Graduation...

...kind of. Today was the last day of preschool for the year. Judah will go to preschool again next year, so he isn't really graduating, but let's not get technical.At our preschool, we each take a turn teaching, assisting, hanging with the nursery kids, and taking a day off. It was my turn to teach, so I had the kids review the different sections that we went over this year and then make an All About Me book. Thankfully, my assistant, Julie, is a rockstar because it was quite an undertaking. Oh how easily the preschooler becomes distracted. Above is a picture of Hollie, Julie, Judah and I.

This is the some of Judah's class. Throughout the year, we had anywhere from six to twelve kids. It was a great experience for him. I can see a huge improvement in his attention skills from when we started until now.

Judah's book turned out hilarious. Here are some sample questions:
My favorite thing to do is...be a T-Rex!! (After this question, EVERY page had to do with dinosaurs.)
My favorite toy is...ZOO!! (He proceeded to draw a map of the zoo and placed each animal, including dinos, in cages.)
My favorite thing to do with Mama and Papa is...dinosaur disco-bagging!! (This came with a little tune. Can anyone tell me what it means?)
My favorite tv show is...Dino Squad and Dinosaur Train.
When I grow up, I want to be a ...MAMA!!

Yep. That's my boy.

Tulip Time

The kids and I journeyed to Pella for the infamous Tulip Time. We actually went down last night with my sister-in-law, Jen, so Jen and I could run in the Klompen Classic. After a winter of running on the treadmill, I decided to see if I could run in real life. Sadly, my winter workout was running a mile as fast as I could...mostly because I wanted to get home and eat some ice cream. So I called up Jen and asked her to suffer through a 5K with me. I'm sure you are imagining the hours of training I put in prior to my big race. I mean, I hadn't run over a mile and a half in uhhh..ten years??? I had great intentions. However, in the two weeks up to the day we decided to sign up, I ran a mile twice. Yep...I was ready. I am proud to say that I did not walk at all.

The kids stayed with my mom during the race and got to go to Pella with us today for some Dutch food and tulip smelling. A good time was had by all.

Liam had a great time eating donuts and poffertjes. He was a messy, sleepy boy.Mayah cheesed it up with Aunt Caitlyn. This girl loves her novelty sunglasses.

Mayah kept running up to the tulips and posing. She's a m-model if you know what I mean.

This is my new favorite picture of Liam. I adore him.

Judah was not jazzed about getting his picture taken. He was struggling all day to enjoy Pella.

'I want to eat that one, Mama.'

Oh, Mayah, if you only knew how much money you hold in that aggressive little hand...

The kids were crabby way before we left, but we got some great food. I even got to see a ton of people from my past. Well done, Tulip Time 2010...well done.

He's Got Moves

Apparently, being a male comes with some annoying obstacles. Things can happen to a boy that I, a naive mother, would have never thought of. Luckily, my boy knows how to get himself out of some sticky situations (you'll appreciate that pun in just a moment). This is a move you might see Judah doing at any given moment. It is actually a very common stance for him. I am lucky enough to see it three...maybe ten times a day. It starts out with a low squat and ends with a little wiggle. And, yes, the mouth is usually open. What is the purpose for this move?

"I'm just getting it unstuck!" Yep..."it" sometimes sticks to his leg. Will and I have told him to leave "it" alone when "it" gets too much attention. Judah has come up with his own hands-off approach to this historic problem.

I hope it catches on. I hope we see baseball players everywhere perfecting the low squat. My boy, the inventor.

Riding the Potty Train!

Finally, something blog worthy! Warning to those who don't have children or just don't care about potty training: The words poop, pee, and potty frequent this entry...read at your own risk.

This was taken at the Veesha parade of my stubborn little girl.

We are on day three of Mayah fully utilizing the potty. Mayah will be two and a half at the end of May and has proven to be a worthy foe in this battle to get the Owens family down to one child in diapers. My little girl is as stubborn as they come.

Months and months ago she was totally into wearing undies and using the potty for all of her bathroom needs. Then, out of nowhere, she decided to have nothing to do with it. She didn't want to wear undies...she didn't even want to be in the bathroom. As of late, she is back on the train. I rarely need to remind her to use the potty before she runs over to remind me it is time. We no longer need to set a timer, and she doesn't hide in her room to pee anymore. Since Friday, Mayah has awakened with a dry diaper nearly every morning and after every nap. Hallelujah!!

The only part of the train she hasn't buffered up to yet is the pooping in the potty. She will sit on the potty and push until she passes gas, which of course ends with tumultuous giggling. Thankfully, she hasn't pooped in her undies, either. The girl will wait until we put a diaper on her for nap or bed and then poop. It isn't out of defiance...I really don't think she has figured out how to drop one off on demand. We'll get there, though. I am pumped about her sudden progress! I am also leery about getting too pumped. She has shown this progress before only to completely backslide. I love the girl. Once she decides something, it is all or nothing. She's kind of like her mama. Only kind of.

The Plastic Came Off

Judah was very disturbed today during lunch. He kept trying to explain to me that the plastic had come off of his lip. The what? The plastic. He was pretty frustrated that I didn't know what was hurting him.

I finally figured out that Judah was trying to tell me that he had pulled some loose skin off of his top lip. It hurt. He needed a band aid.

He has been wearing this on his lip for over an hour now. I can't take him seriously when he comes to tell me something. I hope this doesn't become a "thing".

Easter Weekend

The Owens family had a fantastic Easter holiday. We made the trek down to Newton on Saturday to spend time with my side of the family. We had a great time with aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, grandmas, and grandpas. Uncle Mark's house was packed! We started the day off with an amazing meal. My family can cook. They had an Easter ham and turkey, but I skipped past the meat section and filled my plate with the side dishes: sweet potato casserole with pecans, corn casserole, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls, fruit salad, and spinach salad with strawberries and the most sugary dressing I have ever tasted. It was heavenly. After my belly was full with second helpings, we had bars, ice cream, and a birthday cake for Liam.Grandma Margie hooked Liam up! She also got him an individual cake, which he murdered.

Sunday was another busy day. We let the kids sleep in after our busy Saturday and had our annual cinnamon roll breakfast before putting on our fancy clothes. Grandma Margie buys the kids Easter outfits every year, and Mayah is all about dressing up in pretty dresses. She is also all about posing for photos. And I am all about her beautiful curls, so you will have to endure all of the photos I want to share of Mayah in her dress. (On a side note: I also really like the photo of Mayah and Wyclef Jean looking at me while I take the picture to the left. I feel like he is boring into my soul.)
Judah thought it was pretty special to wear matching shirts with Liam. It was impossible to get a picture of the Owens three where they are looking at the camera.













After our photo shoot, we went to the 11:00 service at our church. My blog even got a shout out by our pastor, who read the excerpt about Judah talking to the headless mannequin from the entry, Service, in place of his joke. After church, we ate lunch at The Mandarin and went home for naps. We ended our holiday with decorating eggs, hiding them at Will's parents house, and eating some yummy barbecue.
Another amazing holiday for the books.

LIAM IS ONE!!

Liam turned one yesterday, April 1. The kids and I spent the day at the zoo with the Miller family. Above is a photo of the whole gang: Mayah, Mylie, Raya, Judah, Emmett, and Liam. It was a beautiful day. Liam spent most of the day in his stroller, but was able to get out and cruise along the fence for a bit.

Grrrr

He isn't "walking" yet but can stand up on his own with no support. He also loves to cruise. He can take three or four steps before he hits his knees. No rush, Liam.


Liam is saying a few words. He is also laughing a lot. I adore this little guy's laugh. He is such a great little kid. Happy birthday, Liam. Your family loves you very much!