Six years old

Well, Sean Sooy - you are six years old!  How did we get here?  How did it happen so quickly?  

At six:

-You can read - and quite well!  At bedtime, you prefer to be read to but sometimes I can get you to read a short book to me and Clare.

-You can write pretty well, too.  You brought home a collection of journals that you've written over the past school year and they are so neat to read through and see your progress.

-You are such a sweet boy.  I know I'm biased but your teacher has said so and so have your friends' mothers. 

-It's so neat to sit and talk with you - you come up with the most clever explanations for things and tell the best stories.

-You're wrapping up Kindergarten in three weeks and tomorrow you're going to visit a first-grade classroom for the morning to learn about being a first-grader.

-You're looking forward to going to camp this summer - swimming, playing outside, and going on field trips.

-You are desperate to lose a tooth!  Your teacher keeps a chart in her classroom of who has lost teeth and you keep me regularly updated on any new additions to the chart :-) Unfortunately, it doesn't look like any of your teeth are going anywhere anytime soon but we'll see...

-Not much has changed with your food preferences - your favorite dinner is a quesadilla and fruit (preferrably blueberries, strawberries, or cantaloupe), washed down with some almond milk.

-You love to play Legos, Star Wars, Ninja Turtles, and playing outside.  You also are getting into videogames.

-You are so good to your sister - I know she presses your buttons and can get under your skin but you are always up for playing with Clare and hanging out with Clare.

We'll go to your six year well visit in June, so we'll get your stats then.  For now, here is your picture with Winnie the Pooh:

Four Years Old

Baby Clare, you are FOUR years old!  You are so happy that you've turned four and you can't wait until you turn five already...

At four:

-you've learned to identify and sound out the letters of the alphabet

-you can write your own name by yourself (with you left hand, of course)

-you can count up to at least thirty and you can do simple math

-your moods change quickly and the highs are high and the lows are very low

-you have too many favorite foods to list but I'll try:  any fruit (not pears), pizza, clams, pancakes, ice cream, cupcakes, and spaghetti with meatballs 

-you are a very brave girl - you love to run fast, climb high, and aren't afraid to stumble

-you are always trying so hard to "catch up" to Sean - you often talk about what you'll do when you grow up and "become bigger than Sean"

-you love to go to swimming lessons and are looking forward to playing "town soccer" in the fall

-your favorite colors are pink and purple

-you love to go to the library and pick out books about Pinkalicious, Dora the Explorer, Fancy Nancy, and non-fiction such as the life cycle of an apple seed

-you always look forward to movie night and like to watch the "Despicable Me" movies, anything Disney or Pixar, "How to Train Your Dragon," and lately, "Guardians of the Galaxy"

-you love to dress up and have painted nails, dresses, and ruffles but then you'll jump into a muddy puddle without a second thought to all those things :-)

At your four year well visit, you measured at 42 inches tall and weighed in at 43 pounds - that puts you well into the 90+ percentile for your age... I still get compliments on my "cute twins" when strangers see you and your brother together.

And here is your photo with Pooh bear, you silly, sweet, strong girl:

Riversharks

Besides going to the Farmer's El opening day, on the first day of May we also went to a Camden Riversharks game!  Sean's school offered tickets to sit right behind homeplate in order to cheer on the fifth grade chorus, who sang the National Anthem before the game.  Sean wanted to wear his baseball jersey and the kids both brought their gloves :-)

Flashback to the last time we were here in June 2012:

We had good seats and we actually sat in them for quite awhile before the kids got really antsy, so we walked along the concourse and even caught the end of the Kentucky Derby on a TV.

The kids met Finn, the mascot:

Rita's break before the kids took a ride on the carousel:

"Do we have red tongues? Hahahahaha"

 We headed back to our seats eventually and Sean started to find a few friends to play with while watching the game.  Clare and I took  selfies:

Mommy and Baby Clare:

After the game, the kids went to watch the players go back to the locker room:

And then they tried their hands at the charity promotion that night - throwing tennis balls at various targets on the field.  Neither Sooy kid hit anything but that's okay because right after this was...

Fireworks!

Farmer's El Opening Day

Hooray!  It's really Spring now!  On the first Saturday of May, the Farmer's El opened up and the kids were very excited to get back to the market.  Sean looked forward to kettle corn and Clare looked forward to a blueberry muffin and... clams!!  We went right after baseball on a warm, sunny morning.

Because it was opening day, there were some special additions to the market including a group having a fundraiser with facepainting!  Clare chose a rainbow for her cheek:

Sean also chose a rainbow...

...and Spiderman!

"Why did Seany get two face paints and I only got one?"  By the time I realized this (rookie) mistake, the line for face painting was rather long.  And we were hungry for lunch!

So we stopped at the Pour House for lunch...

...and Clare and I ducked into the bathroom and she got another cheek "face painted" and all was well :-)

Birthday BBQ

We had our annual birthday barbecue for the kids' birthdays last Saturday.  Clare was up bright and early Saturday morning to help me make Sean's birthday cake.  Once the cake was baked and the boys went to Sean's baseball game, we went to the Farmer's El to get a special element to the BBQ menu.  Clare was so giddy over the fact that it was "just the girls" at the Farmer's El!

We had a morning snack while admiring the pretty centerpiece:

The party got started at about 3 and kicked off with some baseball in the backyard:

 

I made sure to get photos with the birthday kids, even though I couldn't get them together:

And then it was time to eat!  First course was - clams!  This is what Clare made sure we went to the Farmer's El to get for the party :-)

After dinner, we played pinata - thanks to Aunt Alice!

And after the pinata, it was time for presents and cake!

This year, Sean requested a Ninja Turtles cake...

...and Clare wanted a Frozen cake!

The weather stayed nice for the whole party and I think everyone had a good time - celebrating our SIX and FOUR year old!

Wednesday and Thursday evenings

Wednesday and Thursday nights have gotten busy for us.  Wednesdays at 6, Sean has tennis practice.  His best girl, Madison, is in the class too.  And that is good because she helps Sean focus and pay attention to the coach :-)  He's learning all the parts of the court and the terminology and playing lots of fun games and running races.

After tennis, we go to Clare's swimming lesson - she's making great strides!  She's working on swimming on her own and going underwater.  She's still uncomfortable with floating on her back, but she's getting braver each week.

On Thursdays, Seany has baseball practice.  While he's working out on the field, Clare likes to pick dandelions, run around, and try to get on the field... and mug for the camera, of course!