Dress up days

There were some dress up days for school...... this day was "Beach Day" but no swim attire and it was about 45 degrees out. How the heck do you do Beach Day with those parameters?!? We did our best. Makena's beach dress from Hawaii and a swim suit coverup. 

This was Career Day - Addison wanted to be Ana from Frozen. Ha! Personally, I wish she was Elsa because Elsa has all the powers, but I guess Ana is good too. 

We did soccer last spring with Coach Nancy in Ankeny. Addison loves any activity we can sign her up for. And she is very good at remembering her schedules and what she does each day. She keeps me on my toes. If she wouldn't have reminded me to take snacks to soccer last night, I probably would have remembered when I got there. Ha! :) 

Can't have a post without Mason!! He LOVES this basketball. At this age, if you showed him the ball, his eyes would light up and he would let out a big giggle. He would get so excited! This kid loves balls and to play catch. 
 

Preschool Graduation

In May 2021, Addison's daycare center, Bloom, had a preschool graduation for the kiddos. Addison technically went to preschool at Bondurant Elementary but the center also did preschool lessons. 

One thing this center taught her that has made me one proud mom is the Pledge of Allegiance. I'm not kidding, I teared up the first time I heard her say it (had no idea they were teaching it to her). In the photo above, the whole class was saying it and we could hear Addison over everyone else. Ha! They taught her about the flag too and we love finding flags when we are out driving. 

They had the kids line up and they played the graduation march. They called each kid out by name and handed them a diploma. I give Miss Ashley a lot of credit, she tried so hard to make special events for the parents and kiddos and something always went wrong! Like this particular day, we were going to be outside (due to COVID) and no rain in the forecast but 10 minutes before the scheduled start.....it starting raining. Moved everything inside! 

We had no clue they would have those little hats and gowns! 
 

Sun came out so we moved back outside. 

Addison's best friends from Bloom, Aspen and Ainsley. She learned to spell all her friends' names, you wouldn't believe how many companies have "Aspen" in their name. She is always yelling out "A-S-P-E-N!!" as we drive. 

I'm trying to think of things I'm proud of her for learning in preschool.......... she loves to learn! Here are a few off the top of my head:

- Counting to 100

- Learning her uppercase and lowercase letters (although some she gets backwards)

- Learning to spell other people's names. By the way, on all the papers she brings home, we are Brooke and Ryan instead of Mom & Dad :) 

- Simple addition - she got really good doing simple math on her fingers and then she could do it in her head. 

- Counting to 15 in Spanish

 

The graduation ended around 3pm so we just took Addison home and she did "homework" (aka any sheets she brings home from school) while Ryan and I worked. I said something to her and she didn't answer. I looked up and she was sleeping sitting up like this. Haha! 

3....2....1.... Blast off!!

The whole family was in the rocket ship tent, Addison thought it was so fun. It gets hot in there quick! Oh yea, and Donkey was in there in too. It was a full house. Addison loves to play in this tent and go to the moon. 

Addison and I walked about 3/4 of a mile, when it was cold, just to see if a garage sale happened to have a baseball bat left that I saw in a photo. It was our lucky day! 

You will see a series of photos coming up with Addison in her activities. We aren't sure, but we think T-Ball was Kindergarten and 1st grade, maybe 2nd. Regardless, she was the smallest kiddo. She is also wearing her hood under her baseball helmet. ha! 

He got stuck. Not sure how because there isn't a bar to stop him, but he used to get stuck under here frequently. 

Happy boy! Pulling himself up and standing. 

Trying out the new wagon that Mason got for Christmas! There are no seat belts so it's hard to take Mason as he will jump ship. But this will be great as he gets older! 

Trying out his swing in the backyard! Lauren gave us their swing and we connected it to our deck. Addison really wanted to swing but I was worried it would break. Mason enjoyed it for a little bit though. 

 

Back at it again..... back to Mason's 1st birthday

Whoa, it's been a long time since I've posted!! Our family has had quite the summer. Here are a few things that happened:

1. Starting in April, Brooke worked almost every weekend with only a couple off. 

2. At the end of May, we decided to put an offer in on a house in Huxley

3. In June, we listed our house for sale

4. We had more weddings at the Alumni Center this summer than we have had in 7 years. And my team had gotten laid off, so it was just me. And I had to hire all new students due to graduation. It was rough!

5. Brooke started applying for new positions at ISU

6. July 31, we closed on the new house and Addison had her last day at Bloom.

7. August 6, we started living at the new house and Mason had his last day at Alissa's. 

8. August 10, Mason started at a center in Huxley

9. August 16, Addison started at the same center

10. August 25, Addison started Kindergarten

11. Sept. 10, Brooke had her last day at the Alumni Center and moved to Risk mgmt on campus

WHEW. And that's why I'm updating things that happened in May....... Here we go........

Time for gifts!! 

 

Addison was counting down 3-2-1, for her and Nolan to go down the slide. She had a blast playing with Nolan! She calls him "buddy" it's so cute. 

His new truck! We needed more boy toys :) Although he does love Addison's dollhouse. 

Here's a little smile...... 

Before the tears! Nolan walked by and wanted to play with the trucks. 

Nolan walked towards Mason and Mason started wailing. Nolan just wanted to give him a "little squeeze". Look at Nolan's sweet, innocent, face!! haha!! 

I had these visions of these super cute photos with the banner and balloon..... uh yea, a balloon and a 1 year old, come on Brooke. Ha! 

So I took the balloon. Another good idea. Ha! 

This was about the best one I got out of 30. Hah! You only need one though. :) 

He was done! In my defense, usually Ryan and Addison are there to help and they weren't this time. And knowing me, it was almost naptime or snack time or some bad timing. In case you are wondering, yes, his nose is touching the ground! 

Look at that glare...... I just wanted to document his flexibility! I can't believe it's been 4 months since his first birthday, he's growing up fast!