Friday Fun

Maddie had her preschool graduation on Friday (from one school, the other one is this week!). The theme was patriotic, so they made their own flag shirts.

 

They started with the Pledge of Allegiance, then did the Month Macarena with star shades.

Maddie's nursery rhyme was Mary Had A Little Lamb. The picture was shaky and I can't get the video to upload, but she was so darling!!! She was really bashful and scared at Christmastime when they talked in the microphone, but this time she was brave and clear. It has really helped her confidence!

Here's the little graduate getting her diploma from Ms. Tina! She was beyond amazing, and we are really going to miss her!

Seeing her like this made her seem so grown up. I was so filled with pride and gratitude for my little girl. She is becoming a beautiful, thoughtful, responsible girl. Ms. Tina said she will truly miss Maddie's sweet little heart.

These are her two favorite friends, Alex and Karlee. It will be fun to go to kindergarten with them.

I almost forgot to include pics from her preschool party after their program practice. They went to a park and did science experiments...

...had snowcones...

...and did a water fight!!

The water balloons lasted about 2 seconds, but after that many of the kids kept filling up cups.

Ms. Tina was brave to keep giving them water--most of it ended up on her! By the end she was soaked head to toe. What a good sport!

After graduation, Mike took the girls to the Fathers & Sons campout. Maddie remembered going last year and got so excited about it that Ella wanted to go too. We figured they can go until Tyler is old enough. Maddie is still quoting our Bishop for saying they were the "roses among thorns."

Apparently Mike didn't sleep much with Ella in his sleeping bag, but I had a quiet and peaceful evening for reflection and reading. It was great!!

Parenting

I came across this talk again from the last General Conference. I love how he says we need to help our children develop their own connection with heaven. This talk was for me, and I need his reminders often... so I'm posting it here for myself, hoping it will remind me to watch it. Weekly would be good.  

Spaghetti

I just have to capture a little moment here... a babyhood rite of passage, you could say.

The classic spaghetti dinner. We learned our lesson last time and went shirtless.

Mike decided a kitchen sink bath was the easiest clean-up. 

Love those little baby buns! Ha! :)

Happy Mother's Day

I hope all the mothers had a special day! 

Noelle, my mom, and my grandma have birthdays within a week of each other in April-May, so I was able to be with them all to celebrate. I am so thankful for my mom and all the other wonderful examples of motherhood in my life.

My best Mother's Day gifts involved sleep. Tyler has slept through the night 3 nights in a row (he has never been good at this), and then after church Mike read to the girls and they all fell asleep together. I came inside from checking on my new garden and the house was silent. Ahhhhh.  

Learned Something New

This was Ella's last week of preschool, and we got to have it at our house. We had fun learning about zoo animals and dancing to silly songs (above).

Here's her little class after receiving their 'diplomas.' It was so windy Ella's pigtails really look like doggy ears. :) She was so excited and happy and proud as we took pictures and gave hugs. It really was a big achievement for her to attend at different people's houses and become comfortable staying by herself. (Not to mention all the other new things she learned!)

Maddie's preschool invited the moms yesterday for a Mother's Day lunch. It was absolutely darling. Maddie talked for a week about how she was going to treat me like a princess, and when we got there she tied a bracelet on my arm, gave me a back massage, got me a water bottle, and gave me the flower vase and card she made. I love how her teacher not only taught them academic things, but also respect, manners, kindness, and appreciation for their moms. The kids adore her so they hang on every word she says!

The photo booth was just too adorable. It was pretty special for both of us to spend that time together.

The theme of the lunch was The Hungry Caterpillar. Ms. Tina prepared every food that the caterpillar eats!

Maddie's close friend Karlee also goes there and it's been so fun to do things together all year.

After we ate we read the book and strung food onto our very own hungry caterpillar! You can also see the cute placemat caterpillar Maddie made with her own hands! Seriously, Ms. Tina is the best. We're sad we only have one more week with her.

For some reason I felt like taking a picture of Tyler sleeping this morning. He was so peaceful and sweet (although he's squinting here because of the flash).Well, it happened to be good timing because during his naps today we has decided to play and sit up in his bed for the first time!

This is how we was laying for one nap...

And this is how I found him when he was supposed to be falling asleep. Little monkey!

9 Years

Mike and I have been married for almost a decade. Where has time gone!?!?!? It was just yesterday that he walked up behind me in the Wilkinson Center and surprised me by knowing my name! 

Dana & Landon were also married in May so we did a babysitting swap. Can I just say, it was the most refreshing, renewing, amazing date we've been on in a long time? We had the soup & salad at Olive Garden and just talked and talked and talked.... without an interruption! We sometimes like to do sealings at the temple on our anniversary to remember those special promises, and the room last night was full of light, just like on our wedding day. It was definitely a night to remember.

A close up-- we still look like newlyweds, right? :) 

Mike brought home beautiful flowers.... and a new Costco membership! Just what I wanted. (No, really!)

I sure do love this little life of mine, and these little people of ours. I feel very blessed.

Camp Kickoff!

So I'm deviating from family pictures for a minute, but this is important stuff I want to remember too. Last week was our camp kickoff activity and it was so much fun!

Our camp theme is ROCK SOLID with Helaman 5:12 as the inspiration. I wanted kickoff to introduce the theme and also provide a fun activity that would build excitement and camaraderie, so when I found an article from the New Era called Built on the Rock, paralleling rock climbing to living the gospel, I knew we'd struck gold!

The girls were awesome! Most of them made it to the top of the 32 foot wall, many of them multiple times!

 

I couldn't pass up a chance to challenge myself. It reminded me of being young again. :)

Mike couldn't stay away, so he brought the kids on their bikes just in time to see me hit the buzzer at the top of the wall.

The girls love little Ty, although he's still a mama's boy...

That's my Ella, always in a swimming suit. I realized I didn't get a picture of Maddie because she was zipping around the parking lot on her bike.

Mike even got a chance to scale the wall!

 

After climbing we had a mini devotional using the rock climbing article. I wanted to try to re-create the close, comfortable feel of a devotional up at camp, so I made a camp fire cake and put it on a rock in the middle of the room, with the chairs circled around it. Then we sang some camp songs around the fire.

So we had our cake and ate it too! It was good, but I can't wait for the real thing.

Just Stuff

Life is gearing into the fast lane for me right now. Camp kickoff is tomorrow (gonna be so fun!!!) and then it's all uphill till June 11-15th. I feel a little distracted from my other roles in life, but we are making it work! If I am scarce in the next few weeks, that's why!

We managed to drop our yard work one night and went on a family bike ride. It was Ty's first time in the trailer and he loved it! 

Maddie has already had 3 flat tires, but our neighbor told us a secret about green goo and it's been a lifesaver.

Ty is getting so big and independent... I can't comprehend that he is almost 11 months! He loves to eat real food, and just recently took a bottle, so I am feeling a little better about leaving him for a week!
 

Mommy gave me a brownie!! :)

Sorry for the blur and back light, but I just had to document how he spends most of his time, on one knee with the other leg out. For the longest time he has just scooted around in circles on his bum (literally), but he is venturing on to his knees and scooting forward some!

This kid is obsessed with the vacuum. He started out by the doctor kit and pushed/scooted the vacuum down the entryway. Everyone says I should be grateful he isn't too mobile yet (and I am thankful we haven't had to worry about the stairs so far!) but I also celebrate his little strides.

On another note, Maddie and Ella's drawings are so cute I have to share. 

 

This is Ella's first really intelligible drawing and I love it! It's a kitty family (of course), with the teeny baby at the top.

They draw all day. Maddie is always bringing me a new creation.

Since Easter the windows have been a constantly changing mural. One of these days I will reclaim them, but it's kind of fun for now. 

This morning's creation was a "resape". In case you can't read it I'll translate: Lemon cottage cheese, chicken, cheese, rice. Mmmmm, sounds tasty.