i open at the close [or alternatively titled "closing time" but i like the harry potter reference more]

what a long two weeks it has been.  last tuesday (february 13th) roger left for a week+ trip to memphis.  it's always tough when he's gone, but with so much going on and an extended time away, it felt particularly difficult.  

walk-to-school day 

even though our house has a contingent offer on it and we are working through timelines, we still had multiple showings that week, which meant we drove around town with george in tow.

last friday, max found out the results for his belt test that he took the week previous.  he earned is orange belt!!  congrats, max!  we are so super proud of you and how dedicated you are.  you've worked hard and show such discipline, strength and determination.

handing over his name block to be moved from yellow to orange belts

after belt test results, we headed over to the school for their annual spring bingo night!!

nobody won, but we had a great time!

we spent the weekend relaxing (at home!!), packing and hanging out with gigi and poppie.  

having fun with his buddies, miley and ryan, during karate on tuesday - and then daddy finally came home!!

ready to celebrate her birthday at school with ice cream sandwiches

on thursday, after nearly two weeks of delays, addendums and a ton of frustration, we finally closed on our new home.  we're super excited to start this next chapter and make a new home together for our family.

thursday night, we attended the school's art show - mrs. murrano, the art teacher, is phenomenal with the kids and ella, especially, just loves her classes.  ella was so proud that mrs. murrano picked 4 of ella's pieces to be displayed.

cardinal (by ella)

"a house for hermit crab" and "the mixed up chameleon" (by max)

watercolor swan (by ella)

birch trees (by ella)

paper bird (by ella)

yesterday morning, we went to the easter egg hunt in our neighborhood and the cotters joined us!

we are ready for all of the celebrations in the week to come.  we are so very blessed and grateful.

the run around and 26/40: arizona distance classic

some leftover pics from last weekend - hanging out with mom, dad, auntie elaine and UNTG before gaslight.

backstage after the show!

max loved playing with auntie elaine in the trampoline!

at ella's art class, the teacher tapes a piece of paper at each kid's spot to protect the surface.  if the kids get there early enough, they are free to draw whatever they like on it.  when i went to pick up ella, a few girls were helping ms. julie clean up and she told them to leave ella's drawing because it was so pretty.  it made my heart happy.  

last tuesday, i joined max's kindergarten class on their field trip to sabino canyon!

we had a great time and max had his 6-year check up that afternoon - he's doing great!!

the rest of the week flew by and the kiddos had donuts with dad on friday morning with roger.

we were supposed to close on the new house, but there was a bank error that was not in our favor.  boo.  

 ella ended up going home sick that morning, so jenny fletcher and jack drove max home.  and even treated him out for ice cream!

out friday night with some of my fave girls to celebrate steph's birthday

saturday was busy with karate, cabinet appointment and orca registration.  ella is joining the team this year!!!!  so excited but so not ready for swim to start!

up early on sunday to run the arizona distance classic (with jenny.  steph and ali ran the half of the half).

ugh.  we pretty much haven't run since the last half marathon.  but we finished - 2:36:44 and 272/335.  another one in the books.

not-so-lesiurely studies

hectic non-stop week (i feel like that's just normal at this point) - just a short post to catch up on life.

at school, starting in first grade, the kiddos are responsible for checking books at their reading level out from the library, reading it and then going back to the library to take a test on their comprehension of the book (all self-directed).  max was tested a few months ago and based upon his reading level, was able to start taking these tests (AR's) as a kindergartener.  we've been so proud of his hard-work and dedication.  last week, he earned his first prize (they earn points by reading more books) and was even recognized by the school librarian (each of the teachers can recognize one student each month and mrs. verbois picked max out of the whole school!).

awesome job, buddy!!!  keep it up!!

spring picture day!

the rest of the week was busy and we missed roger while he was in DC.

on sunday, we went to gaslight theatre for their production of "the lone stranger."

amazing show and we celebrated these kiddos' birthdays!!

oh ella and max.  i want you to stop growing and at the very same time, excitedly watch you develop, engage, explore and show your (very different, but wonderful all the same) amazing personalities.  i love our family and am beyond grateful.  you both radiate so much love, acceptance, compassion, kindness and joy.  love you love you love you.  

revenge of the sixth

max's official first birthday celebration happened last tuesday when he brought eegee's into his classroom - and they even had blue-raspberry as their february flavor of the month!!!  i had one happy kid on my hands.  :-)

happy happy birthday to our SIX year old max!!!!

time is flying by - we are so grateful to have you in our lives and the last six years have been a true joy with you.  max, you are funny, smart, thoughtful, hard-working and super loving.  thank you for being you and looking forward to all of your birthdays to come.  love you so much, max!!!

he has been asking to go to build-a-bear to get "toothless" the dragon

thanks for spending the day with us, mom and dad!!

next, we went to peter piper and were joined by the cotters, burts and fletchers.

max spent the afternoon playing with his new coding robot.  oh he was so happy!

happy birthday, buddy!!  we hope you had a great day!

on saturday, we spent the morning at activities (karate and parkour) and prepping for showings.  a little crazy since we had to be out of the house all morning with george and had the get ready for max's birthday party, but we had some fun with it.

max's 6th birthday party at old pueblo gymnastics.  it was a fabulous party!

with his best buddy, ryan

sweet violet who wanted to sit next to max for cupcakes.  :-)

hope you had an amazing birthday, max.  love you and so excited for all the amazing things you will accomplish as a six year old!