Jude's Preschool Graduation 2016

Jude and his friends didn't get a preschool graduation ceremony with their teachers, so some friends organized a graduation party at the church gym. They made cupcakes, caps, and brought pizza and activities. Mormon moms know how to throw a kid party.

Liz directed everyone in Simon Says, and Brittney made certificates to give them when they walked across the stage.

These are some of our favorite friends, Liam, Alex, and Sloan.

Jude's actual preschool had an end-of-year party at the park. His teachers Katy and Sunita were wonderful. 

Jude is so excited to go to kindergarten and ride the bus with Josh!

April Sunshine

In April, we started to get some nice warmer days, so I took these two to the beach while Josh was stuck in school.

Baby girl did not like to walk on the shells and rocks. I'd put her down in the sand and she'd act paralyzed.

She is a sunburn waiting to happen.

Every time we go to Golden Gardens, they think they get these huge popsicles from the snack bar. They're mostly right.

Here's Jude and his preschool buddy Zeke getting some sun at the playground. Jude takes his shirt off whenever he's hot, wherever he is.

I find a lot of selfies like this on Matt's camera.

Matt traveled to California for work and got to stop in for dinner with the Bischoffs.

We had baseball every Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday for a couple months. Sports are so time-consuming!

We found a restaurant we love called Palisade in a beautiful setting.

Went to a birthday party for cousin Maeve.

This is how some baby tattoo artists stay happy in the car during errands.

Not sure exactly what's happening here, but when Teague is in charge, you don't ask questions.

My friend Courtney put together the cutest Star Wars party for Zeke, and Jude was invited.

Flowers started popping up everywhere in Seattle. We passed these on the way to the gas station for slurpees one day.

Sometimes I throw toys onto the sidewalk to force my kids outside on a nice day. It really freaks out the bus drivers that pass by every five minutes. Kids scare them.

Little Jude fell off the bleachers during T-ball practice and broke his arm. It was just a buckle fracture so he wore a brace for six weeks, but that didn't stop him from being awesome and enjoying the extra attention. 

Here are the secret pictures I took on baseball picture day because I'm too cheap and picky to pay for the outrageous packages.

We fit in a Menchie's date with Aunt Stephanie. I feel like the only time I take pictures is on sunny days. It's not always like that here, as I'm sure you've heard. But I like to remember it this way.

Ah. This must be a not sunny day. I think I took this one to show Matt how Adele has to be laying directly ON me any time I try to take a rest. No personal space allowed. I love it and I hate it.

I brought Steph to a Pentatonix concert! I was so incredibly excited for this concert for many months, and then Matt had to leave town for work, so he couldn't go with me. In a nutshell, my hopes were too high. The venue and crowd were a little underwhelming and annoying, respectively. Lots of body odor from nervous teenagers and old ladies. I probably heard more screaming than singing. No great seats. Folding chairs. But the music was awesome. I especially loved Kevin's cello-beat-boxing number, and their version of Justin Bieber's "Love Yourself".

Oh, and Kirstie totally waved at me at the end. NBD.

We went to a fancy fundraiser gala for Josh's school at Axis in Pioneer Square. I'll take any excuse to wear this dress. Julia got it for prom last year, and because it fits all of us sisters so magically, we call it the Traveling Dress, and it is sent wherever sparkle is needed.

The gala was a big art show and auction. Each class helped to make a work of art and parents bid on them. (Bid for hundreds and thousands of dollars, I might add. Yeah, we were out of our league.) This was Josh's second grade class. The kids each did some paint marbling, and the room mom turned their designs into birds. One class did a gum wall, and there were lots of Seattle skylines made of interesting materials. I've seen art like this in a lot of cafes here. 

People also bid on activities (like camping in a teacher's backyard), services (like a free photo session from Mimi Snow Photography), getaways (like a weekend at someone's cabin), and anything else they could get parents to donate. We left empty-handed even before dessert. But it was fun for a while and we did our part by buying expensive tickets and donating stuff. There was a photo booth, and because I don't have many pictures of the two of us, here are five:

We finally got to the end of April! Only five more months to catch up on....

March General

In random order, because I don't care right now, here is the rest of March:

Jude's birthday party. Remember that? Children are CRAZY.

Matt's mom in town for birthdays and childcare. Participated as sous chef by juicing a bunch of beets for Matt's beet risotto. Very hot pink. Will make you think you are dying when you go to the bathroom later. 

Jude and Adele at their annual check ups. I'm happy to say I don't remember anything about the shots, so maybe they weren't that bad. I just love when they play nicely together like this. And wear matching patient robes.

Adele is a big girl who tries to dress herself sometimes. It's funny to watch because she can't.

Josh is sweet and a little somber sometimes. He had to entertain himself during Jude's T-ball practices and did not appreciate being robbed of after-school video game time for this.

Adele has a cute hiney and is extremely coordinated on the scooter. This is how we stay entertained during Josh's baseball practice.

My buddies while Josh is at school all day.

House projects constantly. Note: using a spray gun to paint trim does not save you any time because you have to do all this taping, and you STILL splatter paint beyond the splash zone.

Many house projects means many trips to Home Depot. Can you spy the ginger?

I got Matt to join my awesome gym, and now we get to take the kids swimming whenever we want. On this day, we walked across the street for pizza afterward.  Nothing too special, but when there's a pictures of all of us together, I have to post it no matter what.

Burning through some of the junk pile that our backyard has become.

Whaaaaat?? My hair is down?? That never happens. Must document.

Sometimes it takes us eighty minutes to get to Costco for no good reason. And our kids are starving, and one of them eats a whey protein bar in the car even though he's allergic to whey, and he barfs all over the floor in the produce section of Costco, and we are all disgusting, and we get home late, and we accidentally leave a rotisserie chicken on the piano all night. But it's worth it, because it's Costco.

For our TENTH anniversary, we did a food tour of Pike Place Market. It was delicious and fascinating. I love my city.

And immediately afterward, we decided it was time for me to get my nose pierced! I've wanted to for a long time, and this was the day. I call it my 10-year-anniversary bling. I love it. My parents do not.

That week, my friend Janel, from high school, came to town and met me for lunch. We ate at Thai Tom and caught up on a decade of craziness.

Oh, hello there, handsome man.

The boys had their Little League parade in our neighborhood. Jude's team was the Lightning Cheetahs. Coaches were Mike and Stefan. I think you meet the nicest people in T-ball.

Adele was a pycho trying to catch as much parade candy as possible, and she ran straight out to Jude when she saw him pass. We almost had a Lion King stampede moment there.

Josh's team was the Wild Dogs. Coaches were Matt and John. He loved them.

It was a warm sunny day, so we went to the park afterward. Can you tell my kids aren't used to the sun?