Last Week of School

Natalie's teacher is a super woman - I don't know how she does it all. She did so many fun things with Natalie's class this year. I think Natalie's most memorable highlight was the day that a farm came to school. A local farmer brought all kinds of farm animals right to the schoolyard for the kids to see, pet and interact with - a pony, chicks, lamb, baby pig, etc. Natalie still talks about those animals. I was VERY sad to miss that one! Anyway, Natalie was lucky to have such a great teacher!

These pictures are all in crazy order from the last week of school.

These ones are from the Kindergarten Messy Day! Good name for it! What a riot!

I spent a LOT of time at school with the girls during their last week of school - field day, talent shows, class plays, "messy" day, kinder graduation and all the hoopla meant that teachers could use a hand and these are all things I LOVE to be a part of. I love being at the school, especially on fun days. I loved when I worked at the elementary school during my college days and I love it even more now that I get to be there with my girls. There's such a fun and happy atmosphere, lots of energy, playful children, friendships with teachers and parents - elementary schools are just a fun place to be.

Sarah was soooo excited that her name got drawn to play "Little Red" in her class' last day of school fractured fairytales play. She practiced all week and did such a great job. She was hilarious! My shy baby has come out of her shell!

Here she is playing a minor role, in a lovely gown, for the 3 Little Pigs play. Sarah's class is so darn cute. Those kids really have a lot of fun together, I hope next year Sarah is as lucky. This has been her favorite year in school so far.

Jenna, Sarah and Mallory - such cute friends...

We are ready to party this summer! Just behind the girls the teachers were all lined up to wave goodbye to the buses. They were so funny. They had music playing and were dancing - I think they were a little too happy to say goodbye! (O:

Sarah and Sadie

These pictures are a little backwards on this post - this was field day.

This picture really captures Sarah's competitive edge. All the kids are standing around having fun, but Sarah is taking the tug of war VERY seriously. In fact, if she wasn't so patient with all her friends I could totally hear in her mind her yelling at them to put some muscle into it!

Sarah's best friend, Silly Monica! (o:

Waiting for their turn during play practice.

This is Natalie's favorite thing to do in Mrs. B's room. (o:

Lunch together on field day! The kids get to eat outside when the weather is nice and warm. Sarah read us her joke of the day. (o:

Alaina in Sarah's class was so darn cute with Angela. She totally took her under her wing most of the day. Angela loved it!

Natalie and Lauren sat by each other the whole year! Except a brief time when they were talking too much and had to be separated! (o: I'm glad Nat had such a cute friend to sit by this year.

Messy Kindergarten Day!!

Natalie's darling card she made for her teacher. The ears are being held up by popsicle sticks.

Natalie's First Lost Tooth!

Look at that itty bitty thing!

"Dear Toothfairy, I lost my tooth and this is my very first one." (o:



Dear Tooth Fairy,

Natalie was so brave. She's had a wiggly tooth for some time, but today it was extra wiggly. She started wiggling and wiggling some more. She almost got it all the way out all by herself, with just a little help from daddy. I was very proud of how calm she stayed even though it freaked her out a bit.



I hate to complain, but when a cute, little girl is so brave and soooo excited for her first tooth to come out, it really is a bad time to "forget" to come. I knew you forgot the next morning when I woke up to Natalie sobbing in her room. It was so sad. I know how hard it is to keep track of everything that you do, but please, please, don't forget to come tonight! I can't take another morning of waking up to such a sad, little Natalie. (o: Thanks.

Things that made me cry this week...

We have had some terrible tragedies in our community in the last few weeks - heartbreaking stories. The kind of things you hear and wonder, why do these things have to happen and what is wrong with the world?

A couple weeks ago, we heard a horrible story about someone finding the bodies of two little kids and their father at one of our local favorite parks - Jackson Bottom Wetlands. It was concluded soon after that it was a murder/suicide. It was sickening to hear about and then soon after we started figuring out connections to this family. Herb* found out that the dad was someone he had worked with at his previous fab. He was shocked and could not believe that he would be capable of something like this. Then we found out one of the kids went to Sarah's old elementary school. I also found out from Sarah that one of the boys in her class was his best friend. While talking to her teacher about it, I heard that he was going to have a sleepover for the little boys' birthday that night. He showed up with his pillow, a present, etc. )o: Ugh - when you hear all these things from people who know the victims it makes it seem even more real and makes it even harder to believe.

Another tragedy affected the family of one of my young women. Two teenage boys were driving really fast on a nearby highway at night, lost control, and hit a tree. The picture of their car was horrifying. Neither of the boys survived. One of the boys was the 18 year old cousin of the girl in my YW. He was getting ready to serve a mission this fall and had saved enough money to pay for it himself. He sounded like a wonderful young man. Poor Heidi, and her family, of course, were devastated. My heart just aches for them, especially his mother.

It might seem weird that I am blogging about this, but it has been on my mind and has made me (as things like this often do) more aware lately how fragile life is. I am grateful for a knowledge of life after death and that we can continue our family and friend relationships after we die. This definitely brings peace. Still, it is so hard to hear about children and teens losing their lives. It's hard to think about how much their families will miss them until they can be reunited someday. It makes me want to hold on to my little sweeties and never let go.

My Dream Backyard

Oooohhh - this is my dream backyard!

We were excited to attend a very fun birthday party for Lia on this beautiful summer day in her grandparent's backyard. Their home is less than 5 minutes away from our neighborhood. Wouldn't it be so amazing to have this much land and yet be so close to town? It would be perfect for a city girl like me that also LOVES the outdoors and wide open spaces. The Baxters keep meticulous care of their yard and I know I was only seeing the wonderful side of this humongous 3 acre yard. I don't see all the endless hours of work that go into keeping this so gorgeous. The gigantic lawn alone has got to be a full time job. We were excited to be able to enjoy this beautiful yard - Thanks Kirstin for a wonderful time!

Aren't these girls the cutest? What fun friends.

Trying to Keep it Together...

First Costa Vida
Now Rod Hill

What next?
This has been a sad year . . .

Okay, I know that worse things have happened to people, and my life is pretty dreamy compared to most (keep in mind I don't share EVERYTHING on the blog - I do have real problems, I really do! (o:), but I just get so attached to familiar things . . . I'll be okay . . .

Maybe I'll dream about watching a big storm warning from Rod on the big screen TV at Costa Vida while eating a sweet pork salad with my family. (o: Just like the good old days . . .

I feel better already.

In Memory of Rod

Those of you who read my blog back in December during our "Arctic Blast" know what a huge fan I am of Rod Hill. Well, last week, after blogging about our "tornado-ish" weather, I heard the devastating news that KATU has let him go!!??? I feel like the rug has been pulled out from under me. I was in denial for a while and didn't even want to check if it was true.

Now, as it has sunk in, I am ready to face the truth. Tonight I did some Google searching and looking around on the KATU website. Looking on their site makes it look like Rod Hill never existed! I am heartbroken. I am so mad about the whole thing. I don't even care about the weather anymore. If a heatwave is coming, a hurricane or another arctic blast, I just don't care anymore. It won't have the same excitement and fun without Rod. I never thought I'd be depressed about a weatherman disappearing from my life. Boo Hoo. Frank* and I were so disappointed we both wrote e-mails to the general manager at KATU. If there are any more fans like us, I encourage you to join in my fight to stand up for Rod! I am on a crusade. Okay, not really, but I think they should know how lame they are for letting Rod go.

gm@katu.com

Here is what I wrote. I'm sure it will bring the GM to tears, make him think twice about his ways and beg Rod to come back. Sigh - in a perfect world. Anyway, Rod, maybe somewhere out there you will see this and other responses just like mine from fans all over the northwest. We will miss you and wish you and your family the best... sniff sniff.... please come back...

Dear mean and horrible GM jerk, (okay I didn't actually say that, but everything below is an exact copy.)

I never write letters like this, but I am so disappointed in the decision of KATU to let Rod Hill go. And after looking at the media that I can find in the matter, I know you must be getting a ton of response for this big mistake. Any time my husband or I had any questions relating to weather we tuned into KATU or on the KATU website - we LOVED Rod. We will not be tuning in anymore. I've never boycotted a news station before, I've never really cared much about news anchors or reporters, but Rod had a way of connecting with his audience. I don't understand why in the world you didn't see that. He was so thorough in everything he did, had an awesome personality and you could tell weather was his passion - we especially loved tuning in to see his commentary during big weather events - he'd get so fired up and we LOVED it! Shame on you for letting him go in such a disrespectful way, no goodbyes to his fans, no explanation, no warning - there is no reason to treat someone who brought so many viewers to your station in such a way. I am very sorry to see him go and will be watching anxiously to see where he goes. I hope he and his family are doing okay - that aspect always gets pushed aside when it comes to BUSINESS...

Blah - I am disgusted, I have nothing more to say except...
Rod Hill rocks! (o:

Best Buddies

These two girls are hilarious together. These were some impromptu pictures I took after the photo shoot we did with Allie's family. Sarah came to "help". She really was helpful most of the time. But every once in a while her antics to get the kids attention were a little annoying - like bopping me on the head while trying to steady the camera and almost knocking me off a wall. (o: She meant well, so she will still earn the 5 bucks I promised her!
Anyway, the girls had fun goofing off in front of the camera for some friend pics. Kim and I even tried letting them take pictures of us - but they didn't turn out as cute. The few that are in focus, I look terrible. But it was funny to watch them make us smile. Allie is a hoot!

Sarah has been so lucky to have Allie for a friend. They really bonded back in preschool days and every time they get together they are just two peas in a pod. I hope no matter where life takes each of them, that they can keep in touch and be friends for a long time. It helps that their moms are good friends too. (o:

Maybe Sarah can do lots and lots of chores to pay for a ticket to Lubbock TX.

We got to be with Allie two times this week! We were so excited to be a part of her baptism on Saturday. She looked beautiful and everything was so nice. When we were getting ready, Sarah really wanted to wear her baptism dress too. (o: They have the exact same dress - Kim actually picked up Sarah's for me when she found the great deal on them last year. I talked Sarah into letting Allie have her own special day being the only one in the dress. However, something tells me that they both would have thought that was really cool to be "twins".

Angela kept asking during the whole program when she got to see Luke. Even during the prayer she kept asking, "When I see Luke?" Speaking of Luke - he did the sweetest solo of "I Like to Look For Rainbows", I was proud of him for doing that in front of such a big group. So cute. After the baptism we got in a group photo and Kim sent me one of them that night. Angela was totally hanging on Luke's arm. Maybe I need to tone down my ideas about them getting married someday. I swear I haven't been coaching her. I don't want her to scare him off! (o:

Sick Day...

Today was Angela's "graduation", if you could call it that, from preschool. She still has another year in preschool, so it was more of an end of the year party. As per my tradition, I did a slideshow of all the pictures I took this year (complemented by another mom's pictures as well). And as per tradition, I procrastinated on this little project. (o; It's tradition! I'm getting fairly good at pulling them together, so it only took me about 8 hours total to pull together the entire 20 minute slideshow with about 300+ pictures. (Some of that time was spent trying to figure out how to get some video onto the slideshow, but I got frustrated and decided that will be my big HOORAH for the slideshow next year. Adding video - oohhh ahhhhh. Or as I told one mom, that will be my final project for a PhD in slideshows.)

Anyway, as I went to bed at 1:00 a.m. feeling happy with the end result, I imagined how much the kids would enjoy it. That's my payment for all that time. Then at 5:30 a.m., I was startled by a figure standing by my bed. Natalie's tummy hurt. It must have been reeling because we spent the next hour and a half on the floor in the bathroom. I won't share many details, but poor Natalie could only come down in my lap for a few seconds before she'd be jumping back up feeling like she was going to be sick. She also had some issues on the other end. It was a loooong morning and I was sooo tired. Aside from being worried about my little sweetie, I wondered if I could figure out a way to still get to take Angela to the little party and see the slideshow. Isn't that selfish? I worried about Angela's disappointment as well.

Finally, Natalie got it over with and was able to get some good sleep. She's been just fine ever since and eating tons of food, so she must have had a quick virus or food poisoning. And the other good news is that Angela and I were able to go to the preschool party. It was so fun to watch the slideshow with everyone and hear the kids laugh and comment, "I remember that!", "That's me!", etc.

Angela was such an angel because she had been looking forward to the party for a long time. You see, the party was at one of her favorite places in the world, actually it is Out of This World (he he, did you catch my joke there?). It might as well be Disneyland for Angela. She was so excited and it was the first thing she asked about when she woke up. Unfortunately, daddy was only able to come take care of Natalie long enough for us to do the little party. We could not go in and play. So we were there, but Angela couldn't so much as go down a single slide. And I was soooo proud of her. She did not complain or whine one little bit. She expressed being sad, but she was such a sweetheart about the whole thing. She will be rewarded soon with a nice long day at Out of This World for being such a sweetie.

Another sweet moment for Angela was this morning as we were getting ready for the party. We were trying to be "sneaky" and quiet getting ready while Natalie slept in. When we came to check on her, she was just starting to wake up. The very first thing Angela said was, "I'm sorry you not feeling good Nallie." She said it so sincerely and completely on her own, it was so sweet. It made Natalie smile and feel a little better, I think.

Angela and her buddies getting ready to watch the slideshow. They each brought a favorite project to share and 4 out of 6 brought some cute turtles we made last month! (o: Thus the turtles on the table. Each mom also interviewed their child about their favorite things this year and their answers were adorable. What cute kids! Angela said that if she could be the teacher she would teach about hearts and rainbows. Her answer to 'What were you really good at in preschool?' was, "All of it! But I don't like the lunch cause it's healthy stuff." (o:
One of my girls' favorite traditions - "breakfast in bed" and videos when they are sick. (o: I still hang onto a few old Disney videos to pop in our upstairs VCR for occasions like this. Natalie watched Pollyanna during breakfast and seemed like a pretty happy camper.

Cozy Spaces

While I worked on the preschool slideshow, Angela got to play in the tent and watch a movie at the same time! She was in heaven and occupied for a good chunk of time. (o:
Twilight has a new cozy space too. We got this super soft "princess bed" at the pet store a couple weeks ago. At first, she wouldn't go near it because we really wanted her to. She is so stubborn. I was mad and told her she owed me $20. The bed was so soft that the girls were actually curling up on it instead! (o: Then when she got time on her own to test it out without anyone telling her to, she figured out it's a pretty sweet bed. The girls like to lay the little blanket over her and put her stuffed mouse next to her when she's in it. This is now her favorite spot in the house and I think most of her lazy days of summer will be on her new cozy bed.

Dear Collin

Here is a letter Sarah wrote for her cousin to mail off today - he sent a letter to our girls last week anticipating our family reunion at the beach this summer.

Dear Collin,
I can't wait to see you eather! Yes, we will have lots of fun at the beach because I will bring my big big blue shuvle! Last time I went to the beach, I dug a HUGE hole! Won't it be nice that we can go tot bed late and wake up late, and instead of going to school we go to the beach! When we do wake up instead of one small bowl of cereal, maybe pancakes! I can't wait to see you at the beach!

Sincerelly,
Sarah

P.S. Grandma has mentos! (o:

Aftermath

Okay, I know you've seen more devastating aftermath from a storm, but there was still a bit of a mess to clean up afterwards. I mentioned in a post last week Angela getting mad at the weatherman while we watched the storm coverage and watching two camp chairs flying across the backyard. We had some pretty strong microbursts that lasted just a few seconds. When I was getting the chairs and moving things around the backyard, I felt like Dorothy in the scene when the tornado is coming - it was exciting. The girls even came out and played for a bit, but I didn't know how bad it would get so I made them come back.

The next day, our yard was littered with leaves and a few branches. Angela was a big helper and we got the yard and street all cleaned up. I heard that a tree at our stake center right around the corner had a huge branch of a tree fall right in front of one of the entrances. It was blocking it until some volunteers with chainsaws got it cleaned up. There was much worse damage in other areas from flooding and trees blowing down. I was glad to just have to pick up a few piddly leaves. (o:
Angela earned some money helping pick up leaves. She was a good worker!

We pulled out our slickers for the crazy June weather. (o:

Preschool Comes to and End

One of our last field trips, we went to feed the ducks at the library and I got some great pictures of the kids - I LOVE the first one - so much personality from each of the kids. They are so cute!

This little activity was last minute inspiration for my "Flowers" lesson just minutes before the preschoolers arrived and it was a HUGE hit! I pulled out my rice box and some cut fake flowers. The kids "planted" flowers in the rice and pretended to hold the sunshine up and water them. Very cute if I do say so myself. (o: Once in a blue moon I have a good idea.

Sarah played in it for about an hour or so after preschool.

Angela "investigating" some Wisteria blooms.

The last day of preschool - everyone holding their cups with planted flower seeds.

A picture of Angela's egg person from our Birds and Eggs lesson since the "hair" came in. (o: She is next to Natalie's "dirt buddy" from a fun farm day at her school. Pretty funny - I love having my counters adorned with these cute little "decorations". (o:

Our cute snack for the "Flowers" lesson.

I think Angela will miss preschool, but she gets to look forward to one more whole year in the fall!

What a Nut!

This picture was taken on our last day of preschool. I had a lot of cleaning up to do to put everything away for the summer. I let Angela pick a movie, I think she picked Kung Fu Panda. When I came to check on her I saw that she had pulled out the 3D glasses we got at her theater field trip recently and put them on. I don't think it really worked, but it looked cute.

A couple days ago Angela was fighting with Sarah on the swingset. Angela was lying on the slide relaxing and Angela was mad because she wanted to go down the slide. The fight escalated and Angela lost her temper. She wacked Sarah in the stomach which sent Sarah reeling and looking for justice. She never hits back, but she puts on a very dramatic show. Both of them got a time out, but Angela also got a lecture about not hitting. When she was ready to apologize she walked over to Sarah and said, "Sorry Sarah." I nudged, "Sorry for what?" Angela said to Sarah, "Sorry for kicking your butt."

I had to try so hard not to laugh, I don't remember how successful I was.

Right now we are having CRAZY weather - I mentioned in other posts how beautiful the weather's been, but all of a sudden we have "tornado" winds (or that's what they felt like when I walked out to grab the chairs flying across the yard) and now it's raining like crazy. We've been watching the local news to see what's going on and it is one of those times when weather is all they are talking about. Angela came up to me while I was scurrying to make dinner in case the power goes out. She was mad at somebody she called the "storm". After talking to her for a minute, she said, "I try to talk to him. I even raised my hand, but he WON'T listen!! I ask him if there's lightening, but he don't hear me!" I figured out that she was trying to talk to Matt Zaffino, one of our local weathermen. (Ooooh, don't tell Rod Hill - that was just the channel the TV happened to already be on. I'm going to switch right now!) Cute little Angela - I explained that he can't see or hear her and she just said, "Oohhh, yeah, cuz he on the T.V." (o:

Sizzling Hot!

The gorgeous weather has continued for 3 or more weekends. The girls were thrilled to know that it was now officially hot enough to get the pool out. (Before, when it would hit the high 60's, low 70's they'd beg to go "swimming" in the backyard.)
They made "soup" with Easter eggs and bathtub and kitchen toys.

The girls played and played for 2 1/2 hours!

We LOVE summer!