Alanna's Graduation...

Alanna finished up her year of 3 year old preschool with a cute little program of all the songs they have learned this year. I got some great video footage of her singing and doing all of the hand motions very enthusiastically. She is so proud of herself for completing her 1st year of school, and she can't wait to be in "4 year old preschool"! Miss Lisa, her teacher, has taught both Jackson and Paul for two years also, and they still love to talk to her and give her hugs. They always make a book that includes pictures of all of their classmates and a cute poem of "Children, Children, What Do You See?", and Alanna had it all memorized and "read" it to us. I have to say, I am a little bit sad that my baby girl is growing up so quickly. At the same time, it is so satisfying to see how smart and beautiful and kind she is becoming!

Mother's Day 2012!

I was awakened on Mother's Day to the sound of the garage door slamming and some suspicious scurrying around downstairs. Paul and Jackson were getting their Mother's Day presents that they had hidden in the car, and they just couldn't wait for me to open them. Part of the reason was that Jackson's contained a little baggie of Hershey's Kisses, and they knew I would let them have some!

After church, we headed up to my parent's house to make a big Mexican dinner of Chili's copycat fajitas with all the fixings, cilantro rice, fruit salsa with homemade cinnamon chips, and angel food cake with strawberries. It was fun to have most of the family there to celebrate, and to see my dad surprise my mom with tickets for an Alaskan Cruise!

The kids just get spoiled at my parent's house, and here is a picture of some of them (including cousin Peter) dipping their grubby hands in the leftover cinnamon and sugar from the chips we made. What little piggies!

I am so thankful for the opportunity to be a mother. It's the most rewarding job that I could ever have, and although it's very difficult some days, it's always worth it!

We Love Soccer...

Everyone in the family is playing soccer right now, with the exception of me and Blaze. It's been busy, but we have had awesome weather and I have really enjoyed being outside and watching everyone play.

*James is playing on a team through the Rec Center, and it's great to have the boys watch adults play and see them passing and bunting etc.

*Jackson is doing great and really likes playing goalie sometimes. He had several good blocks this past weekend.

*Paul is on a team with several friends from the neighborhood. Lucky me, our friend, Aubrey, takes great photos and shared these with me! Paul has been so focused on being aggressive this season! It's fun to see how competitive these kindergartners get, and I love how they hug each other after they score a goal -too cute!

* Alanna is kind of hit and miss this year. It's her 1st season, so sometimes she'll get out there, and sometimes she just wants her daddy to hold her!

* Blaze is an up and coming little soccer player. He is out in the backyard everyday with his little soccer ball dribbling it into the goal!

Unusual Pet Show...

I can't tell you how much I DREAD the kindergarten Unusual Pet show! I absolutely HATE these craft projects that are required of my kids when they aren't capable of operating the tools to construct these projects. And, I hate that so many parents do the projects for their kids. I always have my kids do theirs on their own, but then they are disapointed that someone else's is "better", and it's because it was obviously done by an adult. Jackson's project from kindergarten was a complete disaster - James still makes fun of it!

Anyway... Paul chose to combine a giraffe and a caterpillar. He burned himself with hot glue several times as I handed him a piece of his pet for him to place where he wanted it. At home he was satisfied with his pet, but when he got to school, one of his classmates had some kind of dinosaur pet that was "HUGE"! Paul wished his was "HUGE"! I wonder how many hours this kid's mom spent designing and constructing a dinosaur to be on display in the school library! I'd much rather spend that time reading or doing math problems with Paul. My poor kids :(

Welcoming Our Puppy Cousin :)

My brother, Caleb got a new puppy this week! His wife, Lauren, surprised him with it for their 4 year anniversary. They came to show off their baby to our kids yesterday, and our kids absolutely love their new little cousin K.C. ! It sounds like having a puppy is very similar to caring for a newborn human being.  Paul immedietly ran to get toys for her and couldn't seem to get enough loves and cuddles. Jackson mostly liked teasing her with her toys. Blaze and Alanna took a little while to warm up to her, but after a couple of hours Alanna was ready to hold her and even got her to take a little nap. This is a great thing, because they will be able to play with K.C. sometimes, and that will satisfy their need for a puppy! Thanks to Caleb and Lauren for sharing!

The kids also went out in back to play soccer with Uncle Caleb. I love watching Blaze trying to join in the fun. Pretty soon, he and K.C. will be big enough to steal the ball from anyone!