Finally spring & almost summer

Things are starting to bloom and green up around here. We have had two weeks of rather nice weather, and the past few days have been in the 80's.

Dave and I have been putting a lot...A LOT of work into our yard...when we have time. We are preparing to finish the fence and then to lay sod (toooooooo many birds for seed...crazy- it is like Hitchcock) so we have decided to lay sod and have instant lawn. I am very excited and really it can't happen fast enough!

We are very excited to have school coming to a close...June 13th is the big day! Life slows down for us during the summer....sort of.

The twins have been playing T-ball,  they call Tim- Turbo Tim , he is a pretty fast guy! This is their last year in T-ball, next year they start coach pitch-they are growing toooo fast. They are also about to graduate from Kindergarten-though there is no formal ceremony here, we will still have a par-tay! They have a lot of the same friends and play together a lot at school-always looking out for each other. We are trying to figure out what to do about next year-do we split them into separate classes or not? Big decision for us and for them. Tim wants to split, Aleyna wants to stay together and their Kindergarten teacher is moving up so if we do split them...who gets the awesome teacher? Trying to figure it all out- bleh!

Aleyna is reading and writing like crazy and she draws a picture to go with all her stories. She is learning a lot and loves to share everything she is doing. She is a tough cookie-the first of the two to try something that might be scary, like going down the BIG slide or climbing higher in the tree- though she is still nervous trying things that are new. She had a hard time with T-ball this year until she got to know the team, then she would practice and play. She is a stubborn gal who is passionate (a.k.a tantrums) about the things she wants to do. She is going to be a force to reckon with...I am going to have to take classes! :)

Tim is becoming a little artist and is trying to utilize shapes to help him draw animals and people. He loves his teacher at school and he is really a kind little man. He is obedient and very helpful-and even though he is surrounded by all these crazy girls he is still very much a BOY!!! He is into the avengers-star wars and transformers. He has a great imagination and sweet light saber skills! He is very particular about things and keeps his favorite items close to him up on his bed. He wants his own room so very badly he can taste it- sometimes it is hard to be surrounded by all the girly stuff.

He and Aleyna still harmonize together and love to sing all sorts of songs. They still have their own kind of communication and sometimes they will be making up a song and somehow they both know the exact same chorus-it is fun to be the mom of twins and see how they are so similar and completely different at the same time. We call them Yin and Yang.

Rebecca just finished two of her biggest feats of the year, piano recital and spring contest for 4-H. Her recital was lovely and she is glad to have a couple weeks break before I have her start up again. She really does love piano. 4-H spring contest was a huge stresser...more for me- Becca had to do a table setting (she won grand champion), healthy snack presentation (reserve grand champion) and her first year as a phase II baker (she won a red ribbon for this) She made chocolate zucchini muffins-she had one hour to do it all by herself in the provided kitchen. Big year for her....plus she is going to show a pig. That is right...a pig. Really he is a hog and his name is Coconut because of the coconut shaped mark on his fanny. He is a funny guy and she walks him, brushes him and he loves her. So proud of the young lady she is turning into-hope I can be a good example for her.

Kaitlyn is very much into playing house & dress up. She tells the most fascinating stories...they go on and on and on and on and on and on......and on. She is very creative and kind of bossy-she gets the other kids to do things that they didn't even realize they wanted to do...clever gal. She is excited to start school and we hope that we can find her a pre-school in the area, sadly they are very difficult to get into...too many kids, not enough teachers etc. etc. She really needs something that is all about her and I think that she would have a blast in school, especially with make believe!

We are in the middle of a short play about a princess who gets locked in a tower- her mother misses her, but the prince who can cut through anything is on his way to rescue the damsel in distress. The queen (Kaitlyn) is explaining the entire play to me so I know exactly what is going on- it is driving the prince (Tim) and the princess (Aleyna) crazy! I told you her stories go on and on- Becca is with a friend and Dave is out at a lake taking fish surveys. I spent the day cleaning and trying my best to get ready for the week. I am looking forward to summer-







In other news...........My brother Daniel has just over a week left in Afghanistan- things have been a little scary, a friend in his unit was killed on Memorial Day- We are very glad he will be out of there soon!