Isaac's Preschool Graduation

 May is always a good month around here!  As we wrapped up April, we had a fun Townsend party to attend.  This time, Isaac taught everyone how to play Tenzie

We also had a few fun Sundays at Bamma's house.  We tried out the record player.

 And we hit the local park too!  Loving the spring weather!

Isaac is enjoying his last spring as a preschooler with lots of solo time at home.  He loves spending time helping out with the cooking and cleaning.

 And climbing trees out in the backyard!

 Sam did an impressive "Boss Baby" drawing!

 Nerge School hosted their spring open house and science fair.  Sam was happy to show off his classroom and some of his recent writing.

 Noah teamed up with his buddies Om and Ari to do a project about magnets.  Nice job, guys!

 At the Nerge bookfair, Isaac found a book about hand anatomy and it even came with a skeleton hand!

 We celebrated May the 4th in true Star Wars style!

 Isaac's preschool graduation pictures turned out pretty well!

 Noah did another karate tournament and took 3rd in sparring!

 Isaac's hair reached pretty epic proportions on a recent jog.

 We celebrated my birthday, and I got some awesome gifts!  My mom got me cool Harry Potter throw pillows and she and Philie arranged for us to go see the Cher show in June!

 Josh got me a handy hydration backpack (for a DC trip and other upcoming summer adventures) and Isaac tested it out for me.

 Isaac did one last parent event at preschool, a cute mother's day celebration!

 And, he finally got a "real" haircut.  I cannot get over how big he looks now!

 Tuesday, May 15, 2018: Preschool graduation day!

 We was VERY proud during the opening procession with his class!

 Getting his diploma from Mrs. Adrianne!

 Bamma and Bampa both came to celebrate the graduate!

No more preschoolers for the Rodriguez family, all big kids now!

 Mr. Barry has been doing very well and growing lots too.  He can nearly climb out of his bath dish and has been eating a lot lately!

 This past week we did a lot of planting around the house, can't wait to see it all fill in.  Philie and Hattie went with Isaac and me to the local flower shop.  We found this beautiful Foxglove and put it in the garden.  Hopefully we can keep everything growing!

So, that's been our latest.  Looking forward to the end of the school year!

Mike hits the big 4-0

The weather is FINALLY cooperating around here and starting to feel a bit like spring.  Isaac and I were able to take Bamma out for lunch to Palmer Place on a sunny Thursday last week!

Barry the tortoise continues to thrive and amuse.  He loves eating and is pretty messy when he does eat, often getting food stuck on his face.

We prepared for the big 40th birthday party by finding some old photos of the twins.

 Philie did an amazing job with matching Chemistry and Biology birthday cakes!

 We had our cousin, Ella, there to help wrangle the kids and take the Rodriguez boys home when it got too late for them!

 We had about 60 family and friends join us at The Ram in Schaumburg.

 Happy 40th, Dr. Dad!

 It also just so happened to be Josh's birthday too!

 Xavier was a trooper and last through the whole shindig!

 My table was the COOLEST!

 Brandywine Drive represent!

 Mike outdid himself and this was the scene by 11:30pm.  Not good!  The next day he was severely hurting and claims that won't happen again until he's 50!

 Happy Birthday, Mike and Faith!  Wishing you happiness and healthy for another 40!

One of my fav pictures of the night, we had a lot of fun!

 This week we returned to a somewhat normal post-Birthday bonanza schedule.  Sam rocked crazy hair day with some blue hairspray!

So, onward to better weather and more time outside!

Noah is a decade!

Well, we had quite the interesting and busy spring break!  It started with my mom having a knee replacement surgery.  She is a rockstar and it was no surprise she came through just fine and is recovering faster than expected (at least that's what I think, I'm sure she'd like to go even faster)!

 Isaac celebrated Easter with a spring party at preschool

 Josh and I took turns rotating through mom's house staying with her pretty much 24/7 for the first week or so.  We had a lot of other help too, including a dinnertime visit from Philie!

 Monday, March 26th, Mr. Noah turned 10!  We started (bright and early as usual) with some gifts!

 He chose to spend the day with his buddies, the Worsts, for a special spring break get together!

 Mike and I gave him a new smartwatch that allows us to text him and him to call a few select numbers.  This is his gateway to eventually getting a phone.  So far, so good!

 Monday night we celebrated with a cookie cake!

 Even though the spring break weather was crummy, we found some time to go out for ice cream.

 We also went over and helped out Bamma too.  Isaac is a great hair washer!

 Emily is a good seat warmer!

 We also did a little Easter celebration with egg decorating.

 Easter morning our bunnies awoke to some baskets with some treats!

 We went to Bamma's house for the traditional basement egg hunt!

 Noah lost a tooth in a jellybean!

 We had a small celebration for Uncle Josh (since his actual birthday will be when we do Mike's big 40th party).

 Our eggs turned out pretty awesome this year!

 Isaac helped me out by making egg salad, he was quality control.

 Our tortoise, Barry, has been doing very well in his first month with us.  He is a little more active these days, though he still spends a large portion of his time out of sight.

 Isaac is our future surgeon and while he couldn't be present to see Bamma get her staples out, he was able to watch via FaceTime.  He even ate lunch while he watched!

 Isaac got all handsome for his preschool graduation pictures, can't wait to see how they turn out!

 This past weekend, we had Noah's friend birthday party.  Mike wasn't able to make a homemade cake due to work, but Dairy Queen came through with a pokeball cake.

 Isaac was happy to get some tiny squigs from the Worsts and he showed Uncle Stan just how they worked.

 Our party group was a nice small mix of old friends and new friends, everyone had a great time!

 Happy 10th Birthday, Noah!

Mike is in charge of assisting Noah and his friends with a science fair project.  The party was the perfect time to practice some of his experiments.  His audience looks thrilled.

 Today, Sam worked hard to get his "All about Me" poster ready for school.  I hope his friends in 1st grade like it!

 So, Noah's birthday was a success, and now we're off to (gulp) Mike's 40th!!!