Happy 4th Birthday Hannah!

Miss Hannah Grace is 4 (well, she will be on Monday). Hannah is very quiet and shy while in public, but at home, she likes to talk non-stop. She can be super sweet but also a little stink. She loves to antagonize Cameron. But doesn't love the consequences. She loves to play with babies and do puzzles. Her favorite colors are pink and purple. Although her speech has improved, she is still a little hard to understand at times. But the way she says some of her words, I don't ever want to change! She has a hard time with c's, so she will say Hamron (Cameron), hareful (careful) for example. She started out as a very easy child, but has grown increasingly more difficult. She has been very clingy to me the last couple months and often wants carried around. She is playing by herself less and less often and wants me to play with her. She has become even more attached to her blanke,t which she wants to take everywhere and throws quite a fit when she doesn't have it. She has also started putting it in her mouth to suck/chew on. (It drives me nuts). She regularly gets up at night, sometimes more than once. This has been going on for over a year. But she does go right back to bed. However, despite the difficulties. H is adorable and we love her so much!

We had a small party for her with a couple of her close friends.

We had a family dinner at Oregano's. Another one of our favorite pizza joints. She (just like C) got a snake made by Lily and Emma.

Our Kindergarten Graduate

C's graduation was held in his classroom with only his class. They performed a short play, held up the letters to spell kindergarten and said a short line for the letter they held. C's was N; N is for the numbers we know 1,2,3. Their teacher, Mrs. Rivera handed them their diploma, told what their favorite memory was and what they received their award for (each child got to chose what the received their award for). C's favorite memory was going on a field trip to the dairy farm. He received his award for being the best tight rope walker.


Doesn't he look thrilled? I would have liked him to wear something a little nicer, but he insisted on his "spirit" shirt since it was the last day of school. He is also wanting to grow his hair out.

Corbin has been one of C's best buddies. Unfortunately, he will be moving soon and won't be attending the same school next year.

I wanted a picture of just the kids, but H wouldn't be in it without me. I guess it's good I'm in a picture once in a while. Baby C couldn't quite make it thru graduation without falling asleep. I told him this was probably the most entertaining and shortest graduation he'd ever go to.

There weren't too many days when C did not complain about going to school. And for many reasons, he had just cause to complain; having to get up too early, too many rules, sitting too much, etc. But I do think he enjoyed school for the most part. And I am very impressed with how much he learned. He would come home with all sorts of information. He really enjoyed lunch, PE and recess. I had the opportunity to volunteer in the classroom once a week. It was so fun to get to know his classmates and be there for him. I am so proud of all he did!

First Year of Preschool Complete

Although, she never had much to say and despite her saying preschool was "boring and stupid" (parroting Cameron I'm sure), I think Hannah really enjoyed preschool at the Happy Apple. The only thing she would ever tell me was she liked singing time the best. H never really cared much for reciting her poems for a lollipop, doing her task cards for a prize from the treasure box, or doing homework (writing her name 5 times) for an extra happy dollar and although, I would encourage her, it was an not something I forced her to do.


Teacher Laura and Teacher Mary (replacing Teacher Amanda who just had a baby)

A little bit of singing...

Christian at 16 months

wrestling with Hannah

wearing a "space helmet"

sleeping after his last nursing session

playing cars in the window sill (just like big brother)

playing in the rain puddles

Wow! How time flys. Christian continues to develop his little personality. He is very determined, smart, adorable and stubborn. He hates to sit in his high chair to eat and would prefer to eat on the go. He absolutely loves tang and granola bars (healthy choices I know). He understands and remembers everything and is able to communicate quite well despite not being able to talk. He loves to play outside and wear other people's shoes. He can give kisses and follows the examples of his brother and sister. And really tries to keep up with them.

Another year has come and gone...

This year, I turned 34. I am very happy and content with life right now. I have an amazing husband, 3 gorgeous kids that I get to stay home with. I have time to run and practice yoga. I get to teach group exercise; working out while getting paid, what could be better? Sure, I wish I wasn't getting up at night with children, that I wasn't getting age spots and that I did not feel so overwhelmed and exhausted most of the time. But really life is good. And the best thing about being married to someone who is much older, is I do not have to worry about him trading me in for a younger model, because I will alwasys be the younger model.

Happy Mother's Day to Me!

My day started out with a full night sleep! And breakfast in bed. Well, sort of... C really wanted to give me breakfast in bed, so Chuck made it and brought it to me, but with 3 kids climbing me, we decided we needed to move it into the kitchen. To bring a hault to C's fit, I told him soon just he and I would have breakfast in bed. The kids were relatively good in church and they left me alone while I took a nap! They gave me presents and lots of cards. But my favorites are the responses they gave to the questions their teachers asked.
Hannah:
My mother is 10 years old and is as tall as Teacher Laura. She has brown eyes and brown hair. She loves to go shopping at Wal-mart. Her favorite color is green. She loves to eat macaroni and cheese. I love my mom because I love her.
Cameron:
1.My mom is special because she takes me to the park.
2. What is your favorite thing she cooks? coffee cake
3. Where is your favorite place to go with her? Sweet Tomotoes
4. What does she like to do for fun? I don't know
5. I like to make my mom smile by tickeling her
6. My mom is smart. She even knows yoga.
7. My mom is pretty as a racecar.

Celebrating with Cameron

Happy 6th Birthday Cameron!

We had a relatively small party for C last week. We had water fun in the back yard with a small pool, sprinklers and water guns. We ate pizza and then had cupcakes. He got some great gifts including: remote control vehicles, books, magic rocks, a magic volcano, a matchbox car play set, spy walkie-talkies. The kids all got along and appeared to have a good time! However, whenever you have a group of kids together, it gets hectic, so I noticed I didn't get a lot of pictures of C playing, but we got the important shots of him blowing out the candle and opening presents. (And I can never manage to get the pictures in the order I want!)

Pre-Party

We had a small party for C's birthday last week (pics to come) and as I was preparing the back yard, the kids insisted on getting wet. Little C was so anxious to get in, I didn't bother with a swimsuit. I would have never guessed they would have had so much fun with a $10 small plastic pool. Little C was just beside himself!

Happy 6th Birthday Cameron!

Cameron is six! C was up bright and early on his b-day and unfortunately, had to go to school. Coincidentally, this week C is star of the week, which means, he gets to be line leader and his classmates make him a book. Included in his book are his favorites and he got to take some of those favorites to share.

favorite color: red, green and brown
favorite movie: Forces of Nature
favorite food: blueberry coffee cake
favorite toy: matchbox cars

C is also the snack provider this week, so for his b-day, we were able to take some sugar cookies to school (there is a girl in his class who is "allegedly" allergic to chocolate). I was able to go have lunch with C and for dinner we went to his favorite restaurant, Sweet Tomatoes. We were joined by Lily, Emma and Charity. Several of the employees sang Happy Birthday and they gave him a giant cookie in the shape of a six. C got a stuffed shark from little C and H, a red snake made by Lily and Emma, plush angry birds from Char and a scooter from mom and dad. All the gifts were big hits! The one gift C had asked for and did not get was a Nintedo DS. I'm not sure if and when he will get one of these. But for now, the answer is a definite no. C loves to watch TV and play on my ipod touch (one of his favorite games is angry birds). When watching TV and playing games, he completely zones out. And when it's time to turn it off, he throws a fit. So, until things change, no DS for him. At six years, C still rarely plays by himself. He loves for me to play with him or anyone else that will (except for his sister). So, we frequently have friends over. Some of his best friends are: Carson, Corbin and Derrek. For the better part of the year, C has been sleeping thru the night. Kindergarten has been a great help with bed time. He is usually so exhausted by 7pm, he is begging to go to bed. Each night he has numerous animals and other toys he has to have in bed with him. He changes frequently as to which one is his favorite. And has gotten away from having to have his favorite with him all the time. And before we are allowed to shut the door, he has to say: "Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite. If they do, hit them with your shoe. Put a shoe by your bed just in case. Think about the old days and the new days. No bad dreams. Good night. I love you." He hasn't been as hard to get out the door for school lately or been complaining as much about it. But he still doesn't love it. He is learning so much though and it is so fun to hear all the new knowledge he comes home with. C still loves cars, trucks, firetrucks, construction trucks etc. He also loves natural disasters such as tornadoes, volcanoes, and tsunamis. He loves the show Rescue Heroes. C adores Christian. So much so, that I feel like Christian is being smothered all the time. I hope he will always adore Christian and they will grow up to be the best of friends. Cameron can be quite overwhelming. He knows what he wants and is willing to drive you crazy to get it. But he can also be very sweet and helpful. He is very affectionate and often spontaneously says I love you.

Here are just a few cute stories about our Cameron:

In primary, during singing time, Cameron was chosen to hunt for an Easter egg which contained the name of the next song they were going to sing. But because a friend of his really wanted to be the one to find the egg, Cameron let him take his turn.

Cameron wanted to buy a school lunch. I told him that would be fine, but I didn't really know how it worked and I would have to figure it out. He said: "They just want money mom. It doesn't matter how much. Just give me five dollars cash." Then H says, "Can I have five dollars cash too?"

Cameron recently wrote a letter in school to Lily. It went like this:

"Dear Lile

I hop you are having a god tim at school. I love you. Cameron."

He also adores Lily and Emma.

And we adore Cameron!

Father/Sons - Mother/Daughter

This weekend was the annual father/son camp out. The boys headed up North to Patrick's Pond near Heber. This was Christian's second time to go camping, but first without Mom. He had a hard time maneuvering around camp, but curled up in his sleeping bag and slept great.

While the boys had their father/son camp out. The girls did a little camp out of their own. H and I headed up to Camp Lomia (this is where are young women go to girls camp), located in Pine, to help get the cabins ready for the summer. Although there were cabins, we decided to pitch a tent. We did take advantage of the bathrooms with indoor plumbing. H sleeps great in a tent. I didn't hear from her all night! I slept okay. It was really cold, and I feel a little confined in a sleeping bag. But our bags did keep us warm. (The excursion would have been a little more fun if I wouldn't have had to carry H everywhere!)