One of the Many Reasons I Love Lily

Today at lunchtime, there was a little something left over from breakfast on her tray and she touched it and said, "Gross" while wrinkling up her little nose! BTW- this St. George's Cross ribbon tee can be found at The Paper Pony...

One of the Many Reasons I Love Liam

Kindergarten Graduation and Choir Performances

I cannot believe it! Time goes by too quickly and Abby's first year of school is over! Yesterday, she graduated Kindergarten. I know, I know; You don't really have to DO anything to graduate Kindergarten, but the kids love it and it makes the end of their first year so special. The parents were a little rude jumping in front of each other for the photo ops so I had a really hard time trying to get good photos. Her wonderful teacher, Mrs. Cassidy, gave a talk that had me in tears from the beginning! The kids sang a really cute song and recited a little poem- Abby had been practicing for weeks. Afterward, there was cake and congratulations.That afternoon and evening, Abigail had her choir performances at the 5th grade promotion ceremony and the Jr. High School Graduation respectively. The kids looked so cute in their matching polos and hair accessories. What a great experience! Abby looks mad in a couple of photos- unfortunately, she's like me and frowns when she is in deep concentration. She really is a mini me!Today was the last day of school and I will soon pick up an official First Grader. This morning we brought Mrs. Cassidy the GIANT thank you note we made her and little gifts for her classmates.
You can find out how we made them HERE. We are starting the tradition of going out for treats on the last day of school... let's see... are we in the mood for smoothies? Ice cream? Bakery goodies? Also, I created a little questionnaire for her to fill out; I will have all the kids fill it out- the sane one- every year so we can see how their answers change and/or stay the same throughout the years. I'll post the answers when we get them. Well, it's time! We're off to get our girl!

How Was Your Morning?

After getting Abby off to school (this is her last week!) wearing a long-sleeved shirt and windbreaker- on June the First- in California (what?), the babies and I had a fun morning. Lily has REALLY been into puzzles lately and just LOVES them. She is very good at them as well and practices all the time. She gets really frustrated with Liam when he is too slow or tries to put his piece in the wrong place. He doesn't care so much and prefers to look at books, learn new words (there's about 7 or 8 things he says and the rest are just variations on the words he already knows) or- his personal favourite- and mine, cuddle. He just gives the best hugs! They both love to sing and dance- Lily has already made up actual songs! Our favorite is "Abby Abby Oh Oh". They can also keep each other busy and often give each other fist bumps, hugs and kisses as well as play Peek-A-Boo, Chase and Ring Around the Rosies. Oh, and my personal favorite- when one escapes the corral, they pass the remaining kid contraband from the outside that they quickly try to hide and ruin at the same time knowing it's just a matter of time before they get caught! Having twins is really amazing. Most children can only do side-by-side play until they are about 3 years old. It fills my heart to see my children play and laugh and work together at such a young age. As far as June goes, the weather makes Paul happy, the children are happy and that makes me happy!

Abby's New Hobby

But before we get into all that, the other day we were all hanging out in Abby's room and Liam was jumping all around while Abby was reading a book to Lily. It was fun just playing around together. Lily will sit forever if someone is reading to her and gets really involved- especially if that someone is her older sister. The book they're reading here is a book Carrie wrote and had published when she was in the second grade called, "The Robbery". The kids LOVE it and it's now a Baynes family classic.So, back to Abigail. I know, Abby has a new hobby and/or obsession every week. This week (and for a while now) it is cooking, Asterix books and taking photos. A couple of weeks ago, she took a field trip with her class to the zoo and Paul got her a disposable camera to take with her. We tied a ribbon around it for a strap and she had such a great time taking pictures of everything... Paul is waiting until there is a coupon for printing so they are not developed yet, but she has been using the family camera to snap a few shots... here are a couple of her best: