Will's Last Day Of Preschool 2012-13

First Day ~ September 2012 & Last Day ~ June 2013

This was Will's first year to go to preschool. Even despite a big change in the Spring, he still had a great year.

For a little more than 3/4 of the year, he was at our church's preschool two days a week. It is a great little preschool, and I will always be thankful for Will's time there. The staff and teachers are all extremely talented and love those kids. And I tell his teacher, Ms. Jennifer, all the time that she was the answer to a prayer I didn't know to even pray. I'm still determined to track down a picture of Will & Ms. Jennifer together, because he seriously all-caps LOVED her. She had an incredible level of patience and love for him. As a parent, there aren't words to express how much that means.

But after he turned 3 in April, we knew he needed to be at a different school where some of his specific needs could be better addressed (more on that here). It was scary...for us, not him...and sad. But in the end, it was such a good move for this guy. In nine short weeks going to the Early Learning Center five days a week, he did great. We saw definite improvement in speech and in other areas/challenges, and we are so proud of how well he transitioned over. It is a pretty incredible program, and we are grateful for it.

One of the scariest parts of it was that he would ride the bus. Yes my just turned 3-year-old ON A BUS!!! I had to do some deep breathing for sure. But yet again, it ended up being a wonderful part of this change. He absolutely loved being on the bus. And the two grandmotherly-type drivers were a sweet blessing.

It was a hard year in many ways, but a year that ultimately got Will where he needs to be. That makes it a great year. And we are all looking forward to all that is to come as he has a full year there again in the fall!

Junk To Treasure

I think people get overwhelmed with trying to make a difference. Especially if you've got a house full of kids it seems hard enough just to keep yourself showered (or maybe that's just me?) But this is a perfect example of how relatively easy it can be: Ask your friends to clean out their closets. Bring said junk/treasure to your house. Ask friends to show up for a few hours on their Saturday. Sell said junk/treasure for whatever the buyer wants to pay at a Garage Sale. Just like that, we made over $500 to give to a local single mom that has had some rough times thrown her way. We had a great time with friends doing it, and our kids were even part of the whole process. Simple. And a sweet family has no idea that a fun surprise is coming their way.

It was such a fun day with our Small Group. I may or may not have been unfairly teased about my (lack of) negotiating skills. But hey, we got rid of a ton of stuff, thankyouverymuch.

And another reminder how thankful Wade & I are for this group of people. Almost a year ago, we went out on a limb not knowing what would happen when we started this group.

It has been such a true blessing from the very second we started it. And I know it will continue to get even better.

The Fletcher & Sons Snowcones were a hit!

And this last picture cracks me up for some reason. Classic Garage Sale moment of panic...Does it really work????

Misc. May

May was CRAZY. Craziness every single day it felt like. But the craziness was filled with lots of fun memories.

Will got to spend the evening over at Aunt Tisha & Uncle Ford's house with his two older cousins. That was the first time he got to do that by himself, and he had such a great time.

While Shannon & I were at Footjoy (UH-MAZING...stop what you're doing and run there right now), Uncle Wade watched all 5 of the kids (thank you!). The three bigs had a little picnic. :)

Wade & I went with some friends to see Wicked. First time for us both to ever see it. And of course, I absolutely LOVED it! The performers were incredibly talented, and the storyline was so surprisingly sweet. Loved it. And enjoyed the fun time with friends. Berries & Bubbles!

And these two brothers are acting more and more like brothers...both in the good and the bad. :) I love seeing their relationship grow.

Wade was Watch Dog at Will's new school. We weren't sure how that would go over, because this kid is Coo-Coo-Crazy about his Daddy. But he handled it well and even happily shared Wade with the other kids. :)

Tate's school had a sweet Muffins With Moms breakfast. And this picture cracks me up because you can clearly tell it was bright and early 7:00 a.m. My eye cream had not done it's job yet. :)

Wacky Wednesday at school...any excuse to be wacky is exciting around here.

And meet my springtime nemesis. He taunts me. Always, I mean always, hiding under the outdoor patio cushions. Just waiting for me to move the cushion. And bam. My daily mini heart attack.

And these pictures were at the end of looooooong day. One of those "Sure kids, go ahead and destroy an entire roll of wrapping paper if it keeps you busy while I finally just sit down" kind of days.

And one of those days should always end with one of these beauties. :)

This is what happens when Tate and cousin Trip get together. Aliens attack. :)

Camp KHES

The last few weeks of school are FUN. I seriously don't know how the teachers do it. I'm exhausted. Kids are exhausted. Everyone is exhausted...but having lots of fun.  :)

And an especially fun end-of-the-year activity at Tate's school is Camp KHES (aka Field Day). I was so impressed with how much went into planning this day for the entire school. Lots of fun activities all day long. His favorites were any of the ones involving water and also bowling in the gym. I helped out during some of the morning activities and got a few shots. Tate is already looking forward to next year!

A Family Day Full of Emus & Flags

I was excited to tell Tate about the fun place we were going on Memorial Day. I explained the wildlife preserve with all of the animals we would see and how cool it would be that we could feed them from the car. His response, "Well that doesn't have anything to do with Memorial Day."

Touche, kid. 

Luckily we found an impressive Memorial Day tribute on the way home. :) But first we spent a few hours at the Fossil Rim Wildlife Preserve. When you really think about the concept of all of these cars in line paying money to throw $8 a bag food at animals in an un-natural, natural habitat, it is kind of funny. But we fell for it and had a great time. 

Some of the highlights included going old school driving with kids...kids in your lap, hanging out windows.

 Lots and lots of animals.

Everyone was excited and looking forward to the giraffes. We drove by and saw there were several all happily eating the food people were giving them.

I guess we were a little late. By the time we got there, they wanted nothing to do with us. Or our $8 a bag food. Guess they were full. (And disclaimer on the video, Will used to have a squeaky giraffe baby toy that was named "Giraffey." So all giraffes are now called Giraffey by Strzineks.) :)

Will enjoyed himself for the most part. He did not like when we got stuck and had to wait on other cars.

So let's be honest. During the 3-hour adventure, there was plenty of this as well. :)

And for the grand finale, may I present...the creepiest picture EVER. That thing is real! If the video was running, you would hear me yelling at Wade to run for our lives and get those windows up before Will is killed by the emu while he watches PBS Kids on my iPhone. We live dangerously.

Thankfully we all got out alive. :) Funny little place, and we all enjoyed it. 

And a pleasant surprise was that on our drive home we came across a very moving Memorial Day tribute. The boys loved running through the flags. And our love-of-all-things-history & war-related oldest enjoyed reading the nametags on each flag.

Thankful for our own family's piece of history with my grandfather's sacrifice serving in World War II.

It was a fun day together!