On The Road

Whew.  We've been "on the road" for a few days now it seems.  We left home on Wednesday morning, bright and early, after a crazy two days of dentist appointments, doctor check-ups, laundry and cleaning.  We drove and drove and drove until we got to Utah.  It is a really long way sometimes.  And this time was one of those times because we have a baby in the car again.  Do you know how long it has been since I had a baby in the car?  Baby C did fine enough but he's still a baby and they can be hard.  Plus, I think he's decided he really doesn't like to sleep in his seat.  Uh-oh, that's bad news for everyone!
So we got to our friend's house on Wednesday night.  They live in Saratoga Springs, which is just west of Utah Lake.  They were generous enough to give us their basement to sleep in.  It was really good to visit with the Weekes.  They used to live in our stake but moved last summer.
Thursday, we had planned on visiting Temple Square and the Museum of Church History.  However, we took the morning slow - very slow.  We had a get together planned with some of my friends from high school Thursday evening which is why we were sticking around Northern Utah.  Because of our slow start we ended up just doing some shopping in Lehi/American Fork area.  We went to dinner at Café Rio - aaaahhhh - so good. Then headed to the get together.  Sadly the clubhouse pool was out of order so the kids didn't swim but Roy was awesome to entertain the kids while I visited with friends. 
We left the party to head to Delta where we planned on spending Thursday night.  We had another slow and relaxing morning before we hopped in the van and headed to St. George.  Tonight we are in St. George where we will be for the next few days.  We had a family dinner with nearly all the Pyatt's tonight.  We are here to celebrate my in-law's 50th wedding anniversary which was in March.  All 10 of their children will be here for the celebration tomorrow.  It is so good to see everyone.  We haven't seen some of them for years!  The kids are meeting their cousins and playing/swimming their little hearts out.  Roy and I are visiting and laughing with all the brothers, sisters and in-laws.  I'm so excited for this weekend!  It's going to be great!

Tea Party!

These girls are fast becoming best friends.  K has been bugging me for a while to play with N.  I kept putting her off because I didn't know where she lived or who her family was.  Turns out N lives around the corner from us - easy walking distance. 

Today they wanted to use their new Easy Bake Oven (thanks Grandma and Grandpa B).  So they dressed up in princess dresses (what?! don't you cook in a princess dress?) and we whipped up some cookies and cupcakes.

The next natural step is a tea party on the front lawn.

See how both K and N have their stuffed cats?  When we picked N up one day she came to the door with a stuffed cat and a picture she'd colored for K.  It was like picking up K - that's exactly the stuff she does!



Completely off tea party topic: Why do we bother with beds?

The Birthday Party

Today was the girls' friend birthday party.  We decided to do it early because we will be out of town during their actual birthdays.  K decided she would like a safari party.  (A picked Sesame Street last year.)  I planned ahead and had an awesome photo safari worked out in the circle where we live.  I made the safari hats, cameras and binoculars.  Got everything ready and then ... see the sky in this picture?

I had everything under control except the weather.  So it rained and our outdoor party quickly became an indoor party.  With 12 kids and 6 helpers.  Crazy.  But we forged ahead and the kids all had a good time which is what the point is anyway, right.

Love this ensemble.  The SuperGirl dress really sells the safari theme, don't you think?

In-the-house safari.  See A in the bottom corner "taking a picture" of an animal?  There is a photo on the front of that bag.  The kids used their "cameras" to take a picture then in the bag as photos that fit inside their cameras.  The back of the camera is open so you can see the photos.

We split the part into two groups - A's group and K's group.  K's group started the safari first while A's group played games. 



Cake and ice cream!  I had a bit of genius and bought Little Debbie Zebra Cakes for the birthday cake this year.  Hooray for no cake decorating!  Someone pointed out that we had store bought cake and homemade ice cream.  Yeah, that's how we roll at our house!

Present time!  Everyone was so generous.  The girls are really excited about their new toys.

Party favors and thank you cards rolled into one!  During the beginning, while the kids were decorating their hats, cameras and binoculars, I had a helper doing these handprints with the kids.  The girls wrote their thank you's on the back of these papers before the party.

Thank you gift for my helpers.

My awesome helpers!  I could NOT have done this party without them!

He's getting so big!

 Stop growing!!

Oh but he is so sweet! He just slays me with his charm and good looks.

Happy Father's Day

The best dad my kids could ask for!

Not a great shot but here's the kids giving daddy their gifts.

He was sick this weekend.  He stayed home from work Friday.  He also didn't go to church on Sunday.  Even though he didn't go to church, he felt well enough to play games and read stories with the kids on Sunday.  It was actually a perfect Father's Day.  Since he wasn't there to hear the kids sing with the primary kids in Sacrament meeting, the kids sang for him at home.  It was sweet.  They stood by the fireplace and sang to daddy in his rocking chair.  It was even better than if he'd been at church for them to sing to him.

Each of the kids had something special to give him.  D had a jar filled with slips of paper saying things he likes to do with daddy; K had a card she made at school and a card she made at church; A had a card with her footprint on it and a card from church.  I ordered a CD he's been wanting.

They sure do love their daddy!

End of Kindergarten

Somehow it just doesn't seem possible that K is at the end of Kindergarten.  And yet, here we are.  This week K had her Kindergarten field trip and promotion ceremony.
First the field trip on Tuesday.  The kindergartners at K's school all go to the local children's museum.  It is a really fun place.  I was wishing I could have gone but I didn't want to leave Colin and he's not welcome on a field trip. I was really sad and still feel sad that I didn't get to go on K's field trip.  Fortunately, my friend Heather went with her son and she took a few pictures for me.

When K bounded off the bus after the field trip, she had her face painted like a warrior.  I forgot there is a self face painting area that K had made good use of.  She'd painted war paint on her face.  That's so like her!  Depending on when I asked I got different answers for what her favorite part was.  Once she told me she got to brush a huge pretend alligator's teeth.  Another time she told me it was the clay room.  She also like the digging room where you could find bones but they didn't come up.  Obviously she had fun in the water room.  Basically, it was a great time.

Thursday morning was the "Kindergarten Promotion Ceremony".  I liked that we just met in the classroom and it was only K's class.  Each class did their own ceremony rather than all the classes together like when D was in Kindergarten.  The kids were all lined up at the front of the room and sang two songs about going into first grade.  Then they each walked across a red carpet to shake hands with their teacher and receive their certificate.  It was so cute!  I only have a blurry photo from K receiving her certificate but I got a good video which is actually better in this case.

K's class getting ready to sing.  She's on the far left side in the front.

Blurry shot of receiving her certificate.

The little graduate!

Best buds! A was so excited to be there with K.

K with her teacher.  Ms. Carney has been so great! We love her!

Tristan -- K's kindergarten crush.

K's best friends.

 Funny Story:
Tristan (shown above) has sat on K's table all year long.  He is such a cute boy and K has not failed to notice!  She has had a little crush on him all year.  His mom has helped out in the classroom quite a bit and thinks K is just adorable.  She thinks K's crush on her son is sweet.  They've obviously talked about K at their home because Tristan's mom was pointing K out to her husband, "That's K! She's just so adorable." She also introduced K to her mom (Tristan's grandma).  She also told me a story about when they were on the bus to go on the field trip K was sitting on the seat behind Tristan and his mom.  K and her friends were chanting, "Tristan is a cutie pie! Tristan is a cutie pie!"  His mom thought that was so cute and turned around to take a picture.  Tristan wasn't as thrilled.  You can see in the picture he wasn't keen on being in a picture.  K was holding him there so his mom and I could take pictures.

Also, I forgot but this happened on June 9:

Love the toothless smile!

Baby C: Three Months

• After three nights of trying to not sleep snuggled like a burrito -- we're back to snuggling.  Momma needs sleep!
• Started laughing and cooing this month.  SO MUCH FUN!
•  Still the growliest baby ever -- even when he's asleep.  Sometimes he reminds me of a pug dog.
• He really likes people.  He gets so happy whenever someone looks at him/talks to him/picks him up.  He's even mastering the baby art of "pickmeup" which is when someone talks to him, he starts arching his back and bouncing his bum to say "pickmeuppickmeuppickmeup".
• Man! I just adore this little guy.  I forgot how great it is to have a baby around.  Sure I'm tired, the house is messier, the laundry is even less likely to get folded (didn't know that was possible), my makeup has barely been used in months and so on.  But the smells, snuggles, coos, smiles, softness - they are all worth it!

There may be some gaps in his education

Actual events from this morning:
Mom: "D, go get in the shower. Wash everywhere."
25 minutes later
Mom: "D, I thought I told you to wash everywhere.  Why didn't you wash your hair?"
D: "I did wash my hair."
Mom (inspecting the damp ring of hair around his neck and observing the bone dry hair on top of his head): "Really?"
D: (disgusted to be questioned): "YES I DID."
Mom: "I don't think so.  Try again."
5 minutes later
Mom: "Putting your head under the tap while the water is running doesn't count as washing your hair."
D: "But I put soap on it!"
Mom: "Get back in there.  I'm coming to wash you."

So I did.  He was not happy about it.  He has developed a strong sense of privacy which is just fine.  Except that he apparently doesn't know how to shower.  I washed him from head to toe.  Again, he was.not.happy.  But I felt extra validation when I turned around and realized the underwear he removed for this shower was the same underwear he removed for his first shower.  Sigh.

Happy Birthday to ME!

Today is the 2nd anniversary of my 29th birthday.  I have learned a few things in my days.  Which is why I invited friends over last night for games.  I love Roy and he is good at many many things.  Birthday celebrations are not necessary one of those things.
So I invited a few couples over to play games last night.  It was great.  We laughed and snacked and played Logos.  If you haven't ever played this game I recommend it.  Very fun.
Today we started like any other Saturday - with me strongly encouraging the kids to clean their rooms.  (Tangent: it is incredibly depressing to be typing this in a messy house that was totally picked up less than 10 hours ago. depressing.)  Then we loaded up our bikes and headed out for some fun in the sun.  Hooray for sunshine!
We rode a couple miles on a trail near our house.  It was fun with a nice playground break in the middle where I was able to call my brother and parents.  Fun fact, my brother's birthday is today as well.  He was born on my fourth birthday.  Fun, huh?
My friend Kydee offered to watch the kids while Roy and I went to dinner.  So we took her up on it and headed out to Red Robin for freckled lemonade and bottomless steak fries.  Love that place!  Red Robin, Yummmm.
We deliberately went out early so we could come home and have a family movie night with the kids.  We finished the night with The Mighty Ducks.  Talk about a throw back but the kids enjoyed it.
For my birthday, Roy got me a gift certificate to go get my hair done by my neighbor.  She is very good at what she does and I'm hoping she can give me a hair make-over some direction.  I am proud of Roy.  I mentioned to Roy a week or so ago about that I was thinking of biting the expense bullet and going to Keely to get my hair done.  He remembered this conversation and took the initiative to make it happen.  Perhaps he has learned a few things about me in his day!  I would probably never have "gotten around" to doing this for myself.  Now I just have to get an appointment.  She's only booked 8-10 weeks out so that should be no problem!