Three Day Weekends are the BEST!

 Happy Memorial Day!!

First Swim of the Season!

Today we went swimming for the first time of the season.  We went to James and Anna's neighborhood pool and the girls had a great time.  It also happens to be Anna's 30th birthday!  Happy birthday, Anna!  We love you!

Mid-May

 I can't believe it's been a week between my posts.  Has an entire week SERIOUSLY gone by?!  Is it really already Mid-May?  Well, it's been a fun week.  We had dinner with the Russells last week.  It was so fun getting to spend time with all seven of them! 

 

 School has been super busy.  Trying to get assessments and report cards finished for the end of the year.  I'm so sad that this year is coming to an end.  I just love my little sweeties this year.  Speaking of my sweeties, let me tell you this funny story.   One of my reading groups was reading with Mrs. Austin.  They were reading a book about a class that went on a field trip and a little boy got lost.  The boy found the teacher because he spotted her yellow hat with the polka-dot bow.  So they wrote me a letter that said, "Dear Mrs. Hines, will you wear a hat like this on our field trip?"  And I wrote them back and said that if they found me a hat like that, I would wear it.  So sweet Mrs. Austin had someone make me a hat like the one in the book.  The kids were SO excited.  It was a fun trip.  PS--Is this not seriously the cutest kindergartener you've ever seen?  :-)

 And I'm still loving Spring with my own little sweeties.  We've been playing outside and going for walks every afternoon.  While I'm sad to see my school year coming to an end, I'm SO excited about spending the Summer with my baby girls!

 

 

Brian's Dinner

 For Mother's Day, my sweet husband cooked dinner for me and my mom.  Now this is HUGE for my husband.  I can count on one hand (actually two fingers) the number of times that Brian has cooked dinner since we've been married.  Now, don't get me wrong.  Brian definitely does his fair share around the house.  He does all of that handy-man stuff, keeps my van clean, helps with the household chores, etc.  But he's just not a fan of cooking.  He says that it's because he's not good at it, but I'm not so sure I believe him anymore.  He did an awesome job with his lasagna!

 And all of the other ladies agreed!

 I told my sweet husband that I was going to start letting him cook at least once a week!

Mother's Day Weekend

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Brian and I were really fortunate to get to see both of our mothers this weekend.  Brian's parents came for a visit yesterday to bring a new bed for Molly!  So we were able to celebrate Mother's Day with Brian's mom yesterday.  We also had two of the four Donahue children over yesterday.  The kids all had a great time playing.  We saw my mom briefly after church today and we are going to go over to her house tonight to celebrate Mother's Day with her.  Brian is going to cook dinner for us!   

 

 Molly's new big bed from Grandpa and Grandma.  She is LOVING it!!

 This Mother's Day, I am so thankful for these sweet faces:

 And a Mother's Day will never pass without me thinking about that sweet boy in heaven who first made me a mother.

Springtime Fun!

Happy 1/2 Birthday!

 My sweet Rayna is 1 and 1/2.  At 18 months, Rayna's personality is pretty much the same as it's always been.  She is loud, full of energy, strong-willed, and sweet as pie.  She is saying a LOT of words.  She isn't putting any words together yet, but she has about 50 or so single words.

She LOVES being outside.  She will play outside as long as you let her.  She also loves going on walks.  She gets very excited when she sees the stroller and will climb in and wait patiently for you to take her on a walk.  She is very mobile.  She runs everywhere and climbs on everything.  She likes to play at the park and loves to slide.

She isn't a picky eater.  She will pretty much eat anything other than eggs.  She is currently Mama's girl, but this is always subject to change.  She is very caring and sweet.  If anyone around her cries, she will cry also.  She loves to be held and cuddled.  We tell her all the time that it's a good thing she's as sweet as she is rotten!  

And Molly is now 3 1/2.  I just can't believe my baby is 3 and 1/2 years old.  3 has got to be the greatest age ever!  She is so much fun right now.

She is SO smart.  I know I may be a little biased, but sometimes I am amazed at the things she comes up with and remembers.  I can tell her something or show her how to do something one time, and she remembers.  She knows all of her letters, many of her letter sounds, and can write her name.   

We've always said that Molly is not a rule-breaker, but she's a rule-bender.  While Rayna will defy you to your face, Molly tends to bend the rules to suit her desires.  Just today, she asked Brian if she could have some lip-gloss and he said to ask Mommy.  But instead of asking Mommy if she could have lip-gloss, she said, "Mommy, is this lip gloss?"  When I answered, "yes," she said, "Daddy!  Mommy said 'yes'!"  She kind of left out the part about her wanting to wear the lip gloss.  She pulls stuff like this ALL the time.  Stinker!

Out of the blue, she has become very social.  It's unbelievable to me sometimes that she's the same kid that used to cling to me and refuse to talk to or even look at other people.  She is still really hesitant around men, but she will walk right up to a child she doesn't know and start talking to them.  I think a lot of this has come from her being a big sister.  She takes such good care of Rayna.  Such a sweet 3 and 1/2 year old!