Memorial Day Fun

We invited a lot of our neighbors over for a lunchtime BBQ to celebrate Memorial Day.


Originally when Ryan and I talked about hosting this party, we talked about having 6 total adults, which would have made about half a dozen kids. But once we started inviting, we couldn't stop! We ended up with 19 adults and 21 kids -- the perfect amount!


I had a lot of fun trying to make it a patriotic event, without being over-the-top with decorations. We made invitations that looked like the American Flag. I was excited to use new red & blue serving bowls/trays that were last week's impulse buy at Target. Even the plates had the Americana theme!

Elizabeth enjoying a bracelet since she isn't big enough for burgers yet!

I thought this was such a cute picture of Darrin and his son, Ethan!

Enjoying cupcakes -- good to see they actually ate some of the lunch before dessert!

What a fun way to start the summer!

Pirate Prize

Back in January, we started a warm fuzzy jar. We were really good at using this reward system for the first month or two. But then we tapered off and used it mostly on Sundays for being good at church. It took a while, but we finally filled up the jar. Our prize was to go to Pirate Island for the first time.

We had such a great time! We loved how the atmosphere looked a lot like you were in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland. It was fun to have the combination of both a sit-down restaurant and also an arcade to play in -- easy way to keep the kids occupied while waiting for the food to be served :)

Ryan & Nathan raced each other

4:00 on a Saturday is a great time to go . . . hardly anyone was there. But the balloon man was there! We will definitely have to come back when the cousins come to visit this summer!

Dance Festival

The last day of school each year is the big dance festival. Each grade does a really cute dance, and each year I enjoy it more than before.

It was so fun to watch both Benjamin and Nathan do their dances. I may be a little biased, but they were some of the best dancers in their grades . . . really getting into their moves, putting all their energy into the dancing! Aunt Amy and Aunt Kaley would be so proud!

Benjamin and the kindergarteners danced to the song "Tony Chestnut". They point to their toe-knee chest-nut(head). Benjamin had the biggest smile on his face the whole time. These pictures aren't zoomed in very well, but Benjamin is in the middle wearing jeans.
Nathan's class danced to a snowman medley called "In the Sun They Melted" by Inside Out --sooo cute! I often think that big group things like these school dances aren't worth videotaping, but now I regret not getting the whole thing on tape. Hopefully these pictures will give you an idea of how much fun Nathan was having.


Nathan LOVED his teacher this year, Miss Wood. I had to stay longer after the festival to man the PTA booth and then clean it up. While I was doing that, Nathan helped Miss Wood move classrooms. He was the one who made sure we got a picture with her before we left. (I forgot to get a picture of Benjamin with his teacher, Mrs. Ferrin.)

10 months

Here are some things I want to remember about Elizabeth at this age:

*She claps anytime anyone else does, when she hears the word "clap", and sometimes on her own when she's happy.

*She discovered cheerios last week and now refuses to touch any of her puff baby crackers!

*Elizabeth spends as much time in the kitchen as she does in the family room with her toys. A month ago she started getting into the cupboards. The day Ryan put the latches on the cabinets, she got upset that her fun was spoiled! But now she is content getting into the drawers and playing with the dishwasher when I have it open. It seems that I am picking up tupperware, placemats, and bibs several times a day!

Exploring near the shoes, so excited she found a new "toy"

*This girl is what I call "Tonka tough"! As she explores and plays she falls down, yet rarely does she get upset. The other day she fell while trying out her walker and bonked her head on the entertainment center. It was a loud bonk and I was ready to go scoop her up and comfort her. But she wasn't even phased by the incident and she got right back up without even a peep!

*Elizabeth was getting fairly severe eczema in the bends of her legs and arms (just like Benjamin and Joshua did). Luckily the doctor gave us some creams that have been working and her skin is much better.

*Looks like Elizabeth is taking after her mother in the hair department: not very much hair at this point. She is growing more hair than previously, but then I look at other babies her age and realize she is bald in comparison. I guess I will need to make sure I put her in pink/purple or keep bows on her head so she doesn't get mistaken for a boy :)

*Even when we have to run errands during nap time, Elizabeth stays pretty well-behaved and content. She likes to sit in the shopping cart, but she's good when I leave her in the carrier in the store, too.

*Because of the eczema, we only bathe her about twice a week. Even though it is not very often, she has caught on quickly to the signals of bath time. I will leave her in her room and go into the bathroom to start the tub, Within about 5 seconds she has crawled at lightning speed into the bathroom with the biggest smile on her face!

*When it's time for bed, I stand next to the crib while I hold Elizabeth and say her prayers with her. Sometimes I can't even make it through a few sentences before she is leaning out of my arms and basically putting herself into the crib! Rarely does she make a sound once she is in bed.

We are so blessed to have such a sweet, happy little girl in our family!

Pinewood Derby

Tonight was Nathan's first Pinewood Derby. (Benjamin insists it is called the "down and derby", thanks to a cute DVD we have with that title!)


Ryan let Nathan totally decide the shape of his car. They penciled it out before cutting, and it was going to be cutting off quite a lot. Ryan told Nathan this and let him know that heavier cars will be faster in the race, but Nathan decided he wanted to keep it the way he had drawn it.

He had a lot of fun painting the car. It is silver, with gold writing on the top that says "good luck". He saved the wood piece that was cut off when making the car, and he painted it bright blue. Sometimes he uses it as a "cover" for his car, and other times it is a stand the car rests on.

We got to the Derby and when he weighed in he was told that he would need a LOT of washers attached to the car to make it about the same weight as most of the other scouts. He declined. Then he did a few trial runs before the event started and realized that his car was not as fast as a lot of others, so he went back to get some washers. They were all out and only had coins left. He reluctantly taped some money onto the car. (I think a few tears were shed on and off during these 15 minutes or so.)

Nathan's car is on the right

The derby track was state-of-the-art. The races were all timed with equipment that was part of the track, and the results of each heat were displayed on a projected computer screen just a second or two after the race finished. Each boy got to race 4 times and then the computer averaged out their times to determine the winners. On his heats, Nathan got 4th, 4th, 2nd, and 4th. After the first heat, he took some of the money off of his car. He took the rest of the coins off after the second heat and attributes his better results with that choice.

Nathan's car is 3rd one from left

Even though he didn't win, Nathan had a great attitude at the end. All of the boys received a pinewood derby kerchief slide, a ribbon, and "spare tires" for the treat (mini chocolate donuts). As we were leaving, Nathan told me he wants to save his car and use the same one in next year's derby. Glad to see his tears replaced with smiles by the end of the night!

Better late than never

. . . at least that's what I hope they say about it! More than three years after the wedding, I finally made Kaley and Chase their wedding present!

Kaley helped me pick out the fabrics, and I think she did a great job! It's hard to tell in the picture, but the main fabric is a beautiful paisley, which is also the back of the quilt.
I was too anxious to get it in the mail to wait for Ryan to come home and hold it up for the photo. So this is Benjamin and Joshua on stools :)

Puppet Fun

Last night for our Family Home Evening activity we made paper bag puppets. I can't remember the last time we all did a project together, since Ryan is usually at work when we get crafty. So it was a lot of fun to do this together!

The instructions were to make the puppet look like you, or anything else if you'd rather. Even though the markers were out, it seems that everyone preferred to create with construction paper and then glue it on.
Elizabeth was in bed and so she did not make one.

Joshua had a lot of fun being creative. I think it is a monster, but he kept changing what he was telling us about it!
Benjamin made one to look like him. I love the long eye lashes!
Nathan made a devil with horns and blood dripping from its fangs. Interesting choice -- I hope it was not meant to be a self-portrait! He did make a big red hat for the puppet to wear as a "disguise", although it is not in this picture.
Ryan and I made puppets to resemble ourselves.
Benjamin and Joshua did their own puppet show while the rest of us finished up our puppets.
A good time was had by all! I need to remind myself that the fun far outweighs the mess, so that we will do things like this more often!

Mother's Day

I had a great Mother's Day today. It was so nice to have Ryan home all morning. I slept in past 10:00 -- I don't think I've done that for years! Ryan and Joshua brought me breakfast in bed -- an omelet and strawberries. Nathan and Benjamin were too busy playing with toys, and Elizabeth was napping for that part of the morning.

Things went much better at church than they have the last few weeks :) We came home and enjoyed a nice roast dinner and then there were a few presents to open. I was so excited to get a new cutting mat for my quilting! I think my current one is about 10 years old and it was definitely time for it to retire! I also got some much-wanted kitchen utensils, like a new 4-cup Pyrex measure to replace the one I dropped a few months ago. And Ryan got me a Chris Cagle CD with the song "Beautiful Day" . . . I always love it when he thinks of sentimental things to get me!

Nathan made me a card at school in the shape of the word "mom" and a matching key chain. I got a whole packet of Mother's Day things from Benjamin, including artwork, a poem with his hands, and a booklet where he wrote things about me. My favorite page was this one:

"My mom is the best mom in the world because she play yoga and gets shrog (strong)."
(I think the picture is me with really big, round muscles!)

I started doing a yoga DVD after Christmas. I did it 3-4 times a week in January and February, but have only done it maybe once a week the last 2 months (I'm trying to get it going again now). I usually do yoga when Nathan and Benjamin are at school in the morning. I think it's cute that that's what he remembers about me, and thinks that that is what makes me a good mom!

I love my children and am so grateful to be their mom. Thanks for a wonderful day!

Future Author

Last school year Nathan did not like to read very much on his own or write more than a few sentences for stories. What a difference a year makes! This year he has had a phenomenal teacher -- Miss Wood makes things fun and is great with writer's workshop. Now he wants to be a librarian or author when he grows up!

He brought home a story yesterday that blew me over. I was so impressed by his detail and how entertaining the whole story is! Not bad for a 2nd grader! Enjoy:

(back cover, not pictured): This is a mixed up story that you will love.

The Three Big Pigs
by Nathan

Once upon a time there lived on a plain old farm, three big pigs. One night they overheard the farmer and his wife talking. The farmer said, "These pigs are getting really big. What will we do with them?"
"We can have them for dinner," replied the farmer's wife.
When the pigs heard this, they dashed out the gate and went to build their own house. In the morning they met a man with a load of books. "Can we have some of those books to build a house?" asked the pigs.
"Sure," said the man, "take all you want." So the pigs got some books and built a house. In the next hour or so the farmer came trotting along the road on his dapple gray.


When the farmer saw the pigs' house he said, "Delicious pigs, delicious pigs, let me come in."
"Not by the curliness of our taily-tail-tails," replied the pigs.
"Then I will read and read and read your house down, "said the farmer. When the pigs heard this, they sped out of the house just in time.
The next week the pigs met a woman with a cart full of vines. "Can we borrow some vines to build a house?" they asked. "Why of course," replied the woman and she chucked the cart at them. Their house was finished faster than you could say ABC. Then out of nowhere the farmer appeared on his big green tractor. When he saw the pigs' house he shouted over the noise, "Delicious pigs, delicious pigs, let me come in."
"Not by the curliness of our taily-tail-tails," the pigs answered.


"Then I'll vroom and vroom and I'll run your house over," said the farmer. The pigs didn't want to be run over so they crashed through the roof and ran away.
The next month, they met some children with rubber. "Can we have some rubber to build a house?" asked the pigs. "Sure thing," the children answered. In about half-an-hour they were done building their house. Soon, out of nowhere the farmer appeared with his hoe. He saw the pigs' house so he hollered, "Delicious pigs, delicious pigs, let me come in."


"Not by the curliness of our taily-tail-tails," said the pigs.
"Then I'll whack and whack and whack your house down."
"We'd like to see you try," answered the pigs. So the farmer did one tremendous whack and made one side of the rubber house bend way in. The pigs dashed to that side of the house and pulled the wall back even more! Then they let it go. WHAM! The farmer flew away and was never seen again and the pigs lived happily ever after.