5 years old

Five years old!  Our little boy is growing up.  He is going through the stage of calling us by our first names--Austin & Megan--instead of Daddy and Mommy.  We have put a swift stop to that.  Lincoln has also become a master of Monopoly, Jr.  As mentioned in an earlier post, he can beat anyone at any time.

Lincoln has an incredible way of condensing a four-word question into one syllable.  He often (as in 5-10x/day) asks, "Djnut?" (Do you know what?)  He also consistently says "I'n" instead of "I'm".

Mac 'n cheese has come back into vogue with Lincoln (as opposed to just noodles with butter and Parmesan cheese).  He still loves just about any kinds fruit, but his current favorite is grapes.  

Lincoln really enjoys painting at preschool.  This is his Easter egg. 

He has also made great strides in writing.  He had no legible letters at the beginning of the year.  With help on the spelling, he wrote this by himself for a Dr. Seuss project at preschool. 

Lincoln has become a lot more comfortable on a bike now that he's grown taller.  His official check-up measurements were 43" and 37.5 lbs..  He has grown 3" and gained 3 lbs. in the last year, which puts his percentiles at 52 for height and 26 for weight.  Lincoln & I packed up our bikes and went on a bike ride down the Waverly Rail Trail.  It took 30 minutes to do 1 mile down and 1 mile back with only five stops to pick dandelions. :)

We love our silly snuggle buddy!

4-H fishing

On the night of Lincoln's party, Emily's 4-H club had a Dad's Fishing outing at the duck pond.  Grandpa Lorenzen was able to stay and go along.  They caught one little fish!

Lincoln's birthday party

It was a gorgeous weekend to host the grandparents for Lincoln's 5th birthday party.  We spent most of the day outside.  Lincoln received some neat gifts, including a Zube Tube, which is really a very simple device that makes really cool sounds.

Lincoln requested an "Agent P (a.k.a. Perry the Platypus)" theme for his birthday from the kids' current favorite TV show Phineas & Ferb.  We had fun picking out a secret agent costume at the part store.  The Fareway bakery did an excellent job with the cake.  If you pull down the left tree branch, Perry pops out from behind the tree. :)

 Thank you to awesome grandparents who made this a special celebration of a special boy!

Heery Woods

To continue my week of woodsy field trips, I accompanied Emily's class to Heery Woods State Park by Clarksville.  They had a picnic lunch, three trail walks and time to explore the indoor Nature Center.  I learned quite a lot about native plants!  I'm so glad I have the ability to participate in opportunities like this!

Bird blind

Today I got to accompany Lincoln's preschool class on a field trip to the bird blind in Babcock Woods.  We have been there before on our own.  The naturalist leading the trip had stocked the feeders well, and we saw a LOT of cool birds.  I recognized most of them from our own backyard feeders, but that was as many as I had seen in one place at one time.  The kids made fun "bird binoculars" out of TP tubes.

Turn-off-your-screens week

May 4-10 was "National Turn-off-your-screens Week".  There was a flyer sent home from school, and I decided we were going to participate since a) the kids have gotten a little too obsessed with their allotted "screen time" lately and b) Austin was going to be gone for the week.  It went better than expected.  Emily was totally fine with since it was a "project" from school.  Lincoln had a little tougher time, but gave up after a couple days.  However, by Friday he was talking about having "National Turn-your-screens-back-on Week." ;o) 

During the week the TV stayed completely off, and I tried to minimize my screen time to bookwork and some checks of essential email/messages after the kids were in bed.  It was a pleasant week and a good reminder of how much simpler and less stressful life can be.  I did discover, however, that I rely on my "screen" a lot more these days from grocery lists to calendars to "to-do" lists to reminder alarms.  I only pulled out my phone a couple times to snap a few pictures.

Lincoln received a "May Day" gift of tulips from a preschool classmate.  We picked a spot to plant them.

We bought the party supplies for Lincoln's birthday with a "Phineas & Ferb/Agent P" theme.  Lincoln loves his new hat!

When the iPad isn't an option, we make up our own fun!  

We played a LOT of rounds of Monopoly, Jr.  Lincoln cleaned my clock this particular afternoon going 3-0.  One game I lost in record time by only making it around the board 1 1/2 times before going broke.  I had been procrastinating with cleaning the bathrooms all week, so I made a deal with Lincoln that after each game I'd clean one bathroom.  God has a sense of humor!

TriByKnight

Austin competed in his first ever triathlon at Wartburg.  The sprint distance includes a 300 yard swim, 15 mile bike ride and 5K run.  He felt good about his race and finished a respectable 36th overall with a total time of 1:23:43.6.  It was gorgeous weather and a nice set-up for spectators.  I'm guessing this won't be the last time we watch this race!

Lining up to start

Austin beginning his swim

Waiting during the bike ride

Running fast

Finish line!

Mime girl

Emily calls this her "mime outfit."

Preschool program

Lincoln had his preschool program tonight and did a fantastic job.  Below are pictures and the full video of the program.

Waiting for the program to begin

Ready to go!

Watching the year in pictures

Lincoln's art display

Mrs. Steege & Mrs. Maley

Best buddy--Owen

New for spring

Spring has been slow in coming (or almost non-existent).  Sometimes you just need a little something bright and new to lift the winter blues.  Hence, my new set of spring/summer dishes and some new kicks.