Amanda Graduates!!

Amanda showing off her Memory Book

Today was Amanda's Kindergarten Graduation - a very sweet (and emotional) end to her first "Official" year of school. The day started with some crafts and outdoor activities, where I got some pictures of Amanda with some of her friends. We also got to look through her Memory Book, and a book that she wrote - about going to the library at church!

Amanda with her "girls" - Abbie & Lauren; Maddie & Avarie

At snack time - which consisted of chocolate-covered graham crackers on top of small chocolate donuts in the form of graduation caps! - the teachers called each student up and said a few words about each one. They then shared their writing assignment from a couple of weeks ago, which was to write about what you want to be when you grow up.

Amanda with her AMAZING teacher!!

About Amanda, she said she is a good student and a great helper, often helping others at her table spell words - and that she is an amazing reader! Amanda says she wants to be a teacher when she grows up!!

Her teachers present her diploma!

We then presented our AMAZING teachers with their gifts - photo collages of the kiddos created by none other than the fabulous Lisa! They turned out very cute :) (You can probably see a better picture on Lisa's blog!)

The Teacher's Gifts... great work Lisa!

Rockstar class of 2021!!

And, one last picture... here are Amanda and I having a great time at the party. Can you tell my hair is brown? A little impulsive... wanted to try something different... I'm doing everything I can to help it fade!!

Congratulations, Amanda - you have grown so much this year and we are so proud of you!!!

Next: First grade, full school days, and so much more to learn!!

Jog-A-Thon!

Amanda participated in her first Jog-a-Thon today to help raise money for her school and some fun field trips. She was amazing!! In just 30 minutes she completed 8 laps around the track, for a grand total of 2 miles and over $50 raised (so far). She "let" mommy run with her, and let me tell you, I was not jogging!! I'm not sure I could have done many more laps at her pace.

Here come the Kinders ... Ready to run!

Look at them go!

Thankfully the weather cleared up just in time, and while it was a bit chilly for the spectators (including Andrew & Grandpa), it was perfect for the runners!

Nice job, Amanda!! And for all of you who donated...

THANK YOU (and donations are due by May 15th).

The Rockstars recuperating after an amazing run!!

On a side note, Andrew has a perforated ear drum, and does not need glasses. Good times!

Lost... and Found!

The tooth fairy will be making another visit to the Walter home tonight... Amanda lost another tooth! It's one of the top ones that she almost knocked out a year and a half ago, so it's amazing it has lasted this long. It's been loose for a while - more than 6 months - but apparently today while playing on the swings outside, she bumped it and it fell out.

After crawling around in the grass for a few minutes and Amanda finally deciding we could just leave the TF a note - we found it inside on the floor. It must have fallen into her shirt, and then come out when she ran inside to tell me. In case you couldn't guess, she is quite excited!! The grown up one probably won't be in for a while, since it still came out earlier... but it lasted longer than we thought it would!

Another milestone for Amanda - she started going to Awana a few weeks ago with a friend from dance class. You have to earn your book & vest by memorizing several things - the Sparks Motto, John 3:16, The Pledge of Allegiance (although she had learned this in preschool, they apparently don't do it in Kindergarten and we had to relearn it!), The Pledge to the Awana Flag, and the Sparks Theme Song. Anyway, she learned all of it in just 3 weeks and is now an official Sparky - again, she is quite excited!!

Amanda had a dentist appointment last week, and since Andrew was so nervous the last time he went, I thought that if he could come and see how good Sissy is, he would be more comfortable. After her cleaning was done, the assistant invited Andrew into the chair with Amanda and they all had a little party! She lifted the chair way up so they could "feed the fish" - it's a flatscreen TV with a screen-saver type fish tank. Then she was filling up their cups with the water and using "Mr. Thirsty" to drink it up. She even got Andrew to try Mr. Thirsty!! Here's hoping his next visit goes better than the last. :) I'm so glad I had my camera!

Feeding the Fish from way high up!

Trying out Mr. Thirsty... it wasn't as scary as he thought!

Here are a few more pictures from our recent adventures:

Andrew bonding with Uncle Lynn at lunch after church last week. They had quite a fun time coloring and playing together. (Mostly we took the pictures to make Grandpa jealous!!)

Practicing tumbling skills at the mall play area. Andrew is working on his somersaults, and Amanda was practicing handstands (with mommy's help!) and cartwheels. Is it bad that my kids say their favorite place to go is the mall??!!

By the way, Amanda's dance recital is coming up May 16 & 17 - be sure to let me know if you want tickets!!

Easter!

Just wanted to show off some of our Easter pictures. We had a very quick trip to Washington, which included getting to the Smith's at 11:30 pm Friday, then leaving at 11:30 am Saturday to spend the rest of the weekend at my mom's. Thanks again for hosting us - next time we'll stay longer

Once we got to Grandma & Papa's, it was time to relax, play, and dye Easter eggs!

Chris & Caitlin joined the rest of the family for church and dinner Saturday night... the first time we've seen both of them since the wedding!!

We took advantage of the fact that we were all dressed up (and coordinated!) to do a full on photo shoot before heading to church!!

Andrew looks through the deck at the dogs below,

while Lacey tries to figure out what he's doing!

Amanda gives us the full view of her new Easter dress!

Sunday morning we woke up to an Easter egg hunt and Easter baskets ... all the while trying to remind the kiddos that the reason we celebrate is because Christ rose again (or, according to Andrew... Jesus rose, died, then rose again!) ... not just the great presents and candy!

After breakfast we packed up and headed home - including a quick-ish stop at the Outlets.

It was a great trip, but way too quick! We look forward to this summer when we can visit for a longer period of time (or at least the kids and I will come visit) to catch up with everyone.

Hope you had a wonderful Easter, too!!

Tooth Update!

It's official... Amanda has lost her first tooth!! Although, technically she didn't loose it - Mommy pulled it out for her :) By what can only be considered a miracle, it was NOT one of those top teeth that she nearly knocked out a year a half ago!

Anyway, we wanted to share our exciting news with everyone!!

Hope you all have a Happy Easter :)

Stealing

Okay, I'm totally stealing this from Lisa's blog, but she's taken more pictures of my kids (or at least Amanda) than I have in the past month... Look how cute these girls are, celebrating school spirit (even though they don't know what that is!).

Thanks, Lisa - not just for the pictures, but for all your help the last 5 weeks!!

Finally... an update!

Hey all! Can't believe it's been more than 2 months since my last post. Lisa made a comment about my blog - "remember what that is?"! I'm just not as good at taking pictures, then uploading them to the computer and actually posting them. Really, our life has just not been that exciting.

But finally I have a few fun things to share! Andrew is totally into Pirates, ever since he discovered Veggie Tales' The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything. So we went to a party store and got both kiddos some pirate gear. Most days Andrew can be found with the hat, the patch, or both, and loves saying, "Get off me deck!" (from The Backyardigans). So cute!

Arrrrgggg!!!!

On Sunday we decided to have a lazy day at home, so when Andrew found his old Elmo costume I didn't see any harm in letting him wear it. Then Mark took the kids to the mall, then we met at Costco for lunch & shopping, then we went to Target that night. All in the Elmo costume! I think we could have charged for pictures - you should have seen how kids reacted to him, like he was a rock star! Needless to say, Elmo is in hiding for a while!

Today is the first day of Spring Break, and a rare napping day for Andrew - having sissy home must have really worn him out. So much so that he couldn't even make it to his bed!! He barely fits in this little space, but I guess it works!

We would love to hear from you if you get a chance. Hope Spring has sprung in your hearts and your homes!