

Time for a ride on the merry go round

Catching some air, hanging off the side

What a GREAT trip to the park!!!  Thanks Mrs. Scholtens for taking the time to allow Karys to make some more special memories with her classmates!

Addy Grace is 3!

This is dating back a little bit, but I really wanted to share the pictures from Addyson's third birthday.  It was a BEAUTIFUL day! we had our LOVELY cousins in town visiting, and little miss ADDY was such a doll all day long!

The day started with wagon rides from uncle Rob...all the kids were smiling from ear to ear and eager to have a turn.

all the kiddos-minus Toby...LOVE LOVE LOVE Addy's face in this one!

She was having the time of her life leading the wagon ride down the sidewalk

After the wagon rides we made our way to the park.  We were hoping to grab some donuts-that was what Addy wanted for her birthday breakfast-but with it being Memorial Day the bakery was closed :(  The kids didn't seem to mind though!  They were thrilled to have the playground to themselves :)

We have a bunch of monkeys on our hands...the monkey bars are a favorite for moth Gracie and Karys

Soon they were hungry though, so Rob ran home and got a bucket of cookies left over from the Tulip Festival night show.  Again, the kids excited and happy :)

Yes!  Cookies always bring smiles :)

Toby also was able to get in on the fun--this little man LOVES to swing and was even happier to be swinging with Daddy.

Leah was working hard to pump higher and higher!

Seems to be the trend to swing with your tongue sticking out

Taking a break from the underdogs...excited to be wearing sunshine yellow on a very sunny day :)

Addy was such a joy to watch!  You could tell she felt so special and really felt the attention she was getting on her birthday 

Gracie also added to the excitement of the day-she lost her second tooth!  If you look closely you can see her tooth in the bottom left corner of the picture in her fingers and the new formed hole in her mouth in the bottom right of her mouth in the picture.

The excitement was too much for the birthday girl :)  She fell asleep like this around 5:30pm while we were making cupcakes...man, oh man our little lady might miss cupcakes and presents!

And the cupcakes were so fun!  Rainbow colored cake with frosting and sprinkles

Good new was she woke up...and her timing was perfect!  She missed supper but was just in time for cupcakes and presents :)

Happy Birthday Addy Grace!

Big Blow!!!

Time for PRESENTS!!!

But not until we all eat our cupcakes :)

Addy got a few coloring books of her own...

A CD of silly songs...

But all she really wanted, the only thing on her list...

was three packs--one green, one blue and one red-of....

GUMMMMMM!!!!!

Three packs of her very own gum and some extra candy as well makes for one very happy girlie!!!

And she was not the only one who was all smiles :)

With cupcakes eaten, presents open...it was time for some good ole wrestling!!!!!

The days events were coming to a close, I think this looks like one happy birthday girl...what do you think?

I love this girlie!!!  She is our JOY and brings laughter to us daily!!!  She is so carefree and easy going, yet feisty and spunky...she tells us all the time, "I am tough!"  And that she is!  The Lord has gifted our little lady to be a fighter, yet be so joyful and tender hearted.  May you continue to grow in your knowledge of him and be covered in his grace and surrounded by his love and goodness!!!