Preschool graduation

Mckinna just graduated from preschool!! And I could not have been more proud that she got the award for the "Best Storyteller" (I think that is a very nice way to say that she is a little liar). She does have quite the imagination, she can tell simply outrageous stories. The problem is that she can also tell stories that are really not outrageous, and she can do it with a perfectly straight face. I personally enjoy the ones that are outrageous! Like today when she asked me if I knew that she climbs out on the roof at night and rides around on her scooter. Because she is "sneaky", she said that she knows that "other kids are sneaky but" she "is the sneakiest".

First grader

Kade got me this new camera at Christmas time and so I thought if I take the kids school pictures myself for the REST OF THEIR LIVES I might be able to pay for one of the lens! I hope that someday I can learn to take the pictures that the camera was made to take.

Liam had an awards assembly not too long ago and he was so excited for me to come because he was "getting an award for perfect attendance!" I was reminded often about the assembly and his exciting award. The day finally came and you can imagine my excitement to have to go to sit through an assembly for a perfect attendance award (I think I was plotting how I would keep him out of school one day each quarter so as to avoid another fun assembly). So it was finally time for his class to receive their rewards and it was a good thing that I went because Liam was one of two kids in his class that got an award for having straight A's. Had I not gone I would probably not have ever heard about the academic award because after it was all over all he said was "Mom isn't that great that I had perfect attendance!" He is a funny funny kid!

Field Trip

I just thought that I would put up a few pictures from McKinna's field trip because I thought they were cute. I love how the cows are trying to get in on the action.
For the first four years of McKinna's life (she's now five) she was TERRIFIED by moving creatures, (animals of all kinds, bugs of all kinds and the occasional little old lady). Well, something has changed in the last year and now all I hear about is how much she wants a dog. And I have heard myself say on several occasion "McKinna those bugs need to stay outside!" After seeing the joy on her face while looking at these goats, I thought for sure she would be asking for one of those for the next several weeks.
Now these are cute but no we can't have one of those either!

future pro

Liam has taken up tennis and he LOVES it! I was pretty sad when he decided to give up soccer and switch to tennis because I wasn't sure that he would like it, but I was wrong. Just to brag a little bit, when he first started he was the youngest one in his class. When it was time to sign up for the second session his coach wanted to him to move up to the next level, so now he is really the youngest in his group but he still seems to like it. The other day after lessons he said "Mom, I think that tennis may be one of my talents!" To which I say fantastic! because up until that point he thought that his talent was standing on one foot.

serious bedhead

This is what I deal with everymorning! It doesn't matter what I have done to her hair the day before, this is what shows up in the morning. I have spent years just trying to figure out my own hair (which has a mind of its own) to now trying to figure out a whole new beast. I know that as far as problems go this is very low on the critical scale but it is a daily battle that I wage and am doing it with a child as wild as her hair!

Spa Weekend

My friend Nancy and I took a little trip to a spa this weekend.  I went because I thought it would probably cheaper than the looney bin that I may have been headed for and she went ... well you will have to ask her why she went, but what every reason she had for going I was grateful she came.  You will see from the pictures that this isn't just a spa where you get massages 24/7, as a matter of fact I think that I was sore from head to toe after the first day.  Day one was classes, the first one was killer because it was strenuous and the second one was killer because it was mind numbing. 
The hike was beautiful, and thanks to Nancy, I am not lying dead at the bottom of this mountain.  When we signed up for the hike we thought that we should start with the more basic hike.  So when we got to the meeting place, we thought that they had put us in the wrong group because we were the youngest ones there by far!  Well turns out those old duffers made me look like a fool and did I tell you that Nancy practically carried me on her back the whole way!
One of the ladies on the hike who I thought was one of the younger ones turned out to be 67 yrs old!  We were talking to her about her beauty secrets and she was telling us about a friend of hers that doesn't believe in sunscreen or make-up.  When we came to this location on the hike,  she looked up at it and then turned to us and said "this is what my friends face looks like!"  I will now always think of this rock when I am putting on my sunscreen.
This was no short hike, well the distance wasn't as long as it looks but it did take nearly three hours.
I would say that 80% of it was hiking through this sand.  I think that I had five extra pounds in each shoe by the end.

There were  a lot of interesting things to see along the way,  unfortunately I can't remember the names of all of them.
There were lava tubes.
And for all you jello loving mormons out there, this was called pudding rock.  We were in Utah after all.
Did I mention that I climbed this rock?  Okay so maybe I didn't climb it from this point, but I did climb it!  After the hike we passed one of the oldest ladies in our group on our way to lunch and she stopped us and said "oh, are you girls okay?"  The humiliation seemed to never end, but in spite of being shown up by a bunch of oldies but goodies,  I had a fantastic time and would do it again in a heartbeat.