Nicole frosted cookies with royal frosting for Activity Girls. They've done a lot of cookie and cupcake decorating since we have several ladies in the ward who are pros. Nicole loves these tasty evenings.
Michael learning the arts of washing baseboards.
Picking weeds from the front flower beds. The kids spent a good hour constantly pulling weeds while jamming to "The Final Countdown" and other favorites.
Jake as the sweeper! He is so good on defense I love watching him slide over to where the ball most likely will come and then booting it out of there as soon as it comes near him. It is so enjoyable to see him fitting in with this league! He discusses strategy with the goalies, calls for a pass from a teammate, and is just so eager to get the ball!
Diana had her preschool "Mothers Day Tea" with strawberries, cookies, crackers, lemonade, etc. Katy loved eating snacks for lunch and being around all the big kids.
Diana ate a lot of food but cleared her plate each time so I figured it was okay. I think of how far Diana has come this year and I am so grateful for the learning experience preschool has been for her and how much patience and kindness her teachers have shown her. I've shared about my parents being on a mission in the Philippines and now it's something I talk with the teachers about every time we get together, it's awesome!
Katy getting to know Phoenix. Now that he's settled in, Phoenix has been welcomed to the fold.
Lots of love from the girls.
He tried to climb up my baby tummy as if to escape from all those girly giggles. I love this look.
The pool finally opened! For weeks before we had 40 something degree lows and lots of rain, even though the highs were in the 70s. All that spring weather made for a super chilly day or two! The water felt like ice to me I don't know how the kids did swim team! Thankfully, we were at 88 degrees after the first few days and it's felt great since then.
Katy likes to chill on the edge of the steps with me. She is cautious, but still goes all over the steps.
Jim joins us after work (swim goes from 4:45-6:45) to stay while Nicole has her practice and I take the others home to get in pjs and get dinner ready. He has decided to wear his wetsuit top until the weather gets warmer. The other day, before he came, one of the moms was talking to me about "that dad in a wetsuit" haha :)
Katy is so stinkin cute. She loves fun and adventure and being on daddy's lap.
My two crazy peas in a pod wildly playing in the freezing cold splash pad next to the pool but having the time of their lives despite shivering and blue lips!
Jake was on top of the world yesterday- he scored his first goal! He actually almost scored three other times as well and was so fun to watch. At his yearly checkup he weighs 38lbs (6th%), is 45.25in tall (41st%).
Running through the tunnel the parents make after every game. Best game ever for Jacob :)
Jim trying to finish his dinner. Somehow he ends up with helpers almost every night, the kids love being with their Daddy.
Rambunctious Diana.
Bella and Diana. Bella's cage is at eye level with Diana. We had to put a lock on her cage because Diana would try to pet and hold Bella.
Phoenix sunning and opening mouth to let out extra heat. We feed him a ton to beef him up and he loves it!
Bella continues to shed and show off her citrus and blue!
The classic Katy pose. Sucking on her hand (not any finger, just her hand!) and holding her ear while snuggling her favorite blanket. With those big blue eyes, such a doll. She is also FINALLY on the growth charts for the first time! She is 23lbs (7th%), 33.5in tall (34th%) with a BMI of 14.6 (8th%). The trick for her? Almond milk instead of cow milk. We tried rice milk for a while but at the last dr apt they suggested the almond milk and by the next visit she was on the charts! So grateful it works for her system and health. She also loves nuts. She will carry around a little bag of peanuts for an hour, happily munching on a few at a time.
Nicole takes the beardies out for walks outside and around the house. They love to perch on her shoulder to see the world.
Our roses are blooming!
The apple tree somehow got pollinated! We have maybe a dozen apples growing on the golden delicious tree! I'm wondering just how long it will be before the Diana and Katy notice them and pick them. They already decided that we needed to have a bumper crop of blueberries next year so they harvested every last little green berry so the bushes could focus on growth this year. At least that's what I'm telling myself as I look at our bushes now barren of the dozens of berries they took off. There are literally 3 berries left on our 6 bushes.
I took this picture from our backyard. Sometimes I feel like I live in the most beautiful place where there is so much green foliage and blue skies.
Nicole, our 9 year old sweetie. She wears size 6 shoes and is up to my nose in height. 5'3" maybe? Crazy! Math has been super hard for her this year. She is learning the value of working hard to learn and achieve. It's been good for her and she is doing well. She has her end of grade exams in a few weeks and hopefully will pass those. Her reading and reading comprehension skills are incredible, they just had some testing on that and the lady administering the exam told Nicole that she was just blown away by how fast Nicole could read and understanding the passages too. It's actually part of what's hard for Nicole in math- slowing down to do the work. Poor Nicole got that gene directly from her mother.
Sisters. Nicole knows just how to get Diana to help her clean a room or come play. I love hearing Diana ask Nicole to come play with her and hearing Nicole happily go play with her little sister.
My boys. They are so wonderful! They make mistakes like anyone, but have such good hearts and are so much fun. Today they all put on a show for me called "A Pigeon's Life: Based on the Life of A Pigeon." I had a smile the size of Texas on my face during their most interesting show, which was really me watching them play with their origami pigeons and other toys. They only did Act I today, and I live in great anticipation of Act II :)
The Uromastyx have become a little more friendly. Croc let me pet him today while he slowly walked away. Roxy is still more shy but she won't disappear the second she sees you.
Sunday morning creations in the play room. I keep a fairly clean house. But just to make sure anyone who visits feels instantly like a wonderful housekeeper, we put the playroom in the front room that you see right as you open the front door. We can call it the visitor self esteem entrance :) It gets cleaned once a week, but beyond that it's here to lift your spirits if you feel like your house is messy.
The majority of the plants I purchased online for super cheap last year turned out to be duds. They either didn't make it or haven't grown well. But these pink fairy roses have thrived and I love them! They are so beautiful and such a pretty pink. In one year they have grown and blossomed so well!
Our grape vines have traveled down the pvc pipe Jim put up. We did a little pruning right before spring but this plant has thrived all on its own.
Little tiny grapes. I find it hard to believe these will become huge muscadines you have to peel, so it will be fun to watch.
Fathers and sons campout bliss. Jacob's favorite part was the whiffle ball game. Also getting to shoot a gun for the first time.
Michael couldn't stop talking about fire and the various ways in which they add to it, light sticks and watch smoke, etc.
And I couldn't resist throwing in a last picture of these knockout roses. The color is just stunning! Jim and I had our 11th anniversary yesterday. He came home that morning after the father and sons campout, which he was in charge of. My gift to him was mowing, edging and blowing the lawn. Nicole helped me push the mower on the uphills so I didn't go into labor at 8 months prego. It was quite an accomplishment that I won't repeat :) Jim worked on an endless honey-do list outside all day even though camping with two little guys didn't make for a restful sleep. I took the kids swimming for an hour after finishing helping them clean the inside of the house. No sleep = not fast cleanup. We capped off the day with takeout ribs while the kids watched Lego Movie. Four of the five kids fell asleep while we listened to a conference talk for scripture study. And then Jim and I both crashed right asleep. I guess that can summarize a lot of year 11 for us. A season of raising little ones, having fun, doing lots of hard work, crashing asleep and waking up to do it all over again...with some tasty ribs here and there. Life is beautiful, and the joy of family is as stunning as those roses. We are so blessed.
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