The last week has been a busy one when it comes to "Raising" the 5 of us. Luke turned 9, Cort graduated from preschool and learned how to ride a bike, and Annie, well let's face it, she's just stinkin' cute. 
(See what I mean about cute?! Yes, I know I am biased, but I am the one typing.)
So, Cort's graduation was first. What could be more fun than a bunch of camera toting adults smiling and clicking away at 20 4 yr olds? The 4 yr olds sing, 
tell stories, smile, pick noses, wave, giggle, stare at the donuts in the corner, get mad at their neighbor. I mean seriously, what could be better. Did I mention the donuts in the corner that were being eyed by every single 4 yr old? Thankfully, Cort has an amazing preschool teacher. Miss Shannon managed to keep a smile on her face the entire time. Cort adores her. She even gets input on setting rules in our house, well, according to Cort anyway. Cort is very ready for kindergarten, and we are excited to watch him start this new adventure. Oh, and remember those camera toting parents? Yep, this parents camera battery died after one picture. Big sigh...
tell stories, smile, pick noses, wave, giggle, stare at the donuts in the corner, get mad at their neighbor. I mean seriously, what could be better. Did I mention the donuts in the corner that were being eyed by every single 4 yr old? Thankfully, Cort has an amazing preschool teacher. Miss Shannon managed to keep a smile on her face the entire time. Cort adores her. She even gets input on setting rules in our house, well, according to Cort anyway. Cort is very ready for kindergarten, and we are excited to watch him start this new adventure. Oh, and remember those camera toting parents? Yep, this parents camera battery died after one picture. Big sigh...Cort has also learned to ride his bike without training wheels. We owe much of this new skill to his cousin Tori. She somehow managed to drag Cort outside, get him on the bike, and then talked him into tryin
g. An amazing accomplishment when dealing with a very stubborn 5 year old. The army uniform? Cort's gift from Levi. And yes, he wears it a lot!
g. An amazing accomplishment when dealing with a very stubborn 5 year old. The army uniform? Cort's gift from Levi. And yes, he wears it a lot!Luke turned 9 on the 31st. Every few years, I think 7 to be exact, Luke's day falls on Memorial Day. In our house, we couldn't think of a better day to have a birthday. For some reason, Luke was up at 0530 (military time for 5:30 am). He thought it would be a great time to start cleaning for his party
. Instead, Levi took the opportunity to teach Luke about putting the flag out for Memorial Day and all that this day means. Luke was thrilled and told me why we do that and who we are thankful for on such an important day. Love it! Later in the day came the bounce party for Luke, Lily, and Gabby. We have 3 birthdays within a couple of wks. So, it's a great way to celebrate all. It goes without saying, the little monsters enjoyed every second!
With an empty bedroom now available, Luke has decided to take the room downstairs. As a gift he received new bedding and wall stickers. We went and picked out the bedding yesterday. Luke, Tori, and Natalie had a fabulous time putting it all together. Big surprise...Luke is thrilled to have a new room with no cartoon decor involved. Yep, he's that age. It has been a busy week around here full of milestones, cuteness, and a whole lot of little boy attitude thrown in, a few tears, and 
a whole pile of smiles. And a mom who is trying to take it all in without too many meltdowns. Yep, it has been a successful few days. When it comes down to it, it's pretty much the norm when raising5boards. ;)
a whole pile of smiles. And a mom who is trying to take it all in without too many meltdowns. Yep, it has been a successful few days. When it comes down to it, it's pretty much the norm when raising5boards. ;) 
