Josh and I have both had a whirlwind end to the school-year. It felt as though we were running on full speed for weeks. Yesterday was Josh’s final day for the 2009-2010 school year… so now we can take time to rest & slow down.

Here are the highlights of the past 2 months:

Stacie attended a Marzano Workshop with some ladies from work. It was inspiring, refreshing, and fun! We stayed at a waterpark… so of course we hit the water slides at night!

Cary & I (Cary & I are teaching partners & friends!)

The group of us after dinner & drinks posing for a picture!

Josh and Larry installed a new garage door opener complete with remotes for the cars! No more running through the rain to close the garage door & hop back into the car drenched! (Our house came with an opener that worked intermittently and had no remotes)

Max & Ruby continue to make us laugh! They love to sit on either side of the baby-gate and and play “paw-tag”

Ruby’s favorite place to lounge is on Abbie’s bed… we giggle saying she likes it because she’s camoflauged.

I finally found the perfect  duvet cover for our room!

Stacie riding the Primary School float in the Fun Days Parade

Our Little Man made it through one of life’s big milestones and is now excited to move into the Primary School

Grampa Fred flew up from Mexico and stayed almost 2 weeks with us! He was able to celebrate many things with all the grandkids while he was here. He also became Mr. Mom, driving the carpool around!

A special dinner to celebrate all of us!

The pool has been patiently waiting for a face lift and finally, weather permitting, it happens!!

The water truck was not avaliable on the day we needed it, so I ran all over town renting fire hose, 800 feet to be exact.

Once the guys got the liner in and wrinkle free, the filling began!

and that night, as chilly as the water was… the kids still went for a swim!

Our super-cool & energy-efficient washer & dryer are in and working beautifully! We plan to paint the laundry room a water-blue and I have a cute rug to lay on the floor once the paint is up!

James has turned into a super-science kid… so his room is transforming from a bedroom to a science room. We organized the science mess last night… we plan to paint the walls and add some animals to the walls… but for now we have a start with critters & a science table!

and I saved the BEST for last… Monday morning we are headed out on the open road for a trip in the RV!!!

(some GREAT friends of our dropped this little gift off to us yesterday! I now have a table book for the motorhome!)

James is quite a little man. He has spent the year absorbing and learning all about life… a BIG part of this wonder about science and his sense of adventure is thanks to the amazing teachers at Country Friends Preschool.

~ Celebrating James ~

“Kindergarten Cross-Over”

Miss Kathy – James – Miss Georgine

Josh & I were excited to share these bug-filled books with James.

James has made so many good buddies. He has learned so much about sharing, friendship, and feelings through the daily routine with his buddies at Country Friends.

Jaylynn – Addy – James – Carter

It is hard to believe my Little Man starts kindergarten in September.

One of the centers James LOVED at school was the Take-Aparts. James spent hours pulling apart donated electronics. He wore safety goggles & used tools… He has bags of electronic treasures. His plan: to make a robot.

The good news… Grampa Fred turned out to be a GREAT Robot Builder!

Together, these two built a quite the little robot!

James with the almost complete Robot! He is VERY proud of he & Grampa’s work.

James is also enjoying Taekwando. We are taking the summer off, but will resume in the Fall.

He walked in the Hockinson Fun Days Parade with many of the other TKD students. It was awfully cute to watch!

Amara was waiting for him at the end of the parade with some refreshing treats!

Sam (one of James’ favorite people & babysitter) rode the fire truck with the HS BBall team.

While camping over Memorial Day weekend, Jeff (an avid fisherman) was happy to share his love of fishing with the always curious James.

Jeff and James with the white fish they caught!

James posing for a picture with Caleb & Michael. The boys caught another fish and brought it back to camp for James. James ended up keeping it and took it to school for show & tell (where they made fish prints and dissected it).

What a fun idea for a birthday party ~ Roller Skating!

James thought this would be easy-ka-beezy!

turns out… not as easy as he’d anticipated

He tried a few tricks to stay upright…

they didn’t work so well…

he decided to take the skates off…

He enjoyed playing with his friends and wishing Stellan a happy day!

One thing James never tires of is playing with his favorite buddy of all: Max.

Abbie has finished her 7th grade year and is now officially a teenager!

Track wasn’t something I ever expected Abbie to be interested in, but she wanted a Spring sport, so she tried it… and guess what? She is really good! She ran hurdles, the 400 meter, and long jump. She learned much and excelled at all three. Josh & I were both shocked and impressed with her ability and determination!

But never fear… she is still as drama as ever, even when competing at a meet!

The Hockinson Middle School Band marched in the Junior Rose Parade in Portland, Oregon and took 1st Place! You can see the band marching in our Hockinson Fun Days festival!

Abbie celebrated her 13th birthday May 30th and since it was Memorial Day weekend, we decided what better way to celebrate it – camping! We headed out with The Picard Family and school-friends to lake Simtustus in Central Oregon.

Abbie did not get her wish of a hot & sunny day, but it was a fun-filled day none the less!

… and of course, she dressed the part of a sunny day!

We spent the day on the lake fishing and playing in the water.

That night we celebrated Abbie by the warmth of a camp fire with tasty treats & fun gifts!

We ended the evening listening to Abbie & Michael share the speeches they had written for Student Government.

Abbie planned on running for student body all year… she wanted to be Secretary (cause that’s where all the fun is). Abbie made shirts for her and all her friends to wear. Her slogan: Don’t be Crabby Vote for Abbie!

She made posters & signs -

She handed out personalized pencils: Abbie for Secretary

She wrote an inspiring speech, that I was able to watch her give to the 5th graders at the Intermediate School… but in the end, the girl who did not give a speech – rather rapped a tune to Vanilla Ice – won the election. It is true, a catchy little tune sticks with you. Of course, I think Abbie would have made a better Secretary… but of course, I’m biased.

The end of the school year brought one final field trip… a trip to the bowling alley!

A great year full of friends, fun, and many ups & downs along the way.

Abbie & Lauren

Abbie & Ashley

Abbie & Ariel

Abbie & Michael

Abbie & Taylor

Abbie & Madi