Ramblin'

Our summer weather so far has been pretty lame. Kate has been begging to get the pool out so out of desperation yesterday, it was definitely not warm enough for swimming, I got the pool out. A million neighbor kids swarmed our yard and we looked like a daycare. Then the ice cream van rolled into our neighborhood and she was overwhelmed by all the kids (it was her first day and she hit the jackpot in our neighborhood). A family in our neighborhood is leaving for over a month to visit family in AZ, CA and Sweden so all the kids got ice cream as a celebration sort of. There are 35 kids or more in our neighborhood out of 35 houses. That's crazy! When we hold BBQ's and S'mores roasts in the playground area there's a few of us parent's that end up feeding all these extra kids because their parent's don't come and join in or bring any food. It's bring your own food. And the kid's don't really ask, they just help themselves. It's rather annoying. Good thing it's cheap hotdogs, but still...it's not a free dinner!

On Sunday, Kyle told Preston it was time to get ready for Church. Preston said, "no, I not go to Church today." Oh okay buddy! We thought they didn't say that until teenage years! Kyle gave a talk in Church on Freedom. He did a great job and shared how he earned the Great American Award in 5th Grade. He had to memorize the Preambe, the Gettysburg Address, all the Presidents and Vice Presidents and all the States and their capitals. Pretty impressive. Kyle has been busy at work lately trying to meet deadlines and getting audited. He has never had to deal with auditing or strict deadlines to this extent before so it's been stressful. He's excited for our mini vacation to Boulder Resort this weekend. :)

I went shopping the other day for the dreaded swimsuit. I ended up finding something and got a great deal with all my coupons. I just hope I like it still when I use it this weekend. My friend watched my kids while I went because how do you shop for swimsuits WITH kids?! I tried shopping for bras once and that was crazy. I only had Kate at the time and she was a toddler. I don't know why I didn't have her strapped in a stroller...live and learn. But she was going underneath the dressing rooms and I couldn't go get her, if you know what I mean, so it was stressful. It was nice to have 2 1/2 hrs of shopping on my own. Then, the next day I watched my friend's kids while she went running errands. It was a great swap. We'll definitely be doing that again.

Preston's Preschool

Preston's preschool teacher, Miss Ellen, is moving to California so she had a going away party on the last day of school. We are sad she is leaving. She was great. Preston always smiled whenever we asked him about "miss Ellen". They watched a slide show that the SLP put together for Miss Ellen. She has been at the school for 3 or more years. Then the kids ate cupcakes and took pictures with her.

This is his class with the teacher aides, Miss Debbie in red and Miss Milissa in pink holding a kid. Preston gets to go to preschool in the summer for a few weeks, but he will have different teachers and it's at a different school. Hopefully, it all goes well!

Hair Attack

Lindsey woke up from her afternoon nap so I went upstairs to get her out of her crib and this is what she looked like...

I couldn't stop laughing! Her hair was hilarious! I don't know what she as doing to get it to look like this, but it was funny!

Lindsey loves Preston and Kate. She especially loves to bug/attack Preston and grab at him. She giggles when she plays with him. It's really cute because Preston lets her grab at him and pull on his ear or hair. Here she is getting him and he's laughing.

She thinks she's pretty funny!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day Kyle!

We are grateful for everything you do for us! For playing with us, working hard for us, helping us, loving us and laughing with us. We love you!

Kate made him 2 cards (I guess one wasn't good enough), Preston made him something at preschool and I gave him a card. We got a new BBQ grill last month so we counted that as an early gift. I made sticky chicken, rice and broccoli for dinner. Since we have afternoon Church (and have for 1 1/2 yrs! SOOO ready to switch!) I made the sticky chicken in the morning. Kyle set the time bake on the oven before we left for Church, but no one put the food in the oven! Kyle thought I would, but I thought he did since he was setting the timer. But it was fine since we still had to come home and make the rice. Then we had brownies and ice cream with hot fudge sauce and raspberries.

(all 3 kids looking- miracle!)

And shout out to my awesome Dad! He is THE best dad! So lucky to have him for my Dad. He is such a good example to me. Love him!

Kate the Ballerina

Kate has been taking ballet this school year and at the end of the year they hold a recital. She looked adorable in her sequined tutu for the recital. She was excited she got to wear eyeshadow, blush and lip gloss. I also put some mascara on her eyelashes, but that wasn't such a good idea because she would rub her eyes so by recital time she had it under her eyes. All these pictures (except the one's with me and my Mom in them) are taken at the rehearsal which was the same day as the recital. You couldn't take pictures during the recital, only video, so I was glad to have gotten these.

Kate with my Mom who drove 5 hrs to come watch her recital (which was only like 3 minutes long!). Kate was so happy she came and it meant a lot to Kate. She's still talking about how her grandma and aunt Marci came to watch her. :) Why don't I have a picture of you with her, Marci?! Send me one.

Kate and Alyssa were having so much fun getting all dressed up. They are good friends.

I thought this picture was cute of them from behind. Their teacher, Miss Andrea, is in the background in the cream dress helping them fluff their tutus.

The lady leading them across the stage is the owner of the dance studio. I loved how cute these girls looked! They have been learning and practicing all year so it was fun to see how much technique they have learned.

Good job Kate! You did a great job and we are glad you have so much fun in ballet.

Carnival

Preston's preschool sent home a flyer about a Carnival for kids with special needs. It was for them and their families so we all went and had a good time. It was in a town 1/2 hr away so we went to dinner at a yummy Italian restaurant in the small town then went to the Carnival.

They had cotton candy, otter pops and popcorn for the kids. Then they could choose a book from a big selection of popular books. They also had games like fishing the ducks out of the pool, bean bag toss, face painting, mazes, craft tables and bubbles. There was a firetruck and an ambulance there that the kids could go in and check out plus they got a firefighter hat.

This lady let the kids throw a dog toy and then the dog would run and get it. Preston giggled everytime the dog would run and grab the toy and bring it back. He loved it. They did this over and over.

They had this motorcycle stunt team come and perform.They would do handstands on each other or drive with no hands or do a pyramid on 2 bikes.

Farmer's Night at the Mariner's Game

My parents got a great deal on seats because it was Farmer's Night. Sweet! They invited us to go and we all got free t-shirts too. This is the first time for the kids to go to a Mariner's game. I think Kate went when she was a baby but she doesn't remember it so she was excited to go. They did good for the most part. We fed the kids before going, but you would have thought they hadn't eaten for days. Kate was eating everyone else's food and Preston chowed down on licorice and got my Mom's shirt all dirty. Thank goodness for wipes. It was a fun night.

We got pictures with the Mariner Moose. Lindsey didn't want to touch him, but Kate was fine with him. Jared's friend Makai Hirai came with my family.

Preston was chillin' on this seat with all the coats and blankets drinking his lemonade slushy. That's the life.

My Dad invited his Mom, Grandma Helen Gene, to come along. She had a good time and I liked this picture of them together.

Lindsey couldn't get enough of this lemonade slushy, which by the way is my favorite!!! I get that and kettle corn every time. Delish! Kyle walked clear to the other side of the stadium and then outside to get our kettle corn. It's much better from a stand outside. We also enjoyed a clam chowder bread bowl and fish & chips from Ivars. Yummy!

Lindsey fell asleep in my Mom's arms for a little bit. She was so tired. She normally goes to bed at 7pm. We almost left after the 6th inning, but decided to stay for the whole game. Kate kept saying, "we better go because it's late and I have school tomorrow and I'm going to be tired." Funny that our kid is telling us that. Normally, it's the other way around.

My Mom was singing songs in Preston's ear.

Almost Summer

Kyle was mowing the grass in the backyard and Lindsey heard him. She had to stand on her tippy toes to see out the window.

We went to a Beach with some friends a couple weeks ago. It was a nice day and I wasn't in the summer mode yet so I forgot their swimsuits. They still had fun and Kate left soaking wet.

Lindsey got to eat sand, eat seaweed and put her feet in the water.

Playtime

Lindsey loves the swing. She is cruising along everything and stands alone for a second. When you tickle her she giggles. She knows when we are trying to chase her because she crawls faster. The other day, she did something to Preston's train track and he got mad. Well, she crawled away SO fast, it was funny. She knew she was in trouble. She's still not a great sleeper at night and is 10 mo's so she should be! She eats whatever we eat. She is already showing her dislike for things or gets mad when we put her somewhere where she doesn't want to be. And we love her open mouthed (sometimes with tongue) kisses. ;)

Watching a movie with the neighbors. I love how Preston is crouched down watching it too. He likes to be involved with Kate and her friends. When they are up playing in her room with the door closed (there's a child door handle thing on her door so he can't open it) he'll go up there, knock on the door and yell, "Kate, let me in! Open the door!" The other day, we were coming home from the park and I slammed on the breaks to stop for a red light and Preston says in a loud voice, "holy cow!"

The kids all over Daddy! Kyle is working hard and has been traveling to random places where the bank has properties. He has to check them out and take pictures. He has been making day trips to Portland, Manson, Kingston and more.

Birthday Kate and Miracle

We took cupcakes and juice to Kate's class on Friday for her birthday. She was really excited for that too. She's excited about a lot of things. That's why we love her so much! :)

She has a good Kindergarten class and a great teacher, Mrs. Hooper. She's excited for 1st grade when she can go ALL day and eat lunch at school and get 2 recesses!

Happy {real} Birthday Kate!

Sunday morning she got her favorite breakfast: crepes, strawberries and whipped cream. Then she opened presents. We gave her barbie clothes and an art easel. She was painting right away. Preston has already gotten into the markers and drawn on a windowsill and a door. Great.

My parents drove over in the morning and came to Church with us. Marci drove up too. It was fun to have them come to our ward again. All the girls in young women were going gaga over Jared. :) He's 17 1/2 and so cute and the youngest of 6 so he hears it all the time from us. For Kate's birthday dinner we ate BBQ pig ribs (that's what Kate calls them- aka baby back ribs), macaroni salad, potato salad, baked beans, watermelon and corn bread muffins.

My parents gave her roller blades and she has been wanting them for a while so she put them on right away and rolled around in the house.

My little ballerina roller girl!

We finished off by singing happy birthday to her and ate mud pie (oreos/hot fudge sauce/ice cream). Kate, you are so fun to have in our family and we are glad you had such a fun birthday!

My parents spent the night and the next morning we went to the Zoo. The siamangs were doing their loud noises, which I was glad because I wanted my family to hear them. They are my favorite animal and so hilarious to listen to. We ate lunch at Five Guys and my family went home.

Later, my Mom told me of this miracle. I had no idea this was going on. I guess my Dad was baling hay on Saturday and working late to try and finish this field before coming over on Sunday for Kate's birthday. My Mom suggested that he stay behind to finish because they didn't want it to get rained on (hay loses value if it gets rained on). My Dad, said it would be fine and they still came over. Well, they got home Monday afternoon and him and Jared raced out to the field to finish baling the hay. Rain storms were imminent- like it was raining a mile or so away and headed towards their field. Right after they baled the hay, got it stacked and tarped (the company that buys the hay tarps it to protect it) it rained on the field!!! They got it done in the nick of time. My Mom said that she doesn't know of any other father/grandpa that would leave their hay behind with a chance of it to get ruined to go to their granddaughter's 6th birthday! It's true! My Dad (and Mom) always puts family first and they are blessed because of it. Well, so are we. :)

Kate's Ballerina Birthday Party

Kate is 6 years old!

Where has the time gone?! Kate was SO excited to turn six. We had a friend party a few days before her actual birthday because of Memorial Day Weekend and people leaving. Her birthday is on Sunday May 29th so we'll do more partying then!

She has been planning this birthday party since last year. She is taking Ballet classes and loves pretending like she is a ballerina so that's what she wanted for her birthday party. I wasn't too thrilled on making a ballerina doll cake so I found some ballerina slippers that I could do. She loved it.

The invitations read:

Come Dance & Twirl with the Birthday Girl. It will be tutu much fun! Curtain Call- (date, time, place) Come dressed as a ballerina!

I was going to make a tutu to go around the cake, but I ran out of time so I just put the toile underneath the cake stand. Everything was pink, you'd think I was throwing a baby shower for a baby girl! The cake was strawberry and we had neopolitan ice cream.

I bought a bunch of pink candy to put in dishes. They ended up decorating their piece of cake with it. Not sure if they even ate their cake. Oh well...

All her ballerina friends. L-R: Dallas, Elsa, Kate, Alyssa, Tatiana, Ryleigh and Avery (Dallas' cousin who happened to be visiting, Kate wanted to invite her and since another girl ended up not coming I had extra stuff.) I loved how they all came dressed up as ballerinas and had their hair in a bun. I didn't even do Kate's in a bun and the girls told her she needed one. haha!

We played a few dancing games and they free danced a lot. I had burned some classical songs to a CD for them to dance to. By the time we were on our last dancing game the girls were all tired and sat down to rest! It was time for cake and ice cream.

She had a blast at her party and got some fun presents. After she opened Ryleigh's gift, Ryleigh gave her a hug! It was so cute. She has some cute friends at Church, school and in the neighborhood. I hope she is always a good friend.