Race weekend!

Memorial weekend has been one of our favorites since moving from Chicago back to Indy. This is the fifth year that we have attended the 500. This year we did a big blowout cookout on Saturday. We had between 40-50 people attend. Our crowd has changed a lot over the years, and this year we had about 15 kids over, most under the age of 5. There was still plenty of beer, and lots of food! It was a fun day, and great to catch up with a lot of people that we haven't seen in awhile.

It was a hot, hot weekend, so the kids all played in the pools and water table.

 Oliver learned how to serve beer out of a keg.

 Just hanging out!

 Fun in the sun.

 On Sunday, 6 of us headed to the track. It was a smaller group than last year, but we had a great time! Chuck and Jody came from Wisconsin for their first race, and Mark and Heather joined us again. This year's 500 went on record as the hottest race in history, but we had the luxury of covered seats. I will never sit in the sun on race day again! We had a great time.

Tailgating before the race. Breakfast and mimosas across from the track.

 Lined up 3 wide. This is the great view from our seats.

 Not the greatest pic, but here we are!!

Last day of school and report cards

This week is the last week of Mom's Day Out for Oliver and Eva! I was very teary on Tuesday as Evie is moving out of the Lamb's room (baby room), and Oliver is done with Mom's Day Out and moving up to preschool! They have both gotten so big this year! Here is a flashback from the first day of school in August:

 

 And here they are on their last day!

 Running laps around the car before school.

 Evie giving me her annoyed look in her classroom. Really lady, would you quit taking my picture??

 Ollie in the Teddy Bear room.

They also both got their report cards. Evie mastered all of her skills for the year. Her teacher wrote "Evie does very well at school. She is very independent and knows what she wants. : ) I don't think I've ever heard her cry or fuss. Her favorite activities are the slide, books, and taking toys that other kids have. : ) She will do well in Ducklings and she wins the fashion award." That's my girl. She is a pistol, but dresses well! Oh, what a stinker.

Oliver mastered the majority of his skills. The only two things he has to work on are putting his coat on and zipping it by himself, and sitting still and quiet on the rug during circle time. His teacher wrote "Oliver has progressed so much this year! We have really enjoyed having him in class." His teacher was also telling me recently that he is very observant. He is such a good boy. I know Miss Jenny will really miss cuddling with him at naptime. He has them all wrapped around his finger!

So proud of my little cuties. We went to get cupcakes on Tuesday as a last day treat, even though Ollie has one more day of school.

Big boy bike

I have been telling Oliver for months that if he could pedal the tricycle down the driveway, then we would buy him a big boy bike. He has never shown any interest until my last Parent Council meeting when Evelyn, one of the little girls in his class, rode her bike to the meeting. He checked out her bike, sat on it, and got pushed around on it for a little bit. As soon as we got in the car, he said "I want to ride my tricycle so I can get a big boy bike." As soon as we got home, he rode that thing all the way down the driveway, and then asked for three days when we were getting his bike. Daddy had the day off on Friday, so we surprised him with it.

So excited!

 Checking it out.

 Love!

 Looking good!

 We are working on pedaling. This bike has brakes, unlike the tricycle which can be pedaled backwards. He is getting it though!

Happy Mother's Day

We had a lovely Mother's Day this year! It was the last time that I sang at church with the choir for the year, so Jeff and Marie came down to help Jon wrangle the kids to church. After mass we went to a nice brunch at Flemings. We then spent the afternoon finishing up yardwork! Besides my new phone, Jon and the kids surprised me with new hanging baskets and flower boxes for the front porch. We had flower boxes on the porch when we moved in, but they were old and rotting, so we got rid of them. I had always loved the way they looked, so my handyman got to work and built some new ones.

Me and my babes.

 Front view of the house.

 Close-up of the baskets and flower boxes.

 Our vegetables are looking good! Side veggie garden.

 Back veggie garden.

 We also bought some elevated planters for the herbs. They are also doing great!



Bye-Bye Binkie!

So I feel like I just wrote this post about Oliver. Maybe because it has been less than a year since I did! Miss Evie has been a horrible pacifier addict lately, and seems to find them and have them in her mouth all of the time. When Ollie was her age, it was only used at naptime and bedtime. So at the point that we were down to one pacifier, I was headed to buy more. Jon chimed in with "or we could get rid of them..." But my baby is only 21 months old! Ollie had them until he was almost 3! Jon pointed out that Oliver had been a little ridiculous with his pacifier, so when Eva and I headed to Target, instead of buying more binkies, we bought baby and a stroller. She was so excited about them! As soon as we got home, she couldn't run to the garbage can fast enough to ditch her pacifier. She LOVES her baby, and takes her everywhere. The transition went pretty smoothly. The first 2 nights were a little rough, but she is now napping and going to bed pretty easily without it!

She did find a binkie one day when we were playing in the basement and I caught her with it in her mouth. I said "Evie, you a a big girl. Do you want to throw that binkie away?" She said a quick "uh-huh", ran upstairs, and chucked it just as quickly as she had the first time. So we are now in a binkie free house!

Putting baby in her stroller.

 This is the only time she got mad at the stroller. She tried to squeeze herself into it and got stuck!

 Getting baby dressed.

The Landscaper

This year we have put a lot of work into the yard. Well, Jon might put a lot of work into the yard every year, but this year I have put more time and energy into it than I ever have in the past! Many of our weekends have been spent trying to make the landscaping look good. This is the year, folks! We also decided to hire a few landscapers. They work for pretty cheap. I think we have paid them entirely in chocolate milkshakes. Our herbs that we planted back in the spring are now outside and looking good, and we decided to try our hand at growing vegetables. Hopefully later in the summer, when we want tomatoes, peppers or cucumbers, we will just have to walk out the back door and pick them!

Landscaper #1 clearing out a space for the veggie plants.

 Such a hard worker!

 Taking a break to think with his notebook ala Blue's Clues. Poor little guy gets so sweaty outside in the heat!

 Landscaper #2 cleaning up the area.

 Daddy putting in the vegetable garden.

 We moved a ton of bulbs. Most didn't flower this year, but hopefully they will come back next year!

 Dirty piggies! Seriously, I love those little feet!

I realize that this post makes it look like I didn't do anything, but I am the weed queen this year, and I also planted 5 flower plants along our fence while they were planting the vegetable garden. I just don't take pictures of myself, so there is no evidence!

Sidewalk paint

I love Pinterest. Ever since we got the iPad at Christmas, and now that I have an iPhone, I am on there pinning all of the time. I actually do try out a lot of the pins. We have eaten a ton of new recipies from Pinterest, most of which are delicious! One day I came across a non-food recipe for sidewalk paint. It involved food coloring, cornstarch and water. You paint it onto the sidewalk, and it dries to a chalk-like finish. I was a little wary of the food coloring since my kids like to paint themselves, but it washed out of their clothes and off of them easily. They had a great time with it!! It also rinsed off of the driveway with no problem.

My little artist.

 She painted hands, feet, legs, and occasionally the driveway.

 Ollie loved it too!

 Handprints!

 The cute little tootsie marks that were down the driveway.

 Fun times!! They probably would have painted all night if I would have let them!

May Randoms

See, everyone needs a sibling! They can be so cute together.

 Evie loving on Spiff.

 "Doggie! Spiff!"

 Can it get any cuter than this?

 The water table is going to get a lot of use this year!

 I can hear her saying no as I look at this picture!

 Our silly girl. You can see her little eye peering out of the zipper!