Life In These Parts

It has been another busy week.  This was the last week of school, so we had the typical parties and picnics and skits and graduation ceremonies to attend for the boys' classes. 

Thursday Ben had his last day of 3K.  Next year he will be going to a different school because the 4K program at the boys' current parochial school has to be in the afternoon and that just doesn't work for us.  Ben will instead be going to a preschool at an arts center nearby.  It is a great program and we had Joey at the same school when he was in 3K (that year our parochial school didn't have a 3K because of low enrollment).  We signed Ben up yesterday and he is so excited.  I don't think he quite understands that he won't be able to go to school for another few months.  I think I will be dealing with the "Am I going to my new school TODAY?" question for a long time.  *sigh*

Friday Tommy "graduated" from kindergarten.  It has been such a fabulous year for him.  His teacher is amazing and has all of the kids reading already.  She is so enthusiastic and fabulous.  Tommy just loved her and my dear tender boy actually got teary saying goodbye to her.  Aww.

Joey is done with second grade too and is now officially a third grader.  He has done so much growing this year.  It started out a bit rough.  Second grade is such an adjustment from first grade.  So much more homework, and work in general.  I think he was testing his boundaries and seeing what he could and couldn't do, and what he could get away with.  We cracked down on him, and he responded very well.  His teacher did a great job of being firm but patient with him and he ended up having a great year.  He was even made student of the month! 

Now I have a third grader, a first grader, and another in 4K.  Amazing.  Crazy how fast time can go, even while the days sometimes feel so long. 



The boys have been riding bikes and playing outside as much as they can considering the weather has turned cool and rainy.  Add to that our dirt filled backyard and they don't have a ton of options.  Yesterday when Todd was working with the construction crew in the backyard Joey and Tommy were putsing around back there too.  I came out to tell them to stay away from the workers and found Joey up to his elbows in a massive pile of dirt (with his school clothes on).  When he heard me sigh and saw my eyes rolling he just said, "It's a boy's life, mom.  It's a boy's life."  And with that I shrugged my shoulders and headed back into the house.  Can't argue with that. 

Our addition is almost done.  The siding is on the outside and the walls were textured and the ceiling was painted yesterday.  Now we have to stain the woodwork and paint the walls.  After that the carpeting goes in and all will be well and good.  I can't wait until it is done.  Our back patio will be poured early next week and then hopefully we can plant some grass in the backyard right after that so the boys will actually be able to play out there again in a few weeks.

And speaking of our yard.  We had a huge bunny in our yard digging a massive hole in what little grass we did have.  It made me really mad until I saw 6 or 7 tiny baby bunnies coming out of it.  They are just beautiful.  They even let me sneak up to them to take a few shots.  You probably can't tell from this picture but they were each only about three inches.  So sweet.

Last night they were huddled under a nearby bush.  Why they didn't want to sleep in their underground nest I don't know (maybe they are too big now) but I hope they make it okay.  There are a ton of cats that roam this neighborhood (and some foxes and hawks too).  Hopefully, they all make it and grow up and move far away from my yard and my flowers.  ;)

Now we are anxiously awaiting for the weather to catch up with the calendar so that we can truly enjoy our summer break.  After this week of craziness and rushing around it would be wonderful to relax in the nice warm sunshine and soak in a bit of summer.   We have so been looking forward to picnics and swimming and camping and bonfires.  I hope the summer weather comes soon.