Graduation Festivities

After 8 years of hard work and sacrifice, Dave's graduation was an amazing feeling of accomplishment for our entire family!  I am incredibly proud of Dave's intelligence, work ethic, and commitment to supporting our family.  While we didn't take the traditional route through dental school, I am actually really glad that the girls got to experience the work and dedication required to accomplish goals.  

The graduation festivities included a senior banquet, award ceremony, hooding and graduation and we got to enjoy most everything will Bill, Luell, and Kat!  We really enjoyed visiting with family and appreciated their help as we finished our packing and moving at the end of the weekend.  (Dave was super excited to leave Omaha so he may have rushed our moving just a bit.)

Everyone was so happy until I thought about a family picture.  I mean, why would I dare document a slightly monumental event for our family??  haha

One day we gathered the entire crew for a zoo adventure and the girls loved riding the Skyfari and petting stingrays since we don't normally pay to do those things.  

It's pretty easy to guess what happened here.

Ah-ha, this family shot turned out.  And Milan's cast even matches our color scheme.  Go us!

Wrapping It Up

Our last week in Omaha was a busy one, but I had to document some of the important stuff.  Indie left preschool and I will be forever grateful for the educational foundation that Kim and Lisa established the resources that Kim gave me so that I can keep teaching my bright little lady at home!  We just met with Indie's new Early Intervention team and they seemed very impressed with her vocabulary, 2-3 work sentences and identifying of colors while they were here.  

Milan broke her arm at a Cinco de Mayo gathering when she tried to walk across a pinata string.  She tried to make it a tightrope, despite our repeated objections, and when things got topsy turvy, she fell the wrong way on her wrist.  She learned to ride her scooter one-handed the next day, but then we learned she shouldn't be riding scooters at all.  Oops.  She really wasn't great limiting her activities, but everything seemed to work out anyways.  

My Cora

I offered Cora all sorts of options to celebrate her 6th birthday and she chose a date with mom!  Not only was that a bit of a relief during a busy time, but I really really enjoyed spending one on one time with this fiery little lady!  We began our date with a donut then decided to walk around the zoo and do all the fun paid things that we usually skip.  We got to see all her favorite animals, ride the Skyfari (where I mentally calculated my chances of survival from falling at different heights), and pet stingrays.  Petting sting rays was the biggest hit!  Cora reallly wanted to feed them, until she realized that they ate dead fish.  Oops.  She also really wanted a sting ray stuffed animal and was ecstatic when she coincidentally got one in her Happy Meals afterwards.  (She also scored one from grandma at our next trip to the zoo so double score!)

I super duper love this little lady and love that she chose to celebrate her birthday with me!

Glimpse of Spring

It's snowing right now, in April, but it felt like spring for a minute and I have pictures to prove it!

Early morning snuggles with my crew are the best way to wake up, as long as it's not too early (or middle of the night.  Eh-hem, Indie!)

After girl scouts, we stayed to play at the school playground and shut that place down!  Indie has learned to ride her car forwards and backwards (yay!)  That takes some work though so she can usually be spotted pushing that thing everywhere!

 Dad and Indie found the birds building a nest next door so they hung out and watched for a while.  Ahhhhh, the benefits of living next to an abandoned house.  

 Eden has always loved driving the Jeep and this year Indie gets a kick out of it too!  Eden races around the neighborhood and Indie sits next to her giggling and waving bye-bye to everyone she sees.  It's the perfect combination!

 Lucy has the perfect driveway for Milan's chalk creations.  I'm sure the Cooks will really miss our trespassing next month haha.

 Eden had her friend party and if the loud squeals were any indication, I would say it was a hit!  Eden planned the whole thing so the kids made Emoji magnets, ate Bagel Bites for dinner, and played a guessing game by blindly reaching into squishy cups.  The weather forced everyone inside, Dave was taking boards, and Milan (and her mad helping skills) went to a friend's house so I'm proud to say that I tackled this one by myself and Eden had a blast!