Our Little Graduate

I thought I should get this post done before the baby gets here (which can't be soon enough, quite frankly). Kylee had her kindergarten graduation ceremony last week, which she was super excited about. The classes sang a few songs and the teachers talked a little and then they gave out a "diploma" and flower to each of the kids. It was all very cute, but Brian and I probably had the most fun making fun of the many families who acted as if this was their child's high school graduation or something, judging by the flower bouquets, balloon bouquets, bags of presents, and great-aunt Mabel they hauled there. It's just kindergarten, people!! Ok, sorry, gotta keep those grumpy preggo hormones in check. Anyway, in other momentous news, I'm very proud to announce that Brian successfully completed and defended his Masters Thesis the end of May, so he's our other big graduate in the family. PhD, here we come!!

My big graduate!!

Me and the girls. Hey, it's the Rosenberg clan in the background! Hi Rosenberg's!!

Dad with his girls

Kylee with her teacher, Mrs. Kober

Makayla always seems a little reluctant to let Kylee hug her. Last day of kindergarten. 1st grade-here she comes!

The Other Tooth

Well, the tooth living next door to the one that Kylee recently lost apparently felt that it had also had enough of living in Kylee's mouth, and therefore wiggled itself loose enough last weekend to demand that somebody braver than myself pull it out. Oh brave Puller-of-Teeth, Brian is thy name! Thank goodness for a husband who's willing to do anything gross I don't want to. Kylee was, of course, ecstatic to lose another tooth (that's putting it mildly). I heard she tried to go up to the microphone in Primary the next day to announce to everybody that she had lost a tooth. I gotta admit, the spunk and shameless self-promotion of my girl sure makes me laugh sometimes!

Pull it out, push it out, WAAAAAAAY OUT!!

Success at last!

Another random picture, I know. But nothing says summer like a butterfly soaking up the rays on a leaf in your backyard!

Kylee's Tooth

Ok, I admit it, I'M THE WORST MOM EVER!! The truth is, my first-born child lost her first tooth WEEKS ago, and I haven't posted one single solitary picture about it yet! Does that win me the Worst Mom Award or what? The thing is (and here's my dirty secret I've been hiding from the world), I just don't get very sentimental about stuff like this. I'm the kind of mom who gets excited about events like this instead of sniffly and sad that they're growing up so fast (c'mon now, please tell me there's another mom out there who's happy their kids are growing up!). Ok, now that I've gotten that off my chest, it's kind of a funny story about how Kylee lost her tooth. That darn bottom tooth of hers had been loose for so long I had practically forgotten about it! One evening about a month ago, we went to pick up a futon we had found on Craig's List. I was standing next to the car watching it being loaded up, when Kylee called from the window "Mom, my tooth is really loose!" I took a quick look in her mouth, and sure enough her tooth was sticking straight out and it was turning black! I told her not to touch it and we would yank it out as soon as we could. So, on the way home we decided to stop at Wendy's for dinner. We went into the lobby, and Brian got a napkin and yanked out the tooth right there on the spot. Kylee was freaking out with excitement, and she ran into the bathroom so she could look in the mirror. Brian and I were still standing in the lobby and we could hear her in the bathroom whooping and laughing and singing with happiness. Oh man, I can't tell you how hard we were laughing! I'm glad we were the only people in there, because even the people up at the counter could hear her and were laughing. That night she was excited to put her tooth under her pillow, even though she wanted to keep her tooth. I told her maybe the Tooth Fairy would leave the tooth for her, and she said, "But mom, I thought you said there were no such thing as fairies!" DOH!! Oh well, she got her dollar and got to keep her tooth and is super excited to lose more teeth. Now if I could just get Makayla to stop asking me when her teeth are going to come out. :)

If you're wondering what that bump is on her left eyelid, it was an infected something-or-other that she had to use medicated drops for, but it's about gone now.

This is a snake eating a rat at the zoo. I thought it was a grody picture and just wanted to throw it in.

A Few of my Favorite Things...

One of my favorite things about spring is all the beautiful flowers, especially tulips. I went ahead and planted a bunch of tulip bulbs last fall, and I've been so excited to see them coming up the past few weeks. The tulips and I had a photo shoot today so I could share how pretty they are. I'm especially loving my walkway, where I planted purple phlox and purple tulips (and yeah, it probably doesn't make sense to do all this in a house we're renting, but hey, it's a lot of fun!)

Phlox and tulips

I really love these purple and yellow ones! All the variations of tulips are so interesting.

Easter

Fair Warning Disclaimer: A Bumload of Adorable Pictures Below

We had a great Easter this year (even with having no family around). We started the weekend on Saturday, when we took the girls to the annual Easter egg hunt at the cemetary by our house. Then we colored Easter eggs that night. Sunday was a little busy, with all the Easter stuff and Conference and friends coming over for dinner, but it was a really beautiful and fun day, so I didn't mind. Here's a little trip down memory lane:

The girls showing off their haul at the egg hunt. They were pretty excited opening all the eggs to find the candy and toys inside.

With the Easter Bunny. I was pretty surprised that Makayla got this close! (And is it just me, or does that Easter Bunny look like he's about to spew a few rainbows?)

Me and my girls. It was a LEETLE bright.

The Potion Master hard at work coloring her Easter eggs.

That egg dye is pretty powerful stuff - Kylee started transforming into the Hulk before our very eyes!

No, this isn't a Christmas picture that accidentally found it's way into the Easter picture file. Let's just say we had a lot of honorary Easter bunnies this year! While we and the girls greatly appreciated it, I was a little concerned when Kylee told Jenicca that the Easter Bunny didn't think she was quite as good as Santa thought she was this year, since she got more toys for Christmas. :) Each of the girls also got an Easter basket from our next door neighbor.

Easter Morning

The Easter Bunny thought the girls would look extra cute with sunbeams on their heads.

Oh my goodness, can you believe how cute??

We took the kids over to the cemetary that morning to take advantage of all the pretty flowers and trees blooming.

Yes, Kylee came up with this pose by herself. Supa' Star!

EGG-specting our newest little chick in just 2 1/2 months!! (And yes, I let this picture be taken just so I could write that)

Let it snow....AND SNOW....

Well, it looks like I've been a right old slacker, haven't I? I'll go ahead and blame it on pregnancy, like I do everything else. Anyway, I figured before I put up the Easter pictures, I'd better catch up on the winter pictures. This winter was long and dreary, like always, and it certainly didn't go by fast enough for me - in fact, if it wasn't for Kylee being in school, I probably would have parked my behind at my parents house in Florida for a good long time. However, we did have some exciting snow storms in February that broke up the monotony a little bit. In a 2 week period, we got a little over 2 feet of snow, which is more than we usually get ALL WINTER here. The kids loved it, I endured it, and Brian hated it (bless his poor little only-snow-shoveler-in-the-house heart). Here's some pictures to show how we survived.

Brian shoveling after the first snow storm. This was back when he could actually smile about it. We got about a foot, and we thought THAT was a lot! The kids ready for their first sledding adventure

Brian created our own sledding hill out of our back porch steps. The kids LOVED it!

Brian also created a "snow cave" for the girls out of our patio table and chairs. The entrance to the cave was under the chair right behind them. Holy cow, did they love that snow cave! (Are you seeing a trend here? I have just about the most creative husband ever!) Peeking out the entrance of the snow cave. This is not a picture of Makayla right after she biffed it in the snow - she's simply enjoying her favorite snack - fresh snow licked from the ground.

However, this IS a picture of Makayla right after she biffed it in the snow. Exhibit A: the snow pile Brian made in our backyard after the first snow storm (made mainly with snow from our driveway).

Exhibit B: the snow pile in the backyard after the 2nd snow storm (we figured we couldn't keep dumping the snow over the fence into our neighbor's yard!). This isn't even as big as it got, and it ended up being a great sledding hill for the girls.

Enjoying some yummy hot chocolate after one of our snow adventures. THE END.