Summertime FUN!

Wooo--eeee!  What has happened to me and my blogging?  Phew...it's been a long time, so I'll try to catch up on our summertime fun!  It's been great!

- Bear Cub has been going to summer camp for 3 days a week and having FUN!  It's good for him to stay on a routine and stay busy ... to stay OUT of trouble!  ;) 

- Drumroll, please....I am officially PART TIME with my job!  Wahooo!!  As of July 1, I am now just grading support at my virtual school.  I worked my bootie off in June to finish up as many of my students as possible, and those that were not set to finish, were transferred to another teacher.  My phone is now QUIET all day long, I grade for a few hours while BC is at camp, I have my evenings FREE with my family again, and I feel at peace.  This what I needed...and not just me, but my little family here, too!

- I turned 24 (+ 10) in June and had a great lunch out with Aunt J, Mimi Bear, and BC. 

-Daddy Bear and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary on July 1...and set sail on the high seas on July 2!  We enjoyed every second of our 4-night anniversary cruise.  We sailed to the Bahamas and back...it was GORGEOUS, peaceful, relaxing, quiet, fun....ahhhhh...just plain wonderful!  :)  We came home feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world!  (BC had tons of fun with Mimi & Aunt J...thanks again to those lovely ladies for all that help!)

- We NEEDED to come home refreshed, as it was time for Bear Cub's birthday party 2 days after we returned!  We had a "Reptile Discovery" party here at our house.  9 kids from his class came, along with their parents, and our family....wow...we had a house and yard full!  It was great.  :)  Mr. Bruce came (the reptile party guy) and brought all kinds of cool reptiles for a presentation.  It was hotter than ALL GET OUT that day, but luckily we had some tent coverage and plenty of cold drinks, so it was great.  The kids were mesmerized.  And for BC...it was a dream come true.  BIG reptiles...in his own backyard!  He told me later in the day that it was "a birthday party that he would always remember."  Now that simple sentence alone made all that planning, cleaning, preparing, and then cleaning AGAIN, worth it!  I was so happy that he had such a wonderful party with his friends...the human kind and the reptile kind.  :)   So now, we are officially parents of a 6-year-old!   WOW.

-July 13 was BC's Happy Adoption Day!  5 years ago we stood in front of a Russian court, declaring our love for him and our intent to parent him.  He was ours...finally!  What a day!  Happy memories and always, a special day of the year for our family.  :)

So, that pretty much brings you up to date on the news in our life here!  Along with all of that, we continue to swim, go to the library, visit with family, have friends over, and somehow stay SANE!  LOL! It's a good life.  :)

Enjoy the pictures!!  Happy Summer to you all!

Graduation videos (pics in post down below!)

Ok...I'm going to attempt to upload some videos now!  Fingers crossed!  :) They may be stacked right on top of each other.  There are 2, so find the "play" arrow in the center of each to play! 

Bear Cub's Graduation

Hello and happy June!  Wow...sorry for my lull in posting!  We have been doing great...just keeping busy as usual!

Last Wednesday, BC graduated from preschool.  He is headed to kindergarten in August!  Oh boy!  Graduation went so well and we were so incredibly proud!  The ceremony was about 45 minutes long, with adorable songs and with each grad reading a book!  Bear Cub did amazing with this!  I am so, so proud of his reading ability!  He amazes me.  He is starting to pick books up and just start reading them out loud.  It's an awesome feeling to have your child read to you!

But anyway...I digress...back to graduation.  The songs were so cute and BC knew the words and ALL the motions.  He's not usually into this kind of stuff, so to see him participating and having fun (without getting silly and wild) was wonderful.  I had a few moments of almost letting the tears flow, but I held it together so I could continue taking pictures. 

So, now it's summertime!  BC will still go to his school this summer, a few days each week, for the summer camp program.  He likes going to school and I think he would be bored if he didn't have something to do most of the week.  I think he and I both do not want to say good-bye to his school.  Kindercare will ALWAYS hold a special place in our hearts!  A lot of growth, change, and positive things have  happened there for our boy!  :)

Enjoy the pictures!  I will try to upload some videos soon!

 That face! It's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen!

 He was super excited about his graduation gifts, but had to wait until AFTER the ceremony to open!

 My handsome boys!  All ready to head to school for graduation!

 I am so proud of him!

 BC and some of his buddies.  I love this picture!  Look at those lil babies...they'll be 18 and graduating from high school before we know it. **sniff**

 BC and his diploma

 BC with his WONDERFUL, patient, awesome, best teacher, Ms. Dusty.  We LOVE her!

 Finally!  The presents!

 He was thrilled with his new Audobon Society Field Guide to Amphibians & Reptiles book.  Who wouldn't be?!?  LOL 

Another mom got these pics with her fancy camera...BC kept fooling with his tassle during the ceremony.  And the second one is of him doing his SOLO read. He did awesome.  :)