::the graduate::

We've had a few big graduations this year. Cousin Jordan graduated from high school, Uncle J graduated from college, and...

Port graduated from preschool!


We went and watched a little program. The kids wore graduation caps (all except Port-he carried his). They sang us some songs and did a little dancin' (not Port-he doesn't dance).


(Portie on the first day.................................................and on the last day.)

The kids got to stand up on this little platform and get their diplomas and a couple of books. The teachers talked a little about each kid and gave them awards.


Portie got the "Disney Imagineer" award because he loves characters so much. First it was Buzz Lightyear, and now it's Mario. I'm glad they can recognize individual traits in each child and call attention to it in a way that makes them feel special. He was excited to get the award (and the diploma).



Portie and his teachers.

(Miss Tammy, Porter (age 5), and Miss Michelle)

::end of the year swim party::

Since Port's preschool has a swimming pool, they always have a swim party at the end of the year.

Yesterday was the day...

It was 45 degrees and cloudy. But none of the kids even cared. The pool's heated, so that makes it nice for 'em.



And poor Bubb. He wanted to swim too, but he couldn't.

They splashed and played for about an hour and a half and then we went in to practice their songs for graduation and have a snack. I took Port home a little early because he was SOO cold from swimming and wearing a wet swim suit.

::Portie's Parties::

Happy Birthday, Portie!!!

Since Port's birthday was on a Tuesday, we waited 'til Saturday to have his parties. He had a friend party at 12:30 and the family party at 5:30. It was kind of a busy day.

He kinda likes Mario, so we went with that for his parties.
We invited some cute little friends from school and church. There were 8 little boys at our house (9 if you count Bubb)!!

(Kelton, Cody, Landon, Garrett & Gavin (twins), Liam, and Tristan, and of course, Porter)

Level 1 was jumping over the lava. If you landed in the lava you had to hop around in the lake (that I drew on the garage floor) to cool off.

Level 2: Yoshi's egg hunt.
They had to dig in a wheelbarrow full of sand to find hidden Yoshi eggs with a treat inside them.


Level 3: Balloon stomp.
They had to stomp the question mark balloons and get the treat inside them.


Level 4: Bowser!!
They had to throw water balloons at Bowser's face (which I drew with washable markers so it would fade and run when it got wet). Once they defeated Bowser, Princess Peach (aka Chloe) would be free and give out prizes.

(see Princess Peach hiding??)




Level 5: The Pinata!!
This one was the favorite, of course. Each kid took a few turns with the sun (we couldn't find a Mario one, but we figured the kids wouldn't care-and they didn't).

(Even Bubb got a turn. After Port and I knocked all the candy out, he grabbed his share and put it all in his boots. HAHA!!)

We had some pizza and cupcakes and opened some presents. Then all the little friends ran to Port's room to hide in his closet with their glow sticks. Cute boys.

(Port's poor sad face! He had just fallen and scraped his knee. I'm sure he'll love that picture when he's older :) )

And our sweet Baby Ava somehow slept through the whole thing.

(Ava- 7 weeks old)

A few hours later, we had both sides of the family over for the family party. He had lots of fun and got lots of awesome presents!



He got the MegaMind movie, some Mario action figure guys, a Mario duffel bag, a squishy Mario, some awesome bubble blower toys for outside, a slip 'n' slide (it has 3 lanes so we can race eachother-if summer EVER comes!!), and a nerf gun. He loves it all!!
:)

We had some cake...

...and called it a day!

It was such a fun day. I think Port had fun. We're so glad all his little friends (and cousins) came and that (almost) all the family was able to be here for his birthday. We have such great family. They all love him so much and he loves them all back! We appreciate so much that everyone came to celebrate Porter!! He felt special and seemed to really enjoy being the center of attention for a while
:)

::Port's field trip::

Port's preschool class took a field trip to the dairy farm. We went there when Chloe went to that preschool, but Bubb was too tiny to go then. He got to go this time though :)


Mr. Hardy told us about the cows and where they keep them and what they do there.


He showed us what the calves' bottles and medicines look like, and we got to go see the babies in the calf barn.


We saw the milking barn...

...and smelled a familiar smell.

It was fun. Portie (and Bubb) liked the tractors. The smell was not great. The calf barn was particularly bad because the workers were cleaning out the stalls. We had to walk out of there...it was just TOO smelly!!

Port was snack friend too; so that was fun. He brought cupcakes since it was his birthday this week.

Thanks, Grandma Snowman for watching Baby Ava for us.
:)

::five::

My baby boy turned 5 today!!


We were hoping to get to go to the park for a picnic and some playground time, but it rained all day, so we couldn't. But, we played Mario, watched some kid shows, made a hut with all the pillows on my bed, played spaceship in Bubb's room, went to the store for party things, and, FINALLY, when Dada got home we went out to dinner.

We went to Chick-a-Lay (Bubb). Portie picked that place because we saw the big yellow slide when we drove by last week, and thought it'd be a fun place for a birthday dinner
:)


...and it was!

We ate our dinner, played in the playland, ate our dessert, played in the playland, and then opened some presents...


(some Mario jam-jams)


(and a new Mario game WOOOOOOO!!)


It was a kind of a good idea to have him open the presents when we were ready to go, 'cause we knew he'd wanna go right home and play!

And we did...

(Portie playing his NEW Mario game in his NEW Mario jammies on his 5th birthday)

...and we watched...

(don't laugh at my bare walls!)
...and it was a fun night!

I love my little Port-Port! I can't believe he's 5. I sang to him when he woke up this morning. Chloe said first thing off the bus this afternoon, "Happy Birthday, Port!!!!!", Dada called from work this morning to wish him a happy birthday, Bubb told him happy birthday and tried to sing the song. He got really smiley and squeaky when we'd make a big deal out of him today. He told me lots of times that today was HIS day, and that yesterday was my day (he really meant Sunday) because it was mothers day, but that today was his day. It was cute. I kept telling him all day that I didn't want him to be 5, and he'd just say that he had to because he had to be 6 and then 7 and then 10. He's such a fun boy! He's a great big and little brother, he's pretty helpful, super smart, super funny, super sweet, and super fun to be around. I hope he always knows how special and loved he is and how happy we are that he's a part of our family and how much I love being his mom.
We sure love our Portie!!