Spring!

We have had such a fun spring!  

 In January Nolan got his first set of glasses!  He had failed his school eye exam in December and when we took him in to the optometrist we found out that his right eye wasn't focusing very well!

 In March we went to a pediatric opthalmologist who recommended eye patching to strengthen his right eye, forcing the brain to use it.  We started out doing it 4-6 hours a day.  After a month, his vision had improved so much they told us we could do 3 more months but just patching 2 hours a day! We go back this summer to see if we can take a "patching vacation".  We are very happy that we caught this situation early enough that his brain can still make adjustments!

 In March Nolan also lost his first tooth!

 About 2 weeks later he lost his second tooth!

 He was so excited to use his Tooth Fairy Pillow that Nonnie made for him.  It keeps his teeth in a special place until the Tooth Fairy can come and get them!  So far, so good.

 St. Patrick's Day this year fell during spring break.  This year, I made the kids a green breakfast....green milk and green scrambled eggs.  They thought that was pretty funny.  But it took some coaxing to get them to eat it--they didn't believe me that it wouldn't taste any different! 

 On St. Patrick's Day we met our friends Parker and Paxton for a movie--we saw Cinderella!  The kids loved it (and so did the grown ups!).

Another adventure over spring break was that Nolan fell down and broke his glasses.  So his glasses were getting repaired during spring break and he got a break from eye patching as well!


 Also during March our sweet little Piper turned 12!!!  Gwyn found this picture of Piper when she was about 4 or 5 weeks old.  She was just a bit bigger than this when we took her home!

What a sweet, smart and adorable dog she is!  We have been so lucky to have her in our family.  We really couldn't have picked a better match for us.

 Another spring adventure of ours was swim lessons!  On day 1 of swim lessons at Matt Ross Maya and Nolan were nervous about holding their breath and putting their faces in the water.    By the 8th lesson both kids had learned how to swim!!!

 Nolan's favorite part was jumping in the deep end and popping up.  Maya's favorite part was getting the rings under the water.

Maya has become a really great swimmer for just having 10 lessons!  The semi-private lessons were the way to go for us instead of group lessons. We are continuing swimming lessons at our neighborhood pool this summer and know we will see amazing progress for the next two months!  

 This is the kids field day toward the end of the school year.  They had an awesome class with an amazing teacher.  We couldn't have done better!  They ended up with 15 kids in their class and what a great mix of kids they had.

Here is their amazing teacher Ms. Skorupan!  She was able to turn these kids into full-fledged readers this year in Kindergarten!  She was always challenging the kids to have more patience, be good listeners, be problem solvers, and of course practice writing and reading! Maya and Nolan loved her and so did I! 

 Our friend Matt (one of their classmate's dads) is a vet and he came to school one morning for a pet talk!  He brought various small pets and the kids had the opportunity to hold them.  Maya held their pet Gecko, Henry.

 Here are Nolan and his buddy, Parker on field day.

 Maya having fun on field day.

 More field day activities!

The kids only big field trip of the year was to Kaleidescope in Crown Center.  I was lucky to be one of the few parents chosen to be a volunteer.  it was so much fun!  There were 5 of us moms who are friends who carpooled together and even had time to make a Starbucks run on the way!  

For Mother's Day, Ms. Skorupan had the kids make books writing the reasons that they love their moms.  They saved the (seemingly) most important reason for last and had their picture taken for it.  This is what Nolan chose:  She gets me to school on time.  Haha!  I guess I made an impact on him with all my urging to hurry up each morning!

 Once the weather warmed up and the birch trees were gone, it was time to make the raised beds, get some top soil and plant our garden!!  This year we have 5 tomato plants, zucchini, basil, cilantro, beets, lettuce, and green onions.  Yum!

 We have made great friends with some buddies from Maya and Nolan's Kindergarten class.  We have had class play dates this year the kids all get together so well.  Here we are at a park one sunny afternoon....Maya didn't want to drive the truck but she would ride on the back if Parker was driving!

 Parker's sister, Paxton, and Maya have become good buddies too.  Here they are one afternoon at our house.

 I love this shot of Maya during the lap-a-thon at school.  Both kids ran their little hearts out!  I think Maya ran 19 laps and Nolan ran 20.  Look at her go!  It is hard to believe that just over a year ago she was complaining about being tired just walking down the street.  I love her energy, confidence, and stamina now that she is sleeping so well!

 And here is Nolan running his heart out!

This picture is so sweet---it's the "Sisters" picture.  Maya, Paxton, and Ava are all coloring a big page during a soccer game.  Their brothers are all on the soccer team together and I think the girls have as much fun as the boys do!  

 A couple days after school got out Maya lost her first tooth!!!

She was so excited to get to use her tooth fairy pillow just like Nolan!!  A few weeks later (in mid-June) she lost her second one!

What a busy wonderful spring we have had!