Graduation, Performances, & Ouch!

I realize it seems a little silly to graduate from Pre-School with a cap and gown, but man is he a looker or what?!?  Josh had so much fun this year with his new group of friends - we were just grateful there were lots of boys.   Each student got to say what their favorite part of school was and what do you think he said . . . CRAFTS. 

Here's my cheesy grinner surrounded by some classmates, guess what class he will graduate in?  2023 - Wow.  He told me that he was in the very front because he was really good at the songs.

Jessi had her Gymnastics Performance on Tuesday and rocked!  The song she did her routine to was called, "Dollhouse" and I think everyone in the family could sing it to you.  She has absolutely loved the floor routine this year so we have heard her practice it many times (kind of like Quinn & her piano recital pieces).

This is Emily, Jessi, & Arelli - her fellow gym buddies.

This is the shelf above Halle's crib.  Now imagine Halle waking up to Shelby bouncing up and down in the crib with her singing, "Jesus wants me for a sun BEAM!"  We hung the shelf high enough that an infant couldn't reach, but we obviously weren't counting on older siblings.  Shelby reached up to grab the green dragon piggy bank and pulled the whole shelf down on top of the two of them.  I heard a big crash then winced, waiting for the scream.  Shelby screamed, Halle started to cry, & Josh came running while sobbing, "It fell, it fell!"  I am so grateful Halle only got a little bump on her head, it could have been so much worse.  So here's to surviving your older siblings!

P.S. Halle got her first tooth today!

Cabin Fever

Well for the first time in years our family attempted to have a fun trip to the Solosabal/Smith Cabin last weekend.  We were lucky enough to have Grandma Donna there or it would have been a rotten!  We tried to make our own fun and Josh & Joaquin are already asking when we can go back but I'm good for awhile and here's why . . .

We looked online and thought the weather was going to be cold so I packed long sleeves (and one short sleeve shirt for the ride home), coats (not jackets), and closed toed shoes for all 7 of us.  It was around 70 degrees the whole weekend - just gorgeous, but completely wrong attire for it.  So we ended up wearing the same clothes often and did laundry there.  Notice the long johns in these pix?  Woops.

5

 We brought swimsuits to sit in the Baum Gartner's Hot Pots - closed for Pesticide spraying.  So instead we tried to "natural" hot springs by the river.  We never could actually find the perfect spot where the river mixed with the natural, hot as lava, hot springs.  So instead Donna & I hung out in the car with Halle & Shelby.  This shot was taken before Shelby screamed bloody murder from stepping in the "burning" springs as she called it.

Halle "found" her favorite new toy - her hands this weekend and thank heavens because that was about the only thing she liked.  My angelic baby who never fusses as long as she's fed was cranky the entire trip, Grr.  I'm so grateful Grandma Donna was there or I would have gone bonkers.  We decided not to bring the porta crib or bouncer because of room - boy was that a bad move.  She kept waking up every time we tried to put her down in the carseat or our bed.  Around 2 am one night I finally gave up, put her (still wide awake) in the carseat and climbed into bed.  Of course within a few minutes she began crying and I told Joaquin it was his turn.  I still don't know what time she fell asleep, but I was out cold pretty quick.
One day we tried to go to a fun old ghost town, Smokey Bar, where you can wander around the old mercantile, hotel, & even jail.  We were sad to see it had been bought by private owner's who had signs up everywhere saying, No Trespassing.  Darn it!  We're hoping they'll refurbish it eventually & we can enjoy it again.

The worst/funniest part of the trip was that I forgot a few vital food items - you know like meat.  I packed bread, miracle whip, lettuce, tomato, salt & pepper, 2 different kinds of cheese, but didn't pack the ham or turkey - woops.  I packed the tin foil, salt & pepper, onions, potatoes, carrotts, but didn't pack the hamburger - yep.  I packed 2 packages of marshmellows but forgot the striped cookies that go with it.  Luckily they have a very "reasonable" priced grocery store about 10 miles away that charged us a minor $5.99/lb hamburger.  

The one thing everyone loved was chopping wood.

Ok, maybe not Shelby - but she loved playing in the pine needles we raked up.

 Joaquin carved swords for Josh, Shelby, & Jessi.  I'm not sure why we needed lethal weapons, but hey- the kids were happy.

We stopped in Glenns Ferry on the way home to try out the new fireman's pole.  Here's a great shot of Jessi (top), Jentry - Solosabal cousin (middle), & Quinn (bottom).

 Jessi impressed us all by spitting on her hands and climbing up to the very top!

These last few pix are just for fun.  Josh & Ty were dressed almost the same the other day so we snapped a cute photo.  And Shelby & Jade absolutely love this new kitten named "Maggie Marie" that Grandma Donna got.

Birthday, Treehouse, & Mother's Day

Well I have about 15 minutes to create a blog post then it's off to gymnastics (I'm trying to stay limber in my old age - ok it's really Jessi's class). I am sorry to admit that I gave a wee bit of slack to Brittany for not posting often enough and now I haven't posted in a few weeks, sorry Brittany - you are amazing.

We've been really busy having fun through the last few weeks of school. It was my last big hoorah with PTO last week for Teacher Appreciation. We gave each teacher a beach chair & book signed by their class, a fun music CD, a breakfast, & an assembly where each teacher danced down the aisle for their screaming/cheering class. I'm so grateful this year for PTO Mom's that said they would help . . . AND DID! It made this year so much more fun for me.  (It would be even more fun if one of those fantastic Mom's decided to be the president next year, hint, hint)

 A few weeks ago Joaquin got all the kids outside to "help" put the walls up on our treehouse.  I especially love Quinn's pose, don't you?  He's hoping to finish it this year - I'm hoping for a garage.  Any guesses which will happen first?

Joaquin & I have been drawing our garage/addition for months now and Jessi didn't think ours was big enough.  So she got out the butcher paper and designed an entire house including trap doors that drop into toy rooms.  But my favorite was when she showed Joaquin, "Look Dad, here is your room (pointing to the top right) and here is Quinn's piano all the way over there! (pointing to the lower left corner)"  She's really trying score brownie points, huh?

I just want to squeeze those cheeks, don't you?

Donna celebrated her birthday with us in one of our favorite places, the back yard.  I offered to make a cake but she laughed and said, "I don't need a cake, what sounds good to you?"  Well my personal favorite is Fudge Oatmeal bars so guess what we put candles in?  I really love that woman!

The kids, of course, had to roast marshmallows since we had a campfire.

Lane & Amanda came up from Utah with their boys.  Amanda went to a dance competition most of the day (doesn't that seem wrong - the athletic sports girl goes to the dance competition while Jesalee & I stayed home?)

The Escalade is still the coveted toy.  Ty has already decided he should drive it all the time but hasn't got the steering skills yet - watch out Donna's fence!  That's Jackson riding shotgun and Andrew trying to catch a ride.

And here is the pix of Grandma Donna's present . . . dun da da - A beautiful new bike!  I'm pretty sure I've used it more than Donna (she's really got that sharing thing down).  Everyone teases that she needs to put a dog in the back and be the wicked witch.  Funny story was that on her birthday Jesalee had given Jade a ride in it then parked it in the driveway when she was done.  Donna jumped in her car to go buy batteries and backed into it, sob sob.  The bike has a slightly bent tire, but thankfully Jade had climbed out of the basket & wasn't hurt.

Last but not least is my beautiful Mother's Day collection.  Thank you Christine & all the other mother's in our Primary.  The kids were so excited to give me their pictures and the bags they came in were treasures too.  After my last post Mother's Day was just what I needed.  

From all the comments & calls here's what I came up with.  Are you ready for this revelation?  I just had a new baby - cut myself some slack.  I know it's a shocker huh?  Since daylight savings Jessi has to be in bed even though it's light outside, it's rained or been gloomy for the last few weeks, she's had pressure from school to do well on her ISAT tests, she's trying to learn her gymnastics routine for the year end performance, and as much as it hurts my heart to say this - I haven't been able to spend as much time with her since Halle was born.  I wish I could help her in all of those things, but I just can't.  My goal in life is to raise strong, independent, righteous children.  So teaching them to be independent means letting go too.  Ouch - that hurts.