swim team in may

The combination of some daily exercise, good neighbor time and friendly competition sounds great, right?  Greer was all-in for our neighborhood swim team signups this year but the other two weren't so sure. We ultimately decided to have them all give it a shot and braced for the challenge :)

Day 1 was a little tough for Garner Bug...

...but by the end of that first week, she was set to go (for practices at least ;))

Gehr struggled the first couple of weeks with the cold water, cool practice mornings and a higher/tougher age bracket.  Thankfully, for his sake at least ;), the first meet was held on one of the hottest days in history

We didn't think about the fact that an away meet would mean a pool that Garner wasn't familiar or comfortable with...and she never loves big crowds or lots of attention.  Poor thing cried right up until we walked her over to her coach when it was time for her first race.

Coach Brooke talked her into just doing her leg of the relay...we would worry about her individual races later.  She is a magic-worker :)

Sweetest sibling cheerleaders

And lots of other friends came to cheer her on at the end too.  All the sweetness totally made me tear up, and Garner made it the whole way without Coach jumping in with her!  She only stopped for a few short rests on the rope and their relay team placed first I think! :)

It didn't appear that she was going to fall for our pep-talks a second time...

So sweet Coach Brooke jumped in to cheer her on from the water.  It meant that her time didn't count, but she swam, so we were thrilled!  And Brooke didn't even have to give her a hand...just knowing she was there was enough for Garn :)

The bigs did awesome and had a great time swimming and spending time with friends...and being a part of such fun competition totally changed Gehr's feelings on it for the rest of the season :)

Love them :))

And him :)

It really is a fun place to be once the heat of the day passes and the kids have the hang of it all. Already thankful at this first meet for such a sweet community of neighbors to have the time with this summer...more to come in June :)

mother's day 2016

Ready for church and excited for our family day :)

B made picnic lunches and coordinated the use of a friend's boat for a full (and beautiful weather!) family lake day.  It was the best idea ever and perfect for this mama who would much rather time outdoors on the water than anything fancy :))

Favorite

First one in...always :))

Those are real smiles...love so much

Cupcake dessert

And she caught this with bare hands walking around in the lake ;)

So beautiful in all the ways

Beyond grateful for them and their sweetness and grace to me.  It was perfect and I love them more than I can say :))

end-of-year school and co-op

Last co-op homework ever...

And Greer's penguin project for her last day of geography class (Australia/Antarctica)

We still have Gehrig's from his 2nd grade year...starting a little penguin family :)

And last day of co-op 2015-2016 year pic

Love love love their teachers (sadly didn't get a pic of Gehrig with his...)

And all the penguins ready for their big performance that night at Family Night :)

Penguins and buddies, Wiley and Greer

And a packed house...thankful for this community

So thankful Mammaw came to watch...the bigs got their class award and it was sweet to see all of their projects and classwork too

Such a cute crew...they did great!

Field Day!  Gehr was sick, so Jenn was awesome to take the girls and snap pics for me :))

Oh Garner Bug!  She cracks me up

And this one would never have missed the fun if he hadn't felt really bad :((

Finally starting to get into it a little bit...

And the snocone brought the big smiles...she's quite the treat-aholic ;)

More fun on a beautiful May day

And a new member meeting for all the mamas/teachers for this fall...always so thankful for how the Lord brings us all together :)

Finally, a little bit of heartbreak for this mama...his last day of homeschool

These years flew by so much faster than I expected.  So so thankful for all the time we've had together at home and excited for this new journey for him too :)

And finally, 5th grade awards day for best bud, Gench...they are the sweetest friends :)

Although this school year went by quickly, we are always excited about summer approaching!  We are so grateful for a good year and for all the teachers and friends and opportunities the Lord has given all of us. What a great full elementary school experience for Gehrig!  Excited about the years we have remaining with Greer and for Garner starting that journey this fall too :)