Let's Get This Party Started!

June first marked the first day of summer break after the first year of school for our first born.  That's a lot of firsts, which, in my humble opinion, warranted a celebration.  My kids love balloons (don't they all?), so we had balloon partay!  Brian and I surprised the kids by blowing up 100 balloons the night before to cover our family room floor.  They had a blast!  It proved to provide hours and hours, and even days of entertainment.  The kids were happy and the unused play room stayed clean, which made me quite happy :o)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kindergarten Graduation

 

On May 30th, Ashlyn graduated from kindergarten!  I'll be honest in saying that I wasn't so sure about her teacher at the beginning of the year.  She was a new teacher to the school and so I wasn't able to get any opinions about her from other parents.  She seemed a little disorganized (I think from just changing schools) and Ashlyn came home with one to many sack puppets.  But, I really came to appreciate her and I ended up being quite impressed with her teaching methods. She was very education driven and did so much to teach her students and advance them in reading and math.  I also loved that she did a graduation program.  It was so cute, complete with graduation hats made by the kids.  They sang songs, showed off their counting skills, and presented a special gift to their parents.  Ms. Gammon gave each student a personalized award - Ashlyn received the 'Best Singer' award.  Then she presented each student with a diploma, and we finished with refreshments.  I really hope my boys are lucky enough to get her for a teacher.  Thank you Ms. Gammon!  Now Ashlyn is ready to move on to 1st grade, where she will spend half of each day day learning Chinese! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preschool Grad

On May 17th, Trent graduated from his first year of preschool. Yes, I cried when Miss Amy called his name.  Yes, my heart swelled with pride.  And yes, he will graduate from preschool again next year :o)

 

 

 

 

 

 (One of these kids is not like the others...)

Trent loved going to preschool with Maya this year, and they sure are cute together.

Congratulations Trent!  We are so proud of you.  It was a great program and it was so fun seeing how much you learned this year.  We love you so much!

Backing Up

Turns out I was farther behind than I first thought.  After going through some pics, I realized that I missed St. Patrick's Day and April Fools Day.  Oops.  Not huge holidays, but still, pictures were taken and a small post should be written.  St. Patrick's Day fell on a Saturday this year and so Brian was able to spend the day with us, which makes any day better.

A silly leprechaun visited during the night, sending the kids on a treasure hunt first thing in the morning.  The final treasure included rainbow licorice, a pot of chocolate gold, new shirts, and a box of Lucky Charms cereal (something I NEVER buy!). 

 

 

 

 

 

I was nine months pregnant at this point, so the rest of the day was pretty laid back.  I didn't want a St. Patrick's Day baby and was happy when the day passed without going into labor.  The only other fun thing we did that day was to have my parents over for our green dinner (spinach ravioli and broccoli), with pots of gold on the side (pineapple jello) and liquid gold to drink (lemonade). For dessert, we made green colored marshmallow pops.

Simple day, fun day.

For April Fools, I stole Mindy's idea from last year and made my kids a miniature sized lunch.  I called for them, saying that lunch was ready and when they saw their plates, they looked at me with complete confusion.  It was hard to keep a straight face, but Brian and I told them to, "eat up, this is all you get until dinner."  Well, it's all fun and games until someone gets hurt, right?  My little prank brought poor Trenters to tears, just thinking about how hungry he was going to be for the next five hours.  So, my one and only joke of the day ended rather quickly.

 

 

When we went to parents house later for dinner, my mom pulled the old jello-in-a-cup-to-look-like-juice trick on all the grandkids.  For dessert, Mindy brought minature donuts (cheerios with frosting and sprinkles). Those were quickly consumed and then we were treated to potted flowers. Yum!

April 1st also marked the day that Chase sported his first hair-do! Brian gave him a faux hawk and he looked smashing!

Easter?

I know, I know, Easter was like three months ago....ugh.  I really need to get my blog caught up, I am just having a hard time finding time.  I debated whether I should just do one huge mega catch-up post, but have decided against it.  First, because it just seems too daunting, and second, because there are just too many things that need to be highlighted separately.  So, I am once again attempting to kick-off a week of catch-up and I figured I should start with Easter. That is just how behind I am.

I was recently talking to my aunt Merry Lynn about how fast children grow up and she asked if I kept a journal - I don't.  This blog is the only form of journaling I do for myself and my children and I am realizing how important it is for me to keep it updated.  Already I have forgotten about the detailed events of Easter.  It seems like such a distant hazy memory now.  Luckily I do have some photos to jog my memory a little. 

One thing I failed to do, which I feel horribly about, was to take a picture of Chase on his first Easter.  Bad mom moment.  In fact, I didn't take any pictures of my kids in their Easter clothes on Easter.  I guess I didn't really worry about it because we had gotten their pictures done the day before.  Ah, yes, those pictures.  The ones where Luke was being extremely uncooperative.  So unlike him.

 

 Looking back at these pictures makes my heart ache a little because, time really does go by way. too. fast.

 

  

Since I don't completely remember all the events of the day, I'll give you a very simple rundown.  Easter in a nutshell: baskets in the morning, church, dying eggs, yummy ham dinner, egg hunt, and carrot cake.  Sounds pretty traditional, eh?  I like traditional. I like it a lot. 

 

 

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love living in Utah. I was just talking to a gal in my ward today about how I have no desire to live anywhere else. I love being so close to my family. I love that my kids get to see their cousins on a weekly basis.  And I love that their cousins are their best friends.  It's awesome.