Pirate Safety Day

Oh my word. "Pirate Safety Day" at the kids swim lessons was awesome. It was like a hilarious watershow complete with music and good looking actors. 

The kids seemed to have a good time too.

Hoisting Collin in.

Emergency doughnut.

Can you find Lydia and Collin? They're together.

"Mom? Why are you taking a photo."

Oh, no reason.

(Kristi, this photo is for you. SOOOO your type!)

Come on Collin! Walk the plank!

She caught him just before his head went under. 

Total pros.

Go Liddy!

Where's Collin?

There he is!

Graduation pancakes

Collin was excited. He got a pancake even though he isn't a graduate. 

Swim Class

Time to wake up

Beautiful.

Dairy Day Parade

Meridian Dairy Days Parade! We got there nice and early and found a shady spot. Got slurpees and powdered doughnuts. Our kids are s.p.o.i.l.e.d.

We were joined by our friends the Steens.

Collin and Matthew are good friends.

Someday they will be too cool for school, but for now they just have fun.

Baby's first parade. It wasn't the most impressive one I've seen. 

Okay, it was the least impressive one I've ever seen.

But it was still super fun.

And this "Up" float was pretty cute. 

I love parades. 

Kindergarten Graduation

Guess who graduated from Kindergarten! Our Liddy Bitty. 

Such a big girl already. 

Well, a really big girl, she is the tallest in her class.

She is the one on the very left, top row.

Lydia got the only attendance award having only missed one day of school.

And that day was cause Mommy was sick, not her.

Proud daddy.

Proud mommy.

Lots of proud parents. :)

Proud Miss Clements.

Why I love Collin's laugh

So far away

Happy Birthday Collin!

Oh dear. Collin's party started out with a tad of drama.

When I called to make reservations at a "fun zone" type place for Collin's birthday, they told me it would be so slow on a Tuesday night, I didn't need to make an official reservation. "Just come on in!" they told me.

We showed up at 5:15 and were informed they were closing early at 6.

I about had a heart-attack.

Thank heavens for Chuck E Cheese down the street. It saved us.

I was a little stressed, so all you get is camera photos. :)

Though I did make some awesome cupcakes.

They were so so yummy.

And who doesn't like cheap-o pizza?

Well, Collin doesn't with his dairy allergy. 

Yay for Mcdonalds next door!

This was a classy party.

With classy entertainment.

We had a very happy 3 year old.

Well, 4 very happy 3 year olds.

And that was the whole idea.

I even mellowed out enough to instagram his big moment.

It was a terrific success. :)

Someone is not napping....

To Mom

Queen of the Jungle!

Lydia is her Kindergarten class "Queen of the Jungle" this week. Shane wrote the little letter that is to be read in front of the class. I thought it was pretty sweet that he wrote it in such "kindergarten voice". 

Lydia Jane  - Kindergarten Queen of the Jungle!

Lydia is a special girl. In fact, in our home, that’s what we call her- our special girl. She’s special for many reasons, but here are a few:

She’s a great big sister: She takes care of her little brother, Collin, and isn’t really mean to him and doesn’t tease him very much. She lets him play with her and her friends when they come over. When he feels sad, she feels sad too and she tries really hard to make him feel better.

Lydia is really funny. She is always making up funny stories and writing us funny letters. She loves to make her brother laugh and makes up jokes for him. She draws pictures and makes up funny things to write about them. Lydia knows how to read and write! 

Lydia used to live all the way across the country in a state called Tennessee. It is really hot there with big bugs. But it is also very beautiful with more trees than you could ever count. Lydia misses her friends that still live there, but she loves her new Idaho friends!

Lydia is allergic to peanuts. That means if she has even a teeny tiny piece of peanut, she could get an itchy rash all over her body, or she could swell up (that means her body could get really big and puffy like a balloon), or she could stop breathing. She carries around a special tool called an Epipen, that’s really medicine she can take if she starts to get sick from peanuts. It sounds scary, but she’s very brave. Before she eats any new food she always asks if it’s safe or if it has peanuts in it. She’s a good girl and always listens to us and trusts us when we tell her she can’t eat something, even if it looks really yummy.

She’s the first grandchild in all her family: Lydia was the first grandchild in her mom’s family and also in her dad’s family. That means that of all her cousins, she’s the oldest. They all love to play with her because she’s nice to them and loves to play. When the family gets together, she’s sort of the leader of all the little kids. 

Lydia is our special girl. She’s a very good girl with a good heart. She always tries to do the right thing and to be nice to others and make friends. We’re sure that if you get to know her well, you’ll think she’s special just like we do.

Almost 3 years old

I make up stories about a starfish named Sammy before bed at night. I thought it would be cool to show Collin what a real starfish looks like. And to just have a little chat.

When Lydia and I came into Collin's room to get him out of bed. He was standing with a huge smile and his arms wide open. In his most fancy "prince" voice (taught to him by Lydia) he exclaimed: "My darling! I'm poopy!" Lydia and I laughed and laughed. Time to get this boy fully potty trained.

My favorite Video

I'm upgrading to an iPhone this week, so I've had to get all of my phone pics and videos moved over to dropbox. This one is from when Lydia was 18 months old and I've transfered it to three different phone because it makes me smile. It was taken on the best day. We had had so much fun together. My phone only took 15 second videos at that time, but it was enough to help me remember.