Last But Not Least

EZ turned 5 on May 26. He was so excited about his party and I was so excited to be done with birthday parties. Having all the kids' birthdays in May is kind of cool and kind of exhausting. It was an extra special party because my parents came into town, which is the best present ever. EZ's party had a super hero theme. Here he is with his Batman cake thanks to the local grocery store HEB.

The best part of the Batman cake was the bright blue icing and what it did to all the kids' faces.

Part of the party was water games in the backyard. We don't have any pictures because EZ kind of wigged out and didn't want anyone getting him wet. Yeah he can be a pill when it comes to splashing. Of course he loves to squirt and splash other people, but the minute someone gets him it is all over. I should have known it would be a bad idea. Luckily, all the other kids had a great time and we had other things to do like this pinata.

Just so you know I thought we were going to hang it but John volunteered to hold it. No one made him do it. He is just crazy and lucky because amazingly had did not get hit in the family jewels by any of the kids or adults for that matter. The pinata was not too keen on breaking so in the end all the adults had to take a swing as well. Here is my dad. . .

. . .and Uncle Casey. . .

. . .and finally John was able to finish it off.

Despite the water debacle, if you ask EZ about his party he will say that he loved it so that is all that matters. Plus Kung Fu Panda 2 came out that day and we all went to see it. EZ was so excited. He had a Kung Fu Panda party for his 3rd birthday and has been obsessed ever since. Between party, movie and grandparents I would have to say that was a pretty awesome birthday.

Biker Gang

We kind of went with a theme for birthday presents this year and everyone got bikes. I think we are a bit behind the ball with EZ on this one, but he is obsessed with his bike so hopefully he can make up for lost time. We took the kids to an elementary school so they could ride around on the basketball court. Don't worry we did get them helmets, but just forgot to bring them this first time. We figured no big deal this once and of course EZ biffed it pretty hard. Definitely won't forget the helmets anymore.

I really wanted to get a bike for King, but it was hard to find one for his age. Any one I saw that had a push handle didn't have a seat belt and King wouldn't be able to keep himself on. Finally, after much perseverance I found this one and it has been great.

Netta loves her bike as well. She is taking a little longer to catch on and still needs a push now and them, but she is getting there. It was kind of windy that day hence she is holding her hair out of her face for the picture.

I loved watching all three of them ride around. They were all so excited and I think we are going to have a lot of fun with these bikes.

EZ's Graduation

Back on July 8th I said I was going to make the most of my niece being here to take time and update the blog. Whoops it is now July 18th and I am just getting around to writing another post. Oh well. So back in May EZ graduated from preschool. You may think it's silly to have a preschool graduation and I would have agreed, but then I went to it and got all teary-eyed and proud of my baby boy so I guess it was pretty cool after all. They had each class wear different colored t-shirts and as they walked down the aisle to the front they were playing "Somewhere over the Rainbow" by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. I have no idea why but for some reason that song and watching EZ just got the tears flowing.

I think part of the reason I got so emotional was that literally as I was sitting waiting for the graduation to start I got a text from my friend letting my know that EZ had gotten into the Spanish immersion kindergarten that we had been praying he would get into. We found out about the program in April and as soon as we did we knew we wanted EZ in. It is part of our school district but there is only one class offered at one elementary school. There is a lottery for spots and when you sign up to be in it you have to commit to keeping your child in the program for 6 years. Right before the lottery I found out that there were around 22 kids applying and only 10 spots and by some miracle EZ got one. And I mean miracle because we had 3 other friends apply and none of them were selected.

Anyway, during the graduation they gave out awards to each student and EZ was given the "funny bone" award, which of course we agree with. In the program they listed what each child wants to be when they grow up and EZ said he wants to be a "boxing player". We can thank the Wii for that. I tried to get a picture of EZ's class afterwards and as you can see it was very hard to get a good picture. Of course hardly any one was looking at the camera and some kids were even crying. So this one is as good as it gets.

In the pictures EZ is standing next to one of his best friends Bradley. We love Bradley's family. I have become good friends with his mom Maggie and Netta loves his little brother Sammy. As soon as Netta found out we were going to EZ's school she insisted on bringing her back pack.

They all have a blast together. I think King really wanted in on the action.

Finally, I have to say how much I loved EZ's teacher Ms. Laura. She was so kind to EZ and at the end of the year she sent home a report card with a personal letter about EZ which was so sweet that it had me in tears as well. Here is a picture of EZ with his teacher and his friend Emme. Apparently, he was really excited about having his picture taken.