365+1 Week 22

School is out and we are having some fun!  The weather has been beautiful, the girls are in good spirits and we are out and about.  I know that it has only been 5 days, but I am just so happy to have a break from all the shuttling to and from places!! How has your summer been going so far?

Photo's #148-154:

"Tradition" Every Sunday Paul and Abby cook a pasta lunch together.  She gathers the ingredients and preps most of them.  Paul cooks the pasta and supervises the prepping.  They have this little saying that they always recite while getting everything out:  "If you want to eat it, you gotta help.  If you want to help, you gotta eat it!"  Needless to say, Olivia does not participate!!!

"Memorial Day"  Aside from getting together for a street neighbor BBQ we met up with Grandma and Grandpa D. over at the cemetery.  We have been doing this for several years and it is always good to go and see the Greats, and this year Paulene's dear sister, leave beautiful flowers and then roam the lawns looking at all the beautiful things.  We always like to find the most interesting stones, or the oldest dates.  This monument is one of our favorites- it is just so beautiful marking the final resting place of a dear child.

Today Olivia had her field day.  She wanted me to make sure and come pick her up early so that we could snap a picture of her dear friends together.  One of these girls has been her very best friend since her first day of school in Kindergarten.  She was moving the next day to Illinois and Olivia was desperately heartbroken over it.  She will be missed, but we wish her the best on her new adventure!

I just feel as though this photo perfectly captures the beckoning of Summer! Beautiful weather, cute sundress, sun kissed skin and bubbles.

"Last Day of School"  All of my girls had a wonderful year of school this go around.  They had great teachers who really loved and cared for them.  They had great friends.  They were happy and content.  They excelled beyond measure.  These pictures document the awards they received from their school and teachers.
I wasn't able to attend Abby's last day of school but she came home and told me that she was called up on stage with several others to be recognized as scoring in the 95% or higher on the state standardized testing!! They gave her this medal and we couldn't have been more proud! Although I am very sad that I missed the presentation :(

Olivia was awarded the clean desk, most self governed in the class, physical fitness, Top Artist in 1st Grade, Top Scientist in 1st Grade, passing the entire 1st grade level reading list, and the Most Creative Award from her teacher!! It read: Olivia, you never ceased to amaze me at what you came up with in your presentations.  From Thanksgiving books to state reports, you always shined with your visual aids and thoughtfulness.  Your sweet personality only exceeds your creativity.
 Way to go Olivia!!

We went to the Ward BBQ Friday night.  We had lots of fun with all our ward family, but this was by far the jewel of the night.  Several of the kids trying to lift Paul off the ground on the teeter-totter!! They were only successful when one of the other dads finally came over to help them!!

Abby had tryouts for the U10 Celtic Storm Club competition team a couple of weeks ago.  It was INTENSE to say the least!! There were no less then 50 girls trying to achieve one of the 20 spots available.  I was a nervous wreck the entire 2 day, 4 hour a day tryouts!  But our talented little girl wowed the coaches and was selected onto the team amid my great relief.  Today was the soccer team get-to-know-you kick off pool party- such a great picture of all the excitement to be a part of the team!!! It should be another great year of soccer with these fun girls.

365+1 Week 21

Photo's #141-147:

 "Stems" Do you remember my photo earlier this month of Abby's newly planted cups? Well here they are now, overflowing with life- the next step is to get them planted outdoors.

"Where you stand"  Every Monday morning my sister and I find ourselves standing at the base of these stairs. First we run a mile, then we run these stairs for 30 minutes in different training intervals, then we run another mile- just for fun!! Next week with school being officially out for the summer, we will move back over to the High School Stadium stairs- just a little more challenging!!

This week is Shakespeare week at Olivia's school.  This means that all week the children dress up in period attire and attend a matinee of a play written by Shakespeare.  "Much Ado About Nothing" is the play being done this year and Olivia has loved each and every act and learning about it during literature time in class.

Eva had her Preschool Graduation.  She is officially on her way to Kindergarten next year!! She has LOVED her teacher Mrs. Maureen to pieces and enjoyed each and every one of her 11 other classmates. Her greatest accomplishment this year was learning to spell and write her full name all by herself- Evangeline is a pretty long name for a 5 year old!!

Olivia had a talent show in her music class at school.  Because she takes piano from my mother, and Abby is the only other student, this was her first opportunity to play in front of other people.  She took this very seriously and I was surprised by the nerves she was showing as she began to play (she is usually a very cool cat on stage) but she performed beautifully and her smile at the end was beaming!

Abby had her school's dance festival.  Each grade performed to a song from a Broadway musical this year.  The third grade picked a humerus tune from "Annie Get Your Gun" and it was silly and fun from start to finish!

"Something New"  This is my latest joy! I love the color, I love the polka dots, and I love how big it is! It holds anything and everything, including my camera, comfortably- LOVE IT!!!

365+1 Week 20

Well, I did in fact make it through my marathon week last week.  We were all on the run from one fun thing to the next and by the time Sunday hit I was exhausted.  The following photo's tell just part of the story, but they pretty much highlight the best of the goings on- however, most days this week include more than one photo. I just couldn't narrow down all the goodness!!!

Photo's #135-140:

Monday I went with Eva and her preschool class to the Thanksgiving Point Farm.  This has long been a favorite in our family and it was fun to go with all of Eva's friends.  Her favorite part- as always- is feeding the Llama from her hands.  Many of the children had never done this before and they were all giggling with delight!

When we got home we hurried over to Liv's class to help her with her classroom State Report presentation.  She was assigned Florida and Hawaii.  She did a wonderful job telling the class all about her destinations and then we handed out Oranges for Florida, with pineapple and macadamia nuts for Hawaii.  She did such a wonderful job!!

"Love" Tuesday was my first day in the water with the bubble over the pool taken down.  It is so glorious to swim my morning laps in the crisp fresh air with the sun shinning down and kissing the surface of my skin. All is right with the world in those moments.

"Something you made"  Wednesday was Liv's "Charlotte's Web" class party.  They have been studying this work in literature throughout the semester.  All the children were able to wear farm clothes and then they watched the movie and had snacks.  We made these fun "Charlotte"  spider crackers as our contribution- they were a total hit!! Just so you know, I seriously cry every time I read those last chapters. I LOVE the ending lines:

"Wilbur never forgot Charlotte.  Although he loved her children and grandchildren dearly, none of the new spiders ever quite took her place in his heart.  She was in a class by herself.  It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer.  Charlotte was both."

 Thursday was Abby's final game of the season.  They won and closed it out with 6 wins and 2 ties putting them in 2nd place.  It was a great run and she LOVED being on this team.  Abby is primarily a defender, she is really good at it too.  Because of this she doesn't score a goal very often (but neither does the other team!), so for the final half of the game the coached switch the players up putting her as forward striker- and wouldn't you know- in about 2 seconds she had scored a goal!! What a way to end the day!!

Way to go STORM!!

Friday we attended Olivia's dance recital.  She has been putting her whole heart and soul into these lessons and dances.  Her group preformed three numbers- one was a ballet and 2 were Jazz.  Oh how this girl can perform!! She loves the costumes, she loves the music, she loves the moves, she loves the stage.

She had a beautiful performance.

Oh, and she received her much anticipated flowers from her adoring fans too!!!

Saturday.  My niece Tia is on the Lehi High School ballroom dance team.  (Here she is front and center in the above photo) She is a phenomenal dancer!  This year she was also able to travel out of state to competitions with her Singles Cabaret dance. (featured below)
This afternoon we took the opportunity to go to the end of the year performance and cheer on our favorite dancer.  Holy cow- my little girls were in total rapture for the entire two hour performance!!! They clapped, cheered, and gave standing ovations!!

"The costumes, the costumes, where did they get all those beautiful dresses, mom!" Way to go Tia you were an inspiration to the next generation, keep up the good work, we are so proud!!

365+1 Week 19

This next week ahead of me is so busy! I mean, I am mentally psyching myself up and making a listed schedule of who needs to be where and with what they need to be bringing. The end of school is rapidly approaching and it makes me wonder just why we have to cram every last possible activity into these couple of weeks.  I can't believe I am saying this, but I just might be ready for summer to start! Please will you wish me luck that I can keep all the balls in the air!!!

Photo's #128-134:

"Vintage"  I like to use the term Retro more.  This is the old school car that my parents have at their house. It is old, tired, used and abused.  However, it is THE item of choice for all the children in the family.  Usually it involves many a cousins fighting for the right to be the supreme occupant of it's elite driving seat.  Today we were over for piano lessons, alone.  Eva had the not so often felt luxury of being the only one taking it's coveted wheel into her hands! Although, from the looks of this picture, she isn't going to fit for very much longer. :)

"You"  Me, in all my taking a brake from doing chores, no makeup, I really can't believe I'm posting this up and it was the only photo I took that day, glory.  But my Olivia is as darling as ever!!

"Inspire" I am always envious of Eva's easy carefree take on the world.  She can't be bothered with matching shoes, just that she has on her most favorite puffy dress, with the kitty on it.  She doesn't care that during the afternoon there isn't anyone home to play with, she just loads up Ellie into her wagon and begins to stroll the sidewalks, singing the songs she learned in Sunday school and Preschool this week.

"Something you do everyday" Pick up this phone.  I never thought I needed one of these "Smart Phones". Quite frankly they scared me! Technology is not my friend. But, just over a year ago I was forced by Paul to leap into modern society and let go of  my old phone from the early 2000's!  Now, it is the first thing I look at in the morning and the last thing I put down before I go to bed.  I check the time, weather, emails, search the Internet, and keep up on my favorite sites and blogs. It feels good to be back in touch, even though it is already completely outdated!!

 Just about once a week I go over to my parents storage room.  I pick out a couple jars of these bottled beans, several bottled tomatoes and every so often some peaches.  This doesn't even begin to scrape the surface of their preserving talents, but these are the family favorites.  These are the only beans I can get my girls, and Paul for that matter, to eat.  I really should learn how to do this, what will we do if we don't have my parents around to stock these shelves?

The latest project to come home from Preschool.  Eva is so proud of it that she hung it in the front window for all passers by to see and revel in its beauty.

We celebrated Mother's Day a day early with my favorite mother in law! It is always a joy to do lunch, and talk shopping and fashion!  Paulene, thanks for a wonderful afternoon and for being such a lovely, kind, gracious and giving mother and grandmother to me, Paul, and our little girls.  We all love you to the moon!

"Mom"  Each year I get a picture taken with my girls.  It is pretty much in this exact same spot, year after year.  I love to look at these photo's and see how my darlings are growing up, and just how much my love for them expands to the very limits of my heart. 

365+1 Week 18

Photo's #120-126:

"Circle" In math last week Olivia was learning about measurements.  To demonstrate what they had learned, each child was to make 24 cookies (measuring out all the ingredients correctly of course) to bring to school on Monday for a cookie swap.  She picked Peanut Butter Cookies- then we fancied them up a bit by dipping them in her favorite thing- chocolate!

"Fun!" Once again, Eva riding in the car to pick up Liv from school, singing her little heart out to Adele's "Rumor Has it".  This little diva girl has some pipes, and style!!

Abby had her Author's Fair today.  Parent's and family get to come to school and hear the stories that the children have been writing this semester.  Abby did a great job writing her fun fairy tale, I also loved her name on her desk, took me right back to my time spent in elementary school!!

"Bird" We stopped by my Dad's house and he was so excited to show us the new creature living in his nectarine tree.  This delicate bird had made its' nest on the lowest branch, enabling us all to have a fantastic view.  We didn't know what variety it was, but later that night Liv pulled out her new library book from school "Birds of the Southwest" and sure enough our little bird was in there!!! It is a Mourning Dove which likes to nest on Horizontal branches in a fork- exactly what we found.  We can't wait to see when those two tiny eggs hatch!!

This afternoon Abby teamed up with Gardener Extraordinaire (aka: Grandpa G.) and they set to work planting this years crop.  They dug holes, fertilized, watered and covered the plants and seeds with soil.  I think it is the love involved that will make this a spectacular yield this year.

A friends night out took us to Salt Lake this evening to dine at The Melting Pot.  Fantastic Fondue menu, lovely atmosphere right in the heart of down town, and wonderfully fun conversation- not to mention that we all carpooled our way to town in our swagger wagon- you know the valet was impressed with our ride!!!

Spring Run Off Challenge 10K 5K and 1Mile.  It was cold! However, the whole family ran, with cousins and Grandpa too!  This was a first for the girls, and Paul.  Olivia and Eva ran the 1 mile and did a great job, they had a lot of fun. Abby competed in her very first 5K, I ran along with her pacing and coaching along the way.  I couldn't have been more proud as she sprinted to the finish line in 1st place for her age group at 31 Minutes!!!  I was so proud of Paul who ran his very first 5K too! In usual fashion my family of runners cleaned up at the awards ceremony- Check out my brother Cory's trophy, SWEET!!

Way to go runners!!

365+1 Week 17

Photo's #113-119:

"Blossom"  Our tree out front was in full glorious bloom! I love this tree, the blossoms are so full and they cover every inch of  the branches.  This year all the girls were able to climb up into it's lofty embrace while being fully enveloped in its velvety softness. Dreamy.

"Something that you love"  Eva and her silliness.  She is always pulling a funny face or doing something that we all find hilarious.  It brings a smile to my face every time.

"From behind" It was a lovely afternoon, the rain clouds were starting to fill the sky and all the kids were running around our front lawn, enjoying cool popsicles on the eve of what would be a much colder day.  I opened the door to find Olivia sitting here, deep in thought.  What was filling her mind? I will never know.

This is the album that I have been listening to during my morning runs.  I am an original Clarkson fan, all the way back to her days on the very first run of American Idle in 2002.  I can remember being pregnant with Abby, on my lunch brake from the dental office, waiting in line for my food at the local eatery in Salt Lake, and having a discussion of who we thought was going to win.  I declared that it would no doubt be Kelly. I knew she was a star then, I didn't know that 10 years later I would still be enjoying each and every track and album she makes.  My current favorite that I have to keep repeating over and over is "Dark Side" It just speaks to me right now.

Abby had a soccer game, it started out with lots of wind and rain. However, by the second half the rain had melted away and the clouds were beginning to clear and this beautiful rainbow broke across the sky.  While looking at it, Eva leaned over and said, "Mom, I just wish we could find the end of that rainbow so we could get the gold."  Me to Eva, me too!

"Tiny"  Abby loves to grow plants from seed.  She likes to take those tiny little seeds, place them lovingly into the damp soil, then nurture them into a sprout.  If all goes well, we will be planting them with Grandpa over in his garden in a few short weeks!

"Somewhere you went"  We always like to go out with friends and this cheat day was no exception. Especially when we end up at the Sweet Tooth Fairy for some delectable baked goods such as "Toasted Coconut ", "Strawberry Shortcake", and "Peanut Butter Cup" Cupcakes- Delicious!!