Damon's Wolf

Damon earned his Wolf merit badge this week.  The pack meeting was at a nearby reservoir and we had smores afterwards.  I had Tyler take a picture, then I accidentally deleted it, whoops.  But I will take a picture when I get his badge on his shirt.  He also earned two arrow points, a gold and a silver.  We are so proud of Damon and all the hard work he did to earn these merit badges.  Scouting takes on a whole new meaning when you have one of your sons going through the program.  

I have to put a picture of the girls up :)  I had them wear their Dr. Suess shirts, it was pretty fun and I got lots of looks when we walked to school that day.  

Tyler's First Kata

This is Tyler's first kata.  He's in the front with the white belt if you couldn't tell. :)

Breaking Boards

Sensei Luke breaking 6 boards with pencils in between to space them out.

Karate

 Tyler started karate in the spring.  He joined in the middle of the semester, but caught on quickly and did really well.  I have to say that I was the proud parent at his awards ceremony.  They have the kids perform some of the things they have learned.  Tyler did his blocks, kicks, and punches well and he even demonstrated some upper cuts independently. The sensei counts these off in Japanese, so that was fun to hear.  In this style of karate they learn what are called katas.  I am very new to karate so this was something I hadn't heard of before.  They are a routine of sorts to help them learn different skills.  Tyler learned the first kata and was invited to perform it with the older class.  Tyler earned his yellow belt actually skipping a belt from his white one.  Sensei Luke also broke boards as a demonstration, so that was pretty cool as well.

 upper cuts

 Sensei Luke with Tyler's new yellow belt.

Karate seems like a great fit for Tyler.  He enjoys it and has done really well so far.  I'm excited to watch him learn more and improve.

Last Week of School

The school here does a Field Day, where they do a lot of different games outside and the parents  can come and watch.  I was only able to stop in for a bit, but it looked like Damon and Tyler had a lot of fun.  They do some water games too, and the Fire Department comes and sprays the kids who want to get really wet.  

 Damon's good friend Dalton.

Pizza delivery relay race.

Tyler's good friend Jacob.

Blind-folded squirt gun game? 

On the last day of school they have a picnic where the families can come and eat too.  I fed the girls at home and then Chris wanted to eat, so we all ate at home before we went over to the school.  But it ended up being a lot easier that way.  

Tyler's 1st grade teacher: Mrs. Zamudio.  She was great for Tyler and really had a good year.  

Damon's teacher Mrs. Hamblin.  She really had a positive influence on Damon for helping him realize that you have to work hard to get what you want. 

 Dalton again.

 Chris wanted a picture of course.

 Damon's other good friend Ethan (both of these friends go to other churches and it has been good for Damon to be able to talk about our church and learn more about theirs.)

 Jacob again (Ethan's brother)

 Going home, the girls were pretty tired at this point and Jenna really wanted to get out of the stroller.  I don't put them in it much anymore, only when I don't want to chase them everywhere.

 It's been a great year.  Now hopefully we can have a fun summer.  I have some fun things planned.  I'm hoping to do some Hogwarts Summer School activities, lots of bike rides, trips to the park, and reading.

Sunday: hair and teeth

I tried a new hairdo for the girls.  I have always liked this type of braid but have never tried it.  It was harder than I thought to keep it tight and smooth on top.  It wasn't perfect, but it looked good enough.  It took a lot longer than normal, I had to put on Frozen to keep Jenna holding still.  

 Tyler's top right tooth has been lose for weeks and today turning sharing time he told me that his tooth was bleeding.  I said there wasn't too much I could do about it, and that I could try pulling it out.   (I've been trying everyday for the past week or so, and it has really been hanging on).  So I gave it a pull and it came right out.  Now Tyler just needs to sing: "All I want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth."  This was Tyler's 6th tooth.

End of the Week

 So on Wednesday I had a rough day.  I was tired and the morning was not going well.  It was one of the times where I was just tired of being a mom of small children.  I was tired of cleaning up messes, stepping on crumbs, tripping over toys etc.  Anyway, I looked over at Kaylee and found this work of art on her arm.  She had actually done this before, but this day it just pushed me over the edge.  I broke down and starting crying and felt terrible for awhile.  I think the day got better, but it was a long day.  

Most days the girls are a lot of fun, they love their daddy and all of the fun things he does with them.

 Damon and Tyler earned Pride Eagle Awards for this last trimester of school.  It is for having good behavior and being a good student.  Good job boys!

 Damon and Kaylee.

On Friday I got to go to the Cheesecake Factory with some friends (13 of us).  It was fun to visit and eat some yummy food.  I had never been before and didn't realize it was such a fancy place.  I wasn't even sure if we were eating dinner - I thought maybe it was just a dessert place.  Anyway I wasn't too hungry so I thought I would just have something light: a bowl of soup - then I decided on some sweet potato fries because I just like them.  Well the side order of fries was plenty big, then my soup arrived it was like a lake.  I had to take a picture.  When they boxed them up it looked like I hadn't taken a single bite. 

Of course I had to have some cheesecake, this was a chocolate raspberry truffle flavor, very good, but would have been better with some raspberry sauce. 

Great to get out, the evening was a bit long for me.  This restaurant is in Boulder, so that's 40 minutes driving both ways and then because our group was so big it took forever to get our food and deal with paying.  

Saturday we did our normal cleaning in the morning, but then we went for a bike ride to the park.  It's great that we all can ride and that the girls like the trailer. 

The girls love to be outside, so when we got back from the park they wanted to get on their trikes.  Then we walked around the block later as well.  It's nice when we can be outside to let everyone get their energy out. 

Happy Birthday Tyler!

Now for our next May birthday: Tyler!  Tyler turned 7 years old this year.  It's crazy how big my boys are getting.  Tyler was super excited for his birthday.  He asked for German Pancakes for breakfast and we went out to dinner at McDonald's for dinner.  He was lucky that his school field trip happened to be this day, so he went to the Zoo.  I was able to go for a few hours with Chris, it was fun to celebrate his birthday doing something special.

We had time for presents in the morning and Damon and Tyler even had time to build some of the smaller LEGO sets that Tyler got.

TMNT Rat King figure

Small Star Destroyer Lego set

 Scooter

 Hyena Droid Bomber Lego set

 Holding Mixel set

So zoo pictures: friend Jacob

 The anaconda snake was out of the water, and looked very big.

 Lunch time.

 Golden Dragon cake from Ninjago in the evening.

Tyler was very excited to get the Golden Dragon Lego set.

 Tyler also got some new shoes that he really needed, some books, some clothes, and a new Skylanders figure.

Happy Birthday Tyler!  You are such a good boy.  Tyler loves to please people.  If you ask him to do something he will do it.  He is so good in the morning to do all the things he needs to do to get ready for school, and I don't have to remind him.  He does his homework well and he is good to play with his brothers and sisters.  Tyler likes to play outside and ride his bike.  He was excited to ride his scooter to school.  Tyler is very smart and does very well in school.  He reads well and has good hand writing.  He is getting better as building his own lego creations, but he prefers to follow the instructions.  He likes to build a set then take it apart and build it again and again.  I am so grateful to have Tyler as part of our family.  Happy Birthday Tyler!

Mother's Day

Doug had invited someone from work to come over to dinner, so I had been making things ahead during the week so I wouldn't have to do too much on Mother's Day.  Then on Saturday he got a text from the guy and he said he wouldn't be able to make it.  So we had a nice meal to ourselves.  I made cheesy potatoes, cheese cake, orange rolls, fruit salad, and carrots.  I had marinated chicken to cook on the grill, then we woke up to snow in the morning.  So poor Doug had to go out and grill in the cold.  Thanks Doug for being tough, the chicken tasted super yummy :).  I was going to make a fancy green salad with strawberries and poppy-seed dressing, but since company no longer was coming I decided not to.

I was surprised at church that all the women were fed a light lunch.  They gave us chicken salad sandwiches, fruit and carrots and some chocolate.  It was a nice treat.  They had the men substitute for all of our classes.  I had prepared the material for the lesson, then the men took over.  It was nice to be together with all of the sisters in our ward and have a break from our normal duties.

I was able to talk to my mom for awhile on Sunday afternoon.  I don't think you ever realize how much your mom did for you growing up until you become a mom yourself.  I have the best mom.  She is my example and I feel that I don't come close to being as good as she was and is.  I love you mom!  Thanks for everything you do for me and my family.

Busy week with a nice ending

Last week was pretty busy in the evenings, we had something every night.  Doug was gone a lot with meetings and work so I had to put the kids down myself three of the days.  I am glad that he is around most of the time, it makes it so much easier.  We managed a temple trip on Friday.  I am very grateful for our friends who watched the kids and put them to bed.  If we eat dinner it takes 6 hours to do a session.  It was great to be with Doug and have some time to ourselves.

The girls' check-up

The girls went to the Dr. on Tuesday the 6th for their check-up.  They are doing well.  Still kind of small, but they are developing normally.  They were pretty friendly with the Dr. until they had to lay down on my lap and he checked out their legs.  Jenna weighs 23 pounds 5 oz (10%) and Kaylee weighs 22 pounds 10 oz (5%).  They are both about 33 inches tall.  Kaylee is getting her two bottom molars.

The girls are so cute right now.  They talk about whatever they are thinking.  I get lots of two words sentences.  "Here she comes."  "Get you!" "Shoes on."  "Jacket on."  "Ready, set, go!"  "Hold you." (meaning 'hold me') They will say 'excuse me' at appropriate times sometimes, and Kaylee will say 'bless you' when I sneeze.  If someone gets hurt Jenna will say 'okay?' (are you okay?) It is just so fun to see them learning to talk.  If I ask them a question, like "do you want a cracker?" Jenna is cute to say 'okay' instead of 'yes.'  Kaylee says 'yes' more often.

They both like to dance and we watch some music videos on TV sometimes and the girls like that.  They still really like Frozen and sing along with the songs.  Other songs they know: Twinkle Twinkle, Popcorn Popping, ABC's, I Am a Child of God, Wheels on the Bus, and probably some others.

They are learning their shapes and colors, and are more often correct than not when I quiz them.  They recognize most letters and know some of their sounds as well.  They know their body parts well and can say all of them.

They are so cute in the morning.  Kaylee is so happy and when she sees me she smiles big and says: "Hi mommy!"  Jenna says hi too, but usually just says "mommy."  They play pretty well together and understand taking turns a bit.  When Doug or I spin one of them around or something, the other one will say "my turn."

I am glad we made it to 2, now I look forward to potty training and being able to follow directions a bit more.  As much as I love nap time, I will be glad when we don't have to schedule our lives around it or have to keep Chris quiet during that time.  

Jenna and Kaylee turn 2!

Wow, Jenna and Kaylee turned 2 on Friday May 2nd!  Doug was gone on his bike trip so we celebrated mostly on Sunday when he was home.  But I had to put out something on their actual birthday.  We got a play kitchen from a neighbor friend and the girls were pretty excited about it.  

Then I gave the girls a bath and then let them watch Frozen while I did their hair.  This is their zoned out look in their birthday outfits.

We went to the park and invited some friends.  The girls had a good time and were full of energy.  I had a hard time getting them together to take their pictures.

Kaylee

Jenna

They love going down slides now and run up to go down again.

This park had a trio slide that is pretty bumpy and curvy, but the girls would laugh and say "again!" as they zoomed off the slide.

Kaylee / Jenna

So here is their set up for Sunday morning.  I had a friend over Saturday night (we watched Austenland together - so much fun!) and she helped me put their new clothes in bags.  She did a much better job than I would have done.

The girls weren't too excited for their chairs or presents, but it was pretty early - 6:30ish.  Damon and Tyler helped open the presents since they still don't quite get it.

They did like their new phones the best.  We have two old ones but the buttons don't work anymore.

They got a shape sorter cube thing.

New dresses for church.

Jenna absolutely refused to have her hair done, so she went to church with it down.

They mostly got clothes with a few other things: Cinderella and The Little Mermaid movies with some figures from the movies, phones, shape thing, and a Cinderella and Rapunzel doll that can change dresses. Then the chairs and kitchen pictured below.  I don't really have the right connections to get hand-me-downs for the girls so I get to buy most of their clothes.  It's a lot of fun but I feel like I have to get so many clothes just so they have enough for one week.  I was able to find some things at the Darling Doubles sale that was last month, so that was good.

They liked the chairs better in the afternoon and had fun rocking in them.

Since the girls love Frozen so much it was fun to do a Frozen-themed cake.  It was pretty easy to do and nice that I could do some of it the day before.  The ice is just broken hard candy.  I made it an ice cream cake which was a first for me and I think it turned out great.  The figures arrived the day before, so that was a little too close.  I was getting a little bit nervous. It was crazy hard to find them.  They were all sold out in stores and going for ridiculous prices on eBay ($20-$50).  One of the days I was looking I found this set on eBay for $12 with free shipping and it was a Buy it Now so I didn't have to deal with an auction.  It was perfect!

The birthday cake tradition went a little bit better this year, no burned fingers or throwing up.  We let the boys blow out the candles - these girls have got to learn! The girls liked the ice cream, but didn't eat much of the cake.  We invited a family over to help celebrate.  They have 5 boys and 1 girl, ages ranging from 5-17.  Their boys just love the girls and they love them back.  Their younger boys see them everyday when we go to pick up Damon and Tyler from school and they are always holding Jenna and Kaylee's hands or picking them up and playing with them.  It was nice weather so we all played outside and had an enjoyable evening.

Happy Birthday Jenna and Kaylee - you are the cutest girls I know!  I can't believe you're 2!