Field Day

The boys and I got to attend Olivia's Dance Festival and Field Day at the end of the school year.  Her class did a Hula Dance which was adorable.  The boys and I showed up a little late to the Dance Festival and weren't able to get super great seats, but shortly after arriving Olivia was frantically waving me down.  I ran over to her to see what she needed and she told me we absolutely had to sit by Hallie's family because they were in the front row sitting exactly where Olivia's dance position was.  So, we sort of squashed ourselves into their row and totally benefitted from their being there early.

After the dance festival, they had a picnic lunch time for the families and their kids. 

Derek even showed up (I convinced him he should come have a picnic lunch with us as it also happened to be out anniversary 14 years--all we did to celebrate was go out to dinner, but it was great.  I packed him a special keto friendly lunch as he is still going strong with his keto diet--fruit, nuts, cheese and salami).

Then, the boys were invited to stay and play field games with Liv's class which they loved.  They seriously can't wait to go to kindergarten at Foothill next year and be in the same school as their sister and be part of all these fun traditions.  Liv's teacher did the cutest little beach relay where they kids had to run to one end with a bag full of beach stuff then lay down towel, put on hat, open a magazine to read, and pretend (so as not to spread germs) to sip from a strawed drink.  It was adorable watching all the kids do it. 


They also played duck duck goose...and a few other fun games.

The Expensive Free Couch

Mom and George decided to get some new couches and told us they planned to sell their old one unless we wanted it.  (Say what?  Do you want this couch that is nicer than any of the furniture in our house for free?  Why yes, yes we do.)  I would say that I would never pick out a white leather couch to go in my house with my kids, but who can say no to a free couch?  The biggest deal was picking it up somehow.  Derek, more anxious for the new couch than the rest of us, made a little guys weekend out of it with his friend Jamis and went to pick up the couch over Memorial Day weekend.  The only problem was once the couch arrived, I found it stuck out like a sore thumb in my kitchen of mostly black furniture and dark wood.  That of course led to a little memorial day furniture sale splurge on my part, we bought a new kitchen table and new barstools.


 I love the new barstools, the table looked so so good in our kitchen and tied in so well with the new couch and barstools, but even after a day in my house the table surface kept chipping and showing white spots underneath the gray surface with just normal daily use.  I realized immediately that this table would never do.  So, we exchanged it for a more sturdy table which I also like, but sadly I don't feel like it goes together with the couch and barstools as well. 

On a positive note, while Derek was arranging for the exchange at the mall RC Willey the boys and I ran into all sorts of fun super heros which was an unexpected bonus. 



We gave our old kitchen table which was one of 2 pieces of furniture Derek and I purchased as newlyweds to the new newlyweds in the family (Karlee and Tanner). 

The Foothill Spring Run Off

Every year Foothill does a fun run as a little fundraiser.  This year I signed the boys and I up to run in the 1K with Olivia.  They give you a t-shirt and it's tradition that the kids all bring markers to sign each others shirts.  I went to Target the night before to buy Olivia a fabric pen, but they only came in a set of 12, so I bought two sets.  Liv and I tied little notes to each pen that said: "Thanks for making 1st Grade Fantastic!!! Love, Olivia," and she gave one to each of the kids in her class.

Her little class looked so cute--all of them in their signed t-shirts ready to run. 
The boys were so excited for the race all day and proudly sported their t-shirts.  They were also excited for Martha Riley to run with them.


 Liv and Hallie of course were inseparable the whole time until the race started and Hallie zoomed off.  Of course they found each other again after the race. 

Hallie ended taking 3rd place for the first grade girls! 

After the race each of the kids got chocolate milk, and they had a DJ there throwing a little dance party before the awards ceremony.  Willy the UVU mascott was there signing t-shirts so all the kids waiting in line to have him sign their shirt. 

I let Carter, Camden, and Martha play at the school park for a while until we headed home.

The End of Preschool

The boys preschool ended like two weeks before Liv's school does.  This week we found ourself with two full days with not a thing on the schedule.  I'm not good and just lounging around the house and enjoying down time.  So the first day, we invited literally 12 people to meet us at the park for a picnic and no one could, so we went by ourselves to Discovery Park in Pleasant Grove.  My kids call this the wooden park and love to play there, but it's a little drive, so we don't go often.  We packed a lunch, brought the dog.  I brought a book and sat on a blanket while the kids alternated playing and coming back for food and to give London pets.  Camden is such the socializer.  He made friend with all the kids his age at the park and had this little gang that he just kept adding to the entire time we were there.

The boys had preschool graduation this week.  It was adorable.  They sang some cute songs and then each kid got a little diploma and got to walk the isle and at the end they all got to throw their hats in the air.  They have learned so much this year...all their letters and sounds, how to read, how to write their first and last name, numbers 1-20 (maybe more) and can almost count to 100.  Camden is obsessed with this girl named Boston in his class.  He calls her Bosty and she calls him Camdy.  He has been begging me to set up a play date with her, but the last few months have been so crazy that it felt like too much effort to me.  After graduation, he just wanted to follow her around and take pictures with her. 

Grandma and Grandpa came and gave the kids balloons after that said congrats graduate to their delight. 


They sent home a little folder with some of their work and this cute picture of what they want to be when they grow up.  Carter saying he wanted to be a missionary just made me heart so happy.  Sometimes I get little inclinations that we are teaching them the right things. 

Camden said he wanted to be a builder (though that's new to me--I thought it was "a package delivery man, fireman and police man...and Mom?  how many things can I be?)"

This a picture of them with Miss Valerie who has had all 3 of my kids in preschool (Liv for 2 years).  I am sort of sad to say goodbye to kids village.  It has played a major roll in my helping all my kids "grow up".  And I found myself brushing away tears and we said goodbye to Miss Valerie and Kids Village.

To celebrate preschool graduation, we picked Liv up and checked her out for lunch and I took all the kids to the Bounce House.  It was a fun little middle of the day adventure.


Also now that school is out, the boys and I discovered that hang time orem has preschool hours every day from 9-11.  It's only $5 per kid for the boys to jump on trampolines to their hearts content and off of ropes into sponge pits.  They were in heaven.  I wish I had discovered it earlier in the year!  Then, we had lunch at IN-N-OUT which Camden read all by himself as we were walking up.  We sat outside because it was such a nice day. 

Then, we came home and have been watching the broadway version of Newsies together while I blog.

How We Filled the Spring

For some reason the boys came home from school one day and begged me to kiss their cheeks with lipstick:

The boys begged me to let them take ice skating lessons again.  The last few times, I have signed them up, I spend the majority of class trying to get them back on the ice.  However, they had no trouble this go and improved a bunch.  They have one more class to pass off before they can take a hockey class.  They really want to take a hockey class.  The last 15 minutes of every class was free time and they spent a good portion of that time at the back wall watching the hockey players.

I hosted book club for a book which took place in England, so I used it as an excuse to host a tea party which was really quite fun.  I think that party needs to be repeated.

Pi Day was the day right after the big tea party and I had all these left over berries, so on a whim I made a triple berry pie.

I never grew up with Leprechauns coming to my house, but have decided to succumb to what I guess are societal norms now.  I had to work early on St. Patty's Day in surgery, so the night before I laid out little construction paper rainbow trails to pots (like pot and pan pots) filled with gold coins and some painting activities for each of the kids.  And I drew little Leprechaun foot prints all over the kitchen and knocked over the chairs.  The kids loved it of course.

I got a crack out of the excessive amount of fingers Camden drew on his picture of him as a missionary that he brought home from church one day.

The boys are getting much easier at the grocery store.  I don't even really mind having to go with them anymore.  One day they asked me to put them in this pink car cart, but Carter was too embarrassed to smile for my picture.

Olivia made this map pf a town (Megandia) one day when I was working and Megan was babysitting.  Complete with sushy, target, zoopas, a fire station and phone store.

Olivia had been begging me for going on two months to let her cut bangs.  I resisted and resisted because I didn't think they would look good and would be such a pain to take care of.  But, I finally decided that I control so much of her life and that this was something she was big enough to make a decision about on her own.  And worst case scenario, if she hated them it was just hair and would grow back.  But, the bangs actually turned out really cute.  In fact, her cute new do inspired both he Aunt Benazir and Babi to cut their bangs.  And her hair is so straight that even if she goes to be with wet hair, as long as you brush the bangs down before hand, they lay perfectly straight in the morning.  The only annoyance is having the trim them more frequently.

Our yard is looking great this spring.

I think this is a foreshadow of what the summer holds for us.  Loads of kids at our place every day.

Teacher Nance got a new puppy.  She's quite the hit when the kids are getting their haircut these days.

The boys are starting to have an opinion about how they do their hair.  They were asked to sing at Belair one day and kicked me out of the bathroom while they spiffed up.  They sang Gethsemane and Praise to the Man with Braksen Davis.  Kassie and I sang too to help hold the tune, but honestly they did great, and I mostly cried through all of Gethsemane ("Gethsemane...Jesus loves me"...sung by 3 sweet 5 year old boys with do that to you).

We have the garden mostly planted and of course thanks to Derek is is thriving.  I have already harvest broccoli and the lettuce and kale is ready too.

One super hot spring day, the kids begged me to fill the pool so I did and we had all the neighborhood over playing in the water and lounging in the sun.

Liv had Hallie over for a playdate one day and insisted that Grandma come too and teach Hallie how to make her famous gram cracker covered bananas.

Liv came home with this paper from school stating that if she could choose one family member to hang out with it would be Aunt Kylie because she's super cool and they could go shopping with their other Aunt Benazir because they're super cool.

I caught the boys in the car the other day taking turns listening to each others hearts beeping.

This was the boys dressed up as dogs for one of their puppet shows during Let's Play Music class:

Here's cute Carter enjoying this fort that he built himself with the supplies Aunt Kylie gave them.

Derek announced that he was going to go hiking one night this week all by himself.  I didn't love that idea.  He said he'd bring the dog then both boys begged to go with him.  He wasn't sure they would lend well to getting much exercise and warned them that if they came they had to walk the whole way...he was not going to carry them.  He came home pleasantly surprised at what good hikers they were and said they are ready for big boy hikes.

We Survived Another Soccer Season

We survived another soccer season.  The wagon Derek got for Christmas came in handy!

Camden was quite competitive and aggressive (in a good and bad way--good as you want an aggressive player, bad in that at time his aggressiveness came out in the form of literally tackling other players from behind).  Carter is a super fast runner and could beat almost anyone up the field and seemed to enjoy playing, but he rarely touched the ball with his foot.   He did score one goal this season and was pretty thrilled by that.  I was totally laughing at Derek who stepped in to coach one Saturday when the boys coach was out of town.  He pulled the boys into a huddle and said, "Ok boys what do we do when the ball is by us?"  They all looked at him with blank stares.  "We kick it!  Kick the ball boys."  he says coaching 5 year old soccer is worse than coaching t-ball.

Here is Liv's team after their last game.  She played with her friend Hallie and Lennon which was fun.   Liv is a good little soccer player and generally scored one goal every game (or sometimes 7).

Ode to London

I say it all the time, but London is the best dog ever.  She puts up with so much "love" from the kids.  Currently, as I type Carter is lying on her.  She makes a good pillow.  I thought I would write a post dedicated to her and post a few of the pics I've taken recently.  Here she is sporting a shell necklace Carter decorated her with.

The other day the boys were wrestling as usual in the front room and took no care to not land on and kick London on accident during their wrestling match.  London didn't complain other than to just relocate herself to under the piano bench where she a little more of a protective barrier.

Despite at times being tortuous, they really do love this dog and look out for comfort.  However, I did not really appreciate them comforting her with my decorated couch pillows.

The weather is warming up, so naturally all the kids are out riding their bikes and playing in the yard most all of the day.  This is dog has been so happy to be outside with all the neighborhood kids enjoying the outdoors. I've started letting her just hang out in the front yard with us while the kids ride bikes up and down the street.  She gets so excited every time I leave the door open for her to follow us out there.

We took her to the park with us the other day, and she was quite the hit.  Every kid (and adults too) wanted to pet her.  She loved all the attention.