You gotta laugh!

Today is the first day of summer break and can I just say, it's not going so well. I have a sick baby, the older 2 are tired and fighting already, the house is a mess AND to top it all off ... my washer is broken ... AGAIN ... for the 2nd time this month! But after this little experience that I'm about to share, I've decided you gotta just laugh. And please, don't judge me. It's been one of those days. So here goes ...

This morning I put a load of sheets in the washer (because Friday is my sheet day) and I went on my merry way. I got busy with other things and when I finally returned I noticed that my washer wasn't doing anything. So, I did the usual things ... open the door, move the things around, try it again, etc., etc. After I had tried everything I called the service company and just my luck ... it's a holiday AND a Friday so they can't get to me until Tuesday morning. PERFECT! I have a LOT of laundry already piled up and we're heading into a weekend. OH JOY! So I am grumbling around the house, completely flustered, but I think to myself, "I can take care of this. I'll take matters into my own hands and make my grandmother proud."

So, I head outside with my wet clothes, a rope and some clothespins (thankfully I had some) and start constructing my own clothes line. Did I mention that we're having HIGH winds today? Yeah! Nice! But I decide that this is a blessing since I need to dry the clothes. So there I am, in my backyard, hanging up clothes and reminiscing about the days when as a young girl I used to play in the sheets that were hanging on my grandma's clothes line. Sweet sweet memories! But then there's the wind and the clothes are dripping wet. So I leave my memories behind and get back to my grumbling.


I called to Kate to come and help me and I say, "We're like flipping pioneers out here, hanging our clothes on the line." And then my 10 year old looks at me and says, "Mom, why don't we just put them in the dryer? It's not broken. The washer is."

Thanks Kate! I appreciate your help! NOW ... could you figure out what's wrong with the washer please?

Défilé 2010

Another year of dance has come to an end and even though I'm happy to take one more thing off of the calendar (at least for a few weeks) I DO love watching Kate dance. This was her 7th Défilé performance and I look forward to it every year! Défilé in french means parade and this year's show was one of my favorite.

Kate performed Jazz on Friday and ballet on Saturday and she did a GREAT job! She is growing into a very graceful dancer and it thrills me to watch her. Secretly I hope that she'll always want to stick with ballet, but I love watching whatever she does. We were excited to see her and her friends from last year on the cover of this year's program. Such a cute group of girls and so fun to watch.

We love you sis! Congratulations on another great year! We're proud of you!

4th Grade Fun!

I can't even wrap my brain around the fact that Kate is finishing 4th grade! Next year ... 5th brade, last year of Elementary School! YIKES! This has been such a fun year for her. Not only has she LOVED being in Mrs. Pentico's class, but she's been able to form some great friendships.

The last few weeks have been full of fun activities - field trips galore, assemblies, swim parties and a class talent show. For their field trips they have visited local historical sites, a dinosaur museum and played games/had lunch at the park several times. I can only imagine how exhausted the teachers are.


This week was their class talent show. I was impressed that Mrs. Pentico would take the time to let each of the kids share their talents. Kate has been looking forward to this for weeks. I tried to talk her into playing the piano or dancing since we've been paying for lessons for years. But in typical Katelyn fashion she wanted to "do something different." So, she decided to sing. I LOVE her courage and self confidence!

We've been talking about and practicing songs for weeks and she finally settled on Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA." The day before the "big" show, she asked me to help her find just the right outfit that was "party like." And then she matter of factly stated, "Now mom, when I start clapping my hands, I want you to clap with me and wave your arms." OH BOY! Really? Me ... in the audience of your 4th grade class ... waving my arms like I'm at a concert? NO WAY! Fortunately, her nerves got to her a bit and she didn't clap her hands. But she did a great job and I was VERY proud of her! Who knows? Maybe I've got a future American Idol on my hands!

Scrapbook generated with Smilebox

Josh and his boys

At the end of the year our school takes all of the kids to the Rec Center for a swim party. It's lots of fun and the kids really look forward to it. Unfortunately I didn't get to go with Kate, but I did manage to snap a picture of Josh and his buddies.

As the kids get older I realize more and more how important it is that they have good friends. We're lucky because we have quite a few kids in the neighborhood. Unfortunately some of our closest friends have moved out of the ward, but we know we'll still see them. Jake, Brayden and Kaden ... thanks for being such good buddies to Josh. It's been fun to watch the 4 of you this year!

Hello Sunshine!

I can't believe that it's almost been a year since this little ray of sunshine was born! She makes me smile a million times a day with the funny things she does. One of my favorite things to do is listen to her (on the baby monitor) in the mornings when she first wakes up. She sings and chatters and makes waking up a fun experience. I'm not joking when I say that we all run to see who can get her out of her crib first.

I love you Eme Grace! And I love your little happy face!

Mother's Day 2010

This year's Mother's Day was probably the best that I've ever had. I'm not a huge fan of Mother's Day, probably like most of you. In fact, for years I refused to go to church and resigned myself to being completely miserable that day. Not because I don't love my mom or the many amazing women in my life, but because I wanted so badly to be a mom myself. But now that I'm a mom to THE 3 cutest kids ever it seems like a pretty good day.

Greg always takes good care of me, especially on Mother's Day! He made a delicious dinner, gave me a very thoughtful gift and even insisted on cleaning up the dishes. What a treat! Thanks hon! The kids each showered me with little gifts that they had made at school. Josh brough home a cute plant with a card that said, "If moms were flowers, I'd pick you." He also gave me a class recipe book with recipes that all the moms had submitted and then each of the kids had written down their favorite thing to make/eat. Here was Josh's:


Kate made me a magnetic picture frame with her 4th grade picture and wrote a very sweet "post" about me on her blog. Thanks sis! You made my day!

10 Things I LOVE About My Mom:

I've posted about everyone except my mom and dad. My mom is always asking when are you going to post about me. Well mom here is the post I promised. 1. She cares about me. 2. She loves me for who I am. 3. She is so kind even my friends call her Aunt Jill. 4. She is supportive when I am in a routine or a club she is always cheering for me and telling me to never give up. 5. She is helpful when I am in a bad situation she is always here to help. 6. She is so funny when I am feeling bad she is always tring to make me smile. She will do what ever it takes to make me smile. 7. She doesn't care who you are she is always kind. 8. She never forgets anything. 9. She loves me. 10. She always volunteers for stuff. I am grateful that moms were put on the earth. I am grateful that I have a mom who adopted me if it weren't for her I would be in a daycare I wouldn't get to see my mom very often. I am thankful that my birth mom was able to send me to an awesome family. She couldn't take care of me so she put me up for adoption. It is sad that I don't get to see her, but I know that she loved me and it was hard for her to put me up for adoption. I LOVE MY MOM!

Tis the season for lots of field trips!

It's that time of year ... school is wrapping up and you know what that means - lots of parties, fun and field trips! The 4th grade had 3, yes 3, field trips this week! (Heaven bless their teachers!) On Monday I got to go with them to the St. George Art Museum, the Brigham Young home and the park. We had a great time and it was fun for me to see Kate with her classmates.






Stay tuned for lots more pictures as we wrap up another fun year of school!