Summer Fun

Have you noticed how it's been months since I posted? This summer has been crazy busy, in fact I feel like I missed it somehow and now we are back in school. But this past week I ran into two old friends separately and randomly, who both said that they keep in touch with me through my blog. So, it's for all my fun old friends that don't already know what our family has been up to, that I post today. (plus, I'm sitting in the hospital getting IV therapy and have some time on my hands right now.)
One of our faves of the summer was swim lessons. I was so impressed with how much my kids learned his year! Last summer it seemed like they just played games, but now they can both swim. Anna can even swim all the way from one end of my parent's pool to the other! Eve and I enjoyed hanging out with our neighbor friends on the poolside while the big girls took their lessons.

Everything about Kate is happy. This kid loves to play, to swim, to cuddle.... basically she loves everything life has to offer.

Here's Anna jumping off the diving board. This is a major deal because last year she was too afraid and just sat at the edge of the pool. Now, it's hard to keep her from jumping in anytime, anywhere. She doesn't even need anyone to catch her any more, she just jumps in and swims herself to the side of the pool. Our Anna is growing up fast!

One night while I was at Relief Society Trav took the kids to the store to buy a slip'n'slide. They love it! Especially Travis!

Our sweet Kate turned 5! This is a photo of all the kids at her bday party. She wanted a Tball party, because she loved playing Tball this summer. She had lots of fun little friends come do Tball and water games that day.

One table full of little munchers.

Anna lost her first tooth! It was so funny because she didn't even realize it was loose, and one day while she was getting out of the car I noticed her teeth looked yucky. I went to scrape some off the tartar off to show her that she needed to brush better and her tooth wiggled like crazy! She worked on it all day and it was out that night! Anna wrote a letter to the Tooth Fairy that said "You can have my tooth if you give me a dollar." Hmmm. The next day she kept bugging me to tell her whether the Tooth Fairy was real, or if it was just me sneaking in her room late at night. I kept putting her off because we were always with her sisters, but finally I just took her aside and gave her the whole truth. She didn't seem too upset by the news, so I'm guessing someone else had spilled the beans.
I feel like Anna has grown up so much the past few months. She loves riding her bike and scooter and trying out new tricks. She even gets to ride her bike to/from school-- how big is that? Anna wanted a Taylor Swift CD and worked for weeks to earn the money to buy it. She now pulls it out, puts the CD player on her bedroom floor, and just lays on the floor next to it listening to her music. It's such a teenager thing to do! And she's only 6!!

We loved playing at the Spanish Fork splash pad. I love kids' faces when they get water shot at them. We only managed one time at the splash pad this summer because the weather has been so weird, but it was definitely a blast!

Tuppence, Tuppence, Tuppence A Bag.....

One of the perks of being me is that I occasionally write for www.utahmama.com and they often times hook me up with cool stuff. So, this week I get to go to Mary Poppins at the Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake with my little Anna, all courtesy of UtahMama. The only thing I have to do is let you all know about this awesome deal they are doing for their opening weekend--- all tickets are Buy One, Get One Free.

So it ends up like this:

Off the following Regular Price tickets =

Thur, Sept 1 = $62.50 & $42.50

§  9/1 mat Original price $62.50 = with offer $31.25$42.50 = $21.25

§  9/3 eve$85 = $42.50
$65 = $32.50

§  9/4 mat$85=$42.50
$65 = $32.50

§  9/4 eve$75=$37.50
$55= $27.50

 

Link = http://www.arttix.org/tickets/production.aspx?performanceNumber=6530

 

Code "UtahMama"

You got that? Buy One, Get One Free. This weekend only.

I've never seen Mary Poppins as a play, but I know that we will have a blast having a little mommy/daughter date at such a fancy theater. Ah, the memories of going to Capitol Theatre with my mom when I was a little girl. We would go see The Nutcracker and I loved getting dressed up for the occasion. I'm so happy to have a little show buddy of my own now!

And, I'm sure it will be an amazing performance. This is a traveling Broadway cast so you know they've got talent. 

So, if you want to join us, buy your tickets for Friday night's performance. We had to go with Friday night because the big BYU game is on Saturday and Trav wasn't sure if he could watch the other two girls and watch football at the same time. We have our priorities around here, you know. :)

Lessons from the first week of school

The end of the first week of school. Here are the two responses I got from my girls, so incredibly descriptive of their personalities.

Me: How was school today?
Kate: (gives me a thumbs down signal)
Me: Uh-oh. What happened? (followed by much coaxing to get her to talk to me.)
Kate: It's all about the penny jars.
Me: Like the penny jars where your table works to earn a prize?
Kate: Yeah. The blue team won. My team didn't win because there's this kid named Josiah at my table and he keeps being naughty. (starts to cry, real tears) Mom, it's not fair. All the rest of us worked so hard.

Bless her sweet little soul. There's no way in a million years that Kate would ever be naughty at school and I'm sure that all week long she's been thinking about how her team would win the penny jar prize. I explained to her that some kids have a hard time adjusting to kindergarten, and that Josiah will probably shape up soon. Apparently one of the other lessons (life lessons) of school is learning that sometimes you don't win, even if you do your best. Which is a sad lesson to learn, but a necessary one.

Me: How was your day at school?
Anna: Good. We had our spelling test.
Me: How did that go?
Anna: Good. I think I got an A+, but she has to grade them over the weekend and hand them back on Monday.
Me: Okay.
Anna: I really hope I got an A+. So that I can get into BYU.

This kid is such a perfectionist when it comes to school! She freaks out if she makes a mistake on her homework and has to erase or start over. She really is quite smart, which is good, but I hope she doesn't give herself an ulcer if she ever misses a word on a spelling test. And, how funny is it that she's already worrying about getting into BYU? I'm pretty sure that not even Harvard is selective enough to care about your grade on the first spelling test of first grade!

I love these two, and I miss them while they are at school each day. What a blessing to have such sweeties in my life!

PS-- I did take pictures of Kate on her first day, but I can't find the cord to download the ones on my camera to the computer. Bummer about living in a remodeling life.

Graduation Day

 May was the crazy busiest month! I think it might take me another month just to catch up!
One of the highlights of our month was when both our girls had their graduation celebrations. Both were held on the same day which was a little convenient for our family that drove down from Salt Lake.
First off, this dear little baby lamb was in the field we passed each day on the way to Anna's school. Oh, how I miss that beautiful drive! I had to stop and take a picture of this little guy because he was so adorable.

 This is Anna with Mrs. Burgi, her teacher. She is an angel on earth. Anna just worshipped her and learned so much from her. We miss Mrs. Burgi and have big plans to go visit her some day. Anna's graduation ceremony was so sweet; I couldn't believe how grown up she has become. I loved hearing her sing the "Star Spangled Banner" and making funny faces during the "I'm Going to First Grade" song. How can she be this big already?

 This is our family at Kate's graduation that night. She looked adorable and happy to be up the stage singing for us. Kate got the Excellence in Reading award because she is such a great reader. I'm really proud of this girl and all she has learned!!

Kate with her teacher, Miss Heather. She has taught my two oldest girls and has been awesome. The girls felt so loved and special from her attention.

Good Luck, Little Buddy

Much to our delight, we found out we are having a baby BOY! Everyone in the family is so excited to meet this new member of our family and to love him to pieces. We've started collecting boy clothes and blankets, are planning on closing off our loft to make a room for him, and are even planning ahead by getting Eve a red tricycle for her Bday instead of pink, just so Little Brother can use it one day without shame.
Unfortunately, the reality is this.

 All I can say is, Good Luck Little Buddy. You've got a whole lot of girly-ness to contend with.

Just a thought

As I was getting ready for our Activity Days Mother/Daughter night, I came across this quote and loved it. I'm posting it here so that I can hopefully remember it.

President Spencer W. Kimball said, “Let us remember, too, that greatness is not always a matter of the scale of one’s life, but of the quality of one’s life. True greatness is not always tied to the scope of our tasks, but to the quality of how we carry out our tasks whatever they are. In that attitude, let us give our time, ourselves, and our talents to the things that really matter now, things which will still matter a thousand years from now.”

And this:
“‘How carefully [our parents] nurtured our tender feelings about ourselves! When the early years of striving to master musical instruments brought discouragement and possible failure into view, we were reinforced regularly by the positive, firm assurance that our Daddy and Mother thought we made the most beautiful music this side of heaven. When those awkward adolescent years were upon us, with their insecurities and daily threats to self-esteem, we were constantly reminded that Mother and Daddy loved us and that they were convinced that we were the loveliest, most charming young women they had ever seen. Wise parents that they were, they must have known that if they placed those images before us, we would strive to be what they wanted us to be, and what they knew we could become’”- Helen Lee Goates, daughter of President and Sister Harold B. Lee

A few things to consider about owning a dog

In case any of you are considering getting a dog, I feel it my duty to warn you:

It will be YOU who has to clean up poop, puke, and any other mess in the house from the dog.
It will be YOU who has to pick dog hair off all your clothes, dishes, couches.
It will be YOU vacuuming 5 times a week to get rid of said dog hair.
It will be YOU who gets woken up from a nap because your dog is barking at the birds outside. Or the neighbor kids. Or the wind. Or nothing at all.
It will be YOU who can't get flowers to grow outside because your dog digs them up.
It will be YOU chasing your dog all over the neighborhood.
It will be YOU who drives an hour each time you go out of town so that your dog can have a babysitter.
It will be YOU who forsakes getting your own hair cut so that instead you can spend the money on a bark collar, dog food, or grooming.
It will be YOU cleaning up muddy paw prints off the kitchen floor, scratch marks off your walls, and doggy nose wipes off your car windows.
It will be YOU who exhausts herself cleaning the carpets on Tuesday only to come down Wednesday and see that the dog has, yet again, pooped inside.

It will be YOU who threatens to give the dog away, only to watch your children collapse in crying. Why, Mommy, why, would you give away the dog?