Isaac's last day of preschool!

Last week, Isaac had his last day of his Two's preschool class. Although he will be starting summer preschool (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings) in another week, this was a big milestone because he has finished his year with his teachers, Ms Sarah and Ms Tawania. Throughout the year, Isaac really came out of his shell, socially. He has gone from being quite shy around acquaintances to having an outgoing streak. Sometimes he even walks up to strangers and starts talking to them! He has had a great year at preschool and came to be friends with the nine other kids in his class. On the last day, his school had a picnic, and I was able to join them.

Here is Isaac in his classroom:


Here he is, on the picnic blanket:


Here is the poster that his teachers sent home with him, along with lots of goodies and treats. It says, "We'll miss you as you sail onto the next adventure." If you look closely, you can see that Isaac's hand print, foot print, and finger prints are all on the poster. How cute! (thanks to my Dad for converting this into an electronic version!)


What a great school year! Now we're ready for summer!!!

Crossing those arms

Lately, Isaac's new gesture has been to cross his arms. It's difficult to get a picture of him because he doesn't really like to pose for the camera, but I managed to get a couple shots recently...



Such a big boy!

Funny food faces!

A few weeks ago, we were eating dinner outside on our deck, and the kids just loved their sunflower seed butter and jelly sandwiches. Their faces always get covered after they've eaten these sandwiches! Here are some pictures we took while they were enjoying the messy yumminess!

First taste of ice cream sandwiches!

This was Mother's Day night... Fun!

Mother's Day Treats!

Isaac brought me a bag of goodies from preschool the week before Mother's Day. It had some sweet things in it, such as...

A keychain (with his cute face on it!)


A personalized bag: (well, this wasn't in the bag of goodies, this was the bag)


A ladybug card:


And a handprint... Awwww!!!



Such a sweet gift! I love preschool Mother's Day presents! :)

The Mauney Family Garden 2011!

I'm a little late getting my first garden post out for this year, but, as they say, better late than never! We planted our gardens in April this year (instead of May as usual). We planted three sandwich tomato plants and three pepper plants in the two raised beds we've had. Then my dad came over and with Isaac's help, built a third raised bed for us (thanks also to Amy, our neighbor, who gave us the landscaping wood.) We planted squash and zucchini in that bed. We also had our heirloom cherry tomatoes to come up in our "old stump bed" that we've had for years. We are looking forward to a great harvest this year!

Here are some pictures I took about a month ago:

The "old stump bed" with the two heirloom cherry tomato plants (these come back every year and always have a HUGE harvest!)


Daddy and Isaac working on the new raised bed:



The new raised bed, all finished. It is in front of our deck:


Our other two raised beds (which are beside our deck):


Here's to a bountiful harvest in 2011!

Do you have a garden? If so, I'd love to hear about it! Leave a comment!

Proof of the "S"

A few posts ago, I mentioned that Isaac had drawn the letter "S" for the first time. Well, I kept the paper and took a sharpie to the "S" so that I'd remember his first try with this letter. Here it is...


Isaac loves to draw! Here he is, with a special pen I got at one of my work conferences years ago. He loves using it because it's just his size!



He's so serious! When he draws, cuts, or punches holes in paper, he does it with determination. He even says, "I need to draw" or "I need to cut, Mommy!"

Playing with laces

Isaac likes to play with the laces and beads set, and lately he's particularly enjoyed wrapping the lace around his finger. He was so proud of himself when I took these pictures:



So proud his eyes were even closed! :)

Mother's Day 2011

Mother's Day weekend was incredible for me. I was treated to a special day on Saturday to start it off. Steven told me it was going to be a surprise. When I woke up that morning, he said I could go yard sale shopping (one of my all time favorite things to do), but that I needed to be home by mid-morning. Once I was home and changed, our babysitter showed up and we headed out the door. The day proceeded to include a full body massage (ahhhh!), lunch at Brick Tops at Southpark, and a hair treatment and cut at a fancy salon. It was truly a wonderful day of pampering for me, and then when we got home, Steven said I could rest or do whatever. We all spent time together having a family dinner (of Chick Fil A, so I didn't have to cook!!) and then we put the kids to bed. Afterwards, Steven rented a movie, and we had an at-home date night. It was an awesome day. I am so super blessed to have such a wonderful husband.

The next day, we went to church and fellowshipped with our family there, and all the moms were recognized with flower bouquets. Then we ate lunch at my Mom's and got to spend time with her, my Grandparents and Kati and Ray. Lunch was SO delicious and we shared lots of laughs over the meal. Afterwards we spent lots of time outside where Elise ran around, Isaac picked up sticks and put them into his wheelbarrow, Kati and Mom talked, and Ray and Steven played disc golf. (and the disc got thrown outside the yard multiple times. Once it even required a huge ladder, a grabber, and Steven's nimbleness to get it from the overgrown forest in my parents' neighbors' yard. Yes, the grabber did come in handy. Mom, you knew it would, right!!) :)

What a great day! I am blessed to have a wonderful mother and also to be a mother to two incredible kiddos. Thank you Lord!

Told ya she liked getting on the table...

and wearing this hat, apparently...




Silly girl!!!

Isaac loves trains!

Here he is, playing with his wooden train set:



This entertains him for long stretches, especially if someone is playing with him! He loves for Steven or me to take another train and follow his train. He says, "You can't catch me!!!"

Some pictures I took last week show much of Elise's personality right now...

"I'm just so cute, aren't I?!?"


*As a side note, Elise never meets a stranger. In the mall last week she found a new friend while we were pushing her around in the stroller. This new friend was an older woman with short hair. Elise kept saying hey to her, and she got a kick out of it. After this went on for quite a while, the lady said, "I know why she likes me. Neither one of us got any hair! Girl [she said to Elise], you know you got it goin' on when you ain't got no hair and you're still gorgeous!" :)

"I want whatever is on the counter!! And anything that I'm not supposed to have!! Because I'm 1 going on 21!"


"And if I don't get what I want, this is the face I make..."


"I love my wa-doo!!"


"And I love love love my pappy! Sometimes I even share it with you!"



Some of Elise's current phrases are:

Uh-oh baby!

I drop! (when she drops anything)

I read! (when she gets a book and sits by herself to read)

I wipe! (whenever she can get a hold of a wipe and she wipes her face with it.)

I like! (when she grabs something she likes, like a stuffed animal and hugs it.)

I rock! (after she climbs up into Isaac's rocker in his room and starts rocking herself. She doesn't really do this in her rocker yet.)

Where Leesy go? (Leesy is referring to herself, and she says this while playing peek-a-boo)
Where Daddy go? Where Idee go? Where Mommy go?... (she says this when anyone leaves the room.)

Hey Ba! Hey Nana! Hey Pawpaw! Hey Gi-gi! Hey Kati, Ray,... (and you get the picture. She says "Hey" to anyone she knows!)

HEY RIT! (while Isaac was watching Mr Rick cut the grass, she motioned from the pack-n-play that she wanted to watch too. I put her next to Isaac and she started yelling "HEY RIT! HEY RIT!" She knew it was Rick and she wanted him to hear her!)

We love you Leesy Jean!

So an extra pair of Isaac's pants were laying around...

...and the next thing I knew...


Creative and a fashionista!

You never let go... (video)

When we were in the mountains a couple weeks ago, Isaac and Steven played lots of music together, and "Never Let Go" by Matt Redman was one of the most frequently played songs. I got some of it on video here:



(the percussion in the background was contributed by Elise!)