my little kindergarten graduate!

 Today was kindergarten graduation.  This kid is moving on!   and I am so proud of him.  He's one of the very youngest in his class (still not even 6) but he finished at the top of his class (if that's possible in kindergarten!!).

they had a short program and received diplomas!  and then we stayed after and helped clean up classrooms.

 Metta was so good and had so much fun at graduation.  Lately she's been a terror- but she was a little champ today. She sat at a desk for at least twenty minutes coloring and reading?!  it was adorable

 Zeb and his principal- Mr. Borchers.

 and Mrs. Violet.  What a wonderful wonderful year with a stellar teacher.

 Zeb's pal- Magnus- took these pictures- so they are a little off centered- but I didn't get any others so they will have to do!

 me and my crazy lazy eye.

Really and truly- Zeb is the best kid.   As Mrs. Violet was giving her closing comments- she thanked all of the parents for raising such great little kids.  Then she told a story about when they were reading Charlotte's Web in class this year.  She told the kids she might cry a little at a certain part- and not too worry if she did.  She then relayed that Zeb stood up and went and got her a tissue :)   More than being the smartest or the brightest child- I want Zeb to be the kindest and the friendliest.  I  am really proud of him.

busybody.

I'm kind of a busy body.  If the whole family is together and we have more than an hour of two of down time I want to do SOMETHING!!  something fun/exciting/new- whatever!!  anything.

last week before a night soccer game- we went out to young's dairy to mini golf.  Our kids LOVE to mini golf.  and we all love young's dairy.

Metta ran around the golf course like a crazy person. she tried to jump into every water hazard. 

 we usually just get balls and clubs for the boys and we follow them around.  Metta may need her own equipment next time.  Zeb and Ike were hoping she'd fall into the water just so she'd quit stealing their balls and getting in the way.

 After golfing we went and ate ice cream.  Young's has some of the world's best ice cream. So many flavors. so delicious and so fresh.  And this time zeb and kent begged for fried cheese curds. yuck.  Zeb LOVED them.  Metta loves everything still.
I love this picture of metta. it captures her happy disposition perfectly.

 zeb got a brain freeze and was NOT happy.

even with all of his ice chomping- somehow ike lucked out with no brain freezes.

 
I love these pictures of me with my zebby.   Metta won't sit still for kisses and Ike is adamant about his disdain for them.  He'll shriek if I even try.  Zeb on the other hand lets me kiss him all I want.

we are wearing matching shirts because we had a soccer game right afterwards- not because I usually match my kids when we go out in public!

 and he'll kiss back.

my etc., photos

obviously I'm a picture taking fanatic.  I've got a gazillion pictures from the last few weeks that are dying to be blogged- but don't need posts of their own.  Or maybe it's that I'm too lazy to give them posts of their own.  So here goes...

Dress like a book character day at school.   Zeb went as a pirate- from one of our silliest books...

"Pirates Don't Change Diapers".   If only I could be a pirate for the day, huh?  Metta is a pooping machine.

 She is also a clothes horse.  I heard all of these stories about how girls are SO different from boys- and I have to say I didn't believe a lot of it.  And while I am still a strong believer in the fact that girls are just as happy playing with boy toys (metta loves race cars and trains- and still hasn't attached herself to any dolls yet) I can't believe this girl's ABSOLUTE LOVE of clothes.  She finds ANY article of clothing left out and drapes it around her head or neck.  She is especially fond of silky or soft or fluffy fabrics.  Here she has on THREE tops.  She brought them to me and begged and squealed until I put them on her.  She loves getting dressed in the morning into new clothes.  and to bed- she now REFUSES footy pj's - she has one silky nightgown that she is obsessed with.  She also adores shoes.

 we went to the dentist today for Zeb and Ike's check ups but Dr. Kondas was pretty impressed with Metta's chompers as well.  Her current favorite food is cashews.

 and  here's her most common facial expression as of late.  The ladies at the kidzone (the gym childcare) told me she's a little dramatic.  I think that means she screams a lot when she wants something.

we have a huge exodus of great families leaving our ward (church congregation) this summer- and we had a giant farewell barbecue to say goodbye.  It was so much fun with fabulous weather.

we roasted marshmallows. 

 and burned them, too.

These pictures of Ike kill me  He's so so funny and crazy. definitely the family goofball.  and his pal ava is just as funny.

 zeb and one his best pals, ethan.

 I sure love ohioans.

our boys love fires.   I do, too.  Kent as well.   We're lucky we've never burned anything down!

 Metta really loves chairs.  She had to try out almost every single one that evening.  If you look closely enough you can see some battle wounds below her eye from an unsuccessful chair sitting.  Face first onto the sidewalk.  She screamed like the dickens.

I think it was already 9 PM at this point.  Metta was so tired but couldn't stop playing.

I've got more pics- but they'll have to wait.

this is my life right now...

this video kills me.  it helps to watch it about five times in a row.  you can't help but laugh.  miss metta has turned into a nut case.  She's so loud and screeches when she's happy OR sad OR mad.  

I found a bag of ponies at a yard sale (19 ponies to be exact) for one dollar.  I brought them home and we set a few of them up on the stool.  It's her first real 'girl' toy.  This is her reaction.

my memory card ran out of memory so it's just five seconds long- but you get the idea.  seriously- she's gone nutty.  oh- and pay no attention to her snotty nose.

jack hanna's zoo.

Kent had a vacation week last week- and since Zeb is still in school- we stayed close to home.  We still ended up doing A TON of stuff, though.   I've got quite a few blog posts that need catching up.

Kent loves vacation because he thinks it's free reign on eating and cooking crazy foods.  We ate out and he made a crazy amount of delicious dishes at home.  I loved it.  So did he.  He has his own little blog that he updates once a year or so :) -  and he included his recipes there.
http://www.superfluouskent.blogspot.com/
I made him make the chicken tikka masala a second time because it was so darn good.

He also made sure mother's day last week was my best ever :)  It's on his blog.  I'll post it about it next.

Today's post is our zoo trip.  We went to Jack Hanna's Columbus zoo.  it did NOT disappoint.  Holy Moly.  It was HUGE.  We spent eight hours there and didn't get to see everything.  We were exhausted.  It was the hottest day of the year so far (89degrees) and we all got some sun.

The flamingoes were my favorite animal at this zoo. Not sure why- but they were just so beautiful.  And Ike kept calling them 'fameekoes'.  I thought that was pretty cute.

Metta was so funny at the zoo. she loved everything.  ran everywhere.  was kind of a little terror.

monkeys, gorillas, bonobos- and all of the other primates fascinate me.  I'm sure it's their human like qualities that I love to watch.  The little bonobo chimp siblings acted exactly like Zeb and Ike do.  It was hilarious.  You can't help but realize we are all related.

Metta thought all of the animals were dogs.  She barked at every single one.  the birds, the monkeys, the elephants, and even the fish.  She didn't understand the whole glass window thing, either.  She just wanted to touch everything.

these primates LOVED zeb.  he sat there and they played for quite awhile.  He ran a leaf along the window and they followed him- grabbed at him- and he even tried to eat his hand a few times :)

this was right at mid day.  Zeb told us he was 'thirsting to death'.

isn't she so cute?  they could put her in a cage for people to come and see.

the 'bob evans train' rode around 'north america'.  It was our last continent before we headed home and riding the train was a good break for the boys.

the polar bears were trying to stay cool and played around in the water so we got some good shots of them!

this baby rhino was HOT HOT HOT.  I totally burned my bum.

Zeb has been taking our point and shoot with him all over the place lately- and he got some pretty good shots at the zoo.

I'm pretty sure this is how my kids will remember me.  Hunched over in some weird position trying to get a picture of something.

we got a season pass so we can go back and enjoy the rest of the zoo!  plus- a pass is cheaper than going two times.  Come visit and we'll take you!!!

we love indy!!

As Kent and I have been trying to figure out where we want to live next- we've come to the realization that Dayton is a nearly perfect place.  We've got three major cities- with TONS to do- less than two hours away.  We've made a few trips to our neighboring cities in the past couple of weeks- and I've got several blog posts waiting to go up!

Two weeks ago we made a weekend trip to Indianapolis- one of our favorite places to visit!!  I ran a race and we played with friends- it was the prefect few days.  Oh- and we stayed in a hotel with a pool.  The kids were in HEAVEN.  They swam and swam and swam until their skin turned wrinkly and blue.

Ike has turned into a whiner and worrier lately. Its driving me BONKERS.  This picture makes me giggle. he thought he was going to drown.

metta fell on of the bathtub edge and got a fat lip. We have the worst luck with hotel bathrooms. Last time we were in indy running a race- Ike had to go to the ER and get stitches.

see her little fat lip and elf ears?

Metta was much more daring about the water and the pool then she was last time.  I love her swimming suit. ten cents at a yard sale.  I'm certain I had the same type of swimsuit when I was six.

our pals, the stewarts, stayed at the same hotel as we did!  it's so crazy to me that all of our friends from toledo are growing up and life is moving on for everyone.  I can only imagine everyone as how they were when we left.   Have I ever mentioned how AMAZING toledo was?  so many great great people.  I miss them all the time.

Metta loves her brothers.  She zonked right there between them. and then we moved her to the closet where she slept like a log.   We've now moved her to the closet here at home.

after the race we met up with our indy friends at the park.  Zeb and Ike were DYING to see Sam and Max.

I ran the mini marathon with beth, lindsay, and lindsay's family.   The race was really fun. the weather was perfect.  we ran miles 6-9 around the INdy 500 racetrack! how fun is that?!

the race was HUMONGOUS.  some 40,000 people.  The race started at 7:30. We crossed the starting line at 7:52!!

Here we are with our finishing medals.  13.1 miles is my very very favorite race length.  Hard enough to be a challenge- but still super fun.  I feel good when I finish and love every step of it.