Allie's 1st Pigtails

Ready or not we have hit another major milestone! Allie has enough hair for pigtails!!!

Allie, like her older siblings, is rather expressive especially when it comes to facial expressions. She is just bursting with personality!  Allie has also discovered her "GROOVE!"  Whenever music plays she can totally shake what her Mama gave her. I will have to take a video and post it.

Happy Father's Day!

There is nothing like a little lov'in on Father's day from your girls!  Well it might feel more like being mulled! Oh well you get what you get right!? 

We had a little scavenger hunt. I had each of the kids hide a clue that would lead Jason to his Father's Day gift.

(yes my scrapbook room was that messy!)

I actually bought two Croquet sets. I cheap set for the kids to use with smaller handles and balls and a nice adult set with longer handles and larger balls. This way when we have people over to play we have plenty of mallets for everyone.  Genius I know- Thanks Shelly!

Of course we had to go play a game out in the blistering wonderful sun!

Seriously watching Kassie try to hit her ball with her mallet was hilarious!!! I have more pictures but I will only post this one.

Ok, one more I couldn't help myself.

Brock's Belated Birthday Gift

Brock returned from his week long visit to his Grammy's house to find a belated birthday present from his GREAT Uncle Denny on his bed. 

 

He was so excited to open it!

 He of course had to try it out right away!

The girls like it too!

Mikele starts Piano

Mikele has been anxiously waiting for summer so that she could start taking piano lessons.  I had told her she needed to finish kindergarten before she could start.  Mikele practices a few times each day without being asked (I am sure it won't last but I will enjoy it while it does).  My friend Shaunna England is her teacher. If you are in need of an amazing piano teacher let me know and I will give you Shaunna's contact information. She is great!

Water Fun- for Uncle Denny

Note to self: Don't tell your kids anything that you don't want them to remember for LIFE!

Ok, now that I have that written down let me tell you the story. (there is always a good story behind every life lesson).  My kids have been anxiously waiting to pull out the swimming pool and play in the water. I told them that it would not be warm enough until after my birthday. Well apparently in their minds that means rain or shine after my birthday they can play in the water. Sadly Cache Valley has been a little slow on the arrival of summer and it has been raining almost every day! That didn't stop my kids! The moment it stopped raining the sun started to shine they had their swimming suits on and were out playing in the water. Don't let the pictures deceive you. It looks warm but when they came in they were cold and requesting hot chocolate.

Uncle Denny- this was the pool you bought the kids on your last visit that you said I never posted pictures of. Here you go. Better late then never right?! ;)

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yes that is right folks, I am 30!!!! I know don't I make it look good. Who would not want to be 30? LOL!!!! I always tease Jason that my birthday is a week long event that starts 7 days before the actual day and ends 7 days after. This year I wasn't kidding. I had little surprises all week long then on the actual day of my birthday Jason surprised me with a scheduled massage and shopping all afternoon, just the 2 of us. (Thanks Calvin for watching the kids!) Then as a family we went to dinner at the Olive Garden. After dinner we came home for presents and ice cream cake. (I am so spoiled!)

What is in that huge box? A new bike trailer! Yippee!!

Toasty!

Did I mention that my birthday is a week long event? Well on the first Saturday in June, Jason organized a surprise birthday party for me! Thank you to all the great friends who were able to come. It was so fun to enjoy the fabulous barbecue, wonderful weather, great company and yummy cake!

Thank you, Thank you to all my friends and family for the wonderful gifts and birthday greetings!!! I am so blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life!

Maximizing Your December Birthday.

  Mikele really does have a good thing going.  With a December birthday it is not very conducive to those summer outdoor gifts like water toys.  So when Mikele needs a new bike she basically ends up with an un-birthday gift.  The second problem is that Mikele and Brock are basically the same height and weight despite their 2 1/2 year age difference so there isn't the option of passing bikes down.
  Mikele was so funny when we got her new bike home. She kept telling me "Mom, you can go get the camera and take my picture if you want!" So as a good obedient Mom I did. Enjoy!

Oh and if I take pictures of one daughter then I must take pictures of all my daughters!

Piano Recital

Brock had his semi annual piano recital on the 23rd of May. He played two pieces: "The Fly and the Bumblebee" and "Reindeer Rock" both by Jane Smisor Bastien. He did an amazing job! As an added bonus, Caitlin, Jared and their girls and Grammy were able to attend the recital. Here is a quick video for those of you who were unable to attend.

End of School Year Interviews

My friend Kim did these end of school interviews with her kids and posted them on her blog.  I thought it was a cute idea so I am "bloglifting" and going to do the same thing. The first photo was taken on the first day of school. The second photo was taken at the end of the school year.

 

End-of-Year Interview with Mikele:

About School...
Who was your teacher? Mrs. Allgood
What was she like? Best Teacher I had in kindergarten and super nice!
What did you learn? plus and minus

What was your favorite thing to do in school? Be with Mrs. Allgood
What was your favorite snack? the crackers that had letters on them
What is your favorite book? Five Little Monkey's
What are you looking forward to about next year? A good teacher that Mrs. Allgood picked.

About Her...
What do you want to be when you grow up? "I haven't thought about that"
What kind of car will you drive one day? "I don't know. A van maybe?"
What do you like to do for fun? Play with Ade
What are you going to do this summer? Play outside in the water and go to Disney World!

About Her Friends...
Who are your friends? Ade, Danica, Jaycie and Christa
Who is your best friend? Ade
What do you play together? Marbles in the classroom.

Now for Brock. . .

End-of-Year Interview with Brock:

About School...
Who was your teacher? Mrs. K
What was she like? Best Teacher
What did you learn? How to divide big numbers.

What was your favorite thing to do in school? Math
What was your favorite school lunch? Pizza

What is your favorite book? Percy Jackson and the Olympians series
What are you looking forward to about next year? Learning something new.

About Him ...
What do you want to be when you grow up? A teacher and work at Westhost.
What kind of car will you drive one day? A 4 wheeler

What do you like to do for fun? Play the Wii and play with Sean
What are you going to do this summer? Play with my friends and go to DISNEY WORLD!

About His Friends...
Who are your friends? Sean and Dixson
Who is your best friend? Sean
What do you play together? Weird games. We never name them.

Kindergarten Graduation!

What? The school year is over! YIPEEEE!!!! Ok sorry I love summer vacation and have been chanting that old song ". . . no more school no more books no more teachers dirty looks!" Back to the purpose of this post.  Mikele graduated kindergarten on the 26th of May.  She was asked to dress up for the graduation ceremony and thank goodness she had afternoon kindergarten because it took her all morning to decide what dress to wear.  I think she changed at least 3 times! I also did this really cool hair style from my book.

The program started with both of the afternoon classes singing a selection of songs they had learned through out the year.  They did a great job and looked so cute with their little graduation caps! Then they had a slide show that recapped the year.

It was finally time to graduate! Each child was called up onto the stage.  It is almost Mikele's turn!

Mrs. Allgood (her teacher) presented her graduation certificate and congratulating her.

The principal also congratulated her.

I DID IT!!! With flying colors if I may add.

Now lets take pictures with some of my friends!

It will be fun to see if these same girls graduate high school together and how they have changed!

One last photo with Mikele's amazing teacher! I could not have asked for a better teacher for Mikele. I hope the rest of my girls have her.

"I came for the cookies!"

"I don't know why I am here." j/k