Summer lovin

Last week Kylie came home in tears on her last day of school. My mind rushed through a zillion different worries as to why, but I had to laugh when she was able to tell me through her sobs. "I, sob, am, sob, going, sob, to, sob, miss, sob, my, sob, teacher, sob, so, sob, much, sob!" I was worried she had gotten hurt, or left something behind or that someone said something mean- but she was just worried that she was never going to see her teacher again. She is such a tender heart.
We started our first day of summer break with a bang. Well actually the barfs. Kylie and James woke up in the night puking. Lots of fun. And of course it had to do the rounds with everyone else. Thankfully it was a quick bug and this week everyone has been just fine and having lots of fun.
The kids started swim lessons again. Their teacher reminds me of my little brother John. The kids have lots of fun with him, unless he tries to make them swim in the deep end. Kylie keeps telling him, "I'm gonna die if you make me swim over there." Love the drama!
Ty has just taken off with his reading lately, and thats been such fun. I love how excited he gets when he finishes a book. He is really looking forward to Kindergarten in a few short weeks. I am just hoping he wont have a power struggle with his teacher though. ;)
Jamesy has been a chatter box as of late, which cracks me up cuz he says the funniest things. My favorite is his new reply to knock knock jokes. Kylie and Ty love hearing James talk and for the past few months they do knock knock jokes with him. But I think he got sick of it cuz the other day when one of them started with the "knock, knock?" James got a scowl on his face and said, "I'm NOT HERE!" My other favorite thing is that he sporadically yells out, "WHAT THE HECK!" I guess I need to watch my expressions a little more closely cuz it sounds so bad coming out of his little mouth in the middle of sacrament meeting.
Bennie-boy has taken a little longer than the other kids to get feeling better, so he has just been my snuggle bug all week long. He is usually pretty snugly anyway, but even more so when he isnt feeling good. He is loving having Kylie home during the day, and when he isnt snuggling me, he snuggles with her.
Anyway the kids are loving summer vacation. We have been doing different activities to keep them busy each day. Besides their chores, workbooks, reading, and swim lessons, we have designated each day with a different activity-ie: Monday is music day, Tuesdays is library day, Wednesday is baking day, Thursday is craft day, and Fridays is Rain-o-lean day. So far so good. We are looking forward to the coming weeks, most especially the BR Hall Fam Reunion!

award ceremony

Kylie is almost done with the 1st grade. Tomorrow is her last day, and today her class put on a little play and then her teacher presented the kids with several different awards, 8 different achievements in all. Kylie got all but 2-(she didnt get perfect attendance, nor the timed math test completion award-(in those 2 groups only 2 kids got them.) Anyway I was proud of my girl. She has grown up a lot this past year. I love how she pushes herself and is so eager to learn. She is our little smarty pants. Woohoo to the moo!
Daniel wasnt able to come cuz he has a conference/class in Phoenix today, so I had the 3 boys to handle by myself. I figured since it was very low key I would manage just fine. I guess I forgot how crazy my crazies really are. Ben was up and down and up and down and screaming unless i could pop his binky in his mouth. James was exactly the same, minus the binky. and when he wasnt kicking off his shoes or trying to take Bens off, he was licking one of us. Tyler did really well, so I was proud of him. He sat quietly and stayed in his chair. He wont do that for church, so I was shocked that I wasnt having to threaten or bribe him into behaving. It wasnt a very long ordeal- (thank heavens)- but by the time we got back in the car, I was ready for a nap. I kinda wonder what life is like after the toddler/baby stages. Do people really get to go to these kind of things and not spend the whole time wrestling with a squirmy kid? I dont think I would know what to do with myself...

Recital

6 weeks ago Kylie started piano lessons. She has been so eager to learn and has been very consistent with practicing and has done really well in these few short weeks. 2 weeks ago her teacher, whom I absolutely adore, gave her the option of playing in the recital. On the drive home I asked Kylie is she wanted to participate. She said no. I told her it would be a good experience for her. She said no. I told her it would be fun. She said no. I then asked her why not. She replied, "I might get stage fright." That made me laugh. I decided not to push her on it, as she is such a timid little thing, but after her lesson the following week, I asked her again if she wanted to do it. She wasnt interested until I bribed her with her choice of treat following the recital. She thought about it for 5 seconds, then said, "OK. I'll do it." Behold the power of treats.
So last night was this blessed event. Kylie practiced and practiced to make sure her song was perfect. She had never been to a recital, and didnt know what to expect, so she was pretty nervous. We took our seats and looked at the program and Kylie was the first one up. Her eyes got really wide and she turned to me and whispered "what do I do?" I told her her teacher would get up and welcome everyone and then when it was time to start she would go up to the piano, tell everyone the name of her song, take her seat and play her song, just like she practiced. She looked at that grand piano with such intimidation that it kind of broke my heart for her, but I knew she could do it and be the better for overcoming her fears. She then whispered to me that she could not play THAT piano. I told her it was just like ours, only bigger, better and shinier, but the keys are just the same. She sat there for a few minutes just looking so worried.
Her teacher welcomed everyone, and then introduced Kylie, who got up, went to the piano, and played her song perfectly. When she sat back down next to me she still looked really nervous, so I gave her a little hug, whispered I was so proud of her, and that she did it! After a few more kids played their songs, Kylie seemed to relax and then started enjoying herself.
After the recital we walked back to the car and Kylie stated matter of factly, "that wasnt so bad, afterall." That made me laugh.
Now I had to deliver on my end of our deal. She chose DQ for her treat, and as we ate our blizzards, she told me it had been the best day of her life. That made me smile. Such a funny little thing she is.

Up

Daniel and I love a good movie. So do our kids. But we rarely get out to see a movie with the kids. Last time we did so was almost 2 years ago. But since UP came out this weekend, we decided we needed to break our streak and make UP our family activity today. We had a friend come by while Ben took his nap, and we took the other 3. What an absolutely fabulous treasure that movie is. It was bright, and colorful, funny and creative. But I thought it went beyond all that. So much so that it made me tear up, and want to just hug my Daniel really tight. It made me look down the road several years knowing whatever adventure we dream- the most wonderful one is the adventure of us spending our lives together. I am so blissfully happy that I get to spend each day with my best friend. I really do look forward to growing old with him by my side. If you havent seen this movie- I would highly recommend it!

Memorable Memorial

Since it was a 4 day weekend we decided to get out of dodge and head up to the mountains of Strawberry. Daniel and I have been searching for the right locale for our someday cabin and we finally found it. Simply gorgeous area. We have driven past there several times when we lived in Mesa, but never stopped and explored the area until now. But now instead of someday I am pressuring Daniel to make that someday more like 2-3 years since it is totally perfect and I want to go up there again and again and again. I cant get enough of those mountains and pine trees. And since it is a 4 and a half hour drive we also decided Daniel needs to learn how to fly a helicopter, and somehow we need to acquire one so that we can fly from here to there every chance we get without having to be on the road with the 4 crazies whose "he's on my side," "are we there yet?" "she's talking to me," "I'm hungry!" "I have to go to the bathroom,""I'm bored," "how much longer?" comments get really annoying really quickly. ;)
we had such a nice time. We stayed in the cabins on strawberry hill which were quite fun. We played some tether ball-(Daniel is such a cheater-even though he has the greater advantage as he is well over a foot taller than me, he still has to grab the rope to steal the ball.) The kids loved playing ping-pong jamesy style -(hitting the ball far away from the table and then running to see who can get it first) petting the horse, playing on the playset and especially the playhouse. But the most fun was roasting marshmallows around the fire-pit each night. We also hit the local arts and crafts festival a few miles down in Pine, and the kids got to make a couple of sand art pictures, which they want me to frame and hang up on the walls. I love those mountains. It was so refreshing up there.
Driving home we decided to grab some lunch at Bajios, but were disappointed as it is no longer there. So we hit chick-fil-a instead, and as fate would have it, we ran into Daniels grandma, his dear aunt, uncle and their family. We were just headed out as they were coming in, so we only got to chat for a minute but it was nice to see them. They are some of our favorite people.
So after such a nice relaxing weekend, it felt really wrong to have to get up and get back into the routine this morning. I think its cruel and unusual punishment that Kylie has to go to school for a couple more weeks. So does she. I tried getting her to sing "I will survive" with me this morning but she gave me the perfected teenager-"that's so embarrassing" eye roll. Love that girl.

Weekend Wonders

2 weekends ago we headed to San Diego to help a friend move some stuff into his "beach house." What an adventure. The kids and I offered moral support while Daniel and said friend pretty much killed themselves off trying to get a sectional, two king sized beds, several chairs, a dresser, tables, and the like up a flight of stairs and through a small door. It was madness. Daniel could barely move the next day. We planned on spending a good chunk of Saturday at the beach, but it was only 60 some odd degrees and since we had just left 100 plus degrees back home, we were freezing our little bunz right off. So we told the kids we would come back in a few weeks so we could try the beach day again. We drove back up Saturday night cuz Daniel had been asked to give a talk in sacrament meeting. I have a bone to pick with a member of our bishopric. Who asks a young dad of 4 of the most irreverent kids-(well Kylie is not a problem- its my boys- so 3 of the most irreverent kids) to leave his wife to deal with them all by herself on MOTHERS DAY? Sheesh. That was brutal. But it actually turned out alright cuz Ben fell asleep and Kylie kept James quietly entertained and my Toast was up against his Star Wars game privileges being revoked, so he did alright too. Anyway Daniel went out of his way to make mothers day special. He let me sleep in which he needed more than I did since he and his friend were up half the night on Friday, but he sacrificed for me. What a great guy. Then he made his delicious homemade waffles which were fluffy and light and tasty as could be. And to top it off-(besides the flowers, the mint musketeers(my current candy addiction) and the love notes) he got me the coolest phone EVER. I know everyone who has the I-phone thinks its the coolest, but the G-1 is actually THE coolest! Man I love my new phone. Its like a little tiny computer/phone/camera/GPS/i-pod-(but you dont have to have all the stinking apple applications)-ALL IN ONE! It is AMAZING! SERIOUSLY AMAZING! (it has the qwerty keyboard built into it. how amazingly awesome is that? very! and its so tiny for doing the gazillion things that it does- its seriously AMAZING!!!)

So after that wonderful weekend, last weekend we decided to play it cool in this desert heat. We did the "rain-o-line" and ate Popsicles by the dozens, BBQed up a storm, and just enjoyed the unhurried calm together. It was fabulous. Daniel and Toast had their little date on Friday night. They went and got some famous burritos, then played video games. Ty apparently was in heaven. I dont think I will ever understand the male desire to spend hours blowing stuff up on video games. But they had fun. The other kiddies and I went and got ice-cream cones and took them to a little park nearby. Since it was such a warm evening, the ice-cream melted faster than my 2 boys could eat it, so it was a lovely sticky drippy mess. Bennie-boy had ice cream on every possible surface of his body. He looked like the marshmallow ghost on ghost busters. Kylie and I got such a kick out of watching those 2 boys.

I love weekends. I love being with my Daniel, and my crazy kids. And I love building memories together whether its on a little getaway, or just here at home. The only thing that could possibly make it better would be if the house would magically clean itself up after such weekends.

Haircut

i am not one who gets my haircut regularly. But around every 6 months I break down and get my ends cleaned up. I sometimes think it would be fun to do a major change in the style department, but never do cuz I dont have the guts. Anyway my six months has been up for a while now, so I called my very talented cousin and made an appointment. Since having Ben, half of my hair fell out, and for 6 months its been growing back, so half of my head has like 2 inchs of awkward regrowth. So Shami thought it might be a good time to chop of long hair, and even it up. SO I took a deep breath and..........

..........and now (as Tyler so kindly puts it) I "look like a boy."