School's Out For Summer!!!

Well, the time has come... Another school year has come to an end and while I would usually rejoice at this fact, I'm feeling a little bit apprehensive. Don't get me wrong! I love the fact that we will be functioning on a summer clock with lazy days ahead of us, but oddly enough the lazy days are also my worry. 

We have a lot of fun and exciting things planned for this summer: VBS and piano lessons for Lily, a birthday bash for Sophie, golf lessons for me, a vacation for the family, afternoons at the pool... What could be better? Perhaps I'm worried about having a preschooler and a toddler with nothing to do? I know that there will be afternoons where I will be pulling my hair out because I have 2 bored children on my hands. But I guess I will just cross that bridge when we get to it! 

Well, the point of this post was not to talk about our summer plans! Lily had her "graduation" and End of the Year program today and it was so cute, so heartwarming, so tear jerking... It was sad to see that many of the little friends Lily has made have opted to go for public preschool and will not be returning next year. But that only gives her the opportunity to make new friends next year. 

Proud to get her diploma!

Lily and her classmates sang a variety of songs and Lily got to do the "Mexican Hat Dance" which I have a terrible video of but will post soon. Then of course, we ate cookies with too much frosting (mmm...) and lemonade. Yummy! We had a great time!

Here's to summer! We're looking forward to the good times!

Family Comes to Visit

We had a wonderful time having Lola and Auntie come and visit us here out on a whim! It's been more than 6 months since Lola has seen us and the girls and even longer for Auntie. In fact we were trying to figure out just how long it has been... We decided that it was probably high school since Auntie has seen Matt and we don't believe she has ever seen the kids. 

Me, Mom and the Girls

We enjoyed hearing stories of her mission work in Kenya, Africa and we spent a lot of time catching up. All in all it ended up being a wonderful Mother's Day. There's nothing like being able to spend it with your own mother!

Tita Olga and the Girls

Busy Little Bumblebees

The past 2 weeks have been incredibly busy! It must be spring! We've been having a great time enjoying the weather, going to so many birthday parties and the last 2 soccer games for the season. We also had to endure the unfortunate event of Ruby's passing, but I remind myself and the kids that she is in a better place now. Lily likes to say that Ruby is a "doggie angel" and she can come visit us any time.

Lily has decided that she does not want to play T-Ball this summer. Instead she mentioned that she wants to play golf! I'm not sure if she heard me say that I wanted to learn this summer or if she came up with the idea on her own, but needless to say we are thrilled. She will also be starting piano lessons soon so we will be busy as always!

As for Sophie, we are looking into mom and tot swimming lessons and a trial class at Gymboree. Lily's school teachers are trying to get Sophie to go to the early learning program next year and this makes me laugh! If Sophie had her way, she would. But I'm just not ready to let my sweetie pie go so soon! 

Hopefully we will be able to catch a few baseball games this summer, but for now we will be spending Saturday mornings at Farmer's Market instead of soccer games. We are very excited!

Well, it's off to the races... I will try to get pictures posted this afternoon. Please say a prayer for Little Sarah, the newest member of some friends of ours. You can check her status at "The Scott Family" under those Near and Dear to Me.

Ruby: The Best Dog We Ever Had

It has been a sad day in the Russell household. Yesterday we decided that it was time to lay our dear dog, Ruby, to rest. She was one of the best dogs you would have ever met and a wonderful old soul. We were able to spend 16 great years with her and she will be missed.