St George

Ahhh....Finally a much needed getaway! We decided to head down to St. George for Memorial weekend. We left Thursday afternoon and stayed the night in Filmore to visit with Grandma and Grandpa. It's always good to visit with them. Grandma Sonia met us Friday morning and we all piled in and took off for St. George. The kids were so excited to see their cousins and jump on their tramp. We decided to give Wes and Lacy a break so our little family stayed in a hotel. Our kids seriously LOVE hotels. All they wanted to do was go to the swimming pool! We were swimming at like 10:30 at night.

Saturday morning was Kasen's birthday party. The kids got to do the fishing pond. I think they might have walked away with more presents then Kasen actually did.

They played kick ball. Even after being a little apprehensive, Kaylee decided to join in on the fun. 

Grandma caused a traffic jam at first base, Brayden got injured, and Kade just loved it. After being in the sun for quite some time we came in for cake and ice cream.

Wes and Lacy's neighbor's were nice enough to let us come over afterward and swim for the afternoon. We had planned to go to the lake but we our family was all too wimpy to get into the cold lake. We prefer a nice heated pool. We all had a blast, their pool was BEAUTIFUL!

The kids had fun jumping off their rock, sliding down the slide, jumping on their tramp, going in the hot tub, meeting new friends, and just laying out.

I loved this picture of Kasen in all his swim gear.

I'm not sure who looks like a better cheerleader here, Mike or Kaylee? I'm proud either way.

A major water fight broke out before too long. All the kids were squirting everybody sitting on the side. I, luckily, managed to stay completely dry.

Throughout the rest of the trip we managed to hit all the St. George "musts"

The Pizza Factory

Kasen and Kaylee. They became best little buddies

Kade, Zac, and Brayden

Did you know The Pizza Factory will make you your own pizza on your birthday?

Kasen and I both got to celebrate

We hit the outlet mall for some AMAZING deals. Love it!

Even though we have our own IN-N-OUT, I feel like we must go when we are in St. George. So we did. So yummy. I think their is only one person that likes it better then me and it's Brayden. He gets his burger with all the fixin's on it, and he eats it all.

We swam some more

Got a trashy tattoo

Hung out with family, vegged, went on walks, Lacy made us yummy, yummy food.

The kids played, and played, and played

We celebrated my birthday. I didn't lift one single finger all day long. It was the best way and best place to be on my birthday. It was a fantastic day, Mike spoiled me as usual. We finished the night by watching Percy Jackson and the Lighting Thief. We were all cuddled up in one bed.

This was just the "unordinary" weekend that I needed. I felt rejuvenated and ready to go back home to tackle these three munchkins. I was definitely reminded of how lucky I am, and how blessed I am to have such a tremendous life and family.

(Afternoon) Preschool Graduation...

Kade brought home a scrapbook from school the other day and I just started bawling. The kids wanted me to read a poem that was in it. I couldn't cause I was bawling. When I saw that my little baby had grown 4 inches in 8 months, I bawled even harder.

I know he still has one more year of preschool, but man, it feels like my baby it growing right before my eyes. It's killing me. I had to wear sunglasses to his graduation because I knew the tears would be coming!

I loved every second of their program. I snapped like 4,000 pictures. Everyday when I pick him up from school I ask him what he learned, and he says nothing. I have absolutely no idea of anything going on. So when he started singing, I was floored that he actually knew a song! I was so happy I had my video camera to capture it. Kade is so animated with his face, he was so fun to watch!

After they were done with their program, Ms Karen had them come up to get their certificate. She had each of them tell what they wanted to be when they grow up. Every single boy said they wanted to be a ninja and every girl said they wanted to be a mommy. When Kade got up he said, "I don't wanna be a ninja, I wanna be a socca playa!"

Kade has learned so much this year from Ms Karen. He has learned to write his name, counting, he can recognize most numbers from 1-10. He has a ways to go with the alphabet but can recognize and write quite a few letters. He has learned shapes, colors, songs, memorization, and phonics. Kaylee and Kade got in an argument the other day about phonics. She said, "You don't even know what phonics are. We write them on a white board at school." He said, "I DO TO!" It goes (making the letter sounds) "aa, bb, cc" We sing the song in school! He quickly put an end to the argument.

All I can say is that I hope this next year goes very very slowly. I am not ready for my baby to start Kindergarten. I will really be doing a lot of crying then!

(Morning) Preschool Graduation

With Kaylee and Brayden both being in school all day I thought Kade would get bored being at home all day alone. I decided that I would participate in a neighborhood rotating preschool with Kade and also enroll him in an afternoon preschool. At the beginning of the year it proved to be a little too much for a little 3 year old. But toward the end of the year I was very glad he had something to occupy his time. He loved being a part of each of his "classes." I am amazed at his progression this past year.

The neighborhood preschool consisted of 5 kids. We started the year with Kade, Bennett, Rachel, and the two Lauren's. We sadly lost Rachel when her family moved away about halfway through the year. Towards the end of the year a new family moved in next door and Evan joined our group. We rotated weeks, taking turns teaching in our home. Kade loved when it was our turn to teach. He would get out the preschool box, set out the name mats, and help get everything ready.

This past week was our last week. Melanie put together a fun little graduation for the kids.

Evan, Kade, Bennett, Lauren S, Lauren W

Evan, Kade

Kade accepting his diploma

Why Not....

It may be May 24....and snowing

Why not make the best of it.

We bundled up.

Threw some snowballs

Kade shoveled the driveway (even though the sun was shining by afternoon and melted it away.)

We made make shift sledding hills. Our driveway and the big dirt pile in front of our house (meant for flower beds.)

Theirs a reason all the tree's lose there leaves in the winter. All the branches were hanging to the ground because they couldn't stand the weight of the snow on them. I thought my poor new trees I just planted were going to snap in half.

After we were done playing we went in for some hot chocolate with marshmallows. We were back to shorts and flip flops the very next day.

Glad we could make the most of the winter day at the end of May

Cockadoodledoo....

Kade has always been my best sleeper. He goes to best so good. When it's time for bed, he goes in, hits the pillow, and he's out! And he is gone all night. He has never been one to get out of bed with a hundred excused like I'm hungry, I need to pee, I need a hug. When it's time to wake up, he takes a minute to lay their and gather himself together then he wants the whole house to know he is awake by hollering....

Cock-a-doodle-doo!!

Then he just lays their and giggles

Every morning.

We just re-did his room and got him a new bunk bed. He loves it so much. He wakes up every morning and makes his bed. He prays every night that he will remember to make his bed and clean his room.

The other day he said, "Mom, if you need me, I'll be on my bed." When I looked in he was just sitting there. I gave him his game boy and he ended up sitting there for quite a while. I'm hoping this phase lasts.

Thanks for being our built in alarm clock and a good example to your brother and sister...they could learn a thing or two.

Way to go...

Every year Brayden has to try out for his soccer team. This past weekend he had tryouts. His tryout number was 13. As he ran out on the field we hollered at him, "Is it your lucky number 13 this year?" He hollered back, "Who knows if it's lucky yet?"

Well Brayden worked hard all year and has improved tremendously. He loves soccer! He wakes up and plays before school and plays as soon as he gets home. He watches it on TV and reads about it on the Internet. He loves going to the Real games, and can't wait for the World Cup. His hard work and dedication have definitely paid off, because he yet again made team #1 for Sparta U-10.

Way to go buddy! We're proud of you!

I can do hard things....

Last Friday I had a huge load of dirt dropped off at my house at 7:30 am. Mike was out of town, the kids were just heading off to school, I sat and stared at the dirt thinking, now what?

Kade and I grabbed our shovels and the wheelbarrow and we started shoveling. I totally underestimated the strength that was needed to move that pile of dirt. After moving 3 loads of dirt to the backyard. I sat down and told Kade, "This is too hard, I'm done." He looked at me and said, "Mom, we can do it. (flexing his muscles) We Stwong! I will help you." I couldn't let him down, so I kept going.

After dumping each pile of dirt in the future flowerbeds, I felt so physically exhausted. I would look back like I had just achieved some huge milestone. But nope, just a small looking pile of dirt lay their on the ground.

Kade continued to help fill the wheelbarrow with his teeny little tractor and his tiny little shovel. He was a big helper. That is, until he discovered it would be a fun hill to ride his bike on. I was able to dump about 15 loads of dirt into the backyard before I was saved by my Dad and Laura. He then spent the rest of the day helping me start to transform my very needy backyard and slowly start to get rid of the dirt pile.

Here are some of the before pictures. We dug some trenches for where we want flower beds and have started to kill the grass.

We have been having some flooding problems this past year due to the ground sinking. We built the window wells up and filled the area in with dirt.

We then went over to the Nursery and bought some flowers, bushes, and trees. Next we went over to Home Depot to buy some of the stuff to begin our deck and supplies to build around our sprinkler boxes. We came back planted our flowers, bushes and trees, and set the post's for the deck. We got everything cleaned up, went in took a shower, all just in time for Dad to come from Denver. I'm not sure who was more surprised that so much was accomplished in one day, him or me?

I will say, I was in no shape to help with the yard work the following day. That was the best workout I've had in a VERY long time. I will post pictures when the project is finally complete...deck and all.

Mother's Day...in a few words

Mother's Day was so awesome this year. I realized I am surrounded by so many wonderful people. I am so lucky. Not only did I have a fantastic day on Sunday, but I had a great weekend. My idea was to try and document the day with pictures, but of course, I kept forgetting to take pictures. I'm going to describe Mother's Day with as few words as possible (not sure I can do that.)

* lucky

*blessed

*too much food

*backyard makeover

*hours spent outside (and I foresee many more)

*slept in

*yummy breakfast

*beautiful flowers

*yummy treats

*big "HOOOGE"paper flower

*a clay rattle snake

*box of kisses

*thumb prints to cherish forever

*hand sewn pillow

*Love notes

Dear Mom, I am happy I have you for me. It feels good to have you. I love you! I'll sing you a song. It feels good to have you! In the sun it feels good. Love Kaylee

*Lots of loves and kisses, smiles and loves

*Someone who takes care of my every needs. He is the all around perfect husband. He can pick out a cute outfit.  Knows when I need a pedicure. Knows when I just need a break. He gave me everything and more for mother's day.

*Windy picnic

*New recipes to try

*lots of laughs

*reminded of how blessed I am to be a mom.

*grateful for the mother's I have in my life and the example they are to me.