Mother's Day Tea in Kinder

 Leila's teacher hosted a Mother's Day Tea on May 9th. All the moms were invited to the kids' classroom for the morning. Leila served me a treat, read to me from her Read Well book, drew a picture and wrote about the two of us, and took a picture with me. Then the kids performed two poems and sang one song about mothers. It was precious. I will treasure my first Mother's Day Celebration forever. I couldn't ask for a better daughter. She makes my heart so full! 

Master Plan

 Chris does not like mowing the lawn. He is not one of those guys that enjoys spending time fussing about the yard. He is counting down the years until Leila takes this job off of his hands. Last week, she wanted to help. Boy did she enjoy herself! She can't wait to help again...and Chris is thrilled! His master plan of never mowing the lawn again has been put into action...baby steps. 

Dance Costume

 Leila had picture day at her dance studio in early May. The school is performing a Peter Pan Ballet for the recital. Leila's class is representing the dragonflies in Pixie Hollow. They have wings, but she decided to have her picture taken sans wings...good choice! 

MTFBWY - May 4th

 May the 4th is Star Wars Day. It is the one day in the Tavern house where Leila and Chris actually want me to take pictures of them! Yay for that! I LOVE my Star Wars geeks! 

 Leila had a birthday party to attend that afternoon. The invitation read "Come dressed as your favorite princess!" She told us she wanted to go as Leia. We were pleased about that, but I was worried that she might change her mind once she got there and want to fit in with the others. Chris quietly, and without Leila knowing, put a Disney princess costume in the trunk of the car. It wasn't needed! She wore Leia the entire party and was didn't care one bit that every other girl was a Disney princess. I was so proud of her! Anyone who knows me, knows I love Disney, but I was so proud that Leila was true to herself that day and wore a Star Wars princess. Way to go, Padawan. 

Free Comic Book Day

The Tavern Family enjoys frequenting the comic book shop. I didn't grow up reading comics, but Chris did and he has been thrilled to teach his girls about the world of comics. Leila already has her favorite series - My Little Ponies, Tiny Titans, Teen Titans and the PowerPuff Girls. May 3rd was Free Comic Book Day and we were so excited to participate! It took about 40 minutes to snake through the store in the line, but it was worth it. Leila found a few new issues to her favorites and then we were able to choose 5 free comic books for each of us before leaving! 

Mudcats Baseball

 I am so lucky to have Blake and Xander in my classroom this year! Chris and I went to school with both of Blake's parents and both of Xander's parents! Blake and Xander are the best of friends and play on the same coach pitch baseball team. We went to a rainy Saturday game to show our support for the boys. Their team, the Mudcats, pulled out the win! The picture above is Kennedy, Xander's older sister, with Leila. 

Leila and Blake 

I didn't get a chance to get a picture of Xander...next game though! 

Rainier

Is this not the most gorgeous mountain of the Northwest! I am so glad we get to see it every morning on the drive to school. It is beautiful! 

PDX Visit

We spent a weekend in Portland with my family the last part of April. Leila and I headed down that Friday evening after work and came home Sunday afternoon. We didn't have big plans for the weekend...just hung out with Mom, Jim, Aunt Kath, Uncle Tom, Jonny and Amanda. That Sunday, before we left for home, the four of us walked to Starbucks for brunch. As we rounded the last corner, it started to rain. Within seconds it was POURING and then HAILING! We just barely made it in the door before a thunder and lightning storm started. Whew! It was quite the start to a Sunday morning. 

Lost Tooth #8

In late April, we were heading down to my Mom's house in Portland after school one Friday. On 512, Leila yells from the backseat, "Mom, my tooth just came out!" Luckily, we hadn't passed the house yet so we were able to swing by to grab her Tooth Pillow and I was able to make sure that the Tooth Fairy was prepared to visit my Mom's house....wink, wink. 

Take Your Child to Work Day

 This year's Take Your Child to Work Day was April 24th. Leila came to school with me for the second year in a row. I really enjoy having her there for the day! She read with reading groups, completed most of the activities the class did and got to go to recess with my first-graders. I'm excited for next year when we get to go to school together every day! 

Easter Morning

 

We had a very casual Easter Sunday brunch at our house with Gramma and Papa. After we finished our maple bars and fruit, we headed outside to check out where the Easter Bunny hid those eggs. Thank goodness it was a nice, sunny day! We don't always get to have outdoor egg hunts here in Western WA, but we did this year! 

Easter Egg Prep

 On Good Friday, we spent the evening at Gramma and Papa's house. We had pizza for dinner and then set to work dying the eggs for Sunday! 

Papa's Greenhouse

Leila's "Gramma Days" have become "Grandparents Days" this year. For the last 6 years, Shawn has come to our house on Wednesdays to watch Leila, but this year I take Leila to Shawn and Mike's house. It made more sense to do it that way since Leila's school is closer to Gramma and Papa's house. So this year, Leila gets to hang out with both of her grandparents. Her and Papa have been spending lots of time in Mike's greenhouse this spring. Leila really enjoys seeing the growth from week to week!

Lost Tooth #7

Tooth number 7 fell out in April! She is looking like a little jack-o-lantern. This tooth was a top tooth, to Leila's right of center. 

Art Dog

Seattle Children's Theatre's season came to an end this year with its production of Art Dog. Once again, it was an amazing experience at SCT! We had never read any of the Art Dog books and didn't realize until Chris read it in the program, but the author's father was  the illustrator of one of our favorite books - Goodnight Moon. SCT is including Goodnight Moon in its season next year! We are excited already and looking forward to seeing it along with Dick Whittington and His Cat, The Garden of Rikki Tikki Tavi and Robin Hood. 

After the show, we walked over to the International Fountain. Leila loves to try to touch the fountain before the water erupts. 

Disneyland ~ Day 3

Our last day at Disneyland started in Pixie Hollow. We had hoped to begin the day in Fantasyland and meet Anna and Elsa from Frozen, but the line was 2 hours. That line formed in 15 minutes after the park opened! Luckily, Leila understood. Instead we headed to Pixie Hollow to meet the fairies. Their long had us and one other family! The park attendant there told us that the Frozen line reaches 5-6 hours during midday. Seriously?!?! 

Leila had never met Fawn before, so it was a nice surprise. Leila still won't tell us the secret. 

Our favorite Disneyland treat...churros!

This sign always fascinates Leila...so I made her pose under it this time around. 

We rode the pirate ship this time...something new for our family! 

And we have NEVER seen Daisy! Leila had JUST said that it would be cool to meet her and not even 10 minutes later there she was! 

Splash Mountain...a Tavern Family favorite! 

While waiting for Star Tours, we were surprised by two storm troopers coming up behind us. Leila was worried that Vader was going to come too. 

Another great Disney vacation with lots of memories for our family!