5

Somehow my baby turned 5!! I still can't believe she is that old, but we sure had a good time celebrating anyway. She is still young enough to get so excited that we all can't help to be excited too. She asked for weeks on end when her birthday was and was over the moon when her day finally came. 

We started the morning with breakfast. She also requested cowboy cake and then went straight to opening presents. 

 I also love that she is still young enough to love everything and is so excited about everything she gets. Even if it is a pack of her own gum. 

She also still loves playdoh.

 She got a Barbie jeep and her first Ken

 My mom made her an Elsa dress which she now wears all the time. She wore it all day and even on our birthday date.She left the crown and cape at home though, she thought that would just be too much. She had such a hard time deciding where to go. She loves to go out to eat. Loves it. She finally decided on Cafe Rio so she could have her own salad.

We came home and had doughnuts and ice cream...again.

 I have always said this child has more personality than should be allowed. She is just something else, but is so entertaining. I always marvel at how observant of the world she is, she picks up on so much. She is truly a 14 year old trapped in a 5 year old's body. That causes her a lot of frustration. She is always baffled when I tell her no to certain things, like letting her shop by herself or use the butcher knife to cut cheese, because I think she truly has no idea that maybe she's not ready for stuff like that. This girl just takes charge and knows what she wants. And while this is challenging right now, I remind myself daily, sometimes hourly, that these traits will take her far someday. She is such a great addition to our family and love all that she brings with her.

14

June is our month of birthdays. We start with Carter, three days later with Emery, and three days after that we end with Brendan. 

Carter turned 14 this year. And boy, he is such a teenager. I have so much fun with him and really enjoy his personality, but at the same time he makes me mentally exhausted. Teenagers just tend to do that, I think.

We started the morning with his breakfast request of cowboy cake and scrambled eggs. And then opened presents. 

Carter is a bit obsessed with Nike right now especially with Nike elite socks. He got several pairs for his birthday and shirts to match.

 I love this picture because Hailey had spent a lot of time making Carter a card and you can see how excited she was about it.

 The one thing he really really wanted for his birthday was a new pair of shoes and a new hat. He and I spent the afternoon at the Nike outlet and hat store in search of what he wanted. He found his shoes for such a good deal and the hats were all buy one get one half off,  he was able to get two hats. (Ever since his field trip to San Francisco,and attending a Giants game, he has wanted San Francisco hat. He also loves the Miami Heat, so he picked one of those too) He was pretty excited about that. And used some of his birthday money for more socks.

That evening, Corey and I, took him on his birthday date. He chose BJ's and ordered a steak. We ended the night with his choice of doughnuts and ice cream.

Carter really is a great kid and is so good with the other kids. He still knows how to play with them and they all love him. He has always tended to draw other kids in and always has a following. Emery still absolutely adores him and most mornings this summer, I find her cuddled up in his bed talking about Minecraft with him. We love having him around and are so glad we were able to make his day a good one. 

Bring on Summer

A friend of mine, in our ward, had a great idea to bring on our summer. We decided to tell the kids we were going to get together and have a picnic and celebrate the last day of school. They didn't know we were actually planning a water balloon ambush.

When we all got to the park, we told the kids we wanted to take a group picture of them. While they were getting together and turned towards the camera, we ambushed them from behind. They were in total shock and it took them all a minute to realize what was going on. Once they realized it however the water fight was on. We all left soaked, except the older boys somehow avoided most of it. I guess water balloon ambushes are not for teenagers. Or at least not when you are the only teenagers there.

It was the best way to start our summer off. Even if the older boys were less than impressed. They did get subway out of it though so all ended well.

The down side is that I don't think I could ever pull it off again. They may be suspicious of any picnic we ever have again.

I have been thinking though that I should just randomly ambush them throughout the summer. Mostly for my own enjoyment and to break up the boredom.

Finishing the school year

The month of May and the first of June are always crazy busy as we try to get everything finished up for school and sports.

Carter went on an 8th grade field trip to San Francisco for 2 days. He had the best time and just loved it. He really wants to go back, but somehow I think going with his family might not be as fun for him as it was going with his friends. His bus left at 4:30 in the morning on a Tuesday and they came back on Thursday around 5 in the evening. It was a long time spent on the bus, but they packed a lot of fun activities while they were there. They went to a Giants baseball game, spent time on the pier, had lunch at the Rain Forest Cafe, and toured Alcatraz.

As soon as he got off the bus, we rushed to his basketball game. He finished up another season a couple of weeks ago. He improved so much this round and had an amazing coach. Their team finished 4th. It was some tough competition this season.

His school also had an eighth grade promotion ceremony, he missed it because of basketball, but he received quite a few awards for the year. He got one for his grades, attendance, and citizenship. He also got a leadership award on his school basketball team.

He was thrilled to pose for me with his awards.

It's was hard for him to have the school year come to an end. He has loved school so much this year and has so many good friends. Friends that will all be spread out at different schools next year, he has had a hard time with that. He just loves the social aspect of school and wasn't quite ready for that to end. 

Brendan had an end of season dinner with his lacrosse team. This was a little emotional for him, he really didn't want the season to end and has loved it so much.

The fourth grade also had a end of the year program. They have been studying the state of Nevada and even sang the state song for us. (I think that is the first time I have ever even heard it, or actually even realized there was a state song) Brendan is always thrilled to be in front of everybody, or sing in front of everybody, or just sing in general.

He also received some awards. The one he was most proud of was having the most AR reading points in his whole class. He was also a little sad to have the year come to an end. 

Hailey didn't have a formal awards ceremony, but her class partied the last week of school and we are sure going to miss her fun teacher and she already misses all her friends. 

Kayden really didn't do anything to celebrate his first year of high school. I think he was just glad to be done.

Emery graduated from preschool 

 They had a fun ceremony and sang many of the songs they learned throughout the year. She loved preschool and already misses it and her friends.

 We loved her teacher too and I may have been a little emotional to have preschool end. It's hard to accept that all my kids will be in school next year and that Emery is growing right up.

The past month has been so busy and I am so glad to have everything done. I know I will change my mind a few weeks in, but for right now I am ready for summer and having a little break from the craziness of school and schedules. 

Sending them off

 Corey's parents are serving a year long mission in Omaha, Nebraska. The weekend before we left, we headed to Enterprise to spend the weekend with the whole family.

We started on Saturday morning swimming together at the Veyo pool. We rented it out so we had to whole place to ourselves for a couple of hours. Unfortunately I don't have a single picture. We had a lot of fun, but it was pretty cold and by the end of the afternoon it started to rain on us too. 

The whole weekend my kids played and played with cousins. They love having the freedom to run and play. And it's so nice because they all play so well together that we hardly even see any of them. As long as we give them some food and occasional drinks, everyone is happy.

 Sunday was much more of an emotional day. Les and MaryAnn spoke in church and then we had a luncheon for them. There were a lot of people there which is definitely a reflection of the kind of people that they are.

That afternoon they were set apart as missionaries and then we spent the rest of the afternoon visiting at the house, enjoying their company before they left bright and early the next morning. (And dividing all their food and possessions amongst ourselves!)

 We also had to take a picture with everyone pointing to where they had served their missions. Corey and all his brothers, and my two nephews that are on missions right now, have all been spanish speaking.

Saying goodbye is always hard. My Hailey had such a hard time and had us all in tears. Thank goodness for modern technology that we can use to skype and email them. It makes it easier. They are loving it so far and we love to hear about their adventures. The year is going to fly by!