That's a Wrap!

 The month of May (yes, we're a little behind) wrapped up in a big way.  TJ graduated from Junior Kindergarten and is now on to the real deal!

The continuation ceremony at PCK was simple and sweet.  TJ sat and waited patiently while the other classes were awarded their certificates.  One by one, the children crossed the stage, and all were quiet.  That was, except for the time TJ saw a cute girl walk by to get her certificate.  That was when he said, "Oh, I like her."  Later that day, when we were on our way to dinner to celebrate, Mommy asked TJ if he knew the girl since she was in a different class.  He said, "No I've never seen her before."  My little Lethario.

Back to the ceremony: TJ was so proud to walk across the stage and receive his JK certificate.  He was all smiles as he shook Ms. Pacheco's hand and turned to the audience.  After the ceremony, we returned to his classroom for a class party.  The gifts from the teachers were so sweet, and the class even made a yearbook for their friends, writing little messages.  TJ received a lot of "I like him" and "He's funny" comments - go figure.

We were so sad to say goodbye to his teachers.  Ms. Pacheco and Ms. Schaffer were so wonderful, and TJ was very lucky to have such a great classroom!   Every kid got along and were great friends.  We're so excited what the next year brings.

We celebrated TJ's continuation with Grandma & Grandpa at Perfect Landing.  The boys love the restaurant at Centennial Airport because you can see all the planes landing and taking off.  The food is great, too, so it was a win-win for everyone!

A week after school ended, TJ was hard at work for Tech Week -- the final week of rehearsals and prep for RATCo's production of "Charlotte's Web."  The MouseCo had prepared a special skit based on the book "Otis," and they were absolutely perfect getting the show started each night.  TJ was also one of the spiders who appeared at the end of the story.  They had four performances in three days, and to say he was tired, would be an understatement.  But he was so proud of himself... and so were we!

Frankie on the Double!

We can't believe our little monkey is two!  The past few years have flown by, and it's so much seeing this little person become who he is.

So, who is Frankie?  He's crazy!  He's talkative, ornery, spunky, sweet, fiesty, smart, coordinated, loving and so much fun!  Frankie definitely looks up to his big brother.  He is always doing everything TJ does, and the two are quite a pair!  He's talking up a storm... having conversations, and using three word sentences.  His new favorite word is "why," so, of course we're loving that.  He loves to eat pancakes, pizza, and pretzels.  Frankie loves to dance -- he is always singing to "Uptown Funk," "Happy," and "Shake it Off."  He loves watching "Paw Patrol," and "Super Wings," and he's really into dragons after seeing "How to Train Your Dragon."

Since he's such a Paw Patrol fan, we decided to throw him a birthday party with his favorite rescue pups.  The perfect place, of course, was Chuck E. Cheese's!  He had a great time with Grandma, Pa, Aunt G and all our friends.  Frankie even met his new friend Roman, and they hit it off! 

Mommy was able to take Frankie's actual birthday off, and we had a fun-packed day walking to the park, playing outside, going to our favorite Italian restaurant for dinner (he had pizza), and then we topped it off with ice cream! 

We are so lucky to have this little tornado in our lives, and we've had the best two years watching him grow and become the best of friends with his big brother!

High FIVE!

We don't know how it happened... it felt like overnight, but somehow, in the past five years, our sweet little boy grew up and turned FIVE!  He's turned into a wonderful, sweet, thoughtful, smart, funny, silly, charming boy.  He has such a wonderful fun-loving personality, and he is an amazing big brother, teaching Frankie all sorts of words, colors, shapes, and of course, superheroes.

He's probably the only five-year-old we know who doesn't like pizza.  But he makes up for it with his love of ice cream.  He loves turkey & cheese sandwiches, and he still loves M&Ms (Grandpa would send them to San Francisco, and TJ would eat M&Ms with Pa on Skype).  His favorite food of all-time -- Mac & Cheese.

He's a total Grandma's boy, but he spreads his love with Pa & Aunt G, too.  His best buddies at school are Caleb P., Caleb G. & Braden, and he still loves Jack & Asher.  He'll attend Global Village Academy with Caleb P. in the fall, and the two are starting on the same soccer team in a few weeks.

TJ can read... he's mastered sight words and beyond.  His favorite book this week is "Big Hero 6." He loves to draw, do math at school and he can tell time.  He loves superheroes, Batman is his favorite, and he enjoys playing with his matchbox cars and Legos.  He continues to do gymnastics, and he plays basketball.  Recently, he's taken an interest in martial arts, and he keeps asking to take a karate class.

TJ fell in love with karate after winning two free classes and a birthday party during Parker's Trick-or-Treat on Main Street.  It was the perfect way to celebrate TJ's birthday.  Pa, Grandma and Aunt G joined all of TJ's friends to party at Competitive Edge Mixed Martial Arts in Highlands Ranch.  The instructor was great, taking the 12 kiddos through all sorts of fun drills... kicking, punching, running and jumping.

 

The two highlights:  TJ got to cut his cake with a real Samurai sword!!!  And he was able to break a board with his knee in front of all of his friends.  It took a lot of tries, but TJ never gave up, and his determination was rewarded with loud cheers from his buddies.

Nana flew in after the party and helped celebrate the rest of the weekend.  On TJ's birthday, we walked to the park and had a McDonald's picnic there.  Then, on the way home, we enjoyed ice cream before going back to play with all his new toys.  It was quiet, relaxing and perfect!