Four

Four

Three beans

Three chicks

Three peas in a pod

Three friends

Three foes

Three heads start to nod

Three hands in my own

Three hugs to enjoy

Three tummys

Three bummies

Two girls and one boy

Three laughs

Three cries

Three screams to appease

Three blondies

Three babies

Three scrapes on three knees

Three is enough and

Three still need more

Three always loved but soon

Four I’ll adore.

Preschool Graduation

Heading to our little party in Ladera Ranch, I kept thinking about that scene from Pixar's "Incredibles" where Mr. Incredible is arguing about going to his son's graduation from the 4th grade to the 5th grade and having ceremonies that celebrate mediocrity. I laughed to myself. Not that I think our home preschool program or results were mediocre, I just thinking calling this a graduation is funny. All the kids will be in preschool again next year. We just wanted an official party to celebrate all of the hard work (mainly the moms') done this year.

Our little group of kids including siblings like Lulu and Jo not in school yet. We played at the park for a while before having lunch and getting our official prizes.

Jackson's mom made these awesome super chocolaty graduation cap cupcakes!...

They were thoroughly enjoyed. Lu is not crying she is just trying to smile while covered in frosting.

as is Baylub.

Each child showed a project they completed this past year. Baylub showed an owl. This was actually the last project he finished. Unfortunately, the garbage ate all his other projects throughout the year before I could stop it. I am obviously not very sentimental. And, he made a TON of projects.

After getting his star, certificate, and cute cute t-shirt, all thanks to the other creative moms in our group.

The back includes the handprints and initials of Baylub's classmates, including Marisa who moved to London a few months back. She was sorely missed.

The graduates (the ones wearing the white t-shirts)

I really am so grateful to the other amazing moms in our preschool group. They were all so dedicated, creative, and most importantly, patient with all the different personalities in our sweet group. Teaching this year has helped me really appreciate what kids are capable of as well as how different each child is which really does make them so special. Here's to a great year and hopefully another good one scheduled to start this fall!

Happy 4th

We really enjoyed our first 4th of July with no family around! Not that it was better without family, I just assumed we wouldn't have as much fun, but we did! Last year, we went up north to be with Adam's family near Sacramento. This year, we stuck around and enjoyed the local festivities.

We had a ward pancake breakfast with a bike parade from the primary. We decorated the kids scooters and little car. Baylub was the only one from our family who made it all the way around the park. He's still mastering his scooter skills. Watching him slowly make it around melted my heart for some reason. So cautious but determined, making his way around. It just hits me once in a while how fast they are growing up.

Waiting in line so patiently for our blueberry pancakes.

I really enjoyed decorating the kids scooters with fun stuff from the dollar store. I never shopped at the dollar store before but it has many useful things to offer... for just a dollar!

Lulu with her friend Tricky.

We had our own mini-bbq for lunch in the afternoon, napped, and tried to keep cool. We have been having a HOT spell for sure. At about 3 pm, it is impossible to get our apartment completely cool with our little box in the wall a/c unit and our car a/c can't overcome the heat, even after driving for over 30 minutes. So we just deal with it.

We went over to Tricky's home for a delish bbq. The party was thrown by Tricky's parents and not Tricky herself. I finally made a three layer jello desert that I always thought would be so difficult but was actually quite easy. I also made a yummy watermelon dish. Has anyone else noticed that watermelon is the new pomegranate/cranberry? The red fruit that is vogue for fresh yummy food. I've seen magazines and blogs replete with salads, drinks, chicken salads etc. with watermelon as the highlight. Thus, I wanted to try a good watermelon focused salad. I'm all about being on the in, you know. It was a simple salad of watermelon and mango with a lime dressing on it (lime juice, lime zest, sugar). Very refreshing. Recipe available here.

I did not do our good time justice with my pathetic picture taking skills. We had a bounce house, a swimming pool and the best view possible to watch the firework shows around OC. We also had wonderful friends to hang out with. It couldn't have been better.

Jo is a good eater, to say the least. The other day we had a babysitter and bought a Little Caesars hot and ready pizza for the kids. The baby sitter already ate. Between our three little kids, they ate the whole pizza! I'm not sure whether to worry or be glad they eat so well. We enjoyed hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, and veggies at this bbq.

Here is something to give you an idea of the view. We could see about ten different fireworks shows going on from here including the Disneyland fireworks, Dana Point, Laguna Niguel, Ladera Ranch, Mission Viejo, Laguna Beach, Irvine Spectrum, and a couple others which I'm not sure exactly where they were being shot from. I mean, absolutely amazing view!

Overall, our holiday was a blast. We hope yours was too!