Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day!
We celebrated Father's Day with Josh's family on Saturday, June 16th.  We had a BBQ and enjoyed hanging out together.
We all went in on a big gift for Dad~ a fire pit!
He was pleasantly surprised. (:
Smore's supplies to go with it!
The Original Ruddick Five
I caught Grandpa playing with his new Kindle (;
My handsome husband--and the best Daddy to our boys!
The kids came up with a fun game using the cardboard & packing supplies from the fire pit.
The next morning we let Daddy sleep in for Father's Day, and we served him a nice breakfast in the backyard before heading off to church.
Josh & his boys (:
We gave him some new BBQ tools and tiki torches from each of the boys.
After church we enjoyed a nice dinner at my parents house and celebrated all the dads: Papa, Dave (Aaron's dad), Josh, Aaron, & Kenton.
It was so quiet in the family room, so I checked on the kids and this is what I saw. (;
Sadie & Griffin were playing dog & owner.  I guess Griffin was the doggy. (:
Papa with his three daughters
(We got to see Erik the day before!)
Father & Son
(It was nice that Dave joined us for lunch.  Aaron's mom had just passed away four days earlier...) ):
Just the dads
(Kenton left early to go to a movie with his dad)
Gifts & Cards for Papa
An attempt to get all the grandkids in a picture with Papa...
Happy Father's Day to each of the wonderful dads in our lives!  We are so blessed!

Monday, July 2, 2012

End of School!

We did it!  We made it through another school year! Ronan did an awesome job in 2nd grade at BV.  It was his toughest year so far, with lots of homework, projects, and public speaking, but he worked hard and did a great job!  He improved significantly in reading and speaking (in Spanish), and learned a lot about writing stories (again, in Spanish).  
We are very proud of you, Ronan!  Your favorite teacher, the wonderful Sra. Long, says that you are a friend to everyone in your class!  You are helpful, considerate, and fun to be around.  
Griffin had an excellent year of pre-kindergarten at GCP! He, too, had an awesome teacher (Miss Janelle), who challenged the kids in their reading & writing.  Griffin did a great job at learning sight words, reading books, and writing words & sentences!  He always tries his best, and is very diligent and precise in his work.  
We are so proud of you, Griffin!  It has been so fun for us to watch you grow and develop into a confident boy.  You are sweet, creative, and funny...and you have really good ideas. (: We know you will do great next year in kindergarten!
~ a flower for his teacher
Flashback: Here they are on the first day of school back in September (;
Grace Community Preschool put on a graduation/promotion program for all the parents.  Griffin got a diploma for finishing pre-kindergarten!  It was so special for Griffin to have three of his cousins in class with him this year!
Proud Mama
with cousins, Ethan & Macey
with cousin Finley
All of the graduates got a cookie with their name on it.
with Memaw & Papa
with Grammie (:
Goofy Boys (;