Elllllllieeeee!

Right as school ended my sister came home for a visit. She is currently in Denver. We took advantage of some of her down time between events and had a lot of fun.

Brian beat Jake in Settlers of Catan on a Sunday evening. Then Jake and Emily ripped us apart in hand and foot. We took the kids down to the Gateway believing the weatherman that it would be sunny and one of the hotter days. By the time we finished lunch and reached the fountain the clouds had made there way to us and the wind was ripping. Kelsey and Ellie had a blast. Macy finally got into the fun after Kelsey and Ellie were too cold. Braden was tired and cranky from lack of naps the past few days. He also was really scared of the misters that are now part of the fountain. I believe he thought they were smoke from fire and again this fear might be traced back to that fateful night in St. George.

We also went up to Memory Grove. We went on a perfect day. I had never been there before so didn't know what to expect. It is a park dedicated to Utah soldiers just in case you are as naive as me. It was pretty and there were lots of other families enjoying the day. There were also lots of employed people taking a walk on their lunch break. They are my heroes because I don't know if I would ever do that.

I attempted about five pictures with these hoodlums but at least 2 children are looking away in every shot. They did not want to cooperate. I guess it was at the very end of our visit and they all were getting tired.

Here's the fam minus me (I was taking the photo because I have such skill) showing off their coolness and this memorial. If I had been in the picture it would have knocked your socks off from the shear beauty and I didn't want to do that to anyone.

Enjoying Nature

We have also gotten out a bit. The weather hasn't been warm enough to swim but it has been decent enough to spend a little time outdoors.

One Saturday night we went on an extremely short hike to Lisa Falls. The length turned out to be a good thing because on the way back down one had to go to the bathroom and the other said she had to go to the bathroom. The later child only said that because she wanted to stop at a gas station and try to convince us of buying her some candy. The kids had a great time and keep asking when we are going to go hiking again.

We went to a butterfly launch. Macy's school class had 9 cocoons in the classroom at the end of the year. They never hatched in time to let them go during the school year so a couple days after school let out her teacher called and said it was time.

The best thing happened last week (maybe an exaggeration but it was a nice break for me). The girls went to a kids camp down the street. Our neighbors daughter and a friend put together 4 days of activities for kids ages 3-10. There was a craft day, carnival day, water day and sports day. The price was too good to be true for 3 hours a day. It was kind of a glorified play date that I did not have to set up. The kids loved it and I loved it. I heard they were going to do it again in July. I told them to sign me up.

Two weeks ago we went up the canyons for our first marshmallow roast of the year. The weather was great and the company was fun. We found out that we have scarred Braden. In the spring when we were in St George we went to a Japanese steakhouse and had them cook up dinner in front of us. Braden screamed and cried when the flames burst out in front of him. Well now he is deathly afraid of fire. He just clung to me and whimpered when we were anywhere near the campfire. Out in the trees he was fine but as soon as he came near the fire, it was back to the safety of mom.

Walking to the library was another way I killed some time and slid in some physical activity. The way there we took the neighborhood route to avoid the busy streets. But of course whole way I had to hear Macy tell me I was going the wrong way and that we would never make it to the library. It is bad enough that she is a back seat driver in the car at 7 years old but she is also a back seat walker. So on the way home I took the busy streets just to satisfy her, but then I had to hear from Kelsey that we were going the wrong way. I will never win.

On Your Mark, Get Set, GO!

Did anyone else hear the gunshot because we certainly did? I don't think we have really stopped since school let out. Here is a run down of the race so far (and I can tell you it is not over yet).

The first item worthy to mention was Kelsey's last day of preschool. Her class did a little program for all the parents. They sang cute songs about dinosaurs, moms and dads. They did the Huki Luo (not sure the correct spelling).

Their theme for the year was "Onward and upward" so at the end they each got to take a turn in the hot air balloon to receive a medal and a certificate.

She had a wonderful time and learned so much. She made lots of good friends, but I think she will miss her teacher most of all, Miss Patti. Kelsey still asks when we can go to her teacher's house to see her horses.

Kelsey wasn't the only one to graduate. My baby brother graduated from high school. He made sure to make my mom sweat it out until the very end wondering if he would actually graduate. He is a really smart kid and gets good grades (for the most part). He just likes to procrastinate to the very last second. Way to go Jeff! We are proud of you.

PS If anyone is a high school administrator take note that if you want to speak at graduation it should only be about 5 seconds. No one really listens to you any way and you torture the family by making us sit there an hour longer than we need to.

The cool money lei my mom made.

Oh yes, and this is the gash Braden received when he ran into a wall during graduation. Brian took the restless kidlets out for a few. A few minutes Macy comes hurrying back in to tell me that dad needs me right away because Braden ran into a wall. Luckily there was no trip needed to the instacare just a lot of blood.

Gotta Love the Weekend

What a enjoyable Memorial Day weekend! I was a little bummed because at one point I was going to be lounging on the beach in Newport. But that didn't happen. Instead Brian and I had a kid free weekend and it all happened by chance.

Friday night Brian and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary. Sorry I am not that sentimental so there is no post with all the reasons I love my hunk. Just know that I love the guy and maybe next year I will get around to the deep post about my endearing love for him. We went to the most fabulous restaurant and now I am craving the meatloaf. That is right I said meatloaf. We went to Frangk's (spelling?). It was spectacular but expensive. If you are having a splurge night go here. Well I asked my mom to watch the kids for us. She was excited and said they could sleep over. She had been planning on taking them when we were in Newport anyways.

Then our neighbors wanted to do a date night on Saturday night. It was to theaters by my parents, so I pick up the phone and ask my mom to keep them until 10:30. That meant a whole Saturday to ourselves. So what do you think Brian and I did? Get your mind out of the gutter. It has been 10 years and we are way past that. We both exercised. Then we hit Park City for some shopping. I am not sure why I take the mister with me on these outings. I had 2 gift cards I wanted to use and Brian had no money. Guess how much shopping he did? It is a good thing I don't let him out that often. We might be broke. Just kidding but he does go a little crazy when he starts finding things he likes in a price range he can swallow. I came home with 3 pairs of shorts, 3 t-shirts and 1 shirt. Brian came home with a pair of shorts and 3 shirts. We got home just in time to pick up our good friends. We went out for pizza and good conversation. Then kicked back for a little pirate action.

So how did we get rid of the kiddos the rest of the weekend? Brian's mom called up and asked she could have the kids for an over nighter. Since we had filled up the 2 previous nights, all that was left was Sunday night. This worked out perfectly because we ate dinner at his parent's, played games and left the kids for the night. We didn't have to pick them up until 5 PM Monday night. We met up at a BBQ and Brian's brother's house. I don't know how we orchestrated such a perfect weekend but we did. It was glorious and all is well at our house.

Say Cheese

Why do kids love taking pictures? This past month all 3 of my kids have gotten hold of my camera and have had a heyday. Braden has even gotten in on the action. While doing yardwork this week Braden found the right button on my cell phone to turn on the camera function. This is what I would hear "Mom I take picture of you." Snap. "Mom I take picture of you." Snap. I have 34 pictures on my phone of the sidewalk, the house, garbage cans (it was garbage day), bushes, grass, etc. everything but me. There is one shot where there is a sliver of me. Not sure he has photo skils either that or he thinks he knows what he is doing but doesn't really.

Here is a sampling of their portfolio.

Braden's handy work. See his shoes. And yes that is some of the ugliest carpet.

Kelsey took several upside down, on purpose. She thought it was the funniest thing.

And that is not all, oh no that is not all. But that is all I will make you suffer through.

Library Day

This sounds terrible, but I may never take my kids to the library again. If I go another time I will need to adjust my expectations it to be longer than a quick in and out trip of maybe 30 minutes. Tonight it was an hour and 15 minutes. We didn't get back until 6 PM and dinner had not even been prepped before this adventure.

Braden and Kelsey were fine with anything they found. Kelsey and Macy wanted tons of movies and was the first place they stopped. I immediately informed them that we would not be bringing 100 movies home and that at the end we would be picking the top picks. This put too much pressure on Macy for finding the right movie. So she wandered and him hawed over the selection. Finally in a fit of exasperation I forced her to start looking for books to read. One of the summer reading programs requires that she read the book on her own. She refused to look at the section of leveled reading books and anything I suggested (which happened to come from a recommended list for 1st graders reading at about her same level) was a book she hated. She had to look up certain character books on the computer and then she could never decide on which book from the series. According to her all the Olivia books she wanted to read were checked out. Then she tried to get some super easy books to read and chapter books were out of the question. Finally I told her that I would not sign off on anything that was too easy. She needed to push herself a bit this summer. That did not bode well for her. Worn out and tired, I picked a few for her that I snuck into the pile. Then I sat down as she continued to fuss and search. When she decided upon 3 Angelina Ballerina books it was time to sort out the movies. I told each child they could pick 2 from the stack. Of course Macy looked at them and said she didn't like any so it was back to combing the movies. I felt like Gus Gus from Cinderella walking out of the library. Any minute and one item was going to pop out and send all the materials flying.

Well the story doesn't end there. After dinner Macy sits down and whizzes through one book. She moves onto a second. Then she is ready to fill in one of the charts. Then she asks to read another two books. She said that if she read another two books tonight then she wouldn't have to read tomorrow. She wanted to get all her reading for the summer done in one night. She also wanted to stay ahead of everyone so she could win. If you are thinking that this was a casual conversation and that she agreed with all my reasons and explanations, then you are wrong. It was more like a heated debate that ended slightly more on the frustration side for both of us. In fact you could summarize the closing of the discussion with "because I am the mom so I am right". I may not have said it that way but it was pretty much how we had to end this interaction.

If you think she gave up without a fight, you are wrong again. I have cultivated a special tone of voice for the statement "Macy!" or "Macy that is enough!" Translated it means this conversation is over or else. The more I have to repeat these phrases the more serious I mean it. Usually she gets the message before the atomic bomb goes off. Sometimes she doesn't. Tonight the fuse was a little longer for mom. Maybe I am gaining a little more patience. Then again maybe I am not. All I can say is she wore me out and I think individual trips to the library are a better way to go.

In case you are wondering, Macy will not win these reading programs because they are not contests. She is just a little competitive.

One Thing Worth Loosing

Last Thursday, Kelsey lost her first tooth. It was a little scary for her at first. She comes running to me with tears in her eyes because the gums are bleeding and the tooth is now parallel to the floor. After a little soothing and mentioning that her tooth is about to come out, I reach in for a yank. But my muscles were not needed today. The tooth was pretty much just sitting there. I show her the tooth and she starts to cry a little like this is a bad thing. I reassure her that all is okay because now the tooth fairy can come to visit her that night. Quickly that frown turned upside down and she was singing a different tune.