Preschool "Graduation"

I was in charge of this preschool graduation party.  Each of us had a few things to be in charge of when everyone would stay and party, like the Halloween field trip to the fire station or the grocery store field trip or the Christmas party at the nursing home.  It's nice that our little preschool only costs what we want to spend on our week.  All of this cost less than $12. Perfect for me. 

Juice boxes, plates, napkins (that we didn't even open), goldfish, licorice, play dough for each boy (found it super cheap at Kohl's after Halloween-like 20 cents each cheap), and then I tried to make some little mortar board treats with a peanut butter cup on the bottom of a fudge graham cracker with licorice as the tassel.  They tasted good, even if they didn't work quite the way I wanted.  The PB cup was too small, so it didn't balance well.

 How many pictures do you need of the same little girl swinging?  A lot, I say.  How could I resist taking her picture when she looks so dang cute?!

 It happened to be raining today.  Lucky us that the boys like the rain and it didn't phase them at all.
All three of these boys still have one more year until kindergarten, so it felt silly to really have them graduate, but we did it anyway.
Vincent's getting so grown up!

 I spotted a deer across the river from the park (on the island before the Pasco side) and hurried with two of the boys (one was at another park for a bit) to see.  Check out how well my zoom did.  Can you see the deer, the seagulls on the ground, and the seagull in flight at the top?  Cool, huh?

 This nasty old bird stole some of the goldfish crackers off the table!  Naughty bird!

 Abby was helping her friend eat some delicious bark.  Her friend didn't even need much assistance, but Abby figured if she liked eating it, she'd help her.

 I think at this point her friend was full. =)

 Vincent is excited to be done with preschool for the summer!

 What cute little friends these boys are.  They have all learned how to settle down and listen to us much better over the course of the year.

 I made some little graduation diplomas for the boys.

 Each mom signed the diplomas. I put each of the play doughs into a bag and then made a little paper with a diploma and their name to staple on top.

 What are these two staring at you ask?

 This.  How fun!

 Vincent loved the mini zipline.

 Abby wouldn't stand up on this walkway.  It wasn't that steep, but it made her nervous.

And here's a little story about nuts (and not the kind you eat):
On our way home from the park Vincent was telling me that Abby could wear sticker earrings now and that she could have real earrings when she's a grown up (they can actually have them starting at seven, but Elizabeth doesn't want them yet because it will hurt.)
Then he told me that he can't have earrings because he's a boy (true).  He told me he has nuts.  I quickly turned down the radio and asked him about that.  "I have nuts and they are in my legs" (pointing at thighs).  I asked him again and he said they are in his feet.  He said he has "an hundred nuts".
One day he'll figure out what "nuts" really are.  He does know that only boys have them, but he has NO idea what they really are (that's okay with me!)

The other day he was playing cars with a friend who also has two big sisters and I was overhearing them talk about the "truck family" and the "car family".

And that's why you can't believe everything you hear.
Brothers with big sisters just have a different take on life. =)
I suppose me having two big brothers gave me a little different perspective too.

Dirt E

My friend took a video and pictures of some interesting stuff that happened on Memorial Day that I missed a little.  Her husband assisted Elizabeth (obviously she's stronger, right?) in pushing down an old rotten tree.  Check out their muscles!

They were pretty proud of themselves.  After this Elizabeth ran inside to tell everyone what they did (making sure she was faster than our friend.)

Trailer rides are fun for all.

Back in town, these same friends invited us over for dinner Wednesday night.  They live just a few blocks away (1/2 mile), so we rode and walked on over.
Vincent wanted to give up on the way there, but I told him he could leave his cool trike there on the sidewalk and hope it was still there when we got back and that nobody stole it because if they did, we'd never see it again.  That always gave him just enough umph to keep on going for a bit.  He has to peddle pretty fast on this to get it moving.  He's ready for a bike.

After the delicious dinner, the kids played in the dirt.  Abby dug around with a spoon and sat in some dirt, but didn't get too dirty.

Most of the kids digging around.  They have these cute little bunnies that the kids were burying.

I made some rice crispy treats with sprinkles to share.

Abby's friend stole hers (and defiled it with her brown hands).  Abby still wanted it back.  I directed her to the platter of remaining treats.

Abby disappointed that she got the small part of the treat in the tug-of-war.

Vincent giving the bunnies a shallow grave.

Memories were made.

Water was sprayed (on my friend's baby).

Baths were had at both houses.

My friend and I walked for a long time.

Kids were sleeping.

Scriptures were read.

Thursday's preparations were made.

We are Family!

Wednesday morning after dropping the girls off at school, Vincent, Abby, and I came home to clean up and then headed to Grandma Shirley's so the kids could play with Sara's girls while I went to the dentist (Vincent's not the only one in our family needing extra tooth attention this summer!)
Sara and David were busy having their baby boy!  Ezra was born today and weighed 9 pounds 3 ounces!  An ounce bigger than Elizabeth was (and Sara did it the normal way, not my c-section way!  Wow!)
On my way back to Shirley's house from the dentist, I stopped at Winco for a few things (without kids!) and as I walked in I heard my name being called (not normal for someone with an unique name).  It was one of my aunts who brought my grandparents to a doctor appointment!  Imagine that.  I was able to visit with them for a few minutes before heading in.  As I was checking out the lady behind me had a coupon for the Laughing Cow cheese wedges and I asked where she got it, so I had to go pick up a few coupons for later and on my way out, I saw Andy's aunt checking out.  What are the chances?  I hardly ever even go to the Winco over there since we have our own.  It's like a mini family reunion!
I took Sami and Daphne home with me to play for the afternoon while Grandma Shirley taught piano lessons.  Daphne and Abby both took naps for an hour and a half while Sami and Vincent played and I cleaned up and made a treat for after school.
 Once Elizabeth and Olivia got home from school, the fun really got going! Except they stayed inside to play a Nintendo DS game from the library...
Rice Crispy treats with sprinkles were our snack.
Vincent knows how to make V's now.

Sami's name that she wrote.  She's SO ready for kindergarten this fall!

 Daphne liked climbing on the slide, but I don't think she ever went all the way down.  She just liked to hang out at the top and then climb the ladder back down.  And no one was waiting, so it didn't matter.

 Abby with a baby that has permission to go outside sometimes.

 Daphne wants to be just like her big sister.  Little artists like their daddy!

 Abby pushing Vincent on his trike.  She's a helper!

 AND Ezra!  He's so cute!  I can hardly wait to see him in person!  He is my 19th nephew.  We have 12 nephews on my side and now 7 on Andy's side.

Family is so great and I'm so glad we live close to so many of our family members who we can see often.  We sure love them!

A Special Event

I took Abby and Olivia with me tonight to a night to honor the graduating young women in our ward. (There aren't any young men this year from our ward graduating.)

Elizabeth had jujitsu to go to, so Andy took Vincent with him there.  It's too hard to have Abby at jujitsu because she yells and wants to crawl on the mats, so I had to take her with me.  I was helping a friend (who has been planning this night for months) with frosting and sprinkling the cupcakes.  She wanted to do it there so the special sprinkles she bought would all stick and they wouldn't get mushed.

Olivia was my little helper.  She took Abby around the hallway at the church before the event started.

Two of the three young women I know pretty well because we've been in the ward for 11 years (almost) and have had them babysit.  They are all excellent girls!

Olivia took most of these pictures with my old camera because I don't let her use the new one and my friend who planned everything left her nice camera at home accidentally (with her photography business equipment because she had a shoot.)  I let her use my new one since I know she knows how to take care of cameras.  Also, this morning when my visiting teachers were over (after I'd switched the laundry and vacuumed, put a girl down for a nap, showered, and eaten breakfast) the friend in charge called one of the ladies visiting me and told us that she hurt her back this morning (which happens to her sometimes and it's terrible!)  Everyone jumped in to help though and I think it turned out great!

Abby doesn't like being stuck in the stroller much.

 See?

 She found my (new) camera bag.

 And was obviously mad when Olivia took it away.  (I was in the kitchen frosting cupcakes.)

 She thought she'd try to get something else.

 Yea!  Snacks!

 The program started and I really enjoyed it (and teared up when they had picture slideshows set to music for each girl imagining it as MY own girls!)
Abby was finally content to be out of the stroller and destroyed a cupcake.

 What a mess!

 Olivia loved the popcorn (it was a Stars theme with a red carpet and everything).

 Abby after she spilled the tiny amount of water I put in her cup.

 Abby with one of her buddies whose mom was running the sound and lights (her dad set them up before he went to work.)

Also on today's list (or was added as the day went on):
-made 3 dozen cupcakes (from scratch)
-made 9 cups of frosting
-made dinner
-did dishes
-finished laundry
-babysat a friend's son for two hours
-took a tiny nap before the girls came home from school
-'broke' into a friend's house (via her garage with the code she gave me) to get my special frosting set since she was out of town
-took cookies to an elderly man who was in our ward before it split who always liked it when Elizabeth came to shake his hand.  He misses seeing her.
-talked to that man's wife on the phone who called to thank us for the cookies. =)
-library with the kids
-honor night (left early because Abby was loud and tired)
-walking with friends for 4 1/2 miles and then another 1/2 mile to my house in an hour and a half (that's 4 miles an hour!)
-prayed for my sister in law who should be working on having a little baby boy tonight or tomorrow.
-planned out the next few busy days so I won't be so stressed out.

Memorial Day 2012

For Memorial Day this year, we went up to Andy's parent's place they built to have a barbeque and plenty of fun. Of course we thought about what Memorial Day means as well, but mostly we just had a good time.

While I was walking with my buddy on Sunday night, she asked what we were doing Monday and they joined us.  I don't even know HOW I failed to plan that out better since I see her several hours a week and we talk plenty! 

Anyway, we had a fun time playing.  Grandma Shirley gave the kids these pinwheels and it was pretty breezy up there, so they didn't even have to work at making them spin. Abby, Olivia, and Friend M in the picture below.

 Elizabeth found some stumps to stomp on.  Makes sense, right?  I made her wear her old tennis shoes so she wouldn't wreck the new ones.

 Apparently, it's pretty fun to stomp on stumps.  Olivia was doing it too.  Abby just watched them and decided they were silly.

 We took Scooter on a little hike.

 A hike picture with Elizabeth, Olivia, and Friend M.  I told them to sit on the stump behind them, but they were worried about giant carpenter ants coming out.

 Olivia wanted to show off her new swinging tricks.  (Do you like her outfit?  She even wore shorts under her skirt that had it's own set.  Her little shorts kind of match her socks which don't match anything else.)

 Grandpa George took the kids on four wheeler rides.  They love that!

 Abby really enjoyed the fruit kabobs.

 Olivia with Friend M, Friend V, and my walking buddy.  They brought a bug catcher and caught a big black stink bug and the kids watched it while they ate.

 Vincent's nicely balanced meal.  Fruit kabob, carrots, and doritos.

 Abby wanted to go on the swing so I put her on my lap.  She normally just goes in a baby swing.  It was nice until my hips didn't like that squeezing that happens.

 So, I put her on by herself.  She held on very well.

 I love this picture. She's always talking and yelling.

 Olivia came over to help her swing a little higher.  Abby fell off a few times, but always wanted to get right back up and didn't cry.

 Andy's Grandma Ellen with Scooter.

 Abby LOVES Scooter! (Can you tell what I did most of the time we were there?  Pictures and Abby and Pictures OF Abby...)

 Andy even took Elizabeth for her very own four wheeler ride.

Then we came home to do mounds of laundry, baths, dinner, and bed.  I guess technically Andy did dinner and bed while I went out walking and I really did the laundry after I got back.  The walking was very needed after all the good stuff we ate up there and the weather is just perfect for an evening walk.