Wednesday Highlights (Last Week of School)

I really loved going to Jenny's end of year awards assembly. She and a bunch of her friends had been working on a dance to perform for it. She was 1 out of 4 in 7th grade who were invited to be in the 8th grade dance. She came home everyday so excited because she was working so hard to do her best. And it paid off because she was invited to be on the front row. She did awesome. I was proud of her. She's got the cutest body and she really knows how to shake it :)

I loved having the kids come running in from school with their yearbooks and plopping themselves down at the table to look at them. They studied every page and laughed and commented about everything to each other. . . sharing stories and "remember whens. . . "

It was our first year doing the Hershey track meet and Katy was old enough to participate. She ran her heart out and qualified for district. She may have found something new she loves. It was a beautiful day to spend 3 hours at a track meet . . . perfect weather!

It was so late when we got done at the track meet . . . Bret surprised us with a quick trip for a smothered burrito . . . it was heavenly.

Tuesday Highlight (Last Week of School)

With no homework this week, we had a little extra time for other things. Katy decided to sell eggs. We had 6 dozen fresh eggs from the chickens and they needed to be sold. She packed them up in her wagon with a blanket underneath so they wouldn't break. She grabbed a water bottle in case they got thirsty. Shawn jumped on his wiggle racer and together they headed out to sell.

Katy was so brave and responsible. She wasn't sure if Shawn would make it very far but she said she would help him if he needed it.

I love how excited and confident she gets to sell the eggs. She is a hard worker and great big sister.

Monday Highlight (Last week of School)

Tyler's class invited all the parents who helped in the classroom this year, to come for a "thank-you" party. We each got a loaf of Great Harvest bread and a thank you note signed by all the kids. It has been so much fun to be in both Katy and Tyler's classrooms this year. I love getting to know each of the kids in their classes and helping them with different things.

I love hearing them yell "Hi, Tyler's Mom" or "Hi, Katy's Mom" when they see me around town or outside the school. I feel blessed to have been able to help in the classes this year. I have a spot in my heart for each of those kids. They are all darling.

Easter 2011

Happy Easter . . . a little late . . .

but at least you don't have to look at David G. anymore

or listen to the birthday song :)

We love you all!

Happy Day!

Hoof or Heel?

We discovered some "Mr. Incredible" socks in Shawn's closet last night. With Shawn having a new craze for being like Dash, he was so excited to wear them. He put them on all by himself and climbed into bed.

The first thing he said to me this morning when he woke up was,

"Look Mom! Mr. Incredible's face is on my Hoof!"

I tried to convince him that it's called a Heel not a Hoof.

But he's determined that he's right so . . . Hoof it is.

First Swim Meet of the Year

Tyler had his first meet of the year at the Provo Pool and he did awesome! It was so fun to see how much he's improved over the last several months.

While we were waiting for Tyler's turn, Ty asked Bret to write "Eat my Bubbles" on his back with a pen. Bret agreed . . . only he wrote his own little message. It took Tyler awhile to figure out what we were all laughing about.

Ty swam in two events this time . . . 50 Freestyle and 50 Breaststroke. He swam the 50 freestyle first and beat his time by 5 seconds. I wish I had a video of him when he climbed out of the pool. He was so excited! He was jumping up and down and yelling "YES". It was so fun to see his reaction. He beat his "50 Breaststroke" time by 3 seconds too.

I'm so proud of Tyler and the hard work he has put into his swimming. Beating your times at a meet makes all the hard work worth it. Way to go Bud!

Field Trip with a Buddy

Shawn had a field trip coming up and Katy was dying . . . she wanted to go so bad!

So I checked her out of school a little early and she came with us to the Orem Library. These two are the cutest buddies. They held hands all the way in.

We couldn't pass up the spiral "Rapunzel" stairs out front. Katy was so excited to show them to Shawn and yelled "Rapunzel, Rapunzel! Let your hair down."

The story glass window is always so fun to look at. We found lots of fairy tale stories . . . lots of favorites.

Shawn followed the librarian on a little tour . . .

. . . and then listened quietly to the stories

We have so many memories of this field trip . . . each one of the kids got to go when they were in preschool. It was fun to have Katy come with us. She was so excited to be a part of it with Shawn.

Jenny's Next Phase of Braces

Jenny has had her braces on for a little over a year, and her teeth are looking beautiful. They all look perfectly straight. But now it's time for the next phase of work on her mouth.

Jenny got this new appliance put on her teeth that is permanent and it looks so uncomfortable. It's call a Herbst. It's like a giant hinge that is built to pull her bottom jaw forward so it doesn't sit back so far.

She climbed in the car and took one look at her mouth and started to cry. I told her "Poop! You got this jaw problem from me." But she took a deep breath and was brave from there on out. 8 months with this thing seems long, but it will be over before we know it and then we will be homeward bound.

Bedtime Stories

I tucked Shawn in bed and was ready to read the book he had chosen. He told me we were going to read 2 stories tonight . . . one book and one Book of Mormon story without a book. This was news to me so I went with the safest one I had from memory.

After telling Shawn a little bit about Lehi and his family. . . specifically Laman and Lemuel and how they were always complaining when their Dad asked them to do anything . . . Shawn had a really concerned look. He said that if he were in that family, he would punch Laman and Lemuel in the face

(and he demonstrated a punch in the air).

I told him we wouldn't want to do that because it wouldn't be very nice. We should just ask them to be nice and not complain so much.

He listened to what I said and then put his hand over his mouth and giggled saying,

"I like my way better."

Shots or no Shots?

Well . . .

Bret said, "Yes" to flu shots this year

I said, "Hmm . . . Maybe not. . ."

and . . .

we didn't get them.

So, now we have the flu . . . Poop!

These little eyes tell me throughout the day how they are feeling at the moment. Every once in awhile I see a little sparkle, and then the fever hits again and they kind of glaze over. We've been through tons of medicine, and it looks like we are going to need some more for awhile.

But I count my lucky stars all day that these little bodies aren't so little anymore. I know that we are are big enough to fight hard, and soon it will all be over.