Gymnastics

Aubrin is LOVING gymnastics! She looks forward to her Thursday morning sessions with Coach Cortney. Aubrin has not wanted to do any type of team activities or classes. I have been fine with it since she is still so young. When Krista said she was signing Tessa up for gymnastics I thought I would give it one more try and just ask and believe it or not Aubrin said yes. Aubrin is always doing cartwheels and trying to flip around, so I thought she might love it. I felt bad that Todd and I couldn't take her to class because it was on Thursday mornings, but Thurday's are grandparent watching days, so that made it a bit better. Although for her first class, Todd took the morning off of work so he could take her to class.
After Aubrin's first couple of classes she was doing more cartwheels around the house, trying to stand on her hands and stretching all the time. At the end of April, Tessa didn't sign up again, but Aubrin thought that she still wanted to continue.
At the end of June Aubrin's class came to an end. They had a special class where families could come into the gym and watch the "Olympics". Aubrin had a chance to show us what she could do on the bars, balance beam, vault, trampoline and on the floor. All of the kids got a medal and a certificate. Aubrin is excited to start her class in the fall.

Aubrin Turns 5!

Aubrin was so excited to turn 5! She knows that turning 5 means she goes to kindergarten. Aubrin's birthday was my last day of work. So Todd was in charge of making her morning fantastic. It started with a yummy breakfast and then off to gymnastics. By the time they got home from gymnastics I wasn't too much longer. 
When I got home from work we told Aubrin that she could pick any place to go to for lunch. I was thinking The Burger Joint in Milford or Rain Forest Cafe...her answer was "Annie's". Annie's? Todd and I had no idea what she was talking about. She explained that it was the girl with the red hair...after much conversation and clarification, my girl meant, Wendy's. Really? Wendy's for your birthday lunch? Cheap date for sure. Aubrin's had never had Wendy's but she was sure it would be good because she liked the girl on the sign with the red hair. So we said we would go, but then she got nervous that the people at Wendy's would sing happy birthday to her. Todd and I assured Aubrin that the Wendy's staff would not be singing to her. Aubrin thinks it's ridiculous that people sing to you on your birthday at a restaurant...that's my girl. So instead Todd just went and picked it up and brought  it home. Aubrin wanted to eat lunch before opening presents. Jackson tried to hurry her along because he was so excited to give her his presents. 

After we sat in the living room while Aubrin opened her presents. Jackson was thrilled to give her Just Dance 4, a pink Wii controller, a few books and the movie Snow White. Aubrin loved each of them and was very thankful to her big brother. When we told Aubrin she had to come outside to get her gift from us she was stumped. Although, she was very happy to see that she got a new balance beam. Aubrin is LOVING her gymnastics class. A few months ago she asked if we could get a balance beam at home. I shopped around and WOW, they are really expensive. So I asked my dad to make one for her. It turned out just perfect and exactly what I wanted for her. She was happy about the balance beam and that her grandpa made it. In the afternoon Adam, Jenna and Addison stopped over to celebrate a little with Aubrin. Later that evening we headed out to one of Jackson's baseball games. 
A few weeks later we had a birthday party for her at the house with family. It was a low key party. I felt a little guilty because of Jackson's 5th birthday party I went all out, but with the craziness of the month of June this year, I couldn't pull it off. Although I don't really think she even noticed. Having all of her cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents around her made it just a perfect celebration. When I told Kaye that Aubrin wanted to have a Strawberry Shortcake party she gave me a dress for Aubrin to wear that she made. Michele and Krista both wore it as little girls. I love special little touches like that! 
Aubrin is not one for attention. Opening presents can often be stressful for her. Although this year she seemed to handle it pretty well. She loved her baby seat for the back of her bike, all of her new clothes and sunglasses and her new American Girl doll, Kit. Kit even has her ears pierced~ Fancy!
It seems crazy that our little peanut is five already. Aubrin is a lover of life and the happiest little girl. I can't wait to see what this year holds for her.

 

Take me out to the ball game....

What a baseball season Jackson had! This year Jackson played kid pitch on the Phillies. He was thrilled because the game was played with actual rules. It seems that in t-ball and coach pitch everyone wins...Jackson is not a big fan of that rule. Jackson was also thrilled because Todd was going to coach. Jackson's team practiced once a week and had two games a week. It was a lot of baseball, but it was so enjoyable. Aubrin loved going to games to see all of her friends. Many of the boys have siblings right around Aubrin's age. And of course Reagan (Aidan's sister) was there. The girls get along so well.

Throughout the season Jackson had many fans come and watch him play. He was always very excited to see special people in his life up in the stands. Grandma and Grandpa made it to every game except one. Grandpa even drove back from Chicago early one morning for a noon game.

Jackson's favorite positions to play were pitcher and catcher. He especially like to catch when his buddy Aidan was pitching. One highlight from Jackson's season is that he was picked to play in the All Star game with 5 of his teammates. He felt pretty proud to be the starting pitcher for the game. The Phillies won their regular season with a 12-2 record. They also won the end of the year tournament. They won the tournament in extra innings with the score  7-6. If I can be a bragging mom for a  minute~ Jackson scored the winning run in extra innings!!!! It was a great game.

Until next season...

Parker has Arrived

We are excited to announce that we have a new member to our family. Kyle and Colleen welcomed Parker Anthony Miller on June 14th to their lives. Jackson and Aubrin are thrilled to have a new cousin. We were lucky to meet Parker the day after he came home from the hospital.

Welcome to the family little guy!

End of the Year Wrap

Last Day of School

 This year has gone by in a flash. It's hard to believe that we are wrapping up year two of preschool for Aubrin and 1st grade for Jackson.
Todd and I could not be more proud of how hard both of our babes worked this year. We had a spring conference with Mrs. Katie and she had so many wonderful things to say about our little lady. She shared that she is more than ready to tackle kindergarten with confidence. Jackson still loves school as much as he did on the first day of school. I cross my fingers that his thirst for knowledge and love for school continues for the years to come..

 Aubrin was sad that it was her last day of preschool. She has been with the same two teachers and pretty much the same 20 friends for two years. Although many of them will go to the same elementary school as her, many will not. She is especially feeling sad that she will not be at school with Tessa. It has been such a wonderful gift that these two little girls have been able to start the beginning of the their school years together. They were a wonderful support for each other. Although they didn't always do things together at school, they knew that they had each other if needed.

First day of 3 year old preschool

Last day of four year old preschool

Aubrin was excited that her class celebrated all of the summer birthdays on the last day. She also got a certificate from her teachers. The class sang a few songs, read a book aloud together to the parents and then we watched a slide show put together by Mrs. Katie. It would be very typical for me to cry during a slide show put to very sappy music, but Aubrin was so happy and giggly with her friends that I couldn't help but giggle with her. Todd was able to come for a bit as well. He had to make-up a baseball game that afternoon, so he was down getting the field ready. Lucky the field is right next to Aubrin's school! Todd and I both had to slip out a little early to get back to work. Krista and Mike offered to take Aubrin out for a celebration lunch. Who doesn't love an ice cream sundae for lunch?!? 
Aubrin had two wonderful teachers for preschool. They were the same teachers that Jackson had. These two ladies have been part of our family for the past four years. It's sad when something good comes to an end. I appreciate how much both Mrs. Katie and Mrs. Debbie loved and cared for my kids. They both set a positive foundation for my babes. 

 Since March Jackson had been talking about the field trip the first grade was taking to the zoo. He said, "Mom, do you think you could be like all the other moms and come on my field trip?"  Who can say no to that? So I had been planning for a long time to take the day off and spend the day at the zoo with Jackson and his class. When we got to the zoo we met as a group, but then went our separate ways for the day. Jackson and I spent the day with his best bud Aidan and his mom (which happens to be a great friend of mine) it was a win win for all. The boys were very busy looking at the map and planning out our day.

 We had an absolute great day. We walked around for a bit and then found a shady spot to eat lunch. At 2:00 we met back at the front of the zoo so we could sign our kids out and drive them home instead of sending them back to school on the bus. Jack and I headed to the parking structure. It was so busy that it took an hour and 25 minutes to get out of the structure. Jackson would have been better off riding the bus home. We embraced the time together and just chatted. I love having a little alone time with each of my kids.

Jackson also had field day and an end of the year party to wrap up his year. We can't believe that Jackson is already moving on to second grade-YIKES! Jackson had a great year with is teacher Mrs. Currie. She was a great balance for Jackson of structure, yet still handed out hugs. Mrs. Currie is moving to second grade next year. Fingers crossed Jackson is lucky enough to have her again. I wrote a very compelling letter as to why Jackson should have her again...we will see how convincing I am:)

Now summer vacation.... so happy to have the summer to play!