Kate's Bday

Well the day came and went and its all said and done. She is 5. I cant beleive I am so old that my baby is 5! That makes the rest of you ancient, right? I mean Shari was telling me about Rachel not being in YW anymore and that's weird too. All these little mile stones we have to go through, they kind of stink but they are kind of cool too.

Cant wait to see everyone for Emilee's wedding!

Summer Vacation Laziness

Thanks Darren for telling me how to make a video. I'm totally excited!!!

More picts in a minute

Well, its taking forever to download the video....... maybe I did something wrong....

Today

Well Todays the big day! UPS called and said they have my camera for me and it has to be signed for. It's past 4pm and I havent seen them. Good thing I have a ton to do AROUND THE HOUSE today! Sheeesh.
So a strange man knocked on my door and I had high hopes that he was the UPS man but he wasnt in brown but when I opened the door he whipped a $20 out of his wallet and said, HI! Several things hit my mind: 1 - I was just barely standing by the front door yelling at the top of my lungs up at Taner to get out of bed (it was noon) and I wondered if this guy had heard me, 2 - what the fetch, who's this guy, and what does he want? Turns out he was Tara's math teacher and he said that he promised whoever got the highest score on the final a $20 and she won! Yay Tara! (she tutors Taner because we're all to stupid and impatient to put up with him)
So while I make cookies and things to sell at the fundraiser tonight, cook, clean, and pack my backpack for my hike tommorrow, not to mention entertaining children because 'yay me' school is out! - Tara has been running about all day, babysitting for several people here and there, (why did she use MY credit card to fill her tank today.......) she's been making bags of cotton candy whenever she gets a chance and now she is off again to a Golf party and I'm sure I'll see her at some point tonight since the fundraiser is for HER drill team. At least when she didnt have her license I was taking her to all these places and seeing her for a second or two. Now I;m stuck home with Taner on crutches because he jumped off the high dive onto some kid and hurt his foot. I made him call the kid he landed on and he's fine.

No intentions of cleaning under my couch any time soon. Besides, what would Taner park his lazy butt on?

Big Day for Kate

Pre-School Graduation! Well, even though its completly uncalled for, Kates preschool teacher does a big graduation for the kids, and they love it. They perform all their songs they learned through the year and they have speaking parts, and grad. gowns and walk down the row after their name is called and all kinds of fun stuff.

And to be honest, the parents love it. Kate was very particular about how she sat, telling me that her teach said to sit that way. And during the program she walked over to me to tell me something and I was about to say, "get back over there and sit down." and she whispered in my ear.... "I love you." and just walked away and sat back down. I was awstruck. Then when she said her part it was something about how she wanted to grow up and have lots of kids like the woman in the shoe and then she started laughing and laughed all the way back to her seat. She's a funny kid. She was so proud and happy when her named got called to walk up the row to her seat in her gown. I hope she is just as happy at her High School Graduation. At the end her teacher gave candy awards to each kid for their personality. Like one boy got a king size kit kat because he was always King when they played, and one got a Take 5 because he always wanted 5 minutes to tell his stories. Well, Kate got the Skittles because she has a rainbow of personalities. Couldnt have pinned that one better huh? Well, anyway - we went to lunch at Los Lupes and it wasnt until bed time that she got on my nerves again, so it was a Good Day! (hate bedtimes)

Moments to Remember

Well every year the Elementary school holds a Triathalon and in 3rd grade Talia came in as one of the top 10 (the coveted top 10) So its a big deal but as these kids get older they seriously grow a lot and it becomes quite apparent who the sportsy ones are and who the musically talented are, and who the smart ones are, etc. etc. Talia, not so sportsy anymore. And every year I tell myself I am going to train her for the triathalon and even put it in my calendar in Feb. to start training her. Yeah well, we ran a little here and there and pretty much, it didnt happen. So the morning of the tri she was jogging up and down the stairs and totally stoked, and I was like, uh, you can quit doing that, you cant train the morning of the race. I told her if she would just beat the neighbor girl, I would be happy. Promised her one of those new caprisun bags and everything! Well, she did it and she actually got in the top 20, thank heaven for all those fat kids that were easy to beat. I was totally screaming at her in the end, "she's right behind you, she's gonna catch you!" The neighbors were cracking up. What can I say, next year, we will actually train for it.

Updates

Well, School is almost out, thank heaven! Anyone need a 14 year old boy to work on the farm this summer? (I'm serious) He's already bored and schools not even out....for this purpose I desire to go to sleep and wake up in the next school year.

On a positive note, here's a little update about the kids.... Tara is doing awesome. She was indicted into the National Jr. Honor Society, made drill team, and is still going to do Golf. She wont be doing student council next year but her "friend" is the Student Body Pres. so I'm guessing every free second will still be used to help in that capacity. We are looking forward to summer with her where she can work and make some money in between all her CAMPS she has to go to.... EFY is June 6th for a Week, Youth Conference, Girls Camp, Drill Team Camp and hey bubba - is there a Golf Camp? I figure if I do all her chores& laundry, and have meals ready as she buzzes through the door, it should be a successful summer for her. (where did my babysitter and helper go?)

Taner is a great kid, he really is, but bored boys are not fun to have around so my idea of keeping him busy is to have him baby sit , do dishes, and laundry because Tara is gone, and that just aint cool man! But he is the rank of Eagle now and is working on his eagle packet and has an eagle project in mind, so that should consume some time this summer and hopefully when Jordan comes home from his mission we will have a homecoming and Court of Honor thingy for everyone to come to! Grades? Well, we wont go there. Do they have mechanics scholarships? He says the reason me and him dont communicate well is because I dont speak Truck.

Talia is doing great! She is going to really miss school and will be counting down the days until summer break is over. I have her doing swim team and she isnt very happy about it but you can only sit home and do craft books, read, and write in your journal so much, got to get out to keep the booty small you know what I mean? She is turning out to be really really good with kids, quite the little mother hen, and she would like to live with Chelsey and Marcus and babysit madison every minute. Always asking to go over there.

Kately is, dare I say it, mini me. She cant sit still for a min. In church she is quiet but must be flailing her arms about and moving up and down, Sunday was very hard this week. She is going to be the P.E. teachers favorite student when she starts school next year and she and Talia were doing math this morning and she was getting it all right. I hope those K. Teachers know what to do with her. ON the paper that said to write anything you needed to tell the teachers, I put, "Good Luck keeping her busy, she'll be done first on everything I assure you. Call me if she bites anyone."

Keven is doing great, he has lost 25 lbs so he is feeling good. Work is crazy busy for him and with summer camps and things, he'll be in and out all summer.

I got in for the St. George 2010 Marathon so between girls camp director, and kids, and putting in more miles on the road, I'm looking forward to spending time at home with the kids this summer doing projects, hitting the park, swimming a bit here and there, and cleaning those nooks and crannys of my house. It's weird to think that my BABY is going to go to school and I am tempted to get my sub license back so that I can be a substitute teacher again but I am still teaching the aerobics classes at Sun City and doing some Weight Watchers classes so I really am just looking forward to all the kids being in school so that I can accomplish those tasks that I have shoved into the corner for years and years so I could get the kids to this point. Give me a couple months and I'm sure I'll be working lots of hours, money talks ya know! Or I'll end up being PTO pres or something. Arg - I swore I would never do that!

Well, I better go get moving today, I'll update more as I can. Thanks for reading.

Women's Conference Top Ten

1. The Nap

How pathetic is it that we actually schedule this into the trip?

Every year we ditch an afternoon class, go back to our dorm and slip into a coma.

Heaven.

2. The Classes

We hit some good ones this year. Julie Beck was the opening speaker. She was great. We also attended one on managing stress and one on dealing with life with humor, amongst others.

3. The BYU Campus

Shari is obsessed with the tulips every year! We walked by this planter on a street corner and she insisted we crawl into the middle!

4. The Service

I made a few keepsake boxes that will be given to mothers at hospitals who have just given birth to stillborns or have miscarried. (Shari refuses to do anything having to do with crafts so she sat and ate almonds the whole time)

5. The 5k Race

Um, well, we didn't plan on doing this part but when we drove into town we spotted the banner for the upcoming Provo City half marathon and 5k. Shari and I have been wanting to run a race together so what better time than after you've been doing nothing than eating junk food for 4 days straight???

Let's just say we ran in a FREEZING HAIL STORM the whole way!!!

But we did it!

6. The Choir

We always talk ourselves into getting up early to sing in the Instant Choir during the opening session. We have learned, however, that it's just fine to sleep in a little, have breakfast first and walk in about an hour late. :) The choir doesn't sound very good either way.

7. The Food

It all starts with Los Lupes after Shari gets to town then goes down hill from there. Sunflower seeds, non-stop soda, squeaky cheese, cinnamon donuts, mint brownies, jamba juice, cinnamon almonds, Olive Garden, Pizza Factory, Cafe Rio, movie popcorn.....

8. The Mindless Wandering

One of the best parts for me is just wandering around in the bookstore or around campus. It's always nice to have time to actually finish a thought in my head.

9. The Movie Night

Every year we meet up with my cousin Sean and his wife for dinner. This year we did take out at their house then Sean went with us to see Back Up Plan. OH.MY.GOSH. Haven't laughed that hard in a long time!! Not sure Sean enjoyed it near as much as we did.

10. The Time Away

No laundry, no bills, no work, no kids, no dishes...you get the picture.