Pattie Ice Cream Social!

Ice Cream and Books are two of my favorite things!!!  Naturally, one of my favorite events at Pattie is the Ice Cream Social that coincides with the Book Fair!  Teresa and I organized this event in the Fall, and even though it went really great, we were anxious to try a few things differently in the Spring...

We were especially proud of how we revolutionized the ice cream scooping and toppings areas.  In the Fall, there was one long row of ice cream and then toppings.  The line got really backed up several times because of how much longer it takes to choose and serve toppings.  This time, the ice cream scoopers were at the yellow and pink table in the front, but then the line split on either side of those tables and we had TWO sides of toppings going!  The helpers stood in the middle (inside) of the back tables and those needing toppings went on either of the outsides.  It went SO much better!

Toppings all divvied up and ready to go!  

Decorations :)

Lots of room for families to enjoy their treats!

Two ice cream and book loving friends :)

These two were such good sports!  They came on the early side for their treats and hung out until it was time for them to take Jackson to soccer practice!

We had SUCH a beautiful Spring day!  Josh mentioned a cache to me that was along this paved trail, so I loaded up the boys and a scooter and a motorcycle to go find it!

The journey to the cache was really fun, and Jackson was a rockstar finding it right away so I didn't have to climb up the rocky area ;)

Good teamwork!

Scootering and motorcycling back to the car

This cache just happened to be near a wonderful ice cream spot: The Frostie Moose!  What a perfect excuse for a treat!

Last Soccer Game with Coach Jon

 We have been blessed with two great coaches for Jackson's soccer career so far!  Coach Jon is so fun, relates well to the kids, and shares his knowledge of soccer on an appropriate level.  It's been easy looking forward to games and playing for him.  The upcoming Fall season brings a new division with separated genders, and since Coach Jon has a daughter, the rest of us with boys are left to fend for ourselves!  

Pep talk before the game!

Graham had some great buddies to cheer with on the sidelines!  One buddy even hooked him up with this cool cowboy hat and pretend gun!

 Hilarious!

 We hosted the end of season party at our house, and the kids had a great time running around together!  There was plenty of food, TONS of cupcakes, and trophies!

 Jackson's newest trophy for his growing collection

Big Green Lightning Bugs--Spring 2015

Mother's Day: A Day of Things We Like to Do :)

Another special day during which I didn't take enough pictures :(  When Josh asked me what I wanted to do for Mother's Day, I decided it should be a day of things I like to do with the boys!

Well, I don't necessarily like to sleep WITH the boys, but they all let me sleep in and then brought me breakfast and cards :)  Then we baked cookies and got ready for soccer!  

After soccer we went to Fantasy Playground, went for a little walk and had dinner again at Qdoba!  I know, twice in one week, but it's so yummy!  Plus, I wanted to go out, but there was no way we were interested in waiting in the long lines at the sit-down restaurants!

Bedtime story reading outside with my favorite reading partner!  LOVE these boys who call me Mommy :)  

Spring Weekend!

Josh reported his time in August at the Masters was amazing and better than he ever imagined!!!  He brought home quite a few souvenirs, including the baggies the famous sandwiches come in.  He always has loved pimiento cheese sandwiches, but I looked up a copycat recipe for the ones served at August, and made it for his lunch on Friday: 

 ...and packed the sandwiches in the special baggies :)

 Apparently, there is now a National Siblings Day!  Coincidentally, Jackson informed me this is the best part of having a brother!  Perfect!

 On Saturday 7-11 offered a sale to bring in any container and fill it with Slurpee for the price of a medium Slurpee ($1.50)!  There was a limit, but it was quite generous...  We took a family walk and got a delicious treat!  Jackson chose the classic combo of wild cherry and Coca-Cola.

 YUM!

 Graham loved the treat too, and after the bucket was washed, he would point to it and say, "That was (a) fun treat!"

 The bucket was obtained at the National Zoo during ZooLights a couple of years ago when my dad bought popcorn--we've had it ever since!  It was PERFECT for this!

 It was a gorgeous day, and we played outside and told our neighbors all about this special treat deal so they could enjoy it too!  The Yanceys came over for taco dinner and to hang out--all in all, a super fun day!

 I love everything about Jackson's reading ability, but this might be my favorite :)

 I Love You, Stinky Face!

 Soccer Sundays have begun!!!  Jackson found his buddy, Athan, who was playing on the field next to us--they were really excited to see each other :)  The game went really well, especially with substitute coach, Josh!

These two are the sweetest and cutest fans!!!  I think they actually like each other, but they for sure love sharing seats and snacks :)

Josh and I finished off the weekend with a date to see a movie and have dinner.  It was so nice out, so we got in a little geocaching that included a pretty walk too :)

November Long-Weekend Adventures

Life did not slow down after Halloween!  That weekend was a four day weekend due to a teacher workday and election day.  Jackson had his first job of petsitting!

 It's always fun to take a long a friend to show her the ropes!  Ben, the guinea pig, 

 Moe, the cat, and there was also Jake, the fish.  Jackson LOVED visiting the animals and checking on them each day!

 We had Jackson's last soccer game on Sunday.  Here is our cute cheerleader!

 BEST surprise: Mrs. LeBel came to the game to watch Jackson and Athan "versus" each other!  Such good buddies with such an awesome Kindergarten teacher :)

 Chatting during a break

 Trophy #4!

 Go Eagles!!!  Another fabulous season in the books!

 We hopped in the car right away and headed to Staunton for a visit with Uncle Larry and Aunt Murph!  We got there just in time for a yummy dinner, and the boys did a great job entertaining everyone :)  Aunt Jeannie and Uncle Wayne came to have dinner too!  It was a great night for a fire and hanging out to catch up a bit.

 We had a little lazy morning packing back up to head out for the rest of the day.  We said our good-byes, got in a quick visit with Goldie when she came to do some painting, and headed out for the park and Gramma J's house!

 Graham loves wearing any backpack!

 Checking out the ducks at Gypsy Hill.  It was a great fall morning to enjoy walking around and the fresh air.

 Cuties!

 Having fun at the playground! After this we drove over to Gramma J's, played, colored, went out for lunch, napped, played outside, and had some pizza for dinner before heading back home.  

 After naptime, we did take a little detour over to Aunt Jenny's house!  She has all sorts of different chickens, ducks, and dogs!

 Checking for eggs...

 Jackson found some!  Graham found one...and he promptly threw it like a ball... :(

 Gaston, the duck.

 Graham spent most of his time sitting right here!

 I just got a kick out of the contents of this wagon when we walked up :)

 Chickens love grapes!?

 Aunt Jenny got the tractor started for a bit and took Jackson for a little ride.

 Then he enjoyed using the leaf blower!  LOL  We should put him to work in our yard...

 The final activity: staining the coop!

 Graham, the diligent student.

 What lucky boys to get a ride back to the house :)  There are now little piggies at the Hamer Farm, so we need to go back soon!!!

 Yesterday morning, Jackson finally got to ride the Metro!!!  We all left the house pretty early, and Graham and I dropped off Jackson and Josh at the Springfield Metro.  They rode the rest of the way to Crystal City where Graham and I picked Jackson back up.  We killed a little time before Barnes and Noble opened by walking a nice little trail to find this cache hidden in an evergreen.

 Then we had a lovely date to Barnes and Noble for some train playing and lots of book reading :)

Last, but not least, we voted!!!  We packed a lot into the weekend and had a lot of fun :)