Maggie finally figured out shoe tying last night. To be fair/honest, this isn’t a skill we’d spent a lot of time working on because there are so many cute non-tie options for her. (Well, that and because I don’t have a lot of patience when it comes to teaching shoe tying.)

But last night she decided she wanted to try again and figured it out really fast. She asked me to take a video of it. She was so nervous she wasn’t going to be able to do it when I was recording – but she did.

Maggie is (rightfully) very proud of herself.

A few weeks ago, Maggie started taking riding lessons with Aunt Amanda.

She absolutely loves riding Leah (but honestly I think she likes the one-on-one time with her aunt even more).

I love that Amanda is making sure Maggie learns about, and helps with, the work involved in caring for horses too.

Maggie overheard a friend’s mom talking about how students at the local equestrian club have logoed polo shirts they wear, so I decided to surprise Maggie with one of her own.

The boots are on loan from Aunt Amanda, they were hers when she was a little girl. I think it’s pretty special that she lets Maggie use them (and so does Mags).

The kids had their last day of school last week.

For comparison, here are their first day pictures. This is the first year that Luke had a birthday during the school year! In Ohio, he was always done with school in May.

Annie turned four on Saturday.

We surprised her with a tea party.

She was thrilled to be “twinsies” with Maggie and Lydia.

Their dolls were invited too.

There was a lot of twirling and giggling.

Crafts, manicures, and fashion shows.

And yummy treats served by their fantastic waiter, Luke.

He dressed up “fancy,” in a flannel shirt and jeans with a towel over his arm, and spoke in an accent. It was so cute.

Later that night more family showed up for dinner, presents, and cake. She looks a little sad in this picture (she had just bonked her nose on the counter).

She loved having everyone sing to her.

It was a great day.

Luke turned ten this past week!

He’s such an awesome, kind, considerate kid. Luke really has the biggest heart of anyone I know. He’s got a pretty fantastic sense of humor too. He’s just an all-around amazing guy.

Adam and I went out to lunch on Saturday, just the two of us. It was the first time since last February that he’d been in a restaurant. (The second time for me since Maggie and I had lunch together the weekend before.)

Apparently he’s aged. For the first time ever, they didn’t offer him a kid’s menu.

I loved the one-on-one time with Adam and am looking forward to more outings with him.

Maggie was super excited to see these cookies while we were out shopping.

Of course we had to buy them, since they had her name on them.

The kids started soccer again yesterday (except Annie, she just borrowed a jersey from Mags).

I love watching them play and it was so nice to get a little bit of “normal” back.

All three of them did really well and had fun too.

As for Annie, she did a fantastic job spectating for four hours.

She’s already asked when she can play soccer.

These girls love a good craft or art project.

Annie was “painting” pictures (you just add water).

And Maggie was decorating a wooden jewelry box she got for her birthday (thanks Aunt Lo!).

I am a big fan of their art smocks.