#5- Saving the best for last

Well this is the last of my updates. I think I'll be all caught up after this one (well, at least until next week, then I'll be behind again!). We finally finished the basement. HOORAY!! That's right, after working on in for almost exactly a year, it's finally done!!! It's like we can breath again. The kids have room to spread out and be in their own space. Anna, Ellie and Tyler had been sharing a room since Christmas and were definitely starting to get on each others nerves. And Kate shared her room with a lot of storage (a queen size mattress set and lots of boxes against one of her walls).
Anna is now in her new bedroom (which is also the guestroom) in the basement. She is also lucky enough to have her very own bathroom in her room.
We also now have a playroom in the basement- no more toys spread out all over the house.
The TV is out of our living room and back into the family room where it belongs and has been joined by the computer desk (which had been living in our bedroom) and a treadmill (that I bought from a friend at her yard sale yesterday).
Tyler is back in his own room with a set of bunk beds all to himself.
And Ellie and Kate are sharing a room. Kate goes to bed first (around 8pm) and Ellie sneaks in later without any problems.
We still have a few little jobs that need to be done before it's 100% finished, but those can wait.
It's so nice to have a place for everything and everything in it's place!

#4- Baby Animal Day

We went to baby animal day at This is the Place Heritage Park this year. It was a beautiful day and wasn't terribly crowded. The kids had a great time holding and petting all the baby animals. They all want a bunny as a pet now. The younger 3 also got to ride some horses. Besides all the animals, we got arrowheads in the Indian village, made candles and dolls in one of the pioneer homes and took a train ride around the park. Overall it was a great family outing!

#3- Mini-Marathon

Every spring, the kids elementary school holds a mini-marathon for each grade level. Ellie's grade (3rd) had to run 3/4 of a mile. It's not required, but it is encouraged. Out of all the 3rd grade girls who ran, Ellie came in 4th. Way to go Ellie! I'm very proud of her especially since I'm not much of a runner.

#2- Tyler's Preschool Graduation

Tyler graduated from preschool at the end of May. He has loved being in Ms. Sarah's preschool class. She is moving to AZ and is going to be missed very much! He learned all the alphabet and can count pretty high. He is definitely ready for kindergarten. I get asked weekly "when is it going to be fall?" because I told him that he'll start school again in the fall. Of course he doesn't completely have the concept of time down so it's hard for him to grasp that 2 months is still a long time. Maybe I need to make him a count down chain (like you do for Christmas). Then he can take a paper ring off everyday until it's time for school to start. Anyway, he's a smart kid and I can't wait for him to start school again. He really thrives in that kind of structured inviroment.

Tyler and Ms. Sarah-
Tyler with his graduation certificate-
And just for fun- Here's Kate with one of the graduation balloons-

#1- The Spring Soccer Season

It came and it went. Both Ellie and Tyler play soccer and love it. Ellie is on an all girls team and Tyler is on a mixed team. They are both a lot of fun to watch. Tyler has come along way since the fall season. He can now dribble the ball down and shot it for a goal. Ellie is improving every season too. This was the last season her coaches will be coaching, so she'll be on a new team last year. We really enjoyed the coaches she had and will miss them. Here are some pictures form the end of the season.
Tyler's team after the last game-Ellie's team after the last game (with some kids missing, they barely had enough to play)-
Ellie playing goalie (which she likes to do) & Tyler just playing-

My goal this week...

Along with painting a dresser- Is to get caught up on all the posts I've been meaning to do. We've had a lot going on, and it's about time I write it all down. So stay tuned!